千手眼大悲心呪行法 1.4

1.4

Second: Purifying the Three Karmas. The sūtra states: "One who recites this divine mantra arouses the vast and great bodhicitta, vows to deliver all sentient beings, physically maintains the pure precepts, dwells in a quiet chamber, bathes purely, wears clean clothes, restrains the mind in one place, and no longer pursues other conditions." The *Lotus Samādhi* states: "When first entering the bodhimaṇḍa, one should bathe with fragrant water and wear clean and pure clothes, such as the grand robe and newly dyed garments; if there are no new ones, one should take the finest among one's existing clothes to serve as the garments for entering the bodhimaṇḍa. If thereafter one leaves the bodhimaṇḍa to go to an impure place, one should remove the pure clothes and put on impure clothes; when the business is done, one should bathe, put on the original pure clothes, and enter the bodhimaṇḍa to practice the ritual (the above is all from the *Lotus Samādhi* text)." Even if throughout an entire day one does not reach an unclean place, one must still bathe once. Throughout the entire period, one must strictly avoid idle chatter and all social encounters and polite inquiries. Throughout the entire period, one must direct one's thoughts according to the sūtra, not contemplating worldly affairs for even a single thought-moment; if answering the call of nature or eating and drinking, one must also maintain mindfulness without letting it scatter, and upon concluding the business immediately enter the bodhimaṇḍa, not making pretexts to delay. In general, bodily action concerns permission and prohibition; verbal action concerns speech and silence; mental action concerns śamatha-vipaśyanā. Practitioners must rely on a good teacher to inquire and receive instruction, and only after knowing it may they practice it; take care not to act on one's own authority.