禪林寶訓 1.25

1.25

Master Yuan said: "There are three essentials for an abbot: humaneness, discernment, and courage. One who is humane practices the Way and virtue, promotes teaching and transformation, pacifies superiors and subordinates, and pleases travelers coming and going. One who has discernment abides by propriety and righteousness, recognizes safety and peril, scrutinizes the worthy and the foolish, and distinguishes right from wrong. One who has courage is resolute in handling affairs, decisive without doubt, sure to purge villainy, and sure to expel sycophancy. To be humane without discernment is like having fields and not plowing them. To have discernment without courage is like having sprouts and not weeding them. To have courage without humaneness is like reaping without knowing how to sow. When all three are complete, the monastic grove flourishes; when one is lacking, it declines; when two are lacking, it is endangered; and when none of the three is present, the way of the abbot is abandoned." (Two entries; from A Letter to Venerable Zhen of Jingyin).