梵網經菩薩戒本疏 3.55

3.55

Sixth, regarding the gravity of the offense: within this there are six [aspects]: first, according to the object; second, according to the words; third, according to the interlocutor; fourth, according to the harm; fifth, according to the mind; sixth, according to the practice. In the first there are two parts: first, clarifying the object of disparagement. In general there are four: one person, two persons, three persons, and the great assembly. In particular there are seven: 1. noble beings (āryas); 2. worthy beings; 3. one's own teacher; 4. those who transmit the Dharma and sustain the lineage; 5. generally all virtuous people; 6. unvirtuous people; 7. non-humans, animals, and so forth. Their gravity and lightness can be known respectively. Second, as for the object of praising oneself, there are three: 1. genuinely breaking the precepts oneself, lacking virtue, and lacking shame and conscience; 2. though not breaking the precepts, yet lacking other spiritual practice; 3. possessing both precepts and practice. Among these three, the former are grave and the latter are light respectively. Second, in [explaining gravity] according to the words, there are also two parts: first, among disparaging others there are five: 1. disparaging virtue and speaking of faults; 2. where there is virtue, saying there is none; 3. where there is much virtue, saying there is little; 4. where there is no offense, saying there is; 5. where there is a minor offense, saying it is grave. Cleverly causing others to believe it, the gravity and lightness can be known. When the above two objects, general and particular, are applied to these five, their gravity and lightness, whether ordered or not, can be known. Second, in praising oneself, there are three: 1. saying oneself has attained nobility; 2. saying one is endowed with the three trainings; 3. saying one is endowed with a single training, such as the precepts. The gravity and lightness can be known. When these three are applied across the preceding three objects: if one says one has attained nobility, all three are great thieves, as stated in the Buddhapiṭaka Sūtra. If one says one is endowed with the three trainings, two ranks are thieves, because the third is not deceptive. If one says one is endowed with the precepts and so forth, one rank is a thief, because the latter two are not false. However, for the first one who breaks the precepts to say that his precepts are pure: in comparison to the former two, this is not yet extremely grave, yet in the noble teaching it is called a great thief; how much more terrifying are the former two ranks! Thus, in the Sudarśanavibhāṣā, there are five kinds of great thieves: the first is committing [an offense of] the seven classes [of vinaya offenses] yet saying oneself is pure, down to the fifth, which is hearing the Dharma from another yet claiming to have understood it oneself. However, praising oneself and disparaging others each have single-light and double-grave forms; within the double, there are both grave and not both light; their gravity and lightness, whether ordered or not, can be known. Third, according to the person one faces: 1. facing one person; 2. facing several persons; 3. facing a great assembly. In these three situations, there are disparaging in their presence and disparaging not in their presence, each having gravity and lightness. 4. Not facing another person. In these four situations there are each gravity and lightness in praising oneself and disparaging others; further subsuming the distinguishing factors of the preceding two gates to comprehensively explain them, there are further gravity and lightness that can be known. Fourth, according to harm, there are four: 1. by disparaging a person who transmits the Dharma, causing the Buddha's Dharma to cease in an entire region, this offense is the most grave, as can be known from the extensive explanation in the Daśacakra Sūtra; 2. disparaging an entire community, causing others to lose faith and increasing deviant views; 3. disparaging a single virtuous person who is not a transmitter of the Dharma, merely causing others to give rise to distress. These are all grave in the former and light in the latter, as can be known; 4. praising oneself, causing others to emulate and follow, also differs according to the number of people, so the harm has gravity and lightness. Furthermore, there is the destruction of one's own roots of goodness to bring about a grave offense, which can be known. Fifth, according to the mind, there are four: 1. if for the purpose of causing others to give rise to faith, one praises oneself and disparages others, this is merit and not an offense; 2. if through negligence and an indeterminate (avyākṛta) mind one commits an offense, it is an offense but not defiled; 3. if toward others one commits an offense out of affection or resentment, it is defiled but not grave; 4. if done out of craving for fame, material gain, and reverence, it is grave and not light. In this fourth case, there are three grades: 1. if it occurs due to the manifestation of defilements that are not extremely intense, or if one gives rise to shame and conscience, this is the lower grade; 2. although it may be intense, yet without shame and conscience, but one does not view it as a virtue, it is still the middle grade; 3. completely lacking shame and conscience, deeply conceiving affection and joy, and viewing it as a merit, this is named the upper grade, which is the most grave. Furthermore, in this gate, offenses committed with minds of greed and delusion are grave, while with other minds they may be light or non-offenses, and so forth. Other meanings should be known by analogy with the above. Sixth, according to practice: people within the Buddha's Dharma mostly engage in practice based on four stations, namely the three trainings and miscellaneous practices. First, regarding those of the training in precepts, there are two kinds: 1. affectation of eccentricities: meaning that although they do not break the precepts, their nature is not straightforward; relying on deviant thoughts and calculations, they display extraordinary deportment to dazzle the worldly, seeking fame and profit, originally lacking a pure mind to seek liberation; and they universally disparage other people who lack extraordinary deportment as entirely without virtue—these are thieves among śramaṇas and also thieves of deportment, as stated in such sūtras as the Kāśyapa Sūtra and the Ratnakūṭa Sūtra; 2. regarding those of shallow understanding: meaning their nature lacks profound wisdom; relying on their own precept-conduct, they take it to be liberation; they despise the assembly whose vehicle is urgent but whose precepts are lax, and hearing of the emptiness of all dharmas, they immediately give rise to terror—these are the enemy thieves of the Buddha's Dharma, as found in the Buddhapiṭaka Sūtra. Second, regarding those of the training in concentration, there are also two kinds: 1. regarding the greedy and deceitful: meaning their nature delights in fame and gain; residing long in the mountains, their minds become slightly clear and quiet, and displaying the signs of having attained concentration, they dazzle the worldly, soliciting great fame, and universally disparaging other people who lack these signs, regarding them all as wrong—these are the thieves of the āraṇya, as found in the Hastikakṣya Sūtra; furthermore, a sūtra says: 'Wearing rag robes in a solitary place, they call themselves āraṇyaka,' and so forth; 2. regarding those of deviant conceit: meaning their nature lacks much learning; relying on mountains to practice concentration, ghosts and spirits cause their minds to perceive, and within concentration they perceive others' unwholesome awareness and knowledge, immediately relying on this to give rise to conceit, intending to solicit great fame, despising other people, regarding them all as wrong, and harming the Buddha's Dharma—these are the great thieves of Māra's faction, as stated in the Awakening of Faith and the Hastikakṣya Sūtra. Third, regarding those of the training in wisdom, there are also two kinds: 1. regarding the shallow: meaning their nature possesses little intelligence; their recitation and learning lack proper sequence, and with their minds seized by fame and gain, they rush prematurely into lecturing and preaching, using their own views and subjective judgments to disparage the past and the present, seeking only fame and gain, having originally no intention of renunciation; relying on their own lack of practice, they also disparage precepts and concentration—these are the thieves who sell the Buddha's Dharma and will incur great suffering, as found under the works of Māra in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra; 2. regarding the profound: meaning their nature has a little discernment; although they have a slight understanding of the literal meaning of the Tripiṭaka of the two vehicles, yet they have not yet grasped the Buddha's intention; when they come to transmit the Dharma, they only praise fame and gain to encourage later learners, disparaging past and present wishing to be uniquely preeminent themselves; relying on this as a virtue, they give rise to conceit to despise others; merely reciting and upholding the medicine of the Dharma without eradicating illness, they already bear defiled transgressions, how much more so when illness arises from within the Dharma itself, which is extremely incurable—how extraordinary! When fire comes out of water, by what can it be extinguished? These are thieves who harm the Buddha's Dharma, as found in the Buddhapiṭaka Sūtra and the Daśacakra Sūtra. Fourth, regarding miscellaneous practices, there are also two kinds: 1. regarding practices of merit: meaning their nature is not straightforward; using illicit craftiness to jointly promote extraordinary merit, they dazzle the worldly to attract lavish donations, with the intention of using little to summon much and thereby earning a livelihood; having fulfilled what they sought, they then rely on this to give rise to conceit and despise other people, taking those without offerings to be illicitly wrong; as it is with material offerings, so it is with fame—these are the thieves who sell the Buddha's Dharma, as found in the Kāśyapa Sūtra; 2. regarding other practices: meaning their nature lacks wise comprehension; following whatever single dharma they study, they immediately become attached to it, dazzling others with what they have studied to attract fame and gain, rejecting what others cultivate as entirely non-ultimate—these also are foolish people who are thieves gnawing at and harming the Buddha's Dharma. The above briefly presents four stations; in truth, deceit and falsehood run through all practices, and all should be evaluated accordingly to admonish all later students, so as not to allow their own minds to fall into them. As for those sūtras such as the Ratnakūṭa, Ratnarāśi, Kāśyapa, and Buddhapiṭaka, please read and keep them in your innermost heart to nourish the bodhicitta; only then can this be considered essential.