律相感通傳 1.102

1.102

答曰：「余讀《智度論》，見佛著麁布僧伽梨，因懷在心，何得乖此？及聽律後，便見蠶衣臥具，縱得已成，並斬壞塗埵，由此重增景仰。古昔周朝老僧咸著大布衣，一生服一，補者咸布，乃至重二三斤者。復見西來梵僧咸著布㲲，具問。答曰：『五天竺國無著蠶衣。』由此興念，著斯《章服儀》，通瞻古今成教，融會臥具三衣。且凡情瑣細，保固尤重，身服所接，莫匪損生，焉肯捐捨，著茲法服？又法服所擬，本顯慈仁之心，非仁無以拔濟，濟必由慈而護。故佛心者，大慈也。殺生而行慈，未見其可，故沈隱侯之著論也。『五畝之宅，樹之以桑，則年六十』者，容色已衰，內假縑纊，外存大布。所以大布之服，通於富貴貧賤也，今猶通行於王臣。古法不改，有老少之殊，故致降殺之異道，無損害之理，長少咸一法衣，法是慈化，焉通損害也？」（云云。）

I replied, saying: "When I read the Dà zhìdù lùn, I saw that the Buddha wore a saṃghāṭī of coarse cloth. Bearing this in mind, how could I go against it? Furthermore, after hearing the Vinaya, I then saw that even if silken robes and bedding were already made, they were all to be cut up, ruined, and used for plastering walls. Because of this, my admiration increased all the more. In ancient times, during the Zhou dynasty, elder monks all wore robes of coarse cloth, wearing one throughout their lives; their patches were all of cloth, even weighing two or three catties. Moreover, I saw that the Indian monks who came from the west all wore cotton cloth. When I asked them fully, they replied, saying: 'In the five regions of India, none wear silken garments.' Therefore, this thought arose in me, and I wrote this Ritual Manual on Monastic Robes to observe comprehensively the established teachings of past and present and harmonize bedding and the three robes. Furthermore, ordinary sentiments are petty and attachment is especially heavy; among what touches the body and its clothing, none does not harm life—how would they be willing to renounce it and wear these Dharma robes? Moreover, what the Dharma robes represent fundamentally manifests a mind of loving-kindness and benevolence. Without benevolence, there is no way to rescue and deliver; deliverance must depend on loving-kindness to protect. Therefore, the mind of the Buddha is great loving-kindness. To practice loving-kindness while killing living beings—I have never seen that this is acceptable. Thus Lord Shen of Yin wrote in his treatise: '"In a homestead of five mu, plant it with mulberry trees, and those who are sixty years old"—their complexion has already declined, so inside they rely on fine silk and floss, while outside they maintain coarse cloth.' Therefore, garments of coarse cloth were common to both the noble and base, the rich and poor; even now they are still commonly worn by kings and ministers. The ancient rules were not changed, yet there was a distinction between old and young; thus there were variations of reduction. But on the Path, there is no principle of doing harm: elder and younger all wear the same single Dharma robe. The Dharma is a transformation of loving-kindness; how could it admit harm?" (And so forth.)