法苑珠林 89.56

89.56

Now, those who wish to receive the pure Dharma must first cleanse and purge their inner minds; only then are they fit to receive it. In general, the defilements that contaminate the mind are solely delusion and hindrances. The deluded slander the Three Jewels, claiming they do not exist; the hindered broadly give rise to the ten unwholesome deeds. The confession now taught is precisely to confess these two. Furthermore, according to the Fanwang jing: If a Dharma master who teaches the precepts sees a person who wishes to receive the precepts, he should instruct them to invite two masters. The two masters—the upādhyāya and the ācārya—should ask: "Do you have the seven obstructive offenses or not?" If in this present body one has the seven obstructive offenses, the masters must not confer them. Those without the seven obstructions may receive them. If one has violated the ten precepts, teach them to confess and repent: before an image of the Buddha or a bodhisattva, during the six periods of the day, recite the ten [major] precepts and the forty-eight minor precepts. If, reverently bowing to the thousand Buddhas of the three periods of time, one obtains a vision of an auspicious sign—whether after one week of seven days, two or three weeks of seven days, or even up to one year—one must see an auspicious sign. If the Buddha comes and pats one's head, or one sees light, flowers, or various extraordinary signs, then the offense is eradicated. If there is no auspicious sign, although one confesses it is of no avail; even in this present body one will not obtain the precepts. If one had previously received the precepts, and happens to have violated the forty-eight minor precepts, confessing before another [practitioner] will eradicate the offense, unlike the seven obstructions. Furthermore, when about to receive the precepts, one is asked: "Have you not committed the seven rebellious offenses in this present body?" One must not confer the precepts on a person guilty of the seven rebellious offenses. The seven rebellious offenses are: first, causing the Buddha's body to bleed; second, killing one's father; third, killing one's mother; fourth, killing one's upādhyāya; fifth, killing one's ācārya; sixth, disrupting the Saṃgha in its karmic acts or turning of the wheel of the Dharma; and seventh, killing a holy person. If one has these seven obstructions, one cannot obtain the precepts in this present body; all other persons may receive the precepts. The rule for renunciants is not to bow down to kings; not to bow down to parents; not to bow down to the six relations; and not to bow down to ghosts and spirits. If someone merely understands the words of the Dharma master and comes from a hundred or a thousand li away seeking the Dharma, yet a bodhisattva Dharma master, with an evil or angry mind, does not immediately confer the precepts for all sentient beings upon them, he commits an offense of minor defilement.