勅修百丈清規 8.55

8.55

Although the precedents of the Chan gate have no two kinds of vinaya, the family tradition of patch-robed monks is a distinct standard. If one realizes its practical use while on the path, it is naturally lofty beyond the ordinary rules; if one faces a wall in whatever one encounters, it truly reduces people's admiration and respect. For this reason, consulting with bodhisattvas and gathering widely from all quarters, whatever was helpful to what is seen and heard has been fully set forth in the general framework. Alas, the news from Shaolin was already like gouging flesh to make a wound; the regulations of Baizhang may be called creating a special new endeavor. How much more so as monastic groves have proliferated, becoming increasingly intolerable, and with laws and decrees multiplying, affairs have become even more numerous! Nevertheless, to adorn the community and establish the banner of the Dharma, not a single one can be lacking among the gates of Buddha-affairs. It is just like the three cumulative precepts of the bodhisattva and the seven categories of offenses of the śrāvaka: how could establishing rules esteem complexity? It is simply setting forth teachings in accordance with capacity. It is hoped that beginners and later students will examine them well, and that those of superior virtue and high standing will deign to provide verification. Preface by Zongze, Abbot of the Shifang Hongji Chan Monastery in Zhending Prefecture, Transmission-of-the-Dharma Great Master Cijue, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the second year of Chongning.