法界次第初門 1.224

1.224

The explanation of the five precepts after the three refuges is given because the Dazhidulun states: "Recollecting the Buddha is like [relying on] a king of physicians; recollecting the Dharma is like taking medicine; recollecting the Saṅgha is like an attendant caring for a sick person; recollecting the precepts is like the dietary restrictions for the medicine." The intention in now clarifying the various categories of precepts after the three refuges lies precisely here. Therefore, after the Buddha conferred the three refuges on lay disciples such as Trapuṣa, he immediately conferred the five precepts, making them upāsakas. If a lay Buddhist disciple breaks these five precepts, they are not a pure layman or laywoman. Therefore a sūtra says: "The five precepts are the great prohibitions under heaven. If one violates the five precepts, in heaven one runs counter to the five stars, on earth one runs counter to the five sacred peaks, in the directions one runs counter to the five emperors, and in the body one runs counter to the five viscera." Transgressions in the mundane world such as these are immeasurable. In terms of the supramundane, one who violates the five precepts destroys the fivefold dharmakāya and all of the Buddha-Dharma. Why is this? The five precepts are the root of all śīla of the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. If one violates the five precepts, one may not receive any further precepts of the Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna. If one can hold them firmly, they are precisely the five great gifts. These five are universally called "precepts" (jie) because they have the meaning of preventing and stopping: they can prevent the fault of the non-informative [karma] of unwholesome discipline, and stop the evil arisen from the three karmic actions; hence they are named "preventing and stopping."