少室六門 1.85

1.85

Question: Bodhisattva mahāsattvas accomplish the Buddha path only by holding the three pure precepts and practicing the six pāramitās. Now you make students only contemplate the mind and not cultivate the practice of precepts; how can they accomplish buddhahood? Answer: The three pure precepts are restraining the mind of the three poisons. Restraining the mind of the three poisons accomplishes the collection of immeasurable goods. 'Collection' (ju) means gathering together. The immeasurable good dharmas are universally gathered in the mind; therefore they are called the three pure precepts. The six pāramitās are purifying the ṣaḍ-indriya. 'Pāramitā' is the foreign word; in Chinese it means 'reaching the other shore'. When the ṣaḍ-indriya are pure and not defiled by the six sense objects, that is crossing the river of afflictions and reaching the shore of bodhi; therefore they are called the six pāramitās.