勅修百丈清規 5.35

5.35

III. Necessary Articles Required

for the Practice of the Path

When one wishes to enter the life of a Zen monastery or temple, he must

aquire a set of necessary articles (literally, “tools,” daoju) for pursuit of the

path. It is said in the Collection of Middle-length Discourses (Madhyama

Āgama; Zhongahanjing) that items that must be kept in one’s possession or

anything that helps in the practice of the path are called “tools for the path”

as well as “tools for enhancing the good Dharma.” In the Sutra on the Bodhi-

sattva Precepts (Bodhisattva-prātimokṣa-sūtra; Pusajiejing) such necessary

items are defined as “tools to help people and to accord with the Way.”

1. Three Kinds of Robes

In general, there are three kinds of robes: 1) the outer robe (saṃghāṭī; seng-

qieli) [namely, the large robe (dayi)]; 2) the upper robe (uttarāsaṃgha; yü-

duoluoseng), [namely, the robe made of seven strips of cloth (qitiao)]; and 3)

the inner robe (antarvāsaka; antuohui), [namely, the robe made of five strips

of cloth (wutiao)]. (These are called “triple robes.” Hence, it is wrong to call

the robe made of seven strips of cloth, the undergarment (pianshan), and the

loincloth (qun) together the “triple robes.” The large robe is again of three

kinds: 1) the greater one made of twenty-five, twenty-three, or twenty-one

strips of cloth; 2) the medium one made of nineteen, seventeen, or fifteen strips

of cloth, and 3) the lesser one made of thirteen, eleven, or nine strips of cloth.)

The origin of the “rice-paddy robe” (tianyi) is given in the Mahā-

saṃghika-vinaya (Mohesengqilü). The Buddha is said to have stayed one

day in front of Indra’s rock cave [near the city of Rājagṛha], and observed

that the rice field spread out below was neatly marked by ridges into precise

patterns. Thus, he is said to have explained to Ānanda that the robes of the

past Buddhas were all like that field, and thereupon suggested to him that his

disciples should model their robes after the pattern. The Record of the Rising

Splendor of the Tradition (Zenghuiji) gives an explanation as follows: The

rice field demarcated by ridges holds water and nourishes good rice seedlings,

which eventually nurture the human body and life. The Dharma robe as sym-

bolized by the rice field is moistened by water which gives four kinds of

benefits (i.e., boundless kindness, compassion, joy, and transcendence) and

raises rice seedlings comprising three kinds of good results (i.e., freedom from greed, hatred, and delusion). Thus, the robe symbolized by the rice field supports the life of wisdom which abides in the Dharma body.

2. The Sitting Cloth

This item is called niṣīdana (nishitan) in Sanskrit and “a cloth on which one takes seat as he wishes” (suizuoyi) in Chinese. In the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya (Genbenpinaiye), it is transliterated as “nishidanna” and translated in Tang Chinese as “zuoju,” or “equipment for seating.” According to the Vinaya in Five Divisions (Mahīśāsaka-vinaya; Wufenlü), it is “equipment” for protecting the body from the ground, keeping the robes as well as the monastic bedsheet from becoming soiled, and hence it is prescribed that “each monk should carry his own cloth for sitting.” The Mahāsaṃghikavinaya provides further information about the size of the cloth, as follows: its length should be twice the length of the Buddha’s arm, and its width one and a half times [the length of the Buddha’s arm]. (Since the length of the Buddha’s arm is two feet four inches in our scale, the sitting cloth should be four feet eight inches by three feet six inches.)

3. The Undergarment

As prescribed for monks in the Vinaya discipline (lüzhi), there was only an ancient garment, the saṃkakṣikā (sengqizhi). (This is called, in translation, “a cloth that covers the upper arm and shoulder,” and is also called “a cloth that covers the armpit.”)

The size of this robe is long enough to cover the left upper arm and rightside armpit. Perhaps it was a custom in ancient India that this garment was overlapped by the other three robes. Zhudaozu said in the Chronicle of the Wei Dynasty (Weilu) that the court officials of the Wei did not consider it proper for Buddhist monks to keep their right shoulder and arm exposed, and thus a one-shoulder garment, called piantan (“one-sided shoulder cover”), was made which was then patched on to the regular saṃkakṣikā, [thus covering the whole upper torso]. Accordingly, this was called pianshan. (That the garment we have today is open in the back but connected at the collar is a legacy of this Wei court order.)

4. The Loincloth

According to the Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions

(Datangxiyuji) [by Xuanzang], nifuxie[na]; (nivāsana) (here, xie is abbre-

viated from sanggeqie) was called in Tang Chinese qun. In other Vinaya

translations, it is rendered as niepanseng or nihuanseng, or, meaning “inner

garment” (neiyi), as chuiyi.

(The term chui meant in early times a boat or a round vessel in which

to keep rice. It was called chui because the loincloth looks like such a ves-

sel without its lid.)

5. The One-piece Garment

According to oral tradition, the priests of long ago felt that it was incon-

venient that some predecessors had an undergarment but no loincloth while

others had a loincloth but no undergarment. They were innovative in bring-

ing about the present-day form of the one-piece garment by combining both

into one. There was an episode in which Puhua, [a contemporary of Linji (d.

867)] begged for a one-piece garment made of wood [before he died]. Dayang

(941–1027) left a pair of leather shoes and a one-piece garment [as an inno-

vation for his disciples]. Hence, the garment in question was already in use

[as long ago as the Tang].

6. The Almsbowl

This is called boduoluo (pātra) in Sanskrit and yingliangqi in Chinese,

[meaning a vessel that can be used according to an individual’s need as to

quantity]. Here, bo is its shortened alternative. It is also called boyu, which

is a compound of Chinese and Sanskrit syllables (i.e., bo for pātra and yu,

which means “bowl” in Chinese]. The Sutra of the Collection of the Origi-

nal Acts of the Buddha (Buddhacaritasaṃgraha-sūtra; Fobenxingjijing) tells