廣弘明集 26.49

26.49

Your disciple Xiao Yan again respectfully addresses the venerable monks and nuns, all doctrinal scholars, and all monastery officers: Your disciple Xiao Yan, before all the Buddhas of the ten directions, before all the honored Dharma of the ten directions, and before all the noble Saṅgha of the ten directions, joins with all the monks and nuns in making a covenant. After the monastic assembly returns to their monasteries today, each must inspect and restrain [their subordinates] so that they conform to the Buddha's teachings. If anyone again drinks wine or eats meat contrary to the Dharma, your disciple will punish and interrogate them according to the secular law. If monks and nuns wear the robes of the Tathāgata but do not perform the deeds of the Tathāgata, they are nominal monks, no different from thieves and robbers. Such practitioners are still registered commoners within your disciple's state; today, the royal power is sufficient to punish and interrogate them. Whether they are detected by external officials or reported from within the monastery itself, regardless of age or the number of disciples, your disciple will order the monastery officers to assemble the monastic community, strike the gaṇḍī, make them renounce the precepts, return to lay life, and wear household clothing, and, in accordance with the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, put them to labor as laity. I will take only the elderly and seniors, and those with the most disciples; these two kinds of people are most fitting to be interrogated first. Why is this? Punishing a minor monk of no conduct is insufficient to reform people's hearts; punishing such a great monk is sufficient to alarm the eyes and ears [of the world]. I presume that famous and virtuous great monks should not engage in this; if they do, they will be punished and interrogated according to the Dharma. Other minor monks naturally speak falsely. This assembly today is a matter of great cause and condition: not only are all the Buddhas here, not only is all the honored Dharma here, not only is all the noble Saṅgha here, but the devas must also fill empty space, the ṛṣis must also fill empty space, and the Four Heavenly Kings who protect the world must also be here. The secret-trace vajra-holders, the deity Mahāpratibhāna, the deity Śrīmahādevī, the deity Veda, the deity Viṣṇu, Maheśvara, General Saṃjñeya, the earth spirit Dṛḍhā, King Kapila, the King of Peacocks, King Fengtou, King Puṇyabhadra, King Asuraga, King Maṇibhadra, King Kumbhīra, the twenty-eight yakṣa kings of the ten directions, all the spell-holding spirit kings, and the great protectors of the six directions who dispatch messengers to pacify the realm—all such beings possessing great supernormal power and great awe-inspiring authority, all such good spirits, fill empty space. The nāga kings of the five directions—Sāgara Nāgarāja, Anavatapta Nāgarāja, Nanda Nāgarāja, Upananda Nāgarāja, Enamān Nāgarāja—all such bodhisattva nāga kings must also be fully present here. Devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharva kings, asura kings, garuḍa kings, kiṃnara kings, mahoraga kings, humans, non-humans, and the like—all such beings possessing great supernormal power and great awe-inspiring authority, the kings of the eight classes of spirits—must all be here. The local spirits of the land, mountains, rivers, and shrines of today must also pack empty space. Thus, none in both the hidden and visible realms fail to witness and observe this. Only one who is flawless may punish others; only one who is pure oneself may purify others. When your disciple openly speaks of this matter today, the monks and nuns will surely show discontent. Even if I were to carve out my heart and cast it to the ground to show the saṅgha, I could not gain their trust over a few slices of meat. An ancient said: 'It is not knowledge that is difficult; it lies in putting it into practice.' Although your disciple Xiao Yan is a householder and does not keep the precepts, today I shall first take a vow myself to make my original heart clear: From this day forth until I reach the bodhimaṇḍa, if your disciple Xiao Yan drinks wine, is heedless, gives rise to lustful desires, engages in deceitful lying, or devours sentient beings, even down to drinking milk and honey, or consuming clarified butter and curd, may all powerful ghosts and spirits first severely punish Xiao Yan's body, and then deliver me to King Yama of the hells to endure various sufferings, until all sentient beings have fully attained Buddhahood while your disciple Xiao Yan still remains in the Avīci Hell. If monks and nuns drink wine or eat fish and meat and do not repent of their faults, all powerful ghosts and spirits should likewise punish and interrogate them, so as to expand the assembly of good and purify the Buddha's path. If they have not yet been punished and interrogated by the hidden officials and are still in the world, your disciple Xiao Yan will punish and interrogate them in accordance with the law, driving them to return to lay life, giving them lay clothes, and putting them to labor as needed. I pray that the monks and nuns of the two assemblies today each return to their own monasteries to correct the Buddha-dharma and harmonize the contemporary community, so that all who hear the sūtras and Dharma cultivate in accordance with the teachings; they must not again sever the seed of great compassion and cause the lineage of the Buddha's sons to be broken off. If there are those who violate the law and break the precepts, they shall all be punished and interrogated according to the monastic regulations and the Dharma. If there are those who harbor them and do not prosecute or report them, they will conversely be held guilty of the offense.