少室六門 1.86

1.86

Question: As sūtras say, the three pure precepts are vowing to cut off all evil, vowing to cultivate all good, and vowing to deliver all sentient beings. Now you only speak of restraining the mind of the three poisons; does this not contradict the text and meaning? Answer: The sūtras spoken by the Buddha are true words. When bodhisattva mahāsattvas practiced in the causal stage in the past, to counter the three poisons they made three vows: to cut off all evil, so they constantly held the precepts to counter the poison of greed; to cultivate all good, so they constantly practiced samādhi to counter the poison of hatred; to deliver all sentient beings, so they constantly cultivated wisdom to counter the poison of delusion. By upholding these three pure dharmas of morality, concentration, and wisdom, they were able to transcend those three poisons and accomplish the Buddha path. The extinguishing of all evils is called 'cutting off'; the completion of all goods is called 'cultivating'. Because they can cut off evil and cultivate good, the myriad practices are accomplished, benefiting both self and other and universally delivering all sentient beings, which is called 'delivering'. Therefore know that the cultivated practice of precepts does not depart from the mind. If one's own mind is pure, then all Buddha-lands are pure. Thus a sūtra states: 'When the mind is defiled, sentient beings are defiled; when the mind is pure, sentient beings are pure. If you wish to attain a pure land, you should purify your mind; as the mind becomes pure, the Buddha-land becomes pure.' The three pure precepts are naturally accomplished.