法苑珠林 22.8

22.8

Furthermore, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "Living in the household is cramped and stifling, like being in a prison; all afflictions arise from it. Leaving the household life is open and vast, like empty space; all wholesome dharmas increase through it. A person living in the household worries internally about wife and children, and is driven externally by the king's corvée. If rich, noble, and exalted, they become dissolute and indulge their desires; if poor, suffering, and lowly, they are starved, cold, and lose their resolve. Public and private affairs trouble them ceaselessly, day and night; entangled in numerous chores, what leisure do they have to cultivate the Way?"
Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Householder Ugra says: "Those who live in the household have many afflictions, bound by affectionate attachment to parents, wives, and children. They constantly crave wealth and sex without satiety; when obtaining them, guarding them brings much anxiety. Transmigrating through the six destinies, they go against and depart from the Buddha's Dharma. They should view [the household] as an enemy and a bad friend, should become revulsed by household life, and generate the resolve to leave the household. No one cultivates and gathers the path to unsurpassed bodhi while staying in the household; it is exclusively by leaving the household that the unsurpassed Way is attained. Living in the household is defiled; leaving the household life is exquisite and good. Living in the household is bondage; leaving the household life is liberation. Living in the household entails much suffering; leaving the household life is joy. Living in the household is base; leaving the household life is noble. Living in the household is being a servant; leaving the household life is being a master. Living in the household is being dependent on others; leaving the household life is being autonomous. Living in the household is full of anxiety; leaving the household life is free of anxiety. Living in the household is a heavy burden; leaving the household life is casting off the burden. Living in the household is bustling affairs; leaving the household life is leisurely and tranquil."
Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Merit of Leaving the Household Life says: "If one permits sons, daughters, servants, or ordinary folk to leave the household, the merit is boundless. For instance, making offerings for a hundred years to arhats filling the four continents does not equal the boundless merit of a person leaving the household and receiving the precepts for a single day and night for the sake of nirvāṇa. Moreover, raising a stupa made of the seven treasures reaching up to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven does not equal the merit of leaving the household life."
Furthermore, the Dayuan jing says: "By leaving the household for a single day and night, one will not fall into the three evil destinies for twenty kalpas."
Furthermore, the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya says: "One who leaves the household and cultivates brahmacarya for a single day and night is freed from six thousand, six hundred, and sixty years of suffering in the three paths."
Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Merit of Leaving the Household Life says: "If one creates hardships or obstacles to someone leaving the household, obstructing this person, they thereby sever the seed of Buddhahood. All evils gather upon their body like the great ocean; in this life they will contract leprosy, and upon death fall into the dark hell, with no time of release."
Furthermore, the Sūtra of Kāśyapa says: "At that time, when the crown prince of the great king heard that the merit of leaving the household life was profoundly deep, they all resolved to leave the household. Then, among the four continents, there was not a single sentient being who remained in the household; all gave rise to the resolve and wished to leave the household. Once those sentient beings had left the household, they had no need to sow and cultivate: the earth naturally produced nonglutinous rice, the trees naturally produced clothing, and all devas served and attended to them."
Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Buddha's Treasury says: "You should single-mindedly practice the Way, acting in accord with the Dharma, and not think about food and clothing. Should anything be needed, a single portion of the white curl between the eyebrows of the Tathāgata could provide for all disciples who leave the household life in the Final Age, and it still could not be exhausted."