諸經要集 5.59

5.59

故依請賓頭盧經云。如天竺優婆塞國王長者。若設一切會者。常請賓頭盧頗羅惰誓阿羅漢。賓頭盧者字也。頗羅惰者姓也。其人為樹提長者。現神足故。佛遏之不聽涅槃。勅令末法四部眾生作福田。請時於靜處燒香禮拜。向天竺摩梨山。至心稱名言。大德賓頭盧頗羅惰誓。受佛教勅。為末法人作福田。願受我請。於此處食。若新作屋舍。亦應請之。願受我請。於此舍床敷上宿。若普請眾僧澡浴時。亦應請之言。受我請於此洗浴。及末明前。具香湯灰水澡豆楊枝香油。調和冷暖。如人浴法。開戶請入。然後閉戶。如人浴訖頃。眾僧乃入。凡欲會食澡浴。要一切諸僧。至心求解脫。不疑不昧。信心清淨。然後可屈。近世有一長者。聞說賓頭盧大阿羅漢受佛教勅為末法人作福田。即如法施設大會。至心請賓頭盧氍㲣下遍敷好華。欲以驗之。大眾食訖。發氍㲣華皆萎黃。懊惱自責。不知過所從來。更復精竭。審問經師。重設大會。如前布華。亦復皆萎。復更傾竭。盡家財產。復作大會猶亦如前。懊惱自責。更請百餘法師。求請所失。懺謝罪過。如向上座一人。年老。四布悔其愆咎。上座告之。汝三會請我。我皆受請。汝自使奴門中見遮。以我年老衣服弊壞。謂是被擯。賴提沙門。不肯見前。我以汝請欲強入。汝奴以杖打我頭破。額右角瘡是。汝自為之。何所懊惱。言已不現。長者乃知是賓頭盧。自爾已來。諸人設福。皆不敢復遮門。若得賓頭盧來。其坐處華即不萎黃。若新立房舍床榻。欲請賓頭盧時。皆當香湯灑地。然香油燈。新床新縟。縟上奮綿敷之。以白練覆上。初夜如法請之。還閉房戶。慎勿輕慢窺看。皆各至心信其必來。精誠感徹無不至也。來則縟上現有臥處。浴室亦現用湯水處。受大會請時。或在上座。或在中坐。或在下坐。現作隨處僧形。人求其異終不可得。去後見坐處華不萎。乃知之矣。述曰。今見齋家。多不依法但逐人情安置凡人。全不憂佛及聖僧座。如前經所說。施主先須預掃灑佛堂。及安置聖僧坐處。洗浴潔身。燒上名香。懸繒幡蓋。散眾雜華。手執香鑪。盡誠敬仰。奉請三寶及以聖僧。十方法界一切聖凡。亦皆普請。受弟子請。降屈聖儀。來臨住宅。合家大小。並共虔誠。預前七日已來。發此重心。若是貧家。無好香華。復無安置之處。然須臨時斟酌。未坐前先上好處。安置佛座。掃灑如法。其次好處。安置聖僧座。敷設軟物新白淨者。布綿在上。若施主心重有感。食訖候看。似人坐處。即知報身來赴。若無相現。但化身來。若全輕慢。報化俱不至。其座不得綵畫錦綺綾羅金銀雜飾及散華置上。雖是羅漢。然共凡僧。同受二百五十別解脫戒。所以不受雜綵金銀等物。若是諸佛菩薩大乘之人。非局出家相者。所以得受種種供養。安聖僧座。及以獻食。亦不得越過尺六高處安置。尺六已下。如法僧座則得。亦不得作素形聖僧在座安置。儻報身自來。豈可推却素像而坐。亦不得在寺將常住僧器盛食。恐報身來。不可觸僧淨器而食。若用鉢盂及俗盤器獻者。即通化報。最為如法。若有聖僧錢還入聖僧用。將買鉢盂匙箸銅椀手巾。及將買上好槃器。背上書題記之餘人不敢雜用。日別隨家常食。每旦及午。盛食常獻佛及僧。豈非好事。更有餘錢。買取一胡床及一食單。食訖澡豆淨洗。置胡床上。以油帊覆之。日別如是。表供養三寶心。常不絕大得功德。若多得錢。即如西國寺法。及俗人舍。空靜上處。為聖僧造房堂。隨四時冬夏安物供養。若在夏內。堂內日別敷好淨席。儭身單敷。銅盆銅瓶。澡豆淨巾。若至午前并獻飯食。夜中然燈燒香。隨心量力。如法供養。若至冬寒。安被厚氈炭火。湯水燈明隨時供養。縱有餘長聖僧錢財。不得將入別僧。乃至常住僧用。亦不得入佛法用。亦不得別作聖僧形。數見有人索聖僧錢。綵畫佛形。及四壁畫聖僧迦葉阿難等形。以賓頭盧羅漢聖人現在不入涅槃。既不得聖僧囑授進止。豈得互用浪將別入。若己用者。並須倍還。不還得罪。故四分律云。許此處不得。異處得罪（如似己物他人不問己身餘人輒將作別用豈可得不）。上來所述。並依經律聖意錄之。不得不行。三寶物重不得互用。恐差之毫毛失之千里。誠言不虛。省己用之。故梁武帝時。漢國大德英儒。共請西域三藏。纂集聖僧法用。翻出五卷。如前所述。略亦同之。

Therefore, relying on the Sūtra on Inviting Piṇḍola, it says: In India, when upāsakas, kings, or elders arrange any assembly, they always invite the arhat Piṇḍolabhāradvāja. "Piṇḍola" is his personal name; "Bhāradvāja" is his clan name. Because that man displayed supernatural feats before the elder Jyotika, the Buddha checked him and did not permit him to enter nirvāṇa, commanding him to serve as a puṇyakṣetra for the beings of the four assemblies during the Final Dharma age. When inviting him, one burns incense and makes prostrations in a quiet place, faces toward Mount Mālya in India, and with utmost sincerity invokes his name, saying: "Venerable Piṇḍolabhāradvāja, who received the Buddha's instruction to serve as a puṇyakṣetra for the people of the Final Dharma, may you accept my invitation and take your meal in this place." If newly constructing a house, one should also invite him: "May you accept my invitation and lodge upon the couches and bedding in this house." When generally inviting the saṃgha to bathe, one should also invite him, saying: "Accept my invitation to wash and bathe here." Before daybreak, one prepares fragrant warm water, lye-water, bath powder, willow tooth-sticks, and fragrant oil, adjusting the temperature as in the bathing method for a human being. One opens the door, invites him to enter, and then shuts the door. After a period of time comparable to that of a person finishing bathing, the saṃgha then enters. Whenever wishing to convene for a meal or bath, all monks must seek liberation with utmost sincerity, free from doubt and obscurity, with pure faith; only then can he be enticed to come. In recent times, there was an elder who heard it said that the great arhat Piṇḍola received the Buddha's instruction to serve as a puṇyakṣetra for the people of the Final Dharma. He then arranged a great assembly in accordance with the Dharma. With utmost sincerity, he invited Piṇḍola and spread fine flowers everywhere under the woolen carpets, wishing to verify [his arrival]. When the assembly finished eating, he rolled back the carpets, but the flowers were all withered and yellow. Distressed and reproaching himself, not knowing whence his fault arose, he made another painstaking effort. He inquired thoroughly of Scripture masters and again set up a great assembly, spreading flowers as before, yet they also were all withered. Once more exhausting himself, he depleted his family's property to hold another great assembly, yet it was still as before. Distressed and reproaching himself, he invited more than a hundred Dharma masters, begging them to tell him what he had missed, and repented of his transgressions. He approached one elder thera who was advanced in years, making prostrations on all sides to repent of his errors. The thera said to him: "At your three assemblies you invited me, and I accepted every invitation. You yourself had your servants turn me away at the gate. Because I was old and my clothes were tattered and ruined, they thought I was an expelled, rejected śramaṇa and refused to let me come forward. Because of your invitation, I tried to force my way in, and your servant struck me with a stick, breaking my head; the scar on the right side of my forehead is from it. You did this yourself; what is there to be distressed about?" Having spoken, he vanished. The elder then knew that he was Piṇḍola. Ever since then, whenever people arrange merit-making, none dares obstruct the gate again. If one succeeds in having Piṇḍola come, the flowers at his seating place do not wither or yellow. When newly erecting rooms, couches, or beds and wishing to invite Piṇḍola, one should sprinkle the ground with fragrant warm water, light fragrant oil lamps, and set out new beds and new mattresses. Over the mattress, one spreads loosened cotton wool and covers it with white silk. At the first watch of the night, one invites him according to the Dharma and then closes the door of the room. Be careful not to peek out of disrespect. Each must believe with utmost sincerity that he will surely come; when sincere devotion thoroughly moves him, there is nowhere he does not reach. When he comes, an impression where someone has lain will appear on the mattress, and evidence of warm water having been used will also appear in the bathhouse. When he accepts an invitation to a great assembly, he may sit in the seat of the thera, in the middle, or at the bottom; he appears in the form of a monk fitting the place. If people seek anything different about him, it can never be found. Only after he leaves and the flowers at his seat are seen not to have withered is he recognized. Daoshi states: Nowadays, I see that the families hosting vegetarian feasts mostly do not act in accordance with the Dharma; merely following worldly sentiment, they seat ordinary mortals, having no concern at all for the seats of the Buddha and the holy saṃgha. As the aforementioned sūtra says, the donor must first sweep and sprinkle the Buddha hall in advance, arrange the seats for the holy saṃgha, bathe to purify their bodies, burn supreme famous incense, hang silk banners and canopies, and scatter diverse flowers. Holding an incense burner in hand, with complete sincerity and reverence, one respectfully invites the Triratna and the holy saṃgha, as well as all holy and ordinary beings throughout the Dharma-realm of the ten directions, inviting them all generally: "Accept your disciple's invitation, deign to lower your holy presence, and come to visit our residence." Young and old of the entire household should unite in devout sincerity, giving rise to this serious mindset seven days in advance. If it is a poor household without fine incense and flowers, nor a place for [proper] arrangement, they must nevertheless weigh the situation at the time: before [anyone] sits down, first in the best place arrange the Buddha's seat, sweeping and sprinkling in accordance with the Dharma; in the next best place, arrange the seat for the holy saṃgha, spreading soft, new, white, and pure articles with cotton wool spread on top. If the donor's devotion is deep and brings a response, then upon inspecting after the meal, there will be an impression resembling a person sitting; one will then know that his reward body (saṃbhogakāya) came to attend. If no sign appears, only his transformation body (nirmāṇakāya) came. If one is completely disrespectful, neither the reward nor the transformation body will arrive. On that seat, one must not place painted patterns, brocades, damasks, fine silks, gold and silver ornaments, or scattered flowers. Although an arhat, he nevertheless observes the two hundred and fifty pratimokṣa precepts together with ordinary monks; this is why he does not receive multicolored silks, gold, silver, and such items. If it were the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, or persons of the Mahāyāna whose forms are not restricted to the renunciant appearance, they could therefore receive various offerings. When arranging the holy saṃgha's seat and presenting food, one also must not set it on a place exceeding one cubit and six inches in height. At one cubit and six inches or less, a Dharma-compliant monk's seat is permissible. One also must not make an unpainted clay effigy of a holy monk to place upon the seat. If the reward body should come in person, how could he push aside the clay image to sit down? Nor may one take permanent saṃgha utensils from a monastery to hold the food, lest when the reward body comes, it would be unacceptable for him to touch the saṃgha's pure utensils to eat. If one uses alms bowls and secular plates and dishes to present offerings, this accommodates both transformation and reward bodies, and is most in accordance with the Dharma. If there is money dedicated to the holy monk, it must be used for the holy monk: used to buy alms bowls, spoons, chopsticks, copper bowls, and hand towels, as well as fine plates and vessels, writing an inscription on the back so that other people dare not use them indiscriminately. Every day, depending on the family's ordinary meals, every morning and noon, constantly fill vessels with food to offer to the Buddha and the saṃgha; would this not be a good deed? If there is surplus money, buy a folding chair and a food mat; after eating, wash them clean with bath powder, place them on the folding chair, and cover them with an oiled cloth. Doing this daily symbolizes an uninterrupted intention to make offerings to the Triratna, and great merit is obtained. If one obtains much money, then in accordance with the monastery regulations of the Western regions and in secular houses, construct a room or hall for the holy monk in an empty, quiet, and superior place, arranging items to make offerings according to the four seasons, winter and summer. If in summer, daily spread fine and clean mats in the hall, with single-layered under-sheets, copper basins, copper jars, bath powder, and clean towels. Before noon, also present food and drink; at night, light lamps and burn incense, making offerings according to one's heart and means in accordance with the Dharma. When the cold of winter arrives, arrange quilts, thick felt, charcoal braziers, hot water, and lamplight, offering them according to the season. Even if there is surplus money and property for the holy monk, it must not be applied to other individual monks or to the permanent saṃgha's use, nor may it be applied to the Buddha or Dharma. One must also not separately fashion the image of a holy monk. I have often seen people demand money meant for the holy monk to paint Buddha images and to paint images of holy monks like Kāśyapa, Ānanda, and others on the four walls. Since the arhat sage Piṇḍola is present now and has not entered nirvāṇa, and since one has not obtained the holy monk's instructions on what to undertake or cease, how can one interchange them and carelessly redirect [the funds] elsewhere? If one uses them for oneself, one must repay double; not repaying incurs sin. Therefore the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya says: What is promised to this place cannot [be taken to] another place, [or one] incurs an offense (just as when something belongs to oneself, another person takes it for another purpose without asking oneself—how could that be permissible?). What has been stated above has all been recorded based on the sūtras, vinaya, and the holy intention, and must be practiced. The property of the Triratna is weighty and must not be used interchangeably; for fear that an error of a hair's breadth leads to a discrepancy of a thousand leagues, these true words are not empty—examine yourself and apply them. Therefore, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang, the eminent monks and outstanding scholars of the Chinese realm jointly requested a Tripiṭaka master from the Western Regions to compile the regulations and usages for the holy monk, translating five fascicles; what was explained above is generally the same.