勅修百丈清規 8.59

8.59

Rites are the great constant of the world and the articulation of human feelings. Adapting and modifying, increasing or decreasing to suit the times, the human feelings of past and present obtain fundamental norms and institutions to gauge the Way, and thus the great constant of heaven and earth endures. Furthermore, our Sage regarded the prātimokṣa as life-span, and the Baizhang pure rules emerged from this. This is indeed the great constant of monastic etiquette and law. Yet from the Tang down to the present it has been nearly five hundred years; customs have repeatedly shifted and human feelings are not the same, so how could talk of adapting, modifying, increasing, or decreasing be avoided? In recent times, the two ancestors Dachuan and Xiaoweng preached the Way at South and North Mountains, and the daily rules flourished in their generation. In the wuyin year of Zhiyuan, I relied on Upādhyāya Shilin at Nanping and was still able to witness their remaining customs and lingering impact. When West Hall Youyun Ming produced a manuscript copy he had kept, I investigated, inquired, and compiled it into volumes. When the composition of this book began, some took a monk's receiving the precepts as the head, while others took the abbot's entering the monastery as the head. In the renwu year, I relied on my late master Jue'an at Chengtian and inquired day and night; thus, I was able to place the two ceremonies of praying for the emperor's longevity and the Tathāgata's descent and birth at the very front. The remaining sections were categorized and gathered into ten fascicles. Yet I did not dare transmit it to students. In the summer of the bingxu year, I stayed at Xuedou; West Hall Qianfeng Wan discussed its details. In the spring of the dinghai year, Upādhyāya Xixi Ze corrected its errors. What I gained from seeing and hearing was ripe indeed, yet I still felt ashamed at not having personally practiced it. In the summer of the renchen year, when I headed the assembly at Shuangjing, there were disputes over the hierarchy of seats during the minor-gathering tea service; various quarters often abolished it and did not perform it. On the grounds that the West Hall steps forward once, the Head Seat steps forward twice, the Prior steps forward three times, and the Rear Hall steps forward four times, while the Sutra Custodian, Karmadāna, Guest Master, and Attendants take their seats according to their offices, I requested Uncle Yunfeng to put this vigorously into practice, and upon its completion no one dared dispute it. In the yihai year of Yuanzhen, I filled a post at Tianning in Yongjia; in the gengzi year of Dade, I was appointed to Yongfu in Panyang; in the yisi year, I presided over Donglin on Mount Lu. In all cases, I practiced it without alteration. This approximates a middle path for human feelings. Yet compared to the ancient pure rules, does it not border on being cumbersome? After all, earthen clod mallets and clay drums cannot be sounded during an era when mouth organs and large bells play; soiled cups and simple drinks cannot be offered on days when sacrificial vessels are arrayed in rows. It is entitled 'Reserve Pure Rules for Chan Groves', meaning they are kept in reserve and not all used. 'Those who know me or condemn me will do so only on account of the Spring and Autumn Annals.' Written by Yixian of Donglin on Mount Lu, in the autumn of the xinhai year of Zhida.