釋門章服儀 1.23

1.23

答：「夫供施之法，淨於三事，隨一有染，名不淨施。論分四句，豈不然耶？且淨行滅惑，作福難諧，機緣搆接，開其供施，用捨本貪，不遮財淨，致雜受報。若全閉拒，則蒙俗無由樹因；至於雜報，則生生常淪苦海。罪福雙感，厥致在茲。而《央崛》云：『繒綿皮物展轉來，離於殺者手，然持戒者不應服著。若服者，然非悲不破戒。』據此教門，開閉殊致：閉則示含生之可救，誠損害之難任；開則以喪命而成衣，權接救於寒苦。且自無悲之誡，終為永斷之言；許服之方，止是救時之弊。至如山寒賊奪，開服皮毛，疾急苦煎，聽資乳蜜，非為通化，薄設權宜，仰度誠文，意言為允。革衣皮服，律具制之，去其奢甚，止足為本。至於黑白氈衣，律亦通約，求索過度，傷俗壞道，制捨入僧，剪毛存命，誠用顯仁，故開服著。然則損生之累，厥趣難清，薄為引之，鎮銘座右。且身為苦器，安能繫而不食；隨身糧粒，存生之務誠重。至於放火焚山，引水溉地，翻覆殺傷，殘害逾甚。況復囚犢捋乳，劫蜂賊蜜，蟲豸之封菜蔬，蠅蛹之依食器。薪水生靈，過於倉粟；草土含識，同聚成村。身口所經，寔難無患。然則過之大者，無越蠶衣。觀其養殺之儀，經稱惡戒；比夫屠獵之量，萬計倍之。而世言屠伯，無不恥之，及至同利縑繒，昌言顯迹而莫厭者，同惡相濟也。固當齊約，用息凡情。但五濁未消，三障常繞，豈非嗜欲之變，使之然乎？當知報居季俗，宅此形神，受用使之，損他成己，為惱為辱，深可厭也。至如商那比丘，胎衣被體；面王釋子，報服隨身。長指四海而為家，日一餐而謀道，無欲無為，斯可尚也。況復北有樹衣，上天化服，隨心輕重，逐運新奇。或委質淨邦，以法喜而充食；寓神華內，以慚愧而為衣。斯道可祈，行因無不至也。」

I answer: "Now, as for the norm of making offerings and giving alms, it must be pure in three respects; if it is defiled in any one of them, it is called an impure gift. The treatises divide this into four propositions; how could it be otherwise? Furthermore, pure conduct eradicates afflictions, whereas creating merit is difficult to bring into accord [with liberation]. When circumstances and conditions arise, making offerings and gifts is permitted so that beings may cast off their root greed; [the Buddha] did not bar pure wealth, [yet this] leads to mixed retributions. If one were to bar and reject them completely, then the ignorant laity would have no way to plant causes [of merit]; yet if one receives mixed retributions, one will drown life after life constantly in the ocean of suffering. Both offenses and blessings are invoked together; the principle lies right here. And the Aṅgulimāla-sūtra says: 'Silk, floss, and leather goods come passing through many hands, removed from the hands of the killer; nevertheless, one who upholds the precepts ought not to wear them. If one does wear them, although it is without compassion, it does not break the precepts.' According to this doctrinal gate, opening and closing have different points of departure: closing shows that sentient beings can be saved and that causing injury and harm is truly difficult to bear; opening allows that robes may be made from the loss of life as a temporary expedient to rescue beings from cold and suffering. Moreover, the admonition that it is 'without compassion' ultimately serves as a pronouncement of permanent prohibition; the measure permitting its wearing was merely to remedy the hardship of the moment. As for cases where monks are freezing in the mountains or robbed by bandits, they are permitted to wear pelts and furs; when intensely tormented by sudden, severe illness, they are allowed to sustain themselves with milk and honey. These are not universal transformations, but slight provisions of expediency; looking up and measuring the true texts, the intended meaning is indeed reasonable. Leather garments and skin robes are fully regulated in the Vinaya: their great extravagance is eliminated, and taking contentment as the root. As for black and white felt robes, the Vinaya also has a general regulation: if seeking and demanding them is excessive, harming worldly customs and ruining the Way, they are regulated to be surrendered to the Saṃgha; but shearing wool preserves life and genuinely serves to manifest benevolence, so wearing them is permitted. That being so, the encumbrance of harming life has ramifications that are difficult to purify; I cite this briefly to serve as a lasting motto beside one's seat. Furthermore, the body is a vessel of suffering; how could one tie it up without eating? Grain rations that accompany the body are truly weightily necessary to maintain life. Yet setting fire to burn mountains and channeling water to irrigate fields turn over and kill or injure, inflicting devastation even more severely. What is more, imprisoning calves to milk cows, robbing bees of their honey, insects lodged in vegetables, and maggots and pupae gathering around food utensils—the living beings in firewood and water exceed the grains in storehouses; the conscious beings in grass and soil gather together to form villages. What passes through body and mouth can truly hardly be free of faults. Yet, among the greatest of offenses, none exceeds silk robes. Observing the procedures for rearing and killing them, the sūtras call it an evil precept; compared to the count of butchering and hunting, it is tens of thousands of times greater. People in the world speak of butchers and there is none who is not ashamed of them; yet when it comes to sharing the profit of silk and satin, they speak openly and show their tracks without any revulsion, because mutual evil aids one another. One truly ought to regulate it uniformly, so as to put an end to worldly sentiments. But the five turbidities are not yet extinguished, and the three obstacles constantly encircle us; is this not caused by the shifts of craving and desire? One should know that to live as a karmic retribution in a decadent age, dwelling in this body and spirit, using and employing them to harm others to benefit oneself, brings distress and disgrace, and is deeply to be loathed. Consider Monk Śāṇakavāsin, whose body was covered by a womb-robe, or the Śākya prince Face-King, whose karmic clothing followed his body. They pointed to the four seas as their home for a long time, seeking the Way on a single meal a day, free from desire and free from contrived action; this is truly worthy of esteem. Furthermore, in the north there are trees that produce clothing, and in the heavens above there are apparitional garments, light or heavy according to one's mind, novel and wondrous with every change. Or, yielding one's physical form in a pure land, one takes the joy of the Dharma as food; lodging one's spirit inside a lotus flower, one takes modesty and shame as clothing. This Way can be sought; practicing its cause, there is nowhere one will not reach."