緇門警訓 7.32

7.32

On a certain day of a certain month and year, Bhikṣu Yuanzhao respectfully writes this letter to present to Chan Master Yuanzhao of Jingci. Formerly, Yuanzhao studied the Vinaya and learned the Buddha's regulations: a bhikṣu must be equipped with the three robes and one bowl, the niṣīdana, and the water strainer; these constitute the six items. The regulations command superior, middling, and inferior capacities to respect and uphold them; therefore, those who follow this gate must not casually transgress them. Transgressing them defies and opposes the high instructions, which is not what is meant by the way of master and disciple. What are the three robes? The first is called the saṅghāṭī, which is called the great robe; one wears it when entering a settlement to receive offerings, ascending the seat, and expounding the Dharma. The second is called the uttarāsaṅga, which is called the middle robe; one wears it when following the assembly in prostrations and chanting, and when entering the hall to receive food. The third is called the antarvāsa, which is called the lower robe; one wears it when travelling on the road and performing chores in the monastery. These three kinds of robes must take coarse, rough hemp or ramie as their fabric; blue-black or mulvāna (wood-orchid) to dye their colour; and three cubits by five cubits as their measure. They are cut to pieces and sewn back together to quell greedy desires; their strips and leaves are clearly divided to display the field of merit. Speaking of their form, the sages and worthies of the three vehicles share the same pattern; discussing their name, the ninety-six heterodox paths have never heard of it; recounting their virtue, humans are enabled to escape the sorrow of danger and calamity, and dragons who wear them flee the peril of the golden-winged birds. They are fully recorded in the great canon and cannot be cited in haste. The one bowl is called in full pātra, which here is translated as 'responsive vessel'. The two materials of iron and earthenware accord with the Dharma; the colour, smoked to a glossy dark green, accords with the Dharma; the capacity of three dou or one and a half dou accords with the Dharma. It is truly the emblem of all buddhas and not a utensil for palaces and courts. Formerly, Kāśyapa Tathāgata transmitted it to our fundamental master Śākyamuni; what the Treatise on Wisdom calls the thirteen-strip coarse cloth saṅghāṭī is this. When he approached parinirvāṇa, he dispatched the Venerable Drinker of Light (Mahākāśyapa) to carry it to Mount Kukkuṭapāda to await Maitreya. By this we see what all buddhas honour. When the Patriarch Master came to the West, it was transmitted across six generations to show that the succession to the Dharma had an origin; this is also what all patriarchs esteemed. Now, there was a monk under my lectures named Zaiyuan, who had upheld these regulated items for a number of years. Recently, he died of illness. As he was about to depart this life, he entrusted me to present his robe, bowl, and niṣīdana to you, Chan Master, truly relying on your compassionate shade to support his journey in the dark paths. Respectfully I consider that the Chan Master's way surpasses former worthies, and your virtue gathers all beings. Monks and laypeople flock like ants in admiration, and those near and far rush like clouds. No monastery in the world is as prosperous as this. I venture to say that affairs are promoted according to the time, and the Way relies on men for its propagation. If I may truly receive your high eminence briefly condescending to comply with my humble wish and consenting to accept them to specially uphold them, then the strict regulations of the Great Sage can be practised, and the remaining style of all the patriarchs will not fall away. I respectfully send a monk carrying the robe, bowl, and other items, five things in all, and write this letter to convey my meaning. Whether permissible or not, I leave it entirely to the Chan Master's discretion. Respectfully unstated. (According to the Sarvāstivāda, the three robes are five cubits long and three cubits wide; each cubit is one chi eight cun. According to the Ji Zhou measure, the length is nine chi and the width is five chi four cun.)