緇門警訓 4.4

4.4

The Zichi cites the Bodhisattvabhūmi-śāstra: 'A bodhisattva first, regarding all the requisites and implements possessed, because they are not pure, with a pure mind relinquishes them to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, just as a bhikṣu takes his present robes and goods and relinquishes them to his upādhyāya, ācārya, and others.' The Nirvāṇa Sūtra states: 'Although permitted to receive and keep them, one must perform the declaration of purity toward devout donors.' Nowadays, those who study and lecture devote themselves exclusively to profit and fame, feeling no shame over the five wrongful livelihoods and keeping many of the eight impure things. Merely following floating customs, how could they bear in mind the holy words? From descending the ordination platform through many summer retreats, as for the practice of purity, not a drop has touched their persons! How could they know that the requisites of their daily use are nothing but defiled objects, and that what accumulates in their chests and bags is all transgressive wealth? Despising the Dharma and deceiving their own minds, they bring sorrow upon themselves. Those who study the Vinaya knowingly transgress, while those of other traditions are scarcely worth mentioning. Who knows that retribution follows the mind's making? Who believes that the fruit is tied to the seed? In the present life one sees the kāṣāya separate from the body; in the future, iron sheets will wrap around the body. If born as a human, one will be born into poverty with soiled, filthy clothes; if born as an animal, one will fall into impurity with foul-smelling feathers and fur. Moreover, both the Great and Lesser Vehicles alike speak of the method of declaring purity. If one harbors deep faith, how could one dread practicing it? Therefore, Chan Master Jingxi states in the Fuxing ji: 'Someone said: "Regarding all possessions, if one considers them not to be one's own things and simply uses them where there is benefit, what need is there to perform the declaration of purity?" Now I ask: since you regard them as not your own property, why not leave them open to the four seas? Since you use them wherever there is benefit, why not hand them directly over to the two fields (the field of compassion and the field of reverence), rather than locking them in inner rooms and sealing them in bags and chests? If you truly harbor the thought that they belong to another, using them will certainly incur an offense (the offense of theft). If you suddenly consider them your own property, you still violate the declaration of purity. If you perform the declaration of purity and then bestow them, what hindrance is there to principle? Leaving matters to one's own clinging mind, later generations will imitate it. Therefore, know that those who do not perform the declaration of purity deeply run contrary to the Buddha's intent. They are not encompassed by either of the two vehicles, nor gathered in by the three faculties. If one goes forth from household life like this, is it not an utter waste? Alas!'