菩薩戒本疏 1.32

1.32

The Buddha addressed the bodhisattvas, saying: "Now, half-month by half-month, I recite the Dharma-precepts of all Buddhas myself; all of you bodhisattvas who have aroused the aspiration should also recite them, and even the bodhisattvas of the ten stages of orientation, the ten stages of nourishment, the ten adamantine stages, and the ten grounds should also recite them. For this reason, the light of the precepts emerges from my mouth, possessing conditions and not being without cause. The light is neither blue, yellow, red, white, nor black; it is neither matter nor mind; it is neither existent nor non-existent; it is not a conditioned phenomenon of cause and effect; it is the fundamental practice of all Buddhas, the foundation of the bodhisattva path, and the foundation of all Buddha-children of the great assembly. Therefore, all Buddha-children of the great assembly should receive and uphold them, should read and recite them, and should train well in them. Children of the Buddha, listen attentively! If someone receives the Buddha's precepts—whether kings, crown princes, ministers, chancellors, bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, the eighteen Brahmā [heavens], the sons of gods of the six desire [heavens], commoners, eunuchs, libidinous men, libidinous women, male or female slaves, the eight classes of beings, ghosts and spirits, vajra-spirits, animals, or even transformed humans—as long as they understand the Dharma-master's words, they all receive and obtain the precepts, and are all called the foremost pure ones."