釋氏要覽 3.440

3.440

The *Abhiṣeka-sūtra* states: "Ānanda addressed the Buddha, saying: 'When a person's life ends and a grave mound is built, is that person's spirit inside it or not?' The Buddha said: 'It is both present and not present. Why is this? If a person during life did not create wholesome roots and did not recognize the Three Jewels, had no good deeds to receive blessings and no bad deeds to receive calamities, and had no spiritual friends to cultivate merit for him, his spirit remains in the grave because he has no place of rebirth yet; [thus it is present]. Or, if during life he extensively cultivated merit and goodness and diligently practiced the Path, he is born in the heavens or among humans; therefore it is said not to be present. Or, if during life he did not believe in the correct and true, deceived and cheated people, and committed evil karma, he must fall into the animals, hungry ghosts, or hells to endure suffering and distress; therefore it is said not to be present.'" Someone asked: "In compiling this *Essential Reader* now, although you wish to benefit others, how can it benefit yourself? Why is this? As it excerpts the true teaching and adds to or subtracts from the sage's words, can it be without fault?" I answer: There are sacred words as proof. What are they? The *Buddhacarita-sūtra* states: "Some bhikṣus took the essential meanings and flavors in the sūtras to preach the Dharma to others out of order, and in fear they reported this to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'I permit doing so as convenient. Among the sūtras, select and extract the essential meanings and arrange the sentences to preach the Dharma to people; merely grasp the central meaning and do not corrupt the original sūtra.'" The *Saṃyukta-avadāna-sūtra* states: "If an ordinary person understands a single phrase of a profound sūtra, chanting it with the mouth and contemplating it in the mind, the three poisons, four māras, and eighty thousand defilement gates within his body can none of them remain settled; how much more so for one who broadly gathers the numerous teachings to serve as a bridge for the world?"