律戒本疏 1.3

1.3

Fourth: If a monk, not knowing and not seeing, with empty [claims], [falsely boasts of] superhuman qualities, saying of himself, 'I have attained such [vision],' and so forth, up to 'except in the case of overweening pride.'
'If a monk, not knowing and not seeing, with empty [claims], [falsely boasts of] superhuman qualities, saying of himself, "I have attained such vision," up to "except in the case of overweening pride"': The Buddha was in Vaiśālī. The monks were observing the summer retreat along the Vaggumudā River. At that time there was a famine, and almsfood was difficult to obtain. For the sake of gain and support, they praised one another, claiming to have attained what they had not attained among superhuman qualities. On this account [the Buddha] formulated the precept. The four fruits, the four paths, the four dhyānas, the four formless [attainments], ānāpānasmṛti, the contemplation of impurity, and so forth are called superhuman qualities. Lacking them wrongly, not seeing, not having contacted, and not having realized [them] is called 'not knowing.' Not seeing the four truths is called '[not] seeing.' Transcending the ordinary and worldly is called 'superhuman.' If one points to superhuman qualities, saying one has attained them when one has not: if the other person understands, it is a grave offense; if they do not understand, it is a sthūlāccaya. At the stage of preliminary application, wishing to say it and wishing to speak, it is a light sthūlāccaya; when the speaking is finished, it is a grave offense. If one says, 'The eight classes of devas and nāgas have come to my dwelling and conversed back and forth with me,' if it is untrue, it is a grave offense. If one says, 'As to the precepts, sexual desire does not arise in me,' if it is untrue, it is a sthūlāccaya; if [the listener] does not understand, it is a duṣkṛta. Even if one says, 'A whirlwind or an earthly ghost has come to my dwelling,' if it is untrue: if [the listener] understands, it is also a sthūlāccaya; if they do not understand, it is a duṣkṛta. Toward an amānuṣa or an animal: if it does not understand, it is a duṣkṛta; if it understands, it is a sthūlāccaya. Teaching another to tell a lie is a duṣkṛta. If one tells another, causing them to say that oneself has attained the Path: when the other person receives the words, it is a grave offense; if they do not receive the words, it is a sthūlāccaya; when the other person first receives the words, it is a duṣkṛta; when one speaks to another, it is an offense of pāyattika. As for 'whether questioned or not questioned': it means that either someone examines [him] or no one examines [him], yet wishing to seek purity, he then speaks truly on his own: 'I did not know, but said I knew, which was an empty, deceptive lie.' The noble fruits are higher dharmas. If one attains the four foundations of mindfulness up to the dharma of the peak of existence, although one seeks to attain the fruit, the signs of the fruit have already appeared, and one's knowledge and vision are distinct, so one then says of oneself that one has attained the higher noble fruit. Because of this haughtiness, it is called 'overweening pride.' Although what was spoken is not true, the intention of the words was not empty; because the intention was not empty, one does not commit a grave offense. For example, when Maudgalyāyana grasped the characteristics of entering samādhi and did not grasp the characteristics of emerging from samādhi, he said of himself, 'In the midst of the samādhi of nothingness, the music of the asuras was spoken in accordance with mental conceptualization.' In cases such as this, none commit an offense. 'Commits any one dharma' means that among the four graves, one incurs any one dharma. 'As before, he is also completely so' means that, just as when he originally had not yet received the full precepts, he is not to live in common; once the offense is committed, his not living in common is also like that. The four matters are finished.