華嚴經內章門等雜孔目章 3.30

3.30

Regarding the three clusters of precepts: the first is the precept of embracing ethical discipline; the second is the precept of embracing wholesome dharmas; the third is the precept of embracing sentient beings. There are briefly four classes of these precepts: First, those based on the four pārājikas and so forth of the Yogācāra[-bhūmi]. Second, those based on the ten inexhaustible precepts of the Yingluo jing and the Fanwang jing. Third, those based on the twenty-four precepts of the Vaipulya sūtras, which comprise two kinds: The first clarifies the twenty-four precepts received by bodhisattvas: 1. If starving sentient beings beg for food, drink, and bedding, and one does not give it, it is a grave offense. 2. If sexual lust is unrestrained and one makes no distinction even for birds and beasts, it is a grave offense. 3. If one sees a monk keeping a wife and children and speaks of his faults as one pleases, it is a grave offense. 4. If one sees a person who is grieving and wishing to kill himself, and one adds to another's wrath out of one's own intention, thereby destroying his life-faculty, it is a grave offense. 5. If one takes treasures from an open road, it is a grave offense. 6. If one sees another wishing to take a life, and praises him with fine words to cause him to rage, it is a grave offense. 7. If one sees another wishing to burn monastic dwellings, and one does not admonish him with all one's heart, it is a grave offense. 8. If one sees or hears of another committing a grave offense, and does not summon and instruct him to repent three times, it is a grave offense. 9. If one sees someone committing the five deadly sins and does not scold him and urge him to abandon them, it is a grave offense. 10. If one sees or hears of another wishing to perform a great wholesome deed, and one further arouses anger to ruin it, it is a grave offense. 11. If one sees another indulging in food and addicted to liquor, and one goes to scold him out of personal sentiment—except for one's own circumstances—it is a grave offense. 12. If one sees a person committing adultery with another's wife and tells her husband, it is a grave offense. 13. If one views one's enemy and forms the conception of an enemy, it is a grave offense. 14. If one sees another viewing an enemy like an infant child, and says, "How could you view this person like an infant child?", it is a grave offense. 15. If one sees others gather to brawl and lends support in beating, it is a grave offense. 16. If one sees another's hidden matters and tells them to others, causing him great anger, it is a grave offense. 17. If one sees or hears of another's wholesome deeds and says that nothing at all was done, it is a grave offense. 18. If, traveling on an open road, one sees someone constructing stūpas, shrines, or vihāras, and does not assist them, it is a grave offense. 19. If one sees or hears of someone leaving good friends and associating with evil companions, and praises it as good instead of urging him to abandon it, it is a grave offense. 20. If one goes to the homes of caṇḍālas, places of evil people, homes with vicious dogs, or places of śrāvakas and persons of the two vehicles—except in urgent personal matters—it is a grave offense. 21. If one sees, hears, or suspects slaughter, yet conceives the thought that it was not seen, heard, or suspected, and eats this meat, it is a grave offense. 22. If one sees, hears, or suspects slaughter, yet it is not seen, heard, or suspected slaughter, and one does not eat this meat, it is a grave offense. 23. If one understands expedient means and knows the faculties of sentient beings, yet claims not to speak, it is a grave offense. 24. Or, if one sees various bodhisattvas and other views, one must not speak of them to others; [otherwise], in this present life one will incur dharmas obstructing the path and contract white leprosy. At times one will be foolish, at times blind, at times dizzy, falsely conceptualizing and discriminating all dharmas, and will inevitably incur foolishness. The second clarifies the sphere of protecting the precepts, as explained in detail in the fourth fascicle of the Da fangdeng jing. Fourth, those based on the precepts of the ten wholesome dharmas in the Daśabhūmika-śāstra. Question: What is the difference among these precepts? Answer: In accord with the characteristics of the precepts, there are indeed distinctions. The twenty-four precepts are for beginners to receive and are also assigned to laypeople. The ten inexhaustible precepts precede the attainment of the stages and are common to both the religious and the laity. The four pārājika precepts are for those advancing directly, for monastics. These distinctions are briefly assigned by characteristics; in terms of root practices and benefits, they may also be explained as mutually applicable. The precepts of the ten wholesome dharmas are assigned to the ten stages, applicable to hearing, seeing, and practice; their meaning is also comprehensive. Furthermore, these ten wholesome precepts are precepts of innate nature, with no separate ritual of reception; based on this, their meaning may also be elevated to the high. Embracing them down to the wheel-turning kings who transform the laity, this also extends to the low. Although nominally extending to the low, their meaning is distinct: this refers to the precepts arising from innate nature, and this meaning is not shared with the Hīnayāna ignorant of dharmas. If received by śrāvakas who have turned their minds, their differences, similarities, commonalities, and non-commonalities of precept-characteristics are explained in detail in the section on the training in morality in Paramārtha's translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha.