諸經要集 5.59

5.59

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.