藥師經疏 1.18

1.18

Sūtra: "[Hold] right views, make energetic progress... up to... all the bodhisattva practices" — the eighth [benefit] is diligently cultivating superior karmic deeds. What are "right views"? According to the nineteenth fascicle of the Chengshi lun, right [views] are of two kinds: first, worldly; second, supramundane. Worldly [right views] mean seeing that there are sins, merits, and so forth. Supramundane [right views] mean being able to penetrate the truths of suffering and the rest. Furthermore, as a verse states: "Obtaining supreme worldly right view, though one wanders through birth and death for up to hundreds of thousands of lives, one will never fall into the evil destinies." Moreover, the twenty-first fascicle of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra states: "If one possesses superior worldly right views, though one passes through a thousand lives, one will not fall into the evil destinies." Furthermore, the thirteenth fascicle of the Abhidharma-samuccaya-vyākhyā states: "If one possesses the foremost superior worldly right views, though one experiences a thousand lives, one will not fall into the evil destinies." What is "energetic progress"? The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra states: "Those of diligent, energetic progress are those who cherish, take delight in, rejoice in, and are glad of all wholesome dharmas. 'Cherishing dharmas' means giving rise to desire and seeking after this Dharma. 'Taking delight in dharmas' means praising its merits. 'Rejoicing in dharmas' means joyfully having faith in and accepting it. 'Being glad of dharmas' means delighting in cultivating it abundantly." The Sutra on Preaching the Practices of the Clergy and Laity states: "If one can make energetic progress, one is endowed with four dharmas: first, serving the Dharma day and night without ever slacking; second, preferring to lose life and limb rather than disobey the teachings of the Way; third, diligently reciting the scriptures without growing weary; fourth, broadly desiring to rescue those who are in danger and distress." The Milindapañha states: "Energetic progress can assist all wholesome dharmas, just as when soldiers in battle are weak, strong soldiers support them." Furthermore, as a treatise says: "Energetic progress broadly spurs on all gates to the perfections." The Sutra of the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching states: "If one makes energetic progress, nothing will be difficult." According to the sixteenth fascicle of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa: "A bodhisattva who has newly generated the mind [for awakening], gradually and sequentially cultivating bodhisattva practices among all wholesome dharmas, is called energetic progress." Question: Diligence in all wholesome dharmas—why is it not called energetic progress? Answer: The two vehicles and humans do not fully practice diligence, so it is not called energetic progress. Question: Why is it that when the two vehicles and humans practice diligence, it is not called energetic progress? Answer: They lack great compassion and abandon sentient beings. They do not seek the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unique dharmas, or omniscience, unobstructed liberation, morality, concentration, wisdom, and all such wholesome dharmas. Bodhisattvas rest not and cease not; with single-mindedness they seek the Buddha and do not abandon sentient beings. One who practices like this is called [one of] energetic progress. Just as the Bodhisattva of Fine Giving, seeking the wish-fulfilling jewel, bailed the water of the great ocean: even if his sinews and bones were dried up and exhausted, he would never slacken and cease, and thus obtained the wish-fulfilling jewel to provide for sentient beings and relieve their bodily suffering. A bodhisattva doing what is difficult to do in this way is called energetic progress. Question: How many kinds of energetic progress are there? Answer: There are two kinds of energetic progress: giving and keeping precepts are called bodily energetic progress; diligence in concentration and wisdom is called mental energetic progress. Furthermore, diligently cultivating external activities is called bodily energetic progress; internal single-mindedness is called mental energetic progress. Furthermore, coarse energetic progress is called bodily; subtle energetic progress is called mental. Furthermore, energetic progress for merit is called bodily; energetic progress for wisdom is called mental. Furthermore, regarding bodily energetic progress, one undergoes various hardships without ever slacking or ceasing. For example, King Brahmadatta of the kingdom of Vārāṇasī went hunting in the forest and saw two herds of deer, each numbering five hundred. Both herds of deer each had a leader: one was the Bodhisattva Śākya[muni], and the other was Devadatta. The Bodhisattva Deer King had a body the color of the seven jewels. Seeing the king of men and his retinue, he gave rise to great compassion for his herd. He went forward to the king's presence. The king's men vied to shoot, and flying arrows fell like rain. The king saw this deer advancing directly toward him without fear or hesitation, and ordered his attendants: "Restrain your bows and arrows; do not obstruct its coming intention." Once the Deer King arrived, he knelt and addressed the king of men: "For a trivial matter of recreation and pleasure, Your Majesty causes all the herds of deer to suffer the agony of death at once. If it is to provide provisions for meals, we ought to arrange turns among ourselves: each day send one deer to supply the royal kitchen." The king approved of his words and granted permission according to his wish. Thereupon the two deer kings met together: each was to take turns day by day. In Devadatta's herd, a doe was pregnant with young; when her turn came to be sent, she came and addressed her king: "My body is due to be sent to death today, but I am pregnant with young, and the unborn child has not arrived at its turn. I beg you to hand down a judgment, so that the one who dies gets their proper turn and the unborn is not wrongfully killed." The deer king grew angry at her: "Who does not cherish life? When your turn comes, just go! How can you make excuses?" The mother deer reflected: "My king is unbenevolent; he does not consider me with reason and does not investigate my words. He gets unreasonably angry; he is not worth appealing to." She then went to where the Bodhisattva Deer King was and fully stated the circumstances. The king asked this deer: "What did your master say?" The mother deer answered, saying: "My king is unbenevolent; he does not judge according to reason, but exhibits anger. The Great King's benevolence extends to all; therefore I have come to take refuge. For me today, though heaven and earth are vast, I have nowhere to make an appeal." The Bodhisattva reflected: "This is deeply pitiable. If I do not attend to this, her young will be wrongfully killed. If I dispatch another out of turn whose turn has not yet arrived, how could that be sent? Only I can substitute for her." Having made up his mind, he sent himself and let the mother deer return: "I will now take your place; do not worry." The Deer King went directly to the king's gate. The crowd saw him, marveled that he had come on his own, and reported the matter. The lord king also marveled at it, and ordered him brought forward, asking: "Are all the deer exhausted? Why have you come?" The Deer King said: "The Great King's benevolence extends to the herds of deer, and no man harms them; they only flourish and multiply—how could they ever be exhausted? In another herd, a doe is pregnant, and because she is close to giving birth, her body is due to be chopped on the chopping block, and her fawn would also perish together with her. She came and reported to me. Taking pity on her, to select another out of turn was also impermissible; yet if she returned without being rescued, it would be no different from wood and stone. This body before long cannot avoid death; the merit of compassionate rescue from suffering and distress is immeasurable. If a person lacks compassion, they are no different from tigers and wolves." Having heard this, the king of men arose from his seat and spoke a verse: "I am truly a brute beast / named a human-headed deer. / You, though in a deer's body, / are named a deer-headed human. / Speaking according to principle, / one is not a human merely by outward form. / If one is capable of compassionate kindness, / though an animal, one is truly a human. / From this day forward, / I will not eat any meat. / I bestow fearlessness on you; / for now, set your mind at ease." The deer were granted safety, and the king attained benevolence and trustworthiness. All such [deeds] are called bodily energetic progress. Cultivating, having faith in, and taking delight in all wholesome dharmas without producing doubt or regret, and without indolence; seeking the Dharma without satiety from all noble ones down to ordinary mortals, like the ocean swallowing rivers—this is the bodhisattva's mental energetic progress. According to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, there is energetic progress of the three types of karma: First, energetic progress of bodily karma: because one does not regress in revering and making offerings to the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and all fields of merit. Second, energetic progress of verbal karma: because one hears and upholds the true Dharma of all buddhas without ever forgetting, and praises the Tathāgatas and broadly expounds the Dharma to people according to what has been heard, without growing weary. Third, energetic progress of mental karma: because one skillfully enters into the dhyānas and samādhis of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, continuously and without regressing. Question: When a pure mind inwardly produces superior understanding, this is already manifested; why must one rely on renouncing the household life to seek the essential Way? Answer: Although knowing what is pure and wholesome and long awakened, dwelling in secular life is still like being in a prison, entangled in manifold affairs; therefore one renounces the household to study the Way. The eleventh fascicle of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra states: "Dwelling in the household is cramped like a prison; all afflictions arise from it. Renouncing the household is vast and spacious like empty space; all wholesome dharmas grow on account of it." Furthermore, the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra states: "The household is lowly; the renunciant life is noble. The household is the limit of birth and death; the renunciant life is the limit of nirvāṇa." Furthermore, the fifth fascicle of the Mahākāruṇika Sūtra on Repaying the Buddha's Kindness states: At that time, the Śākya women had their ears and noses cut off and their hands and feet severed by King Virūḍhaka, and were abandoned in a charnel ground. By the Buddha's mighty supernatural power, they were restored as before. The women reflected: "We now wish to repay the Buddha's kindness; we ought together to renounce the household, cultivate and uphold the prohibitive precepts, and protect and uphold the true Dharma." Having so reflected, they at once sought robes and bowls and went to the royal park, to the nunnery to seek renunciation. At that time, the group-of-six nuns saw the Śākya women: their age was youthful, and their beauty was shapely and fair. "How can they now abandon what is difficult to abandon and seek to renounce the household? We should speak to them of the worldly pleasures of the five desires: wait until your years are advanced and then renounce the household—would that not be delightful? If they return to secular life, they will surely offer their robes and bowls to us." Having so reflected, they went before the Śākya women and stated the above matters to them. When the women heard this, their minds were distressed: "Why is there great terror in this peaceful place? It is like fine delicacies mixed with poison. The many faults and perils of the worldly five desires are already fully known to us; why do they instead praise their beauty?" Having spoken these words, they wept aloud and left the monastery. There was a nun named Utpalavarṇā, who asked the women: "Why are you crying?" The women answered: "Our wish has not been realized." The nun said: "What is your wish?" The women answered the nun: "We wish to renounce the household, but were not granted permission." Then the nun Utpalavarṇā asked: "If you women wish to renounce the household, I can deliver you." When the women heard this, their hearts were filled with joy; they followed her at once, and she delivered them as disciples. When the Śākya women received permission, grief and joy mingled together, and they said: "Upādhyāyikā, you should know that when we were in the household, our manifold sufferings were not single: our kin died, our ears and noses were sliced off, our hands and feet severed, and our calamities were exceedingly severe." At that time, the upādhyāyikā informed her disciples: "What you have suffered is hardly worth mentioning! When I was in the household, the manifold sufferings I bore were far more numerous." Then the meditating women knelt and addressed their master: "We pray you will tell of the causes and conditions of the manifold sufferings in the household." Then the nun Utpalavarṇā entered samādhi, and with the power of supernatural abilities, emitted a great light, gathering the great assembly who had karmic connections. When they had gathered, she spoke herself: "When I was in the household, I was a native of the city of Śrāvastī. My parents married me to a man of the north. According to the custom of that land, when a woman is pregnant and close to giving birth, she returns to her parents' home. In this sequential manner, over several years, after giving birth to children, I was again pregnant and near the day of delivery. Riding on a chariot and horses, husband and wife together returned toward my parents' home. Midway there was a river whose waters were in sudden flood; the road was desolate, with many dangers from bandits. Having reached the river, we were unable to cross and lodged on the bank. In the first watch of the night, my belly suddenly pained me; I at once sat up, and before long was delivered of a baby boy. In the grass beside the cliff, there was a great venomous snake. Smelling the fragrance of fresh blood, it came toward me. Before reaching my place, my husband and a servant were sleeping on the path. The snake reached the servant and immediately bit and killed him; it went forward to my husband, who was asleep and unaware, and bit and killed him as well. I shouted out: 'A snake has come! A snake has come!' When I called, there was no answer; husband and servant were already dead. At that time, the venomous snake also bit the oxen and horses. By the time the sun came out, the bodies of my husband and the servant were bloated, rotting with worms, their bones already dismembered and strewn across the ground. In grief, sorrow, and terror, I fainted and fell to the earth, weeping aloud, beating my breast with my hands and tearing my hair. Dust covered my body; immediately I fainted again, casting my whole body onto the bones. Because of such sorrow, I lingered for several days alone on the bank. The water gradually subsided. Bearing the young child on my back, I held him with my hand; the newborn I placed in the skirt of my robe, holding it in my mouth. I then entered the water, and just as I reached the middle of the river, I looked back at the elder child and saw a ferocious tiger running in pursuit. Opening my mouth to shout, my mouth let slip the skirt, and the infant sank into the water. Reaching out with my hands to catch him, I ultimately failed to grasp him. The one on my back slipped from my hand and fell into the water, quickly sinking and lost; the one on the bank was eaten by the tiger. Seeing this, my heart and liver split apart; I vomited hot blood and cried out loudly: 'How horrific! How horrific! Today I have met with such cruel catastrophe all at once!' Reaching the bank, I fainted and fell to the ground. Before long, a caravan arrived. In the caravan there was an elder who was an old acquaintance of my parents. I went forward and asked news of my parents. The elder answered me: 'Last night your parents' home caught fire and was burned entirely to ashes; your parents also perished.' Hearing this, I fainted and fell to the ground; only after a long time did I revive. Before long, a band of five hundred robbers broke the caravan. The robber chief took me away to be his wife. The rule for the robber chief's wife was always to guard the gate; if there was an emergency and he was pursued by others, she had to open the gate swiftly. Later, at one time, my husband went out with the robbers to plunder. The king and the villagers joined forces to pursue them and chased him to his home. At that time, his wife was inside the house, giving birth to a child. Outside the gate, her husband called repeatedly, but no one inside opened the gate. Then the robber chief thought: 'Now this woman wishes to harm me.' Having so thought, he climbed over the wall, entered, and said to his wife: 'For what reason did you not open the gate?' The wife said: 'Because of giving birth, I could not make it in time.' Seeing this, the robber chief's anger slightly abated. He said to his wife: 'A person who has a body will have children. Because of giving birth, you harmed me! What use is this child? Go quickly and kill it!' The wife felt pity in her heart and could not bear to kill it. Then the robber chief drew his sword, hacked the child to pieces, severed its hands and feet, and said to his wife: 'You eat it! If you do not eat it, I will cut off your head.' Through terror, the wife ate it. When she had eaten it, his anger abated. Her husband later continued to rob and steal, and was captured by the king, who punished his crime. According to the law for punishing bandits, he had to be executed, and his wife buried alive with him. At that time, my body was adorned with exquisite necklaces. Someone lusted after my necklaces, and in the late night opened the grave, took my necklaces, and carried me off. After a short time, the royal investigators kept watch, caught him, and judged him according to the law. Just as with the punishment for bandits, he was executed, and his wife buried alive with him. They did not bury me securely; in the late night, many tigers and wolves dug open the grave to eat the corpses. Because of this, I was soon able to get out. Having gotten out, I was bewildered and dazed, not knowing east from west. Running along the road, I saw many people and asked: 'You people should know, I am now in agony; where can my worries be dispelled and my calamities eliminated?' Thereupon elder Brahmins and others, out of pity, said to me: 'In the Dharma of Śākyamuni Buddha there is much peace and security, free from decay and distress.' Hearing this, I rejoiced in my heart. Under the bhikṣuṇī Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, I renounced the household, cultivated step by step, and attained the fruits of the Way, the three knowledges, the six supernatural powers, and full possession of the eight liberations. Due to these causes and conditions, you should know that when I was in the household, my suffering was like this. Through these causes and conditions, I myself arrived at the attainment of the Way." When the Śākya women heard this preaching, their hearts rejoiced greatly, and they attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. Question: What superior benefits are there in renouncing the household to study the Way? Answer: The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya states: "If someone offers gifts to arhats for a hundred thousand years, it is not as good as renouncing the household to practice the pure life for a single day and night." Furthermore, the third fascicle of the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: "Though a peacock has colors adorning its body, it is not as good as the wild goose that can fly far. Though the white-robed [laity] have the power of wealth and nobility, they are not as good as the superior merit of the renunciant." Furthermore, the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra states: "Even if loved ones dwell together for long, when the time comes and life ends, they must separate; seeing this impermanence of a mere moment, therefore I now seek liberation." Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Merits of Renouncing the Household states: "If someone were to build precious stūpas throughout Jambudvīpa, eaves touching eaves all the way up to the Brahma heaven, the merit obtained would not be as good as someone releasing a single servant or slave to renounce the household and study the Way. If someone were to release servants and slaves to renounce the household throughout Jambudvīpa as numerous as rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds, the merit obtained would not be as good as someone releasing a single son or daughter to renounce the household for the Way"—as broadly explained in the sūtras.