北山錄 8.4.1

8.4.1

The square baskets, round baskets, meat stands, and offering chalices (all being ancestral temple sacrificial vessels), their systems and adornments, are the implements of propriety. Ascending, descending, going up and down, circling about, wearing coarse coats and outer robes (a coarse coat is an overcoat made of fur. The Liji says: 'When overcoating where one should not enter the duke's gate, one must add a coarse coat over it; fox-white fur robes and patterned garments are covered with a coarse coat, which is this') are the outer patterns of propriety. Bells, drums, flutes, and stone chimes (bells are metal, drums are hide, flutes are bamboo, and stone chimes are stone), pheasants' feathers, flutes, shields, and battle-axes (feathers are pheasant-feather standards; flutes are like pipes with three holes, these being the rites of the civil dance; shields are bucklers, and battle-axes are jade axes and broadaxes, these being the rites of the martial dance) are the implements of music. Bending and stretching, bowing and looking up, the positions and movements, slow and fast, are the outer patterns of music. Set these aside, and propriety and music fall into ruin. Copying scriptures, painting, carving, incense tables, and Dharma lecterns are the implements of the Way and Virtue. Shaving the head, baring the shoulder, prostrating, circumambulating, meditation, lecturing, fasting, and upholding the precepts are the outer patterns of the Way. Relax these, and the Way and Virtue wane (to relax is to abandon; to wane is to be hidden). When the Buddha ascended to Trāyastriṃśa for three months (seven days after the Buddha was born, Māyā was reborn in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; the Buddha went there to pass the summer retreat and expound the Dharma for his mother), King Udayana (the king of the Southern Sea) cherished verses of lamenting his non-return. Maudgalyāyana, taking thirty-two craftsmen, went to behold his marks and signs, and carved red sandalwood into an image. The king and the people of his country felt as though they stood face to face with the divine. The arising of establishing images began from this. When the Buddha first attained awakening, he dwelt beneath the King of Trees. Merchants presented food (when the Buddha first attained awakening, the elders Trapuṣa and Bhallika brought five hundred carts trading goods to the foot of the mountain; wind and rain were severe; the mountain deity told them: 'The Tathāgata has attained awakening, you may go and make offerings,' whereupon they came to the mountain) and requested to be shown how to generate merit. The Great Sage bestowed upon them his hair and nail clippings, ordering them to return to their country and raise a stūpa. The arising of stūpas and shrines began from this. Over a year after attaining awakening, his transformative power spread like the wind. He descended upon Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa and entered the great city of Rājagṛha (translated here as 'Supreme Residence,' governed by Bimbisāra). King Bimbisāra led the officials, scholars, and commoners under his rule to greet him in the suburbs and fields, and consequently dedicated the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove as a jeweled dwelling for the Buddha (Kalandaka is translated here as 'sweet-sounding bird.' Long ago, a king went hunting and fell asleep beneath a tree; a great snake emerged from the tree about to sting that king; this bird cried mournfully to awake the king; consequently he gave away this grove for the birds to dwell in; now the king gave it away to build a monastery; some say Kalandaka is a squirrel, which is incorrect). The Buddha ordered that it be a residence for the saṅgha. The arising of saṅghārāmas began from this. The true Dharma has two aspects: namely, teaching and realization. Teaching relies on upholding and explaining; realization lies in cultivation and practice. If one does not uphold it, the true texts will be lacking. If one does not explain it, the ultimate principle will be obstructed. If one does not cultivate it, the noble lineage will be severed. Thus Vasubandhu said: 'The Dharma has no long or short duration; it abides in the world following three persons (the three persons are the masters of sūtra, vinaya, and abhidharma; also, the three persons of upholding, explaining, and realization).' When the persons are present, the Dharma is present; when the persons perish, the Dharma perishes. Some say that the periods of the true and semblance Dharma are a thousand years, and the final age ten times that; this merely raises the general limits to indicate its flourishing and ruin in the world. Others note that the Great Sage said: 'If there are assemblies that recite the precepts in accordance with the Dharma, then my Dharma will abide.' Because Vinaya masters maintain the Vinaya, the lifespan of the Buddha's Dharma abides for five thousand years (the Precept Scripture says: 'If one does not maintain the prohibitive precepts and perform the poṣadha as should be done, it is likened to the setting of the sun, when the whole world becomes dark and gloomy'). This is merely citing the benefit to manifest encouragement. Therefore, the sūtras, vinaya, and treatises are the root teachings for maintaining the Dharma, and the saṅgha's property and food are the meritorious deeds for maintaining the Dharma. When the teachings are pursued diligently, the Dharma assembly flourishes; when meritorious deeds are proclaimed, the Golden Realm is well-ordered. Thus the ultimate Way remains pure, noble, and consolidated in flavor without scattering, like the Great Broth in the cauldron (the broth used in sacrifices at the ancestral temple; it is not seasoned with the five flavors, hence the Zuo zhuan says: 'The Great Broth is not seasoned'), and the spiritual deities descend with blessings. These are the regulations for maintaining the Dharma. When the Three Learnings are greatly illuminated in heaven, virtue is as light as a wild goose feather (kong means greatly; you means light; this means the brilliance of what is practiced is lifted as lightly as a wild goose feather). When humans think to embrace the goodness of the Way, it can endure for a long time. To wish for the true wind and dark lineage to suffer decline throughout the world would likewise be impossible. The administrative monks in the Western Regions are collectively called karmadāna; in this land, they are the karmadāna (weina), and are also addressed as 'assembly gladdeners.' In that land, it is exceedingly difficult to fill this position; first, the sages summon the worthy, and the benevolent come next (the weina is the monk in charge of affairs; in the Western countries, seeking one is extremely difficult; they mostly appoint worthy men to it, and benevolent men are second to them). Yet as for the sages of the Central Realm, they do not make themselves manifest through sagehood; they rely solely on virtue and conduct, seeking it within themselves. If one relies on those without constancy or who make light promises, there will surely be deficiency (if one employs those who are inconstant and frivolous, faith will be deficient, and there will be neither beginning nor end). Not only does one fear overturning the cauldron's broth (su means broth-dregs), but they also indeed spoil their kind. Therefore, rather than assigning the duty to those who are unprincipled and causing the lower people to be influenced by them, it would be better to become a den of thieves (those who take charge of the saṅgha's fields, not having the talent and capacity, merely covet wealth and goods, and do not attend to repairs; it is like assigning an official position to the wrong person, so that provinces and counties are not governed; dwelling in a den of robbers is not worse than this). When the Buddha was in the world, Mahākāśyapa led the assembly at Vulture Peak, and Śāriputra oversaw affairs at the Bamboo Grove. Dabba Mallaputta attained arhatship at the age of sixteen; afterwards, reflecting that his physical body was not durable, he requested to take charge of saṅgha affairs. The Great Sage, pitying his sincere aspiration (yuan means prudent and sincere), ordered the saṅgha to appoint him. Being diligent in his duties, regarding clothing and food he was so untiring that he had no leisure; putting external matters first and himself second, he led and exhorted his dark companions (xu means harmony; 'dark companions' refers to the monks), and his fame spread throughout the eight directions. The August Awakened One praised his fine achievements and extolled him, saying: 'Among my disciples who oversee rooms, bedding, and assignments to invitations for meals for the saṅgha, Dabba Mallaputta is foremost.' In Jibin, there was the Elder Dharmatrāta, who cooked with his own hands in the saṅgha's kitchen. Two visiting monks, wishing to pay their respects from afar, did not know him at first. Approaching, they asked him, 'Where does the Great Sage of eminent virtue dwell now?' Dharmatrāta pointed and said, 'He resides in that topmost chamber.' The two monks followed his words and were about to go, but Dharmatrāta immediately used his spiritual powers to return first to his original seat. When the monks arrived afterwards, they silently realized he was the one they had seen before. After touching his feet in veneration, they asked: 'The Venerable One's name fills Jambudvīpa; why do you personally burn firewood and kindling (zhan means to burn; large pieces are called firewood, small ones kindling) and undertake such menial labor?'