萬善同歸集 2.4

2.4

答：「亡身沒命，為法酬恩，冥契大乘，深諧正教。大乘《梵網經》云：『若佛子應行好心，先學大乘威儀經律，廣開解義味。見後新學菩薩，有從百里千里，來求大乘經律，應如法為說一切苦行：若燒身、燒臂、燒指。若不燒身、臂、指供養諸佛，非出家菩薩。乃至餓虎、狼、獅子、一切餓鬼，悉應捨身肉手足而供養之。然後一一次第，為說正法，使心開意解。若不如是，犯輕垢罪。』大乘《首楞嚴經》云：『佛告阿難：「若我滅後，其有比丘，發心決定，修三摩提，能於如來形像之前，身然一燈、燒一指節，及於身上熱一香炷。我說是人，無始宿債，一時酬畢；長揖世間，永脫諸漏。雖未即明無上覺路，是人於法已決定心。若不為此捨身微因，縱成無為，必還生人，酬其宿債，如我馬麥正等無異。」』所以小乘執相，制而不開；大教圓通，本無定法。《菩薩善戒經》云：『聲聞戒急，菩薩戒緩；聲聞戒塞，菩薩戒開。』又經云：『聲聞持戒，是菩薩破戒。』此之謂也。若依了義經，諸佛悅可；執隨宜說，眾聖悲嗟。秖可歎大褒圓，自他兼利；豈容執權滯小，本跡雙迷。」

Answer: "Giving up one's life and discarding one's body to repay debts of gratitude for the sake of the Dharma deeply tallies with the Mahāyāna and profoundly accords with the correct teaching. The Mahāyāna Brahmā Net Sūtra states: 'If a disciple of the Buddha should act with a good mind, he should first study the deportment sūtras and vinaya of the Mahāyāna, broadly opening up and understanding their meanings. When he sees later, newly studying bodhisattvas who have come from a hundred or a thousand miles seeking the Mahāyāna sūtras and vinaya, he should, according to the Dharma, explain all austerities to them: such as burning the body, burning the arm, or burning the fingers. If one does not burn the body, arm, or fingers as an offering to all Buddhas, one is not an ordained bodhisattva. Even toward hungry tigers, wolves, lions, and all hungry ghosts, one should give up one's own flesh, hands, and feet to offer them. After that, step by step in sequence, explain the correct Dharma for them, causing their minds to open and their intentions to understand. If one does not act thus, one commits a light defilement offense.' The Mahāyāna Śūraṅgama Sūtra states: 'The Buddha told Ānanda: "If after my parinirvāṇa there is a bhikṣu who makes a resolute vow to cultivate samādhi, and is able before an image of the Tathāgata to light a lamp on his body, burn a finger joint, or burn an incense stick on his body, I say that this person's beginningless past debts are all repaid at once; taking long leave of the world, he forever escapes all defilements. Although he has not yet immediately understood the unexcelled path of awakening, this person has already determined his mind regarding the Dharma. If he does not perform this minor cause of renouncing the body, even if he attains the unconditioned, he must return to be born as a human to repay his past debts, no different from my [past karma of eating] horse barley."' Therefore, the Hīnayāna clings to outward marks and prohibits it without exception; the great teaching is completely unimpeded, fundamentally without fixed rules. The Bodhisattva-bhūmi-śīla Sūtra states: 'Śrāvaka precepts are strict, while bodhisattva precepts are flexible; śrāvaka precepts block, while bodhisattva precepts open.' Another sūtra also states: 'The śrāvaka's upholding of precepts is the bodhisattva's breaking of precepts.' This is what it means. If one relies on the definitive sūtras, all Buddhas rejoice; if one clings to expedient discourses, all the noble ones grieve. One should only praise the great and extol the round, benefiting both self and others; how can one permit clinging to the provisional and getting stuck in the small, remaining confused about both the basis and the traces?"