道宣律師感通錄 1.34

1.34

He also said: "The rise of ordination platforms today is what the Buddha esteemed. In the single monastery of Jetavana, three platforms were established at once. Two were in the Buddha's courtyard; only the Buddha ascended them, to assemble the Buddhas upon ascending the platform, and to discuss the establishment of precepts for monks and nuns. The one platform in the monks' courtyard was for those receiving the full precepts. It was an adorned separate chamber like Mount Sumeru; its divine radiant stone pillars were guarded without decline, reaching down to the water's edge, never submerged through the kalpas. To the east of Northern India, the features of a stone platform are presently seen. For what reason has Vinaya Master Hong now specially erected the form of a platform? Both devas and men, unseen and visible, all praise and rejoice in it." I replied: "I once saw the Southern Forest Ordination Platform in the monastic biographies, and mentally esteemed it; therefore I looked up to and modeled after it." He said: "How could it be only one place? Now, seeking deeply into what is hidden, there are very many in the south. In the beginning, formerly in the Liu Song, Guṇavarman established a platform at Caizhou. In the Jin, Dharmarakṣa established a platform at Waguan Temple. In the Jin, Zhi Daolin established a platform each at Shicheng and Fen. In the Jin, Zhi Facun established a platform at the hermitage of Xie Fu by the Ruoye Stream. Zhu Daoyi established a platform at Mount Dongting. Zhu Daosheng established a platform at Mount Huqiu in Wu. In the Song, Zhiyan established a platform at Upper Dinglin. In the Song, Huiguan established a platform at Shiliang Temple. In the Qi, Sengfu established a platform at Wuhu. In the Liang, Fachao established a platform at Nanjian. In the Liang, Sengyou established a platform at four places: Upper Yunju, Qixia, Guishan, and Aijing. Now the foundation of the four-story pagoda in Jingzhou, the foundation of the Changsha pagoda, and in the lake before Daming Temple—all are ordination platforms. Deciding by the facts today, from Yuzhou in Jiangyou downward, reaching south of the Yangzi and Huai rivers, calculating the ordination platforms altogether, there are more than three hundred in total. In Shandong, Hebei, Guannei, and Jiannan, the affair of ordination platforms was never broken off. That the Buddha-Dharma in the regions south of the Yangzi has not declined or retrograded for four or five hundred years up to now is due to the ordination platforms. Precepts are the beginning of the Dharma; when the root is established, it cannot be overturned. To the left and right of the northern river, their names were never heard; on this account, the Buddha-Dharma was thrice eradicated. Furthermore, south of the Yangzi and Han rivers, the mountains and rivers are magnificent and interlaced; those who see them forget to return, which is due to the nature of the land. Because people depend on their external faculties, their emotional intelligence is bright and discerning, and their bodies and minds are bold and keen. Thus they are able to examine and deliberate upon the Buddhist teachings, finding them deeply reliable, with nothing to doubt, and never to be forgotten or abandoned. In the Central Plains and between the Two Rivers, after the Jin house crossed south, the region was divided into sixteen states, encroaching on one another with martial ferocity; the three eliminations of the Buddha-Dharma were all due to the turmoil of the northern barbarians. Originally not a land of culture, they cut things off as their impulses dictated, having never taken a broad view. How could it be otherwise? Therefore, the raising of an ordination platform is the model and hallmark of sustaining [the Dharma]. When the saṃgha recites the precepts and confers the precepts, they all ascend it; when the affair is finished, they turn east, revolve to the left, and exit to the south to return." I said: "The sūtras all speak of turning clockwise, circumambulating clockwise, lying on the right side, and such marks. Why do you now speak of circumambulating to the left?" He replied: "Turning to the left is the constant nature of heaven; only humans turn to the right. Therefore the sun, moon, and stars all move to the left. The celestial wind shifts, and they consequently set in the west. Do you not see the birth of the new moon? At first it is in the west, and gradually moves east; it also sets in the west, gradually rising and turning east. Setting in the west is the turning of the wind. Creeping plants growing on the earth must coil to the left; this is the constant nature of heaven. Now, having things from the west follow the rotation of the sun and moon is human design. That the Buddha also followed turning to the left was because this land did not regard it as pure. Therefore the Tathāgata lay on his right side, head north and face west, looking toward his native birthplace and the region where the Buddha-Dharma would long circulate. He instituted that all monks lie on their right sides." Because of this, I asked him to bring forth the plan and image of Jetavana. He then took paper and drew the boundaries of each and every courtyard, describing their origins and developments on separate sheets, perhaps several sheets of paper. Before long, another deva came, saying his surname was Yao, and so forth.