四分律行事鈔資持記 3.869

3.869

總示中，初科，初引傳。令唱讀者，準此，生前所修一切功德，並須記錄；凡為看病，常在左右，策其心行，恒令念善；以捨報趣生，唯在臨終，心念善惡。下引《智論》為證，仍決所疑。答中，初句正答，下二句轉釋。作惡生善道者，準天台《十疑論》，三義通之：一者約心，以造罪時，從虛妄顛倒心生，是虛；今因知識勸導，改心是實故。二者造罪時，由癡暗虛妄為緣，是偽；今遇知識，得聞佛名，發菩提心是真故。三決定者，前造罪時，心有間斷；今臨終時，心猛利故；如萬年暗室，一燈能破；千年積薪，少火燒盡。（後義即同今鈔。）

Under 'General Instruction': In the first section, the biography is cited first. Regarding 'having it chanted and read': according to this, all merits cultivated during one's lifetime must be recorded. Whenever nursing the sick, one must constantly remain at their side, spurring their mental activities and perpetually causing them to be mindful of the good, because shedding one's retribution and proceeding to a rebirth depends entirely on whether the mind's thoughts are good or evil at the time of death. Below, the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa is cited as proof to resolve doubts. In the answer, the first sentence is the direct answer, and the two sentences below further explain it. As for 'committing evil yet being born into good destinies,' according to Tiantai's Shiyi lun, it is resolved through three meanings: First, in terms of the mind, when one commits sin, it arises from an illusory and inverted mind, which is false; now, due to a spiritual friend's encouragement, reforming the mind is real. Second, when committing sin, it was conditioned by ignorant delusion and vanity, which is spurious; now, meeting a spiritual friend, hearing the Buddha's name, and generating the bodhicitta is genuine. Third, regarding definitiveness: previously, when committing sin, the mind was interrupted; now, at the time of death, the mind is intense and sharp—just as a single lamp can dispel the darkness of a ten-thousand-year-old dark room, or a small fire can burn up a thousand-year accumulation of firewood. (This latter meaning is identical to the present manual.)