天台菩薩戒疏 3.5

3.5

Thirty-nine: The precept against failing to encourage the cultivation of merit and failing to explain [the teachings] to benefit sentient beings. The mighty power of the Great Vehicle is inconceivable: it not only brings benefit and assistance along the dark paths, but can surely rescue from present dangers and hardships. If one does not explain it for them, both the unseen and the visible will remain without hearing it, and the loss of benefit will be profound; therefore the Sage instituted this prohibition. It specifically possesses five conditions to constitute an offense: 1. Understanding and explaining the Great Dharma; 2. Being free of all debilitating conditions; 3. Encountering situations of peace or danger; 4. Lacking a mind of compassion and rescue; 5. Not explaining it for them—then one commits an offense. Regarding the text, there are three parts: first, prescribing the encouragement of oneself and others to cultivate meritorious karma; next, from "Yet a bodhisattva..." onward, prescribing that one benefit sentient beings by cultivating intellectual karma; third, from "Yet a new student..." onward, concluding the offense for violating the prohibition. In the first passage, four matters are first listed: 1. Establishing monastic dwellings. 2. Mountain forests, orchards, and fields. 3. Erecting and making Buddha stūpas. A stūpa refers to a place that houses the bones of a noble one's body; those who make offerings gain much merit, unlike hall-shrines where bodily forms are enshrined. Hence the Āgama sutras explain that the monk Vaniśa (Fannishi) during the time of Vipaśyin Buddha held a lamp to illuminate a stūpa with a joyful heart; later, when encountering Śākyamuni, his bodily radiance was such that the bodily light of the twenty-eight heavens could not match it. Furthermore, the Twelve Nidānas Sūtra says: "Eight kinds of persons should have stūpas erected for them: namely, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, the four fruits [of arhatship], and wheel-turning kings." A Buddha stūpa has eight tiers, and below this they gradually decrease down to two tiers for the first fruit. The Latter Section says: "A wheel-turning king has no tiers, the four fruits have four tiers, a pratyekabuddha has five tiers, and a Buddha has thirteen tiers." It is also called a caitya, which refers to one without relics. Here, following the most supreme, it enshrines the Buddha's relics, and is therefore called a Buddha stūpa. 4. Establishing places for summer retreats and seated meditation. "All..." and so forth summarizes and indicates the places to be established. Wherever the path may be practiced, one should establish the four things above—monastic dwellings and the rest—as conditions for the path; therefore it was instituted. Next, within prescribing explanation to benefit sentient beings, there are also two parts: first, stating the name and generally encouraging it. All sentient beings that one sees must be benefited and made happy; hence it says: "One should, for all..." and so forth. The sūtras expound the two trainings of concentration and wisdom, while the vinaya is the training in precepts. Since the bodhisattva deportment is the universal path of benefiting sentient beings, the three trainings are adduced to cause one to teach the three bodies and the three virtues: the training in precepts is the dharmakāya, the training in concentration is liberation, and the training in wisdom is prajñā. From "If in illness..." onward, it specifically lists the circumstances for explanation, within which there are three parts: First, encouraging explanation in the face of retribution obstacles. Places are broadly shared and common to all; hence it also generally cites the sutras and vinaya, meaning the retribution body's diseases, state wars, the rampant rise of bandits and thieves, the death of loved ones, the demise of masters and elders, and the morning memorial days through the seven-sevens [forty-nine days]. Whether for oneself or others, one should explain the Great Vehicle to make them contemplate the retribution aggregates as the virtue of the dharmakāya; that is, using the dharmakāya as the remedy. Next, from "gatherings and assemblies..." onward, regarding circumstances of gain and decline, it encourages explanation in the face of affliction obstacles. Wherever there are gatherings, assemblies, and places of perpetual merit; travelers returning from afar; meetings of relatives and guests; conducting livelihood and seeking gain; or facing water, fire, adverse winds, and black gale-blown ships without any safe haven; or encountering rākṣasa demons in rivers or the great ocean, suffering distress and urgency—one must focus exclusively on the precepts of Buddha-nature to unpack and explain the doctrinal principles, making them contemplate afflictions as the virtue of prajñā; hence it says "these sūtras and vinaya," which uses the saṃbhogakāya as the remedy. From "and even..." onward is the third: encouraging explanation in the face of karmic obstacles. Because afflictions are manifold and cannot be exhausted in speech, it briefly lists three or five and continues by citing karmic obstacles; hence it says "and even." "All..." and so forth is a general statement. The causes of the three types of karma differ—killing, stealing, and the like; hence it says "all." "The three retributions" means that all karma has three retributions: creating karma in this body and experiencing retribution in this very body is called retribution in the present life; creating karma in this body and receiving retribution in the next life is called retribution in the next rebirth; creating karma in this lifetime and receiving retribution only after two or three rebirths is called retribution in subsequent rebirths. When one's body is in the eight difficulties, it is called the karma of the eight difficulties. Committing the seven rebellious acts is called the karma of the seven rebellious acts. Or being in prison and bound hand and foot by others, hence it says "manacles and fetters" and so on. The poisons of the three karmas are numerous—whether singular or combined, whether concerning one person or seven persons; as for illness, that is the karma of killing. These various differences are all karmic retributions with nowhere to flee, and here too one is strictly confined to explaining the precepts to make them contemplate the tied-up karma as the virtue of liberation. Therefore, the Tripiṭaka of the Great Vehicle expounds the three bodies throughout, and remedies are applied according to distinctions; thus the list in the text contains both distinct and common aspects. If one can accord with the teachings to benefit and gladden sentient beings, one will evoke the unseen assistance of the noble ones to be liberated from all difficulties. Even if one does not evoke the noble ones and merely harms the physical body, for oneself and others to be perfumed by hearing it at the point of death becomes a seed, and encountering future Buddhas will invariably stem from this. Therefore, it is enjoined that bodhisattvas must constantly explain the Great Vehicle sūtras and vinaya and the meaning of the three virtues. From "Yet a newly enlightened..." onward, concludes the offense. Those whose practice and understanding are not yet complete are all called "new."