法苑珠林 48.69

48.69

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.