四部律并論要用抄 2.7

2.7

The "Cīvarakkhandhaka" of the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya clarifies the rules for caring for the sick: The Buddha was residing in Śrāvastī. He did not accept invitations to dine. It is the regular practice of all Buddhas that, if they do not accept invitations, they subsequently make an inspection round of the chambers. While making his inspection round of the chambers, he saw that in a certain place there was a sick monk who had no one to look after or attend to him, lying in his own feces and urine. Having seen this, he went to the sick monk's place and, knowing already, purposely asked, "Monk, why are you lying in feces and urine? Do you have anyone who looks after and attends to you?" He answered, "I do not." The World-Honoured One asked further, "Why is there no one?" He answered, "When I was free of illness, I did not care for others who were sick. For this reason, now that I am sick, there is no one who looks after and attends to me." The Buddha said, "By not looking after and attending to the sick, you obtained no benefit. If you monks do not care for one another when sick, who ought to care for the sick?" At that time, the World-Honoured One immediately supported the sick monk up, wiped the filth from his body, and washed him. After washing him, he laundered his robes and dried them in the sun, discarded his worn and broken bedding and grass [matting], swept the dwelling place clean, and sprinkled it with slurry to make it thoroughly pure. He laid out fresh grass again, spread one robe upon it, helped the monk lie down again, covered him with another robe, and departed. Then, after the World-Honoured One had eaten, he assembled the saṃgha of monks on account of this matter, and related in full to the monks how he had personally attended to the sick person: "You monks, from this day forward you should care for the sick. You must not fail to care for them; you must not fail to look after the sick. If there is anyone who wishes to make offerings to me, he should make offerings to the sick. I permit his upādhyāya, or a fellow-upādhyāya, his ācārya, or a fellow-ācārya, [or his] disciples to look after him. If there is no one at all, the saṃgha should assign someone to look after the sick person. If [the person] is unwilling, assignments should be made in turn. If one refuses when his turn comes, he should be disciplined according to the Dharma. If there are no monks, bhikṣuṇīs should do it; if there are no bhikṣuṇīs, śikṣamāṇās should do it; if there are no śikṣamāṇās, śrāmaṇeras should do it; if there are no śrāmaṇeras, śrāmaṇerīs should do it; if there are no śrāmaṇerīs, upāsakas should do it; if there are no upāsakas, upāsikās should do it. Among these, the bhikṣuṇīs, śikṣamāṇās, śrāmaṇerīs, and upāsikās should perform whatever is permissible to do, but must not touch the monk." At that time, the World-Honoured One said to the monks: "Take the deceased person's robes, bowl, sitting mat, and needle case, and give them to the caregiver of the sick. You should perform a jñapti-dvitīya-karman to give them." Question: "The deceased person's property naturally belongs by principle to the saṃgha; why is it necessary for the caregiver of the sick to renounce it three times within the saṃgha?" Answer: "Although it belongs to the saṃgha, the caregiver of the sick merely guarded it. The reason relinquishment is now clarified is to let the entire assembly know of it." Question: "Since the deceased monk's robes and articles naturally belong to the saṃgha, why is it necessary to perform a karman to give them before a person may obtain them?" Answer: "The deceased person's robes and articles belong to the cāturdiśa-saṃgha. Because the cāturdiśa-saṃgha cannot be assembled, it cannot be divided. The holy teaching provides an exception allowing a karman to give them [to one person], making one person the owner; only when that owner gives them to the [local] saṃgha can they be divided." Because the Buddha gave the three robes and six articles to the caregiver of the sick, at that time monks would provide minimal care to the sick—perhaps helping them up, helping them lie down once, or giving them a single willow twig or water—and then take the deceased person's robes and bowl. The Buddha said, "You must not take the robes and bowl for having merely provided minimal care to the sick. From this day forward, the caregiver of the sick must possess five qualities before he may be given the robes and bowl. What are the five? First, he knows what food is suitable and unsuitable for the patient and is able to provide it. Second, he does not loathe or despise the patient's feces, urine, vomit, or spittle. Third, he has a mind of compassion and does not do it for food. Fourth, he can manage broths and medicines until the patient recovers or dies. Fifth, he can preach the Dharma to the patient to bring him joy, while he himself increases in wholesome dharmas. If one possesses these five dharmas, he may take the patient's robes and articles; if he lacks these five dharmas, they should not be given to him." In Śrāvastī a monk died. He had many sets of three robes, and [the monks] did not know which set to give to the caregiver of the sick. The Buddha said, "I permit giving the ones usually kept by the deceased." Furthermore, a monk died who had many sets of three robes, and they did not know which grade of three robes to give to the caregiver of the sick. The Buddha said, "You should observe: if this caregiver was able to care for the sick very well, you should give the superior three robes; if middling, give the middling; if inferior, give the inferior." A sick monk had this thought: "I shall receive three robes that are neither fine nor poor, for I fear the caregiver will take the fine ones away." The Buddha said, "I do not permit this." There was a sick monk who sent his robes and bowl to another place, fearing the caregiver would take them away, leaving him with nothing to wear after recovering from illness. The Buddha said, "It should not be so." There are five conditions that make a patient difficult to care for: first, he eats food that he should not eat; second, he refuses to take medicine; third, when the caregiver is devoted, he does not speak truthfully; fourth, he does not walk when he should walk, and does not rest when he should rest; fifth, his body is in pain and he cannot endure it, and though his body is slightly capable, he will not do things himself but relies on others to do them. These are called the five reasons a patient is difficult to care for. The reverse of these five phrases is called easy to care for. Furthermore, there are three reasons a patient is difficult to care for: he cannot sit quietly and reflect. First, he fails to resolve to repent past transgressions: this retribution is brought about by bad actions; if he does not repent now, he will certainly fall into the evil destinies. The sins accumulated in previous lives have residual retribution not yet exhausted, and since birth his evil deeds have grown daily while his good deeds have been few. He should reflect on each of the rules in the five classes of offenses; if he has transgressed any, he should repent them all now. If he gives rise to this mind, he will certainly be born in a good destiny. Second, he should contemplate impermanence: the body is like morning dew, formed from temporary aggregates, a phenomenon that quickly decays and cannot be preserved for long. When life itself cannot be retained, what property is worth begrudging? Toward all his robes and articles, he should not let them go to ruin, but relinquish them without needing to entrust them, letting the saṃgha properly dispose of them after his demise. Third, he should be mindful of the buddha-samādhi, harmonise his breath well, tie his mind to the object, and though his thoughts turn to evil destinations, contemplate the pure land as if it were before his eyes, dwelling in right mindfulness. Furthermore, a patient should carefully assess his circumstances according to three categories: First, severe illness. Whether he receives coarse food suitable to his illness, broths and medicines suitable to his illness, and a good caregiver—whether he gets these three things or not—when his karmic span of impermanence is exhausted, he will inevitably die. At that time, this patient should reckon upon death; he must not consume alcohol, meat, or food at improper times. Why? Better to die keeping the precepts than to live having broken them. Second, middling illness. If he receives the above three things, he will recover; if he does not receive them, he will certainly die. At that time, this patient should deliberate for himself and eat what is suitable to his illness; if he cannot regulate himself, the caregiver should make the determination. Third, minor illness. Whether he receives the above three things or not, he will not die. At that time, the patient need only rest slightly, and the illness will naturally recover. He must not drink alcohol, eat meat, or eat at improper times on account of illness. Because illness brings much distress and readily generates anger, he should subdue himself, undergo acupuncture, moxibustion, take medicine, and patiently assimilate what is provided. He should reflect: 'Others care for me with good intentions; this itself is already hard to repay. How much worse to add harsh words and vex them!' If the one who cares for me finds no benefit and gives rise to a discouraged mind, abandoning his care, I will die immediately. For this reason, one should feel shame, accommodate the caregiver's intentions, praise and encourage him, and cause his mind to advance with joy without resentment, so that both self and other benefit." The Vinayamātṛkā says: "If a patient does not follow the instructions of the caregiver, it is a duṣkṛta. If the caregiver goes against the instructions of the patient, it is also a duṣkṛta."