緇門警訓 4.12

4.12

The text of the Commentary states: "The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya says: 'For the sake of knowing affairs and assemblies (knowing administrative tasks, appointing monks, assemblies for Dharma meals, etc.), one may study writing, but one must not, out of fondness for it, neglect one's vocation. One is not permitted to practice divination or physiognomy, nor to ask others about good or bad fortune.' The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya allows studying the recitation of literary documents, as well as studying worldly treatises in order to subdue non-Buddhists. In the miscellaneous rules, newly ordained bhikṣus are permitted to learn arithmetic. The Sarvāstivāda Vinaya says: 'To delight in composing verses and ornate phrases is frightful; one must not do it.' In the Vinayamātṛkā, the Buddha said: 'If I teach you a single phrase or verse, even down to future ages, whatever should be practiced, practice it; whatever should not be practiced, do not practice it. What is spoken by future bhikṣus is also like this.' The Record says: 'Writing, arithmetic, divination, secular classics, and literary compositions are all worldly dharmas, not the vocation of an ordained person. For specific causes and conditions, they are occasionally permitted.' Today's disciples of Śākya have lost both the name and reality: those who can write calligraphy call themselves 'Saints of Cursive Script'; those versed in secular classics style themselves 'Men of Letters'; those who select sites call it 'Geomancy'; those who practice divination call it 'The Three Fates.' How could they think that abandoning home to serve the Buddha means following the designations of the worldly current? Originally seeking to turn away from the world and transcend rebirth, they instead accumulate the karma of saṃsāra! Thus the Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa says: 'Studying non-Buddhist texts is like cutting mud with a knife: the mud is not fashioned into anything, yet the knife is blunted. It is also like gazing at the sunlight, which causes a person's eyes to go blind.' Yet among eminent monks of the past, many were also versed in diverse studies: some were skilled in cursive and clerical scripts, some excelled in prose and verse, some were famous for medicine, and some enjoyed renown in yin-yang. All of these meant that, having fully investigated the essentials, they touched on other traditions as a secondary matter, their aspirations being solely to protect, support, and help propagate Buddhist transformation. Thus the Bodhisattvabhūmi says: 'If it is for the sake of debate to destroy false views, then if two parts are sūtras and one part non-Buddhist texts, it is not an infraction.' The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya permits recitation; this is its meaning. Now, some buy fame and solicit gain, attaching themselves to influence and boasting of their abilities, their bodies mingled among the square robes while their minds are tainted by superficial vulgarity, squandering their entire lives in vain. How truly lamentable!"