法苑珠林 72.66

72.66

If we discuss the attachment to rules and vows (śīlavrataparāmarśa), it is confused about suffering and the path. That is to say, there are foolish people who, upon hearing simply that diligent ascetic practice can sever birth and death, do not understand that this statement means that only by encouraging one's mind day and night and diligently contemplating suffering and emptiness can one sever birth and death. They immediately assert that in concrete matters, the suffering of the body is the path, not knowing that the suffering of the body is not the noble path. Therefore, attachment to rules and vows arises from confusion regarding the truth of suffering. Or there are some who do not take the suffering of the body as the path, but directly grasp at meritorious actions such as precepts as the path; this is to take the cause of origination and turn it into the path. Such attachment to rules and vows is called confusion regarding the truth of the path. In reality, ordinary fools do not recognize the cause of origination and falsely grasp it as the path, which should be confusion about origination; however, their confused mind does not calculate meritorious action as the cause of origination before turning it into the path. Therefore, it cannot be called confusion about origination. This is unlike those who calculate suffering as the path, directly taking suffering as the path, which is therefore called confusion about suffering. Therefore, among attachments to rules and vows, there are those confused about suffering and those confused about the path, but not confused about origination. Cessation is the noble fruit sought by sentient beings; they do not take the cessation of delusions as the causal practice of the path. Therefore, attachment to rules and vows is not called confusion regarding cessation.