法苑珠林 23.27

23.27

From below the Great Sage down, one's substance is not yet perfectly luminous. Even if one has partially realized the unproduced, one is still driven by the transmigration of the three characteristics. How much more so for the ordinary and foolish, who are separated by principle from the pure realm! Good and evil are mixed together, the bright and the dark not yet distinguished. How could they avoid the blemish of faults and the error of defiling attachment? Now hearing of the beauty of leaving household life and entering the Way, one must not immediately say there is no evil [among them]. Hearing of the faults of white-robed householders, one must not say they are devoid of any good. If internally one cultivates their practice, then it is like the beauty of leaving household life; if internally one goes against their faith, one has merely had one's hair shaved off in vain. Householders have various dependents and are harassed by public and private affairs, yet regarding what they require to sustain life, they still should not be stingy. A śramaṇa of pure conduct stands solitary and aloof, needing only the three robes and six requisites, or at most the hundred and one items to support the body; why must one accumulate what lies beyond these obstructive conditions? Both sūtras and vinaya fully rebuke this, as is made clear in the holy teachings. If one is begrudging with the Dharma-wealth and does not bestow it on the foolish and poor, the seed of wisdom will not form, and one will lose the holy womb. Down to minor offenses, one should still harbor great fear; one should always be modest, solemn, respectful, and reverent to both senior and junior, never being arrogant or contemptuous toward those before one. If one fully commits major offenses, broadly accumulates fields and houses, excessively amasses goods, and diligently engages in worldly affairs, this is definitely the utmost evil; what need is there to recount it? Now I shall briefly discuss those of middling and lower capacity: having slight learning and shallow understanding, they claim their wisdom surpasses others; giving rise to great arrogance, their demeanor is reckless and wild; looking down on everything, they presume to overshadow heaven and earth; sitting cross-legged before their teachers and seniors, they scold and shout at the side of their elders. The Way fundamentally takes harmony and respectful compliance as the Saṃgha; since mind and outward form are contrary, how can they constitute the Saṃgha jewel? Some devote themselves exclusively to reading external classics, indulging in the lute and chess, chanting poetry and literature, wasting days and months in vain. The Dharma medicine of the inner teachings is urgent for saving living beings; its text is profound, its principle deep, its diction elegant, its secret vast. Being able to understand a single phrase, one can expound immeasurable meanings. The scrolls of new and old sūtras and treatises number in the thousands, yet they have never inspected a single phrase of the text; toward non-urgent worldly books, they study diligently day and night. If they fear that white-robed [laypeople] will laugh at their ignorance for not having studied worldly texts, how will it be when worldly people ask them about the meaning of sūtras and they are unable to answer? Feeling shame at abiding within yet being unskilled in what is without is not yet worth being ashamed of; abiding within yet failing to understand what is within—this shame and humiliation is far greater! This is truly because the time approaches the end of the Dharma, and human lifespans become increasingly brief. Impermanence brushes past; in the morning one cannot plan for the evening. One fears that once entering the dark paths, it will be hard to emerge for many kalpas; meeting the Buddha-Dharma again, there will be no way to conceive or see it. Although there are sūtras and vinaya that permit learning one part of external [texts] in order to subdue non-Buddhists, this is spoken for those of the highest grade of sharp intelligence: first they are well-versed in the internal, and additionally they are made to know the external; the sharpness of their critical debate and the words they utter relate to the canonical authorities; having broadly investigated the internal and external, they are capable of being masters and teachers, and can, as the sūtras say, subdue non-Buddhists. Now, assessing oneself, one is incapable in dealing with affairs; one's spiritual consciousness is constantly clouded, foolish, obtuse, and dim. Being helpless to save oneself, how can one benefit other beings? Not discerning color and fragrance, how can one distinguish beans from wheat? One should wish in private to retreat, examine oneself, and engage in learning. Therefore the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'The Buddha said to the monks: "Those who have left household life should cultivate the study of wisdom and investigate the canonical scriptures. They must not open and read the scriptures of non-Buddhists, Lokāyata, and the like. Always dwelling in mountain marshes, empty and quiet chambers, cultivate dhyāna, pay homage, recite, sever the heterodox, and manifest the orthodox—this is your principle."'”