佛祖統紀 33.43

33.43

I comment: The Miaole states, 'People in the world establishing [offerings to] the six destinies began when Emperor Wu of Liang saw many licentious sacrifices in Jiangdong (slaughtering living beings to sacrifice to evil spirits); he thus used similar Buddhist teachings to expediently replace them.' This was Jingxi taking the evil practice of sacrificial slaughter and contrasting it against the Buddha Dharma from one perspective, intending thereby to halt killing throughout the world; hence he did not discuss the meaning of equal offerings to the ten realms. The Flaming Mouth Scripture instructs making offerings to the Three Jewels, which are the four noble realms; offering to brāhmaṇas and ṛṣis, which is the human destiny; and offering to the flaming-mouth assembly, which is the ghost destiny. Although the remaining four destinies are not complete, this was because at that time the response to capacity was not universal; hence the scriptural text was concealed and abbreviated. If one is a Mahāyāna practitioner who completely contemplates the Dharma realm, one should rely on the meaning in the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra. As for Ciyun's statement that the ghost destiny receives food while the other five destinies do not, this opinion also employs the *Vibhāṣā-śāstra*, which states that through sacrificial offerings only ghosts and spirits receive it, while the other destinies cannot entirely receive it; this was spoken in reference to worldly sacrifices among humans. If one relies on the supramundane Dharma and cultivates unhindered offerings with an equanimous mind, one should look up to the texts of these three places—the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa, Nanyue, and Tiantai—and their principle will be found everywhere. Nowadays, some prepare small bushels called 'scattered libations', some prepare one giant bushel, and some reach up to forty-nine bushels; all are means to equally offer to the multitudinous classes of the six destinies. How could one not believe in it?