法苑珠林 38.4

38.4

According to the Xiangfa jueyi jing: "Building anew is not as good as repairing the old; creating blessings is not as good as avoiding misfortune." These words have indeed been verified! There are village settlements, funerary stūpas, old temples, and saṃghārāmas whose halls and pavilions have rotted and fallen into ruin, their dwellings and buildings collapsed and destroyed. Woven-reed doors and bramble entries fail to shut out the smoke and dust; jar-rim windows and thatched roofs fail to keep off the frost and dew. Consequently, gates and walls are ruined, filth and excrement fill the steps, and the roads are devoid of human footprints. The assembly of monks drifts and wanders as transients, neither repairing nor adorning [the temples], so that day by day they fall into decline and debility. They create sins and offenses without ceasing for a single moment. At night in the dark, lamps and candles are simply unheard of; in the light of day, banners and flowers have never been seen. The halls are devoid of Buddhist chanting, and in the censers, the sea-sandalwood incense has ceased burning. This causes evil ghosts to show their uncanny powers and good spirits to abandon their protection. The saṃghārāmas lack stability simply because the assembly of monks is negligent and indolent; since the Buddhadharma has declined, it is also because the white-robed laity has no reverence. If one does not worry over this, what else could one seek?