律相感通傳 1.98

1.98

A deva asked me, saying: "Originally, under the Liang dynasty, Master, you were already the foremost upholder of the Vinaya and wrote extensively. In discussions of reputation, everyone heard of you. Jianchu and Dinglin were both monasteries where you resided. When you were reborn and saw the Merciful Honoured One (Maitreya), you were slightly remiss and lazy, and because you still had many unresolved vinaya aspects, you were reborn into the human realm in this present life. Of what you now understand, not one in a hundred remains. However, the annotations, records, notes, and ritual manuals you have produced are all lingering residual habits from what you previously heard. By calculation, Master, your retributive lifespan had already expired; it has been surpassed by one year. Now, because you compile and record the remaining works, perfumed by the power of compassion and aided and sustained by the devas, it continues day after day. Do you not know, Master, that since last year there has been no day without decline and diminution? It is merely a withered fading, like a dried tree or a rotten cart, with no means to become robust again."