法苑珠林 87.25

87.25

At that time, the World-Honoured One again told Ānanda: "If someone, having taken refuge in the Buddha, having taken refuge in the Dharma, and having taken refuge in the Saṃgha, can even for the space of a finger-snap receive the ten virtuous deeds, and having received them, cultivates them, by this cause and condition they obtain limitless and boundless merit. If someone can receive the eight-precept observance for a day and a night, and having done so, cultivates according to the teaching, the merit obtained surpasses the former merit by a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, even beyond calculation and analogy. If one can uphold the five precepts for the rest of one's life and cultivate according to the teaching, the merit obtained surpasses the former merit by a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred million times, beyond what calculation and analogy can comprehend. If someone receives the precepts of a novice monk (śrāmaṇera) or novice nun (śrāmaṇerī), it again surpasses the former. If someone receives the precepts of a probationer nun (śikṣamāṇā), it again surpasses the former. If someone receives the full precepts of a nun (bhikṣuṇī), it again surpasses the former. If someone receives the full precepts of a monk (bhikṣu) for the rest of his life and cultivates without violation, it again surpasses the former." Hearing the explanation that taking the three refuges down to the end of one's life yields great merit, Ānanda praised it as unprecedented: "This sūtra is subtle and inconceivable, illuminating profound meaning; its merit is vast and difficult to measure. Therefore the Buddha said: 'It is named the Sūtra of the Rare and Marvellous; you should uphold it.'" Furthermore, the Shansheng jing states: If a person receives the three self-refuges, the retribution obtained cannot be exhausted, just as the four great jewel storehouses cannot be depleted even if all the people in the country carted them away for seven years; the merit of one who receives the three refuges exceeds that, beyond calculation.