觀心論疏 3.9

3.9

Second, having sufficiency of clothing and food: Clothing covers the body to shield its ugliness; food supports life to fill the wound of hunger. When the body is at peace, the Way flourishes; when the Way flourishes, the foundation is established. The physical form, life, and the Way rely on this clothing and food. Therefore a sūtra says: 'Having eaten, the Tathāgata attained sambodhi.' Though this is a small condition, it can accomplish the great matter. As for clothing, it shields ugliness, blocks cold and heat, repels mosquitoes and horseflies, and adorns the body. Clothing is of three kinds: The Great Being of the Snowy Mountains cuts off his form in deep ravines without entering the human realm, weaves grass for a mat, wears deer-skin garments, without matters of receiving, holding, or declaring purity; accomplished in the power of forbearance, he needs no warmth or thickness, does not wander among humans, and has no trouble of provisions—this is the superior person. The twelve dhūtas maintain only three robes, neither more nor less, wearing them neatly when leaving villages or entering mountains; hence the three robes are established—this is the middling person. In countries of extreme cold, one hundred and one extra items are permitted to aid the body; they must be declared pure, taken just to suffice for need, without seeking much. Seeking much is toil and suffering, guarding them is also suffering, hindering and disturbing one's own practice and troubling the donors; taking little and being immediately content—this is the inferior person. Regarding clothing in contemplation of mind: A sūtra says: 'Although you bhikṣus wear kāṣāyas, your minds are not yet dyed with the Dharma robes of the Great Vehicle.' The Lotus Sūtra says: 'The robe of gentleness and forbearance' is this. This is the forbearance of cessation and extinction. The two extremes of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are coarse and harsh; being non-dual and not different from the principle of the Middle Way is therefore called 'gentleness.' Settling the mind in the Middle Way is therefore called 'forbearance.' Leaving behind the two clutters is called 'cessation.' Transcending the two kinds of death is called 'extinction,' and so forth. As for food: Food is discussed in three places as supporting the body and nourishing the Way. First: In deep mountains where human tracks are cut off far from the people, relying solely on sweet fruits and fine water, just one herb and one fruit; or feeding on pine and cypress to continue one's vital energy, like the sweet, fragrant lotus roots of the Snowy Mountains. Having eaten, one binds the mind, meditates, and sits in dhyāna, with no other concerns. Such an eater is a superior person. Second: In an āraṇyaka place, with dhūta austerity, cutting off the sounds of herding; this is a place for cultivating the Way. Sustaining oneself through almsround (piṇḍapāta): all seven Buddhas explained the method of begging for food; the Vaipulya, Pratyutpanna, and Lotus sūtras all speak of 'begging for food.' If the path is far, almsround is toilsome and disruptive; if near, people and things are noisy and distracting. Neither far nor near, begging for food is easy and convenient—this is the middling person. Third: Being neither able to cut off grains to feed on fruit, nor able to beg food as a dhūta, receiving food sent by external patrons is also permissible; or receiving food properly purified in the saṅgha is also permissible—this is the inferior person. If explaining food with respect to contemplation of mind: The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Although you bhikṣus practice begging for food, you have not yet entered the Dharma food of the Great Vehicle.' The Dharma food of the Great Vehicle is the Tathāgata's Dharma joy and dhyāna bliss. This Dharma joy is precisely great, equal wisdom, contemplating all phenomena without obstruction. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 'One who is equal with respect to food is also equal with respect to dharmas; one who is equal with respect to dharmas is also equal with respect to food,' and 'Defilements are the firewood, wisdom is the fire; by this cause and condition, the food of nirvāṇa is prepared, causing all disciples to find it delicious.' This food nourishes the dharmakāya and increases wisdom-life; like eating milk-rice, nothing more is needed—this is true liberation. True liberation means that the Tathāgata, using this Dharma joy and dhyāna bliss, traverses all phenomena, none of which is not of one flavor, one color, and one fragrance, none of which is not the Middle Way. The phenomena of the Middle Way fully contain all phenomena: this is the meaning of satiety, the meaning of having no need, like that superior person in the deep mountains who is fully satisfied by supporting the body with a single herb and a single fruit. As for begging food as a dhūta: When a practitioner cannot directly realize the Middle Way and cultivate true mark wisdom in the midst of mundane affairs, they should practice the threefold contemplation in sequence, tuning the mind to enter the Middle Way. Because of sequential contemplation, it is called 'begging food'; also seeing the Middle Way, it is also called 'satiety'—this is the middling person. As for the donor sending food: If a person can neither penetrate directly through affairs nor contemplate sequentially through phenomena, lacking the food of their own, they should rejoice in good friends who can speak prajñā, who skillfully distinguish it, so that following what is heard they attain understanding and see the Middle Way. This person's faculties are dull; generating understanding from hearing is called 'obtaining food.' Just as a person unable to do the two things above is permitted to have others send food. Furthermore, food purified in the saṅgha is attaining the virtues of the branches and factors of dhyāna-concentration, relying on concentration to attain awakening; this is called 'food in the saṅgha.' Therefore, a practitioner should always bear in mind the Dharma food of the Great Vehicle, not thinking of other flavors.