緇門警訓 2.14

2.14

希顏首座字聖徒。性剛果。通內外學。以風節自持。遊歷罷歸隱故廬。跡不入俗。常閉門宴坐。非行誼高潔者。莫與友也。名公貴人累以諸剎招之堅不答。時有童行名參。已欲為僧。侍左右。顏識其非器。作釋難文。以却之曰。知子莫若父。知父莫若子。若予之參已非為僧器。蓋出家為僧。豈細事乎。非求安逸也。非求溫飽也。非求蝸角利名也。為生死也。為眾生也。為斷煩惱出三界海續佛慧命也。去聖時遙佛法大壞。汝敢妄為爾。寶梁經云。比丘不修比丘法。大千無唾處。通慧錄云。為僧不預十科事。佛徒勞百載為之不難得乎。以是觀之。予濫廁僧倫。有詒於佛。況汝為之邪。然出家為僧。苟不知三乘十二分教。周公孔子之道。不明因果不達己性。不知稼穡艱難。不念信施難消。徒飲酒食肉。破齋犯戒。行商坐賈。偷姦博弈。覬覦院舍車蓋出入。奉養一己而已。悲夫。有六尺之身而無智慧。佛謂之癡僧。有三寸舌而不能說法。佛謂之啞羊僧。似僧非僧似俗非俗。佛謂之鳥鼠僧。亦曰禿居士。楞嚴故曰。云何賊人假我衣服。裨販如來。造種種業。非濟世舟航也。地獄種子爾。縱饒彌勒下生出得頭來。身已陷銕圍百刑之痛。非一朝一夕也。若今為之者。或百或千至於萬計形服而已。篤論其中何有哉。所謂鷙翰而鳳鳴也。碌碌之石非玉也。蕭敷艾榮非雪山忍草也。國家度僧本為祈福。今反責以丁錢示民。於僧不然。使吾徒不足待之之至也。只如前日育王璉。永安嵩。龍井淨。靈芝照。一狐之棭自餘千羊之皮。何足道哉。於戲佛海穢滓。未有今日之甚也。可與智者道。難與俗人言（師古曰。狐棭下之皮。輕柔難得。萬雋作掖）。

The Head Monk Xiyan, whose courtesy name was Shengtu, was of a resolute and upright nature. Versed in both internal and external learning, he maintained himself with integrity and moral character. Having concluded his itinerant travels, he retired to his old cottage; his steps never entered mundane affairs, and he often sat in peaceful meditation behind closed doors. Unless one's conduct was noble and pure, he would not associate with them. Prominent gentlemen and nobles repeatedly invited him to various monasteries, but he resolutely declined to respond. At that time, there was a postulant named Can who had already wished to become a monk and attended at his side. Yan recognized that he was not the vessel [for it], and composed an 'Essay Resolving Difficulties' to reject him, saying: 'None knows a son like his father, and none knows a father like his son. A person like my Can is already not a vessel for monastic life. For pravrajyā to become a monk—is that a trifling matter? It is not to seek ease and comfort; it is not to seek warmth and satiety; it is not to seek name and gain upon a snail's horn. It is for birth and death; it is for sentient beings; it is to sever defilements, transcend the ocean of the traidhātuka, and continue the wisdom-life of the Buddhas! We are far removed from the holy times, and the Buddha-Dharma is in great decay—how dare you act so rashly? The Ratnarāśi-sūtra says: "If a bhikṣu does not cultivate the Dharma of a bhikṣu, throughout the great trichiliocosm there is no place [worthy of] his spit." The Tonghui lu says: "If one becomes a monk and does not participate in the affairs of the ten categories [of illustrious monks], will the Buddha's followers not find it difficult to have striven in vain for a hundred years?" Viewed from this perspective, I have improperly mingled in the ranks of the Saṅgha, bringing reproach upon the Buddha; how much more so if you were to do it! Furthermore, in undergoing pravrajyā to become a monk, if one does not know the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings, nor the Way of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius; if one is blind to cause and effect and does not comprehend one's own nature; if one does not know the hardships of sowing and reaping, nor reflects on the difficulty of consuming the offerings of faith, but merely drinks alcohol and eats meat, breaks the fasting rules and violates the precepts, acts as an itinerant or sedentary merchant, commits theft, debauchery, and gambling, and covets monastery quarters and coming and going in carriages, merely pampering one's own self—how lamentable! Having a body of six feet yet being devoid of wisdom, the Buddha calls him a foolish monk. Having a three-inch tongue yet being unable to preach the Dharma, the Buddha calls him a mute-sheep monk. Resembling a monk yet not a monk, resembling a layperson yet not a layperson, the Buddha calls him a bird-rat monk, or also a shaven-headed householder. Thus the Śūraṅgama states: "Why do thieves don my robes, trafficking in the Tathāgata and creating various karmas?" They are not vessels to ferry the world across, but merely seeds of the hells. Even if Maitreya descends to be born and they can poke their heads out, their bodies will have already been plunged into the agonies of the hundred tortures of the Iron Enclosure, not for a single morning or evening. As for those who do it nowadays, counted by the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands, they merely have the appearance and vestments! Frankly speaking, what is within them? They are what is called "having the feathers of a hawk yet uttering the cry of a phoenix." Rough stones are not jade; luxuriant mugwort and wormwood are not the patience-grass of the Snowy Mountains. When the state ordained monks, it was originally to pray for blessings; nowadays, on the contrary, it levies poll taxes on them to show the people that monks are no different, causing our order to be held in the utmost contempt. Just consider Master Lian of Yuwang, Song of Yong'an, Jing of Longjing, and Zhao of Lingzhi in past days: they were a patch of fur under a fox's armpit, while the rest are skins of a thousand sheep—how are they worth mentioning? Alas! The defilement of the ocean of the Buddha has never been worse than today! This may be spoken to the wise, but is difficult to discuss with worldlings.' (Shigu says: 'The fur under a fox's armpit is light, soft, and hard to obtain. Wanjun writes it as 掖.')