緇門警訓 2.45

2.45

I have often considered that among all sufferings, the suffering of illness is the deepest; among the acts of cultivating merit, visiting the sick is the foremost. For this reason, the ancients regarded having an illness as a kalyāṇamitra, and instructed people that nursing the sick is a field of merit. This is why monastic communities establish [facilities] for the elderly and sick. Nowadays, monastic communities gather assemblies; whenever anyone is ill, they send them to the Hall for Examining Conduct. It is not only to cultivate self-examination and reform conduct so as to ward off illness, but also with the wish that when the crowd has dispersed, in the stillness of the night, while a solitary lamp shines alone, one may investigate and pursue the Great Matter. How could this be in vain? Since a hall prefect is appointed to oversee medicine and food, and the permanent property is also enjoined to fully provide what is needed, this is the regulation of the former Buddhas. In recent times it is not so: the hall is named 'Prolonging Life,' which is vulgar, crude, and non-canonical. The sick do not examine their own faults; nourishing the body contrary to proper methods, decoctions and medicines are recklessly administered, which instead results in chronic ailments, even to the point of severe illness. Those who do not attend the meditation hall so as to pursue negligence and leisure completely lose the purpose of establishing the hall and naming it. The title of hall prefect exists in name but is neglected in reality, or he treats them like strangers on the road; the permanent property is pressed for daily expenses and shows no compassion or care at all. This, moreover, loses the intention of upāsakas in caring for the elderly and sick. Consequently, the groans and pains of the patients increase day by day to an extreme. The fault lies with those people; this is not the fault of the Tathāgata. Even if there are relatives and friends who visit the sick, they are generally just fellow villagers and old acquaintances; since the mind is not universal, affairs suddenly go amiss. Now, the sick quarters at Falun have been splendidly renewed, for there are dedicated practitioners who have accomplished everything in every detail; nothing can be criticized. Only, what should the patients themselves do? Examining oneself and reflecting on one's misdeeds—any person of discernment in the world can reach this. In the sphere of a patch-robed monk, directly cutting through the crux of the moment: precisely at the time of headache and feverish forehead, one must recognize the one that is agitated; in the midst of cries of grievance and calls of pain, one must comprehend the thoroughly weary mind. Secretly and closely investigate: who is it that receives the illness? Since the person cannot be found, from where does the illness come? When person and illness are both gone, what thing is this again? Even if you see it clearly, it is just the right time to nurture and nurse it.