[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [勅修百丈清規](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025) › 5.31 # 勅修百丈清規 5.31 勅修百丈清規 5.31 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5.31) 登壇受戒 > they line up before the altar of the guardian bodhisattva. After a bow and > > offering incense, they perform three prostrations with fully opened sitting > > cloth and, without folding up their sitting cloths, step forward and say: > > So-and-so and others have been granted permission to join the com- > > munity of the practice hall. Today, we come to present ourselves here > > by following the honorable practitioners. We cannot help feeling a > > sense of humble hesitation. > > They again perform three prostrations and say: > > On this day and at this auspicious moment, we respectfully wish that > > all is well and felicitous with the abbot, master of the temple, who > > sponsored our ordination, as well as the venerable primary seat offi- > > cial and all of the Zen masters. > > Stepping back, they perform another three prostrations and fold up their sitting cloths. Lining up before the abbot, they bow in unison toward him, and turn to proceed on a round through the hall, starting from the seat of the primary seat official. On reaching the outer hall, they return to mid-hall, bow to the guardian bodhisattva’s altar, and leave the hall. After that, they return to the hall to conduct the rite of opening their assigned space in the hall and chant along with the practitioners. > > 5. Ascent to the Platform to Receive > > the Mahayana Precepts under Oath > > It is said that all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future realized the path through renouncing the secular world. All the patriarchs who transmitted the seal of the Buddha mind (foxinyin) through successive generations are, without exception, homeless mendicants (śramaṇas or bhikṣus). Because they strictly maintained the codes of the Vinaya discipline and prevailed well in the three worlds, it goes without saying that the vow to maintain the precepts and discipline is the prerequisite for the practice of Zen and for the pursuit of the path. Unless one dissociates oneself from transgression and prevents oneself from engaging in unethical conduct, how could anyone become a Buddha or a patriarch? > > In order to receive the precepts under oath, a candidate should prepare three kinds of robes, an almsbowl, and new clean garments. If he has nothing new, he may substitute used ones which have been washed thoroughly > > and cleaned for the occasion of completing the rite of ascending the Dharma platform. Entering the elevated sitting platform area of the Dharma hall, he must concentrate on receiving the precepts under oath and refrain from diverting his attention elsewhere. Wearing the same attire as did the Buddha, upholding the same body of precepts and disciplines as did the Buddha, and enjoying the practical consequences as did the Buddha—all this is not at all a minor matter and must not be taken lightly. If someone uses another’s robes and bowl on loan or lets someone else use his own, even though he may ascend the platform and receive the precepts under oath he has not really received them at all, and though he has become a practitioner in external form but has not been endowed with the precepts internally, he is thus like someone who has placed himself at an empty gate and eats up the donor’s gifts for nothing. Those who have already received the precepts attributed to the path of śrāvakas (disciples of the Hinayana tradition) must receive the Mahayana precepts of the path of bodhisattvas. This is the gradual procedure to enter the religion. > > 6. Steadfast Adherence to the Precepts > > After receiving the \[sacramental conferment of\] the precepts, one must be determined to uphold the rules at all times—even to the extent of being willing to die for the Dharma rather than live without it. One is obliged to know in detail the types of offenses, the methods of discharging them, and the methods of preventing them from arising. One should learn in detail what rules one ought to comply with and what offenses one ought to avoid through reading the Vinaya in Four Divisions (Dharmaguptaka-vinaya; Sifenlü) as to its detailed rules and offenses: > > 1. The four grave offenses or “defeats” (pārājika; boluoyi); > > 2. The thirteen offenses requiring temporary suspension from the sangha (saṃghāvaśeṣa; sengqieposhisha); > > 3. The two indeterminable offenses concerned with encountering the opposite sex (aniyatau; buding); > > 4. The thirty offenses of expiation requiring forfeiture (naiḥsargikaḥ pāyattikā; nisagi); > > 5. The ninety offenses requiring expiation (pātayantika; boyiti); > > 6. The four offenses requiring confession (pratideśanīyāni; boluotisheni); > > 7. The one hundred minor offenses concerned with the rules of training and conduct (śaikṣakaraṇīya; zhongxue); > > 8. The seven offenses concerned with the ways for settling legal disputes (adhikaraṇaśamathā; miezheng); > > 9. The ten grave offenses of the Mahayana precepts prescribed in the Brahmajāla-sūtra (zhongjinjie); and > > 10. The forty-eight minor offenses of the Mahayana precepts prescribed in the same sutra (qingjie). > > In addition, one must read these sources and thereby become well informed about the offenses in detail, so as to know what a given case might be. One should not fall uncritically into mediocre notions but should be cautious by referring to the real words of the Buddha. > > One must not partake of improper food (buyingshi). (There are three kinds: 1) alcohol, 2) spicy vegetables, and 3) animal flesh. Onions, leeks, garlic, scallions, coriander, and so on, are classified as the second spicy food, whereas various meats are classified as the last one. One should not partake of these kinds of food.) > > Nor should one partake of any food at a restricted period of time (bufeishishi). (No food is permitted other than rice gruel at breakfast and rice at the midday meal. Practitioners ought not to partake of any food at any other time in compliance with the time restrictions.) > > Monetary and sexual matters are a far more serious cause of misfortunes than poisonous snakes. One should most carefully stay away from them. It is important for Buddhist practitioners to think of sentient beings with compassion, just as one might feel about one’s infant child, to match one’s thought and words and speak truth with honesty, to read the Mahayana scriptures and nurture the strength of the vow of meritorious conduct. When one strives with one’s vow to realize a degree of purity in upholding the precepts, the Buddha-Dharma manifests itself in that person of its own accord. If there is no sheepskin in one’s possession, how is it possible to think of transmitting beautiful wool to anyone else? Therefore it is said in the sacred scripture that one must make an effort to keep one’s precepts spotlessly clean as if protecting a bright pearl with all one’s strength. > — Shohei Ichimura 2006, The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations - [Previous: 5.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5.30) - [Next: 5.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5.32) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5) ## Translations (2) - [The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.5.31) — Shohei Ichimura 2006, English - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.5.31) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.5.31) · Pramāṇa