法苑珠林 90.18

90.18

Using this text as evidence, foolish people turn their backs on the Way and exclusively pursue fame and gain, producing only bad karma, constantly following saṃsāra and always dwelling in darkness. If they hear of the prohibitive precepts and broad learning through erudition, they immediately say: 'I am an ordinary fool of inferior faculties. Unless one is a great sage, who can fully abide by them?' If they hear of royal tax levies and various forms of arduous labor demanding that they be forced into common secular service, they then say: 'I am a śramaṇa who has left home to practice pure conduct; I am higher than humans and devas, and more precious than gold and jade. How could I participate in such matters?' Therefore, the Fo zang jing says: 'Just as a bat, when wishing to catch birds, enters a hole and becomes a rat, and when wishing to catch rats, flies in the air and becomes a bird, yet in reality possesses none of the functions of a great bird; its body is foul and filthy, and it takes delight only in darkness. Śāriputra, a bhikṣu who breaks the precepts is also like this: he neither joins the poṣadha and pravāraṇā, nor enters the king's corvée service. He is not called a white-robed [layperson], nor is he called one who has left home. He is like charred wood from a corpse, no longer of any use.'