宋高僧傳 28.36

28.36

修有多門，行有眾路。大約望檀波羅蜜多，令度無極也。始則「人天福行」，施食與漿，橋梁義井。次則「輪王行」，中、下品善。上品十善者，則「梵天福行」也。一造偷婆，二補修故寺，三請佛轉法輪。次則「二乘淨福行」，同三品善，止自利功強耳。次「究盡位福行」，乃成二嚴，莊嚴相好。從三輪無礙，見萬法體空，獲利殊多，盡未來際。夫如是，福之廣矣！大矣！乃知聖者為福則易爾。何耶？純淨之故也。凡夫則反是，易薰染之故也。是以佛亦為穿針之福，知福不宜厭焉。目連然燎，迦葉蹋泥，無盡意貢瓔珞寶珠，沓婆羅分僧臥具。伊皆大人有作，聖者權方，欲其因罪不厭除，福不厭取。矧以教傳嶺外，法布中原，年所彌深，行持漸薄，內眾修福，就彼持門，先哲息愆，行其懺法矣。夫修「理懺」也，淡慮觀心，心無所生，生無所住。當爾之時，順違無相，則罪滅福生之地也。若行「事懺」也，心憑勝境，境引心增，念念相資，綿綿不斷，禮則五輪投地，悔則七聚首心，或期瑞而證知，乃見罪滅之相也。昔者齊太宰作淨住法，梁武帝懺六根門，澄照略成《住法圖》，真觀廣作《慈悲懺》。至乎會昌年內，玄暢大師請修加《一萬五千佛名經》，是以兩京禮經，則口唱低頭，檛磬一聲，謂之「小禮」。自淮以南，民間唯禮《梁武懺》，以為佛事。或數僧唄𠽋，歌讚相高，謂之「禳懺法」也。其有江表行水懺法者，悔其濫費過度之愆，此人偽造，非真法也。又有斆古人逐字禮《華嚴》、《法華》經，以為禮無漏法藏也。由此有四眾之徒，於字上安「南無」，字下安「佛」，誠叨濫也。

Cultivation has many gates, and practice has numerous paths. Broadly speaking, one looks to dāna-pāramitā to bring about deliverance to the infinite. First is the 'meritorious practice of humans and devas', giving food and drink, building bridges and digging charity wells. Next is the 'practice of the wheel-turning king', consisting of middling and lower wholesome deeds. The superior ten wholesome deeds constitute the 'meritorious practice of Brahmā': first, constructing stūpas; second, repairing old temples; third, requesting the Buddhas to turn the wheel of the Dharma. Next is the 'pure meritorious practice of the two vehicles', which is identical with the three grades of wholesome deeds, differing only in the greater force of self-benefiting efficacy. Next is the 'meritorious practice of the ultimate stage', which accomplishes the two adornments, adorning the major and minor marks. From the unimpeded three wheels, seeing the empty nature of all phenomena, it obtains manifold benefits extending to the ends of the future. Thus, how vast is merit! How great it is! Then one knows that for the noble ones, performing meritorious deeds is easy. Why is that? Because they are purely clean. Ordinary persons are the opposite, because they are easily defiled. Therefore, even the Buddha engaged in the merit of threading a needle, knowing that one should not tire of merit. Maudgalyāyana lit lamps, Kāśyapa trod mud, Akṣayamati offered jeweled necklaces, and Dabba Mallaputta assigned bedding to the saṅgha. These were all deeds of great beings and skillful means of the noble ones, who wished that due to past sins one would never tire of expelling them, and with respect to merit one would never tire of gathering it. Moreover, as the teaching spread south of the ridges and the Dharma was disseminated in the Central Plains, the passing years have grown ever deeper, and practice has gradually waned. The monastic assembly cultivates merit by adopting that gate of observance; the ancient sages eradicated faults by practicing repentance rituals. In practicing the 'principle repentance', one calms one's thoughts and contemplates the mind: the mind has nothing that arises, and what arises has nowhere to abide. At that very time, compliance and defiance are without characteristics; this is the realm where sins are extinguished and merit is born. If practicing the 'phenomenal repentance', the mind relies on superior objects, and the objects induce the mind to intensify; thought after thought supports one another in an unbroken stream. In homage, the five wheels touch the ground; in repentance, the head and heart reflect on the seven categories of offenses. Or, expecting auspicious signs as confirmation, one sees the signs of sin being eliminated. Formerly, the Grand Mentor of Qi composed the Pure Abiding Method, Emperor Wu of Liang repented for the gates of the six sense faculties, Chengzhao abbreviated it into the Chart of Abiding Methods, and Zhenguan expanded it into the Compassion Repentance. When it came to the Huichang era, Grand Master Xuanchang requested the addition and compilation of the Sūtra of Fifteen Thousand Buddha Names. Thus, when paying homage to scriptures in the two capitals, they would chant aloud and bow their heads, striking the chime once, which was called the 'Lesser Homage'. South of the Huai River, the common people only practiced the Liang Emperor Wu's Repentance as their Buddhist service. Or several monks would chant melodies, vying with one another in singing hymns, calling it the 'Apotropaic Repentance Method'. As for those who practiced the Water Repentance Method in the Jiangbiao region, repenting the faults of wasteful extravagance, this was forged by someone and was not the authentic Dharma. There are also those who emulate the ancients by bowing character by character to the Avataṃsaka and Lotus sūtras, regarding it as homage to the undefiled treasury of the Dharma. Because of this, there are disciples of the fourfold assembly who place 'Namo' above each character and 'Buddha' below each character, which is truly an excessive transgression.