法苑珠林 86.27

86.27

Now, the four pārājikas and the five heinous crimes are like corpses in the ocean of the Buddha. In the sūtras and Vinaya of the Hīnayāna, they are compared to decapitation: since the Vinaya allows no exceptional circumstances, repentance cannot restore one's original state. Yet relying on the Mahāyāna sūtras, washing and purification are permitted, like incanting over a dead tree so that it again bears flowers and fruit. Although such repentance is permitted, one must establish great resolve and practice in accordance with the teachings, like one returning to life from death. A great person's great practice is never undertaken in vain. One's body, precepts, mind, and wisdom are always cultivated with determination. Feeling both shame and remorse, one vigorously trains body and mind. Since mental thoughts are fundamentally empty, how could sin possess a fixed nature? Now, wishing to classify and arrange the regulations for practices of accordance and transgression, both wholesome and unwholesome, sins and blessings, contain both kinds. First, concerning unwholesome karma, we shall discuss transgression and accordance: transgressing nirvāṇa and according with birth-and-death. To distinguish this transgression and accordance, ten mental attitudes are briefly revealed. Practitioners who have sinned must recognize the characteristics of their karma and act according to the circumstances.