摩訶止觀 4.12

4.12

性戒者，莫問受與不受，犯即是罪；受與不受，持即是善。若受戒，持生福，犯獲罪。不受，無福；不受，犯無罪。如伐草、害畜，罪同；對首懺，二罪俱滅。《大論》解云：「違無作罪同滅耳，而償命猶在。」故知受得之戒與性戒有異也。故《四分》問遮法云：「不犯邊罪不？」邊罪即性罪也。此罪障優婆塞戒，何況大戒？若性戒清淨，是戒度根本、解脫初因。因此性戒，得有無作受得之戒。

Regarding natural morality, regardless of whether one has received [the precepts] or not, transgressing them is a transgression; regardless of whether one has received them or not, upholding them is good. If one has received the precepts, upholding them generates merit, and transgressing them incurs guilt. If one has not received them, there is no merit; if one has not received them, transgressing them incurs no [vinaya] guilt. For instance, in felling grass or killing an animal, the offense is the same; when confessed face-to-face, both offenses are extinguished. The Da zhidu lun explains: 'The offense of violating the unmanifest (avijñapti) is equally extinguished, yet the debt of life still remains.' Thus we know that the received precepts differ from natural morality. Therefore, when the Four-Part Vinaya asks about obstructive conditions, it says: 'Have you not committed an extreme offense?' An extreme offense is precisely an offense against nature. This offense obstructs the upāsaka precepts, how much more so the great precepts! If natural morality is pure, it is the root of the perfections of morality and the initial cause of liberation. Dependent on this natural morality, one obtains the unmanifest received precepts.