English
(1) Observing the Precepts" purely and perfectly : there ^ To see the Nature of Buddha is a phrase indicating a knowledge of the principles of the "Great Vehicle" (mahiiyana), which was an advance on the old scheme known as the "incomplete vehicle" (hinayana). The latter spoke only of the " qualities" (siang) of things, and therefore taught that when the distinctive qualities of a thing were destroyed or dissolved, that the thing perished ; the former taught that there was something underlying the qualities ; that something was at first spoken of as " the Law of its existence" (fall ; dharma ; that which makes a thing what it is) ; afterwards it was called its "Nature" (sing). Finally, it was declared that each thing has not a distinct Nature, but that the Nature of all things is the same as the Nature of Buddha ; and, by a further step, the last stage of Buddhist speculation was reached, which was, that the Nature of Buddha is the same as the Nature of " all the Buddlias," i.e., of the Universe. - That is, the ten conunandmeuts. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 253 are tliree classes of persons who keep the Precepts^ who are not the same. {(i) If a man, before becoming a disciple of Budclha, has not been guilty of the five sins (murder, adultery, theft, slander (falsehood of any sort), drunkenness), and, after meeting with a Teacher, has adopted the five additional Rules and taken refuge in Buddha, the Law, and the Church ; if such a man, having left his house and received ordination, persuade others to follow his example, and him- self live blamelessly in his profession, this man belongs to the superior class of those who observe the Precepts. Such a man, engaging in the practice of chi-kwan, will arrive at the condition (fah, dharma) of Buddha as easily as a pure garment is dyed by the dyer. (fe) The second class of persons are those who, having received ordination,^ continue in their duty as 'to chief matters, but yet offend in some minor points, and so have occasion constantly to practise the rules of penance ; these are like cloth covered with defilement, which must be washed before it is dyed. ((') The third class of persons are those who, after ordi- nation, have transgressed wilfully.^ Under the Little Vehicle there was no room for such persons to repent ; but under the system of the Great Vehicle,^ he may recover himself. Those who, having sinned thus, and who seek for Recovery by Repentance, must observe the following rules : — (a) They must revive their faith in rewards and punish- ments. 1 Undertaken the ten precepts. The character of Buddhist ordination is fully explained by Bishop Bigandet (^Legend of the Burmese Gaudama^ 503) ; also by F. Spiegel in his Latin translation of the Kamavakya from the Pali. - I am compressing the full translation of this work, which lies before me, into a short compass. To trangress wilfully alludes to the parajika sins of the Pratimoksha. * The distinction of this development was that all men, possessing the Nature of Buddha, should eventually be saved; and therefore it excludes no one from repentance. 254 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST (yS) They must encourage in themselves a feeling of deep shame for their sin. (7) They must be filled with a sense of reverence and fear. {B) They must desire to destroy occasions of sin ; or^ as the Law says_, "shape their conduct according to Religion." (e) They must confess their sins without resei've. (^) They must cut off all sinful inclinations (or heart- leanings to sin). (7^) They must excite in themselves a jealousy for Religion (the Law, or a desire to protect the Law). {6} They must promote in themselves a desire to see all men arrive at salvation. (k) They must constantly invoke " all the Buddhas." (X) They must consider the " deadness" (unproductive- ness) of the nature of sin. If a man is able to observe these ten Rules, and at the same timp attend scrupulously to the external duties of Religion — such as adorning the altar, cleansing his person, and clothed in pure garments, scattering flowers and burn- ing incense in honour of the three gems, as the Law directs — thus doing, for a week, for three weeks, for a month, three months, till a whole year be past — finding then that he has thoroughly repented of his crime, and that the hold of evil is utterly destroyed in him, then he is Fixed (*. e., restored to purity) . But by what marks may he know that the power of evil is destroyed ? If the disciple, at the time when he has thus repented with all his heart, realise the vanity (light profit) of earthly engagements (lit. of body and heart), obtain propitious dreams, and moreover experience (observe) the various indications of inward spiritual tokens, and awake to a sense of the development of virtuous prin- ciples ("virtuous heart," in opposition to "body-heart"), and, as he sits in contemplation, perceives his body to be as a cloud or a shadow, and thus gradually attain to the limits of the difierent dhyanas, and if again he thoroughly under- stand the chai-acter of the enlightened condition of mind SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 255 which exhibits itself by immediate recognition of sacred truth, so that on opening the Scriptures their true meaning at once flashes into the heart, and in consequence of this condition he enjoy true Peace, by such proofs as these he may assuredly know that the root of his sin which led to transgression and spiritual deadness is utterly destroyed. From this time forth, resolutely holding to the Laws of purity called Sila (perfect compliance with all the rules of the Vinaya), he may then practise the way of Samadhi {i. e., prepare himself for arriving at spiritual perfection), as the torn and dirty robe, when mended and washed, is again fit for use. But if a man have broken the great commandments, and so fear prevent him from arriving at " fixed contempla- tion" (/. e., complete abstraction of mind), and he does not follow the directions of the Sacred Books in framing his religious lifej yet if he be only sensible of a profound rever- ence in the presence of the three Gems (the Triratna — Btiddha, the Law, the Church), search out and bring to light his former sins, cut oS" the secret springs of it that entwine his heart, and, as he sits in reflection continually, realise the nature of sin as being empty (vain or dead), and so concentrate his thoughts on the Buddhas of the ten regions (i. e., '' all the Buddhas,^^ or the '' Supreme"), and when he breaks oS" from his meditation, immediately resorts with perfect intention to the burning of incense, and bodily worship, and with contrite heart recite the precepts and in- tone the sacred Books of the Great conveyance, and so the obstacles that prevented his religious advancement, and the causes of his grievous sin, be gradually overcome and destroyed, because of this, arriving at purity, the power of contemplation will expand and increase. Hence the Siitra called the Miau-shing-teng (Surailgama Samadhi ?) says : " If a man, because he has transgressed the greater com- mandments, be filled with fear, and desiring to destroy the power of sin, seek to do so by the practice of intense thought, which, after all, being imperfect, is inefi'ectual to 25G A CATENA OF BUDDHIST the desired end, such a man ought to take up his abode in a desert spot (live in a pansal), and, holding his mind in checkj continue to sit and recite the Scriptures of the Great Vehicle, till he find the entire weight of sin removed and destroyed, and the various powers of abstract contempla- tion, self-originated, come into his possession." II. The second external means relates to clothing and food. Now, with respect to the first, there are three rules. (1.) That which relates to the one garment worn by the great teachers of the Snowy Mountains (the school of the Haimavatas ?), barely sufficient to cover the body, (who) by excluding themselves from the society of men, aimed to perfect themselves in the virtue of endurance (patience, kshanti). (2.) That which relates to Kasyapa (or, the school of the Kasyapiyas, which is the same as that of the Aryastha viras, from whom the Haimavatas proceeded), who always observed the Dhiita Rules^ about dress, which require that only such garments shall be used as are made from cloth defiled in various ways,- and of these only three of a pre- scribed length. (3.