法苑珠林 48.69

48.69

敬謝諸弟子等。夫出家為道至重至難。不可自輕。不可自易。所謂重者。荷道佩德縈仁負義。奉持淨戒死而有幾。所謂難者。絕世離俗永割親愛。迴情易性不同於眾。行人所不能行。割人所不能割。忍苦受辱捐棄軀命。謂之難者。名曰道人。道人者。仁也。行必可履。言必可式。被服出家動為法則。不貪不諍不讒不匿。學問高遠志在玄默。是為名稱參位三尊出賢入聖。滌除精魂故。得君主不望其報父母不望其力。普天之人莫不歸𢯇。捐妻減養供奉衣食。屈身俯仰不辭勞役恨者。以其志行清潔通於神明。惔怕虛白可奇可貴。故自荒流道法遂替。新學之人未體法則。棄邪著正望其真實。以小黠為智。以小恭為足。飽食終日無所用心。退自推觀良亦可悲。計今出家。或有年歲。經業未通文字不決。徒喪一世無所成名。如此之事不可深思。無常之限非旦即夕。三塗苦痛無強無弱。師徒義深故以申示。有情之流可為永誡（其一曰）卿已出家永違所生。𩮜髮毀容法服加形。辭親之日上下洟零。割愛崇道意倰太清當遵此志經道修明。如何無心故存色聲。悠悠竟日經業不成。德行日損穢跡遂盈。師友慚恥凡俗所輕。如是出家徒自辱名。今故誨勵宜當專精（其二曰）卿已出家棄俗辭君。應自誨勵志果清雲。財色不顧與世不群。金玉不貴惟道為珍。約己守節甘苦樂貧。進德自度又能度人。如何改操趨走風塵。坐不暖席馳務西東。劇如徭役縣官所牽。經道不通戒德不全。朋友嗤弄同學棄捐。如是出家徒喪天年。今故誨勵宜各自憐（其三曰）卿已出家永辭宗族。無親無疎清淨無欲。吉則不歡凶則不哭。超然從容豁然離俗。志存玄妙軌真守樸。得度廣濟普蒙添福。如何無心仍著染觸。空靜長短銖兩斗斛。與世諍利何異僮僕。經道不明德行不足。如是出家徒自毀辱。今故誨示宜自洗浴（其四曰）卿已出家號曰道人。父母不敬帝王不臣。普天同奉事之如神。稽首致敬不計富貧。尚其清修自利利人。減割之重一米七斤。如何怠慢不能報恩。倚縱游逸身意虛煩。無戒食施死入太山。燒鐵為食融銅灌胭。如斯之痛法句所陳。今故誨約宜改自新（其五曰）卿已出家號曰息心。穢雜不著唯道是欽。志參清潔如玉如氷。當修經戒以濟精神。眾生蒙祐并度所親。如何無心隨俗浮沈。縱其四大恣其五根。道德遂淺世事更深。如是出家與世同塵。今故誡約幸自開神（其六曰）卿已出家捐世形軀。當務竭情泥洹合符。如何擾動不樂閑居。經道損耗世事有餘。清白不履反入泥塗。隙影之命或在須臾。地獄之痛難可具書。今故戒勵宜崇典謨（其七曰）卿已出家不可自寬。形雖鄙陋事行可觀。衣服雖麁坐起令端。飲食雖疏出言可飡。夏則耐暑冬能忍寒。能自守節不飲盜泉。不肖之聚足不望前。久處私室如臨至尊。學雖不多可齊上賢。如是出家足報二親。宗族知識一切蒙恩。今故誡汝宜各自敦（其八曰）卿已出家性有昏明。學無多少要在專精。上士坐禪中士誦經下士修龕塔寺經營。豈可殺日一無所成。立身無聞可謂唐生。今故誨汝宜自端情（其九曰）卿已出家永違二親。道法革性俗服離身。辭親之日乍悲乍欣。邈爾絕俗超出埃塵。當修經道制己履真。如何無心更染俗因。經道已薄行無毛分。言非可貴德非可珍。師友致累恚恨日殷。如是出家損法辱身。思之念之好自將身。

I respectfully address all my disciples. Leaving household life to practice the Way is supremely grave and supremely difficult. One must not take oneself lightly; one must not make it easy on oneself. As for what is called 'grave': it is to shoulder the Way and wear virtue, to encompass benevolence and bear righteousness, to uphold the pure precepts until death, and how much longer? As for what is called 'difficult': it is to sever worldly ties and leave mundane life, to cut off affection for kin forever, to alter one's passions and change one's nature, being unlike the multitude; to practice what others cannot practice, to forsake what others cannot forsake, to endure hardship and suffer humiliation, discarding one's body and life. The one for whom this is called difficult is termed a 'person of the Way' (daoren). A person of the Way is one of benevolence: their deeds can certainly be walked; their words can certainly be taken as models; donning the robes of the renunciant, their every movement becomes a norm. They are not greedy, do not dispute, do not slander, and do not conceal. Their learning is lofty and far-reaching, their aspiration set on the mystery and silence. This is to have a name that joins the ranks of the Three Jewels, transcending worthies and entering sagehood, cleansing the spirit and soul. Thus sovereign lords do not expect recompense from them, and parents do not expect labor from them. Under all heaven there is no one who does not take refuge in them, abandoning wives and reducing their own sustenance to make offerings of food and clothing, bending their bodies and bowing down without complaining of the toil. If one should harbor resentment [over their devotion], it is because their aspiration and conduct are pure and clear, penetrating to the divine spirits, serene, detached, empty and luminous, rare and precious. Yet from recent times of turmoil, the principles of the Way have steadily deteriorated. Beginners have not grasped the norms: turning away from error to cling to correctness, they expect its reality; taking small cunning as wisdom, they consider slight reverence sufficient; gorging themselves all day long, they put their minds to nothing. Reflecting back on oneself, this is truly lamentable. Considering those who have left household life today: some have had years and seasons, yet their scriptural practice is not mastered and the texts are unresolved. In vain they squander an entire lifetime, achieving no renown. Such matters must not be thought of lightly. The limit of impermanence comes either in the morning or in the evening. The sufferings of the three destinies spare neither the strong nor the weak. The bond between master and disciple is profound, and for this reason I express this to you. Let the stream of sentient beings take this as a perpetual admonition.

(The first says:) You have already left household life, forever departing from those who gave you birth. You have shaved your hair and altered your appearance, cloaking your form in the robes of the Dharma. On the day you took leave of your kin, tears fell from high and low. Severing affection and honoring the Way, your intention was to soar above the Grand Purity. You ought to abide by this intention, cultivating brightness in the scriptures and the Way. Why then have you become thoughtless, still dwelling in forms and sounds? Drifting idle throughout the day, your scriptural study remains unaccomplished; your virtuous conduct diminishes daily, and impure traces steadily accumulate. Masters and companions feel shame, and the common folk hold you in contempt. Leaving household life in this manner merely brings disgrace upon your own name. I instruct and encourage you now: you ought to be devoted and refined.

(The second says:) You have already left household life, abandoning the secular and parting from the sovereign. You ought to admonish and encourage yourself, setting your will upon the clear clouds. Pay no heed to wealth and beauty, and do not herd with the world. Value not gold and jade; cherish only the Way. Restrain yourself and hold to moral integrity, sweetening hardships and delighting in poverty. Advance virtue to deliver yourself, and likewise be able to deliver others. Why have you altered your conduct, scurrying through the mundane dust? Not sitting long enough to warm the mat, galloping about on errands east and west, worse than conscript labor driven by county officials. Scriptural understanding is blocked, and precept-virtue is incomplete. Friends mock and tease, and fellow students cast you aside. Leaving household life in this manner merely squanders your natural lifespan. I instruct and encourage you now: you ought each to take pity on yourselves.

(The third says:) You have already left household life, forever bidding farewell to your clan and kin. Without favorites or strangers, pure and free from desire; rejoicing not in good fortune, weeping not in calamity; detached and composed, broad-minded and departing from the mundane. Set your mind on the profound and subtle, taking the truth as your standard and guarding simplicity; obtaining deliverance to broadly cross over others, so all receive the increase of merit. Why then have you become thoughtless, still clinging to defiled contacts? Sizing up lengths in emptiness and stillness, disputing over ounces and pints, competing with the world for profit—how are you any different from servants and slaves? The scriptures and the Way are unclear, and virtuous conduct is deficient. Leaving household life in this manner merely invites your own ruin and disgrace. I instruct and admonish you now: you ought to wash and cleanse yourselves.

(The fourth says:) You have already left household life and are titled a 'person of the Way'. Parents do not receive your homage, and emperors and kings do not make you their subject. All under heaven revere you alike, serving you like a spirit; bowing their heads and paying reverence, regardless of rich or poor. They esteem your pure cultivation, which benefits yourself and benefits others. Such reduction and sacrifice is weighty: a single grain of rice weighs seven catties. Why are you indolent, unable to repay such kindness? Indulging in wandering and leisure, your body and mind are fruitlessly vexed. Lacking precepts while eating offerings, at death you will enter Mount Tai; eating burning iron as food, molten copper will be poured down your throat. Suffering such as this is set forth in the Dharmapada. I instruct and restrict you now: you ought to reform and renew yourselves.

(The fifth says:) You have already left household life and are titled 'one who stills the mind'. Touching no defilements or mixtures, you admire only the Way. Aspiration partakes of purity, like jade and like ice. You ought to cultivate scriptures and precepts to rescue spirit and soul, so that sentient beings receive protection and kin are delivered as well. Why are you thoughtless, drifting and sinking with the mundane? Giving rein to your four great elements, indulging your five sense faculties. Virtue and the Way steadily grow shallow, while worldly affairs grow deeper still. Leaving household life in this manner makes you one with the dust of the world. I admonish and restrict you now: may you awaken your spirits.

(The sixth says:) You have already left household life, relinquishing the worldly body and form. You should strive to exhaust your passions, matching with nirvāṇa. Why are you unsettled, taking no joy in tranquil retirement? The scriptures and the Way dwindle, while worldly affairs abound. Not treading the pure and luminous, you plunge instead into mud and mire. A life like a shadow passing through a chink may last but an instant. The torments of hell can hardly be recorded in full. I admonish and encourage you now: you ought to venerate the canonical models.

(The seventh says:) You have already left household life; you must not indulge yourselves. Though your form may be coarse and ugly, your deeds and conduct must be worthy of contemplation. Though your clothes may be coarse, let your sitting and rising be dignified. Though your food may be sparse, let the words you speak be worthy of ingestion. In summer endure the heat, in winter be able to bear the cold. Be able to guard your integrity, drinking not from the Stolen Spring. In assemblies of the unworthy, let your feet not advance. Remaining long in a private room, act as if facing the Supreme Sovereign. Though your learning may not be extensive, you can equal the superior worthies. Leaving household life in this manner is sufficient to repay both parents, and your clan, teachers, and acquaintances will all receive grace. I admonish you now: you ought each to cultivate earnestness.

(The eighth says:) You have already left household life; natures have the dull and the bright. In learning it matters not whether much or little; the essential lies in devotion and refinement. Superior persons sit in meditation; middling persons recite scriptures; lower persons tend shrines and manage stupas and temples. How can you kill the days, achieving not a single thing? To establish oneself without renown can be called a wasted life. I instruct you now: you ought to rectify your intentions.

(The ninth says:) You have already left household life, forever departing from both parents. The principles of the Way reform your nature; secular clothes leave your body. On the day you took leave of your kin, now sorrowful, now joyous; distant and detached from the mundane, transcending the dust and dirt. You ought to cultivate scriptures and the Way, restraining yourself and walking in truth. Why are you thoughtless, becoming tainted again with worldly causes? The scriptures and the Way are already slighted, and your practice lacks even a hair's breadth. Your words are not worthy of value, your virtue not worthy of cherish. Masters and companions bear your burdens, and their anger and resentment wax daily. Leaving household life in this manner harms the Dharma and disgraces the body. Ponder this! Reflect on this! Guide your conduct well.