緇門警訓 3.45

3.45

The Subcommentary states: "According to what is recounted in the Biographies of Monks, the two masters of Nanyue and Daoxiu did not wear silk or floss; both wore mugwort-floss. Therefore Vinaya Master Nanshan said: 'The Buddha Dharma has flowed eastward for nearly six hundred years; only this compassionate conduct of Mount Heng is worthy of refuge.' Nowadays, those engaged in Chan and lecturing call themselves Mahāyāna and do not restrict themselves by phenomenal forms; they compete in the beauty of patterned silks and gauze, vying in the brightness of purple and cyan, giving free rein to greedy desires and running contrary to the sacred teaching. Have they not heard that Hengyue wore only mugwort-floss to resist the wind and frost; Tiantai draped only a single patched robe for over forty years; Yongjia ate food not ploughed by oxen and wore clothing not spun from silkworm mouths; and Jingxi wore coarse cloth and lived on a single bed? Truly because they deeply understood the Mahāyāna, they exclusively revered ascetic practice. Please observe the virtues of the patriarchs and do not be contaminated by perverse trends; then, receiving the teachings and cultivating the body, you will be true disciples of the Buddha."