法苑珠林 95.30

95.30

如僧祇律云。若是大德病者。應在露現處上好房中。擬道俗問訊生善。瞻病人每須燒香然燈。香汁塗地。供待人客。依西域祇桓寺圖云。寺西北角日光沒處為無常院。若有病者安置在中。堂號無常多生厭背。去者極眾。還唯一二。其堂內安一立像金色塗者。面向東方。當置病人在像前坐。若無力者。令病人臥面向西方觀佛相好。其像手中繫一五色綵幡。令病人手執幡脚作往生淨土之意。坐處雖有便利。世尊不以為惡。原其此土本是雜穢之處。猶降靈俯接下類群生。況今將命投佛。寧相棄捨。隨病人所樂何境。或作彌陀彌勒阿閦觀音等形。如前安置。燒香散華。供養不絕。生病者善心。

As the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya states: 'If a sick person is a person of great virtue, they should be placed in an open, visible, and high-quality room so that monastics and laypeople coming to pay their respects and inquire after them may produce wholesome roots. Those caring for the sick must constantly burn incense, light lamps, smear the floor with fragrant liquid, and receive visitors.' According to the illustration of Jetavana Temple in the Western Regions: 'The northwest corner of the monastery, where the sunlight sets, is the Hall of Impermanence (Anitya-kūṭī). If there are sick people, they are placed within it. Because the hall is named Impermanence, many give rise to aversion [to worldly existence]; those who leave it [by death] are extremely numerous, while those who return [recovered] are only one or two. Inside the hall is set a standing image painted in gold, facing east. The patient should be placed seated before the image. If they lack the strength, let the patient lie down facing west, contemplating the physical marks and signs of the Buddha. In the hand of the image is tied a five-colored silk streamer; the patient is made to hold the end of the streamer with their hand, intending to be reborn in the Pure Land. Even if they discharge feces and urine at their seat, the World-Honoured One does not consider it defiled.' Considering that this world is originally an impure and defiled place, yet [the Buddha] still descends in spirit to receive and reach down to the lower classes of sentient beings, how much more so now, when one is committing one's life to the Buddha—would he ever abandon them? In accordance with whichever realm the patient delights in, an image of Amitābha, Maitreya, Akṣobhya, Avalokiteśvara, or the like may be made and arranged as described above. Burning incense and scattering flowers, offerings should continue without interruption, giving rise to wholesome thoughts in the sick person.