大乘法苑義林章 6.14

6.14

Sixth, resolving objections. First, on the basis of general principles, there are ten questions and answers. First question: What is the sequence of the differentiated Three Jewels? Answer: There is either a sequence or no sequence. With the identical-essence Three Jewels, they are aspects differentiated within a single essence, and in nature there is neither superior nor inferior, hence there is no earlier or later. However, according to differences in meaning, there is also an earlier and later. The distinctions between the one who awakens, that which is awakened, and the one who awakens following [another] reveal the sequential difference of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. There are five sequences for the differentiated Three Jewels: 1. The sequence of cause and effect: because the Saṅgha first cultivates, next the Buddha attains perfection, and finally the fruit of the Dharma is obtained. 2. The sequence of object and practice: taking the Dharma as the object, the Saṅgha cultivates the noble practices, and the Buddha fruit is perfected. 3. The sequence of master and disciple: the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says, "That which all Buddhas take as master is the Dharma." In the Bao'en jing, it also says the Dharma comes first, the Buddha Jewel is spoken of next, and the Saṅgha Jewel is spoken of last. 4. The sequence of superior and inferior: all teachings speak of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha Jewels because there is superiority and inferiority among the one who awakens to that Dharma, that which is awakened to, and the one who receives it following [another]. 5. The sequence according to faith: because one first sees the deportment and moral discipline of the Saṅgha and, having given rise to faith, next turns one's heart toward the truths and so forth realized by them, and finally gives rise to reverence toward their master; thus Saṅgha, Dharma, and Buddha follow in such a sequence. For example, when Śāriputra and others saw the serene deportment of Aśvajit on the road, they wished to hear what he knew; having heard the truth of suffering, he immediately attained the first fruit, and later went to the Buddha's presence to venerate him, listen to the Dharma, and become an arhat. Second question: How narrow or broad are the Three Jewels taken as refuge? Answer: All three are broad in essence, because they encompass the [Three Jewels of] sustaining [the lineage]. Or, their essences are without distinction, because one takes refuge in the real. Third question: Is the Buddha subsumed under the Saṅgha, or is he not subsumed under the Saṅgha? Answer: A sūtra states, "Among the assembly of the Saṅgha there is neither Buddha nor Dharma. How can it be said that making offerings to the Saṅgha fulfills making offerings to the Three Jewels? The Buddha himself declared: 'If you follow my words, then you offer to the Buddha; for the sake of liberation, you offer to the Dharma; when the Saṅgha receives it, you offer to the Saṅgha.' Therefore the three refuges cannot be made into one." Examining the intent of that sūtra, the Buddha is not subsumed under the Saṅgha. If so, how does the sixtieth fascicle of the Yogācārabhūmi state that a field becomes vast through five aspects, the fifth being the ultimate purity of continuity, namely the arhats, and the great community of bhikṣus headed by the Buddha? Since it says "bhikṣus, headed by the Buddha," how can it be said that the Buddha is not subsumed under the Saṅgha Jewel? Answer: Renunciant non-Buddhists are all nominally called "saṅgha." To distinguish them from those followers, [the text says] "headed by the Buddha," revealing that the disciples of the Buddha are either the Buddha or the Saṅgha. Agreeing with the Mahāsāṃghika and others, the Buddha is not subsumed under the Saṅgha. The Mahīśāsaka say that within the Saṅgha there is the Buddha, and therefore one who gives to the Saṅgha obtains a great fruit; it is not that giving separately to the Buddha [is superior], because if the Saṅgha does not receive it, the Buddha also does not receive it. The Dharmaguptaka say that although the Buddha is subsumed within the Saṅgha, giving separately to the Buddha yields a great fruit, not [giving to] the Saṅgha, because his myriad virtues are complete and the [Saṅgha] field is not supreme. If relying on their position, the Buddha falls within the Saṅgha's inclusion. Therefore the Yogācārabhūmi says, "the great community of bhikṣus headed by the Buddha." If that is so, how is what the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says to be reconciled? Answer: Mahāprajāpatī did not know that the Buddha also had a shaved head and dyed robes and was also subsumed under the Saṅgha; the Buddha accommodated her view and therefore spoke distinctively, not intending to state definitively that the Buddha is not included in the Saṅgha. Hence it says, "Sometimes speaking of one as three, and speaking of three as one, is the Buddha's realm, not known to others." Between the two statements, the correct principle should be sought. Fourth question: The superior and inferior among the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha Jewels can be known. Why is it that harming or killing the Buddha or Saṅgha constitutes a mortal offense, while defaming or destroying the Dharma does not constitute a mortal offense? Answer: The Buddha and Saṅgha are living beings who suffer, and [these deeds] were designated as mortal offenses to convert the two vehicles; destroying the Dharma is indeed grave, and the designation of a mortal offense was established to guide bodhisattvas. The Satyakanirgrantha-sūtra, in expounding the five mortal offenses, states that the second is slandering the Dharma of the three vehicles, asserting it to be an improper Dharma, obstructing, hindering, concealing, and hiding it; only fourth does it speak of shedding the Buddha's blood, killing an aśaikṣa, and so forth. The Prajñāpāramitā and Lotus Sūtras also say, "Slandering the Dharma will cause one to fall into the Avīci hells of the ten directions." Therefore, for bodhisattvas, [destroying] the Dharma also constitutes a mortal offense. Fifth question: Harming a transformation body among the three bodies constitutes a mortal offense; killing a cause within the Saṅgha Jewel should also constitute a mortal karma. Answer: The Dharma and reward bodies cannot be harmed; only [harming] the transformation body is called a mortal offense. An aśaikṣa has increased merit, so a mortal offense is incurred only with the fruit. In actual principle, speaking of the faults of the Saṅgha can even be called a mortal offense, how much more so taking the life of a śaikṣa without it being a mortal offense? Shedding the Buddha's blood is still called a mortal offense; slandering the Dharma and reward bodies in principle also constitutes a mortal offense. But it is just that the Buddha is taken as being easily harmed, and the Saṅgha is relied upon as a supreme field; commonly for the two vehicles, they are specifically termed mortal offenses. Sixth question: Among the Saṅgha Jewel of the three vehicles, the bodhisattva is supreme; harming or killing [a bodhisattva of] the ten grounds should constitute a mortal offense. Answer: Manifesting birth in accordance with different classes of beings, there is no bodhisattva who undergoes the five mortal offenses; by the crime of the same class as a mortal offense, harming a bodhisattva of the ten grounds also constitutes a mortal offense. Seventh question: Merit and sin mirror each other; making offerings to the Saṅgha surpasses [offering to] an individual aśaikṣa. Sin and merit are converse: [killing someone in] the Saṅgha, unlike an aśaikṣa, is not a mortal offense. Hence it is said that inviting five hundred arhats individually is not as good as [giving to] a single person in the regular turn of the Saṅgha. Answer: In the sin of killing, both mind and object are elevated, so killing an aśaikṣa is termed a mortal offense; in the merit of offering, both intention and field are supreme, so the merit regarding the Saṅgha is greater. Or, according to the Mahāyāna, the sins and merits are analogous. Eighth question: Those in training and those beyond training harmonize in common tasks and are termed the Saṅgha Jewel; worldly-born and noble-born are both the Saṅgha and equally subsumed under the Jewel. Answer: In harmony in principle and harmony in matters, the two noble ones are without dispute. Worldly-born [monks] have disharmony, possessing harmony in matters but not in principle. The meaning of "Jewel" is that which is precious; the worldly saṅgha is not the Jewel. Ninth question: A single Buddha or a single Dharma is also called Buddha or Dharma; [yet] one monk or two monks are both able to be called the Saṅgha? Answer: "Saṅgha" designates the undertaking of communal tasks; only from a community is it called a saṅgha. As for awakening and maintaining a standard, anything that fits either single one is called Buddha or Dharma. Tenth question: The Daśacakra-sūtra says that there are four kinds of saṅgha: 1. ultimate, 2. conventional, 3. dumb-sheep, and 4. shameless. That is, the Buddha, the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds, solitary realizers, and the [realizers of the] four fruits are called the ultimate saṅgha. If sentient beings wear household dress, do not shave their hair and beards, and do not wear the kāṣāya, although they cannot receive any of the renunciant prātimokṣa precepts and are barred from all karmans, poṣadhas, and pravāraṇās, because they possess the noble Dharma and attain the noble fruits, both the former renunciant noble ones and these lay noble ones are ultimate saṅgha. Those who shave their hair and beards, wear the kāṣāya, and accomplish the renunciant precepts are called the conventional saṅgha; this refers to the wise class of ordinary renunciants. If one does not understand what is an offense and what is not an offense, what is a transgression and what is not a transgression, and does not know how to confess; being dull-witted and obtuse, not relying on virtuous friends, not going to listen [to teachings], and not frequently inquiring into what constitutes sin or merit—they are called the dumb-sheep saṅgha. If sentient beings, for the sake of livelihood, take refuge in my renunciation but transgress and violate the moral discipline, being shameless and unconscionable, not fearing painful fruits, internally rotten like a foul snail, making conch-shell sounds with the conduct of dogs, uttering empty and untrue words, with afflictions proliferating, never performing any superior karma, indulging in gain and fame, licentious in the six sense objects, and slandering the correct Dharma—they are called the shameless saṅgha. Among these, which ones are subsumed under the Saṅgha Jewel? Answer: The first entirely, or a few noble ones in the second, are called the Saṅgha Jewel. The remainder of the second, and the latter two entirely, are ordinary saṅgha and not subsumed under the Jewel.