T2125 Buddhist Monastic Traditions of Southern Asia

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BDK English Tripitaka 93-1 BUDDHIST MONASTIC TRADITIONS OF SOUTHERN ASIA

A RECORD OF THE INNER LAW SENT HOME FROM THE SOUTH SEAS by

Sramana Yijing

Translated from the Chinese (Taishô Volume 54, Number 2125) by

Li Rongxi

Numata Center

for Buddhist Translation and Research 2000

Copyright

© 2000 by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and

Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. First Printing, 2000

ISBN: 1-886439-09-5

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-67122 Published by

Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2620 Warring Street

Berkeley, California 94704

Printed in the United States of America

A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripit ka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed. Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of isdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taisho edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in the world.

Numata Yehan

Founder of the English

August 7,1991 Tripitaka Project

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. Numata Yehan, the founder of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taisho edition of the Chinese Tripitaka (Buddhist Canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripitaka was officially convened. The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) Hanayama Shoyu (Chairperson); Bando Shojun; Ishigami Zenno; Kamata Shigeo; Kanaoka Shuyu; Mayeda Sengaku; Nara Yasuaki; Sayeki Shinko; (late) Shioiri Ryotatsu; Tamaru Noriyoshi; (late) Tamura Kwansei; Uryuzu Ryushin; and Yuyama Akira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: Kanazawa Atsushi; Watanabe Shogo; Rolf Giebel of New Zealand; and Rudy Smet of Belgium.

After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. Numata wished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

It must be mentioned here that the final object of this project is not academic fulfillment but the transmission of the teaching of the vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

Buddha to the whole world in order to create harmony and peace among humankind. To that end, the translators have been asked to minimize the use of xplanatory notes of he kind that are indispensable in academic texts, so that the attention of general readers will not be unduly distracted from the primary text. Also, a glossary of selected terms is appended to aid in understanding the text. To my great regret, however, Dr. Numata passed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. Numata Toshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, Professor Hanayama Shoyu, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixtythree. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, Vice-President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. Numata,under the leadership of Mr. Numata Toshihide.

The present members of the Committee are Mayeda Sengaku (Chairperson), Bando Shojun, Ishigami Zenno, Ichishima Shoshin, Kamata Shigeo, Kanaoka Shuyu, Nara Yasuaki, Sayeki Shinko, Tamaru Noriyoshi, Uryuzu Ryushin, and Yuyama Akira. Assistant members are Watanabe Shogo and Ueda Noboro.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripitaka First Series. In December 1991, the Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center, with Professor Philip Yampolsky as the Chairperson. To our sorrow, Professor Yampolsky passed away in July 1996, but thankfully Dr. Kenneth Inada is continuing the work as Chairperson. This text is the eighteenth volume to be published and distributed by the Numata Center. All of the remaining texts will be published under the supervision of this Committee, in close cooperation with the Translation Committee in Tokyo.

June 28, 1999 Mayeda Sengaku

Chairperson

Translation Committee of

the BDK English Tripitaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

The Publication Committee works in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee of the BDK English Tripitaka in Tokyo, Japan. Since December 1991, it has operated from the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research in Berkeley, California. Its principal mission is to oversee and facilitate the publication in English of selected texts from the one hundred-volume Taisho Edition of he Chinese Tripitaka, along with a few major influential Japanese Buddhist texts not in the Tripitaka. The list of selected texts is conveniently appended at the end of each volume. In the text itself, the Taisho Edition page and column designations are provided in the margins.

The Committee is committed to the task of ublishing clear, readable English texts. It honors the deep faith, spirit, and concern of the late Reverend Doctor Numata Yehan to disseminate Buddhist teachings throughout the world.

In July 1996, the Committee unfortunately lost its valued Chairperson, Dr. Philip Yampolsky, who was a stalwart leader, trusted friend, and esteemed colleague. We follow in his shadow. In February 1997,1 was appointed to guide the Committee in his place. The Committee is charged with the normal duties of a publishing firm—general editing, formatting, copyediting, proofreading, indexing, and checking linguistic fidelity. The Committee members are Diane Ames, Eisho Nasu, Koh Nishiike, and the president and director of the Numata Center, Reverend Kiyoshi S. Yamashita. Kenneth K. Inada

Chairperson

June 28, 1999 Publication Committee

IX

Table of Contents

Contents A Message on the Publication of the English Tripitaka Numata Yehan v Editorial Foreword Mayeda Sengaku vii Publisher's Foreword Kenneth K. Inada ix Translator's Introduction Li Rongxi 1 A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas Fascicle One Foreword 7 1. No Degradation Is Caused by a Breach of the Summer Retreat 21 2. Behavior towards the Honored Ones 3. Sitting on Small Chairs at Mealtimes 4. The Distinction between Pure and Impure Food 5. Cleansing after Taking Meals 6. Two Bottles for Keeping Water 7. Morning Inspection of Water to Clear Away Insects 8. Chewing Tooth Wood in the Morning 9. Acceptance of an Invitation to a Feast 21 22

24

26

27

29

32

34

Fascicle Two 10. The Requirements for Raiment and Food 11. How to Wear the Robes 12. The Robes and the Funeral Rites of a Bhiksuni 13. The Purification of a Site 14. The Summer Retreat of the Five Groups 15. The Ceremony of Confession 53 70

75

80

82

83

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Translator’s Introduction

16. The Use of Spoons and Chopsticks 17. Salutation at Proper Times 18. Answering the Call of ature 86 87 88 Supplemental Remarks 91 Fascicle Three 19. Regulations for Ordination 93 20. The Times for Taking a Bath 21. The Cloth for Sitting On 22. Rules Concerning Sleeping and Resting 23. Walking Up and Down for Good Health 24. The Junior Worshiping the Senior 25. Behavior between Teacher and Pupil 26. Conduct towards Visitors and Friends 27. The Treatment of Disease 28. Rules for Taking Medicine 29. Avoidance of vil Drugs 30. On Turning to the Right and the Observation of Time 102 104 105 107 108 109 116 118 121 127 129 Fascicle Four 31. Bathing the Buddha's Image 32. The Ceremony of Chanting 33. Absurd Ways of orshiping the Buddha's Image 144 34. The Ways of Learning in India 35. On Keeping Long Hair 36. Disposal of the Property of a Deceased Monk 37. Use of the Property of the Sangha 38. The Impropriety of Self-Immolation 39. The Bystanders Become Guilty 40. Things Not Done by Virtuous Monks of Old 135 138 145 155 157 161 163 166 167 Glossary 183 Bibliography 187 Index 189 A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripitaka (First Series)

Translator's Introduction

A Record of he Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas (Nan-haiji-gui-nei-fa-zhuan), Taisho No. 2125, in four fascicles, was composed by Yijing while he was sojourning in Sribhoja (Sumatra) on his return journey from India.

Yijing (635-713), surnamed Zhang before becoming a monk, was a native of Qi-zhou (present Li-cheng County in Shandong Province). He was admitted to the monkhood at the age of fourteen. While he was still a youth of ighteen, he cherished the desire to travel to India to study Buddhism. His wish was not fulfilled until he was thirty-seven years old, in the second year of Xianheng (671), during the reign of Emperor Gao-zhong of the Tang dynasty. When he was living in retirement during the summer season at Yang-zhou in that year, he became acquainted with Feng Xiao-quan, the Governor-designate of Guang-zhou (in the present Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), who was ready to proceed to take up his post in the south. After the conclusion of the summer retreat, Yijing traveled with the new governor as far as Guang-zhou, where, with the generous support of the mandarin, he was able to sail in a Persian ship to the South Seas and reach Sribhoja after a voyage of less than twenty days. Having stayed in Sribhoja for six months to study the Sanskrit language, Yijing resumed his journey via Malaya, Kaccha, and the Islands of the Naked (Nicobar Islands), and arrived at Tamralipti (the Calcutta area) in East India in the second month of the fourth year of Xian-heng (673). He stayed there for another year to continue his study of Sanskrit before starting his pilgrimage to Nalanda and other holy sites in Central India.

1

Translator's Introduction

After having visited such sacred places as Vulture Peak near Rajagrha, Mahabodhi Monastery, the old residence of imalakirti at Vaisall, Kusinagara, and Deer Park, he climbed over Kukkutapada Mountain and returned to Nalanda Monastery, where he settled down and lived for ten years to study and translate Buddhist texts under the guidance of Ratnasimha, a learned teacher of the time who resided at the monastery. Bringing with him Sanskrit texts in more than five hundred thousand stanzas, which when translated into Chinese would amount to a thousand fascicles, he sailed from Tamralipti on his return journey and arrived at Sribhoja for the second time in the third year of Chui-gong (687). This time he stayed there till he returned to China in the first year of Zheng-sheng (695). It was during his second sojourn in Sribhoja that Yijing wrote the Record in four fascicles sometime before 691, in which year he dispatched a Chinese monk named Dajin, whom he had met in Sribhoja, to take the manuscript of the Record back to China together with his newly translated sutras and sdstras in ten fascicles, and the Biographies of minent Monks Who Went to the Western Regions in Search of the Dharma (Xi-yu-qiu-fa-gao-seng-zhuan) in two fascicles, as well as a letter to the court requesting that the emperor build a Buddhist temple in India.

His motive in riting the Record was to provide his fellow onks at home with information about the monastic rules and manner of living of the monks in India and the islands of the South Seas. In the course of is narration and by way of omparison, Yijing did not forget to criticize the monks in China for those of their behaviors which were not in agreement with the disciplinary rules, particularly the rules of he Sarvastivada School. His intention as to make China a land in which Buddhism was practiced exactly as in India. In his own words he said: "My real wish is to make the Shao-shi Mountain equal to Vulture Peak, and to put the Divine Land on a par with the City of the Royal House (Rajagrha)." What he most objected to was the tradition of branding the scalp of monk or nun at the time of rdination. It is said that this 2

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Translator's Introduction

practice was initiated by Emperor Wu (r. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty, based on a teaching of the Brahmajala-sutra (a text on Mahayana disciplinary rules), which advocated injuring one's body by burning off a finger, cauterizing one's arms or scalp, or even committing suicide as an expression of gratitude to the Buddha. Such behavior is obviously contrary to the Vinaya rules prevalent in India. Yijing boldly deprecated these habits practiced in China and besought the monks at home to give up such improper conventions. But it seems that his admonition was not listened to, as no measures were taken to eliminate this unfortunate custom from the time that it was initiated during the first half of the sixth century c.e.until 1983, when it was abolished as a mark of rdination in all monasteries throughout China.

Again, in another chapter (Chapter Thirty-three), Yijing censured some Chinese monks for exhibiting Buddha images in the highway while performing Buddhist ceremonies in order to attract more worshipers and collect more money. This commercialization of the performance of Buddhist ceremonies was not only so popular at Yijing's time as to draw his attention but is still practiced in China without an end in view.

As a translator of anskrit Buddhist texts into Chinese, Yijing laid emphasis on the study of the Sanskrit language. In Chapter Thirty-four he described the principal textbooks for studying Sanskrit and remarked: "But the translators of old times rarely talked about the grammar of the Sanskrit language. . . .Now I hope you will all study Sanskrit, so that we can spare the translators the trouble of repetition. . . .Even in Ku-lun and Suli, the people can read Sanskrit scriptures. Why should the people of the Divine Land, which is a land of bundance, not probe into the original language of he scriptures?"

It is true that Sanskrit has never been and is not a required course for Chinese student monks. Due to their lack of elementary knowledge of Sanskrit, they often misunderstood the original meaning of Chinese translations; and this gives rise to unnecessary disputes and controversies. In China there is a 3

Contents

1

Translator's Introduction

proverb: "Forget the trap when the fish is caught." (Deyu wang quart.) Perhaps that was why the numerous Sanskrit texts brought back from India by Xuanzang in 645, for which a big pagoda, the Wild Goose Pagoda (Da-yan-ta), was constructed at Xi'an as a storehouse, were forgotten and not handed down to posterity. As a source of information, Yijing's Record contains ample materials concerning monastic life, from the choosing of a teacher, under whose guidance one becomes a monk, up to the disposal of the personal belongings left by a deceased monk. It depicts such a complete picture of the life of a monk that it is indispensable and invaluable for research into the conditions of Buddhist monasticism in medieval India. 4

A RECORD OF THE INNER LAW SENT HOME FROM THE SOUTH SEAS by

Sramana Yijing

Fascicle One

Foreword

In the beginning, when the Great Chiliocosm was first produced, it revealed the inception of he establishment of he universe. When a hundred kotis (one koti equals ten million) of things were completed, there was as yet no proper order for men and inanimate objects. Since the world was hollow and empty, there was neither sun nor moon moving in it. It was really a calm and quiet state without grief or happiness, and there was no distinction between the principles of yin (negativity) and yang (positivity). Then the celestial beings of he Heaven of urity descended, with their bodily light following them. As they took earthly delicacies, they became greedy and acquired attachment. They ate climbing plants growing in the forest and fragrant grains of rice alternately. When their bodily light gradually faded away, the sun and moon began to appear. Conjugal relations and the affairs of agriculture arose, and the relationship between ruler and the ruled as well as between father and son was established. Then the people looked up to the blue firmament above and saw that the sky was sublimely high with a colorful floating light. When they looked down to the yellow earth, they beheld that wind agitated water and solidified it into terra firma. It is said that heaven and earth were then clearly divided. Living in between were human beings who came into being spontaneously by the interaction of pure and impure vital forces. The molding and casting function of egative and positive elements was likened to a big furnace, and the production of all kinds of things was compared to the production of pottery from clay. All these were erroneous sayings due to lack of learning. 7

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the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

Then the mountains stood high like stars scattered about in the sky, while sentient beings spread and multiplied. They differentiated the Way into ninety-six schools and classified truth into twenty-five categories. The Samkhya School holds that all things came into being from oneness, while the Vaisesika School asserts that the five forms of existence arose from the six categories. Some go naked and have their hair plucked out, regarding this as the essential way of getting out of transmigration. Others smear their bodies with ashes and dress their hair into a conical topknot, clinging to this practice as a means of oing up to heaven. Still others think that life is spontaneous, or that consciousness dissolves with the death of the body. Some others consider the world so obscure and profound that no one can perceive its essence, and believe that it is so subtle and incomprehensible that no one knows whence it came out. Others say that human beings will always be reborn as human beings, or say that after death they become ghosts or spirits. Some others talk about not knowing whether a butterfly becomes one's self r one's self urns into a butterfly. Some people were collectively bewildered to see a wasp which turned, when they came again, into a caterpillar. The chaos before the universe took shape was compared to an egg, and the undeveloped state of gnorance was likened to the innocent condition of an infant.

All these assertions were made due to not understanding that birth is the result of greed and present existence is the result of past actions. Will those who hold such views not transmigrate in the sea of suffering, drifting to and fro and lost in the stream of onfusion?

It is our Great Teacher, the World-honored Sakyamuni, who himself pointed out a flat path, expounded the wonderful principles in person, spoke on the twelve nidanas (links in the chain of causality), and acquired the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, who is titled the Teacher of Celestial and Human Beings and the Omniscient One. He guided the four classes of iving beings out of the house on fire and delivered all beings in the three realms from 8

Fascicle One

the city of darkness. He came out of the stream of passions and landed on the shore of nirvana (absolute extinction). When he first attained full enlightenment at the Dragon River, all beings of the nine classes cherished the mind of renouncing this world. Then he shifted and spread the light to Deer Park, so that the living beings of the six ways fostered the mind to take refuge in him. When he first rotated the Wheel of Dharma, five persons received his edification. Next, he talked on the tradition of the disciplinary rules, and a thousand people prostrated themselves before him. Thus his pure voice was heard in the city of Rajagrha, and those who realized the fruit of aintship were countless. In his father's city he requited him for his parental kindness, and numerous people made up their mind to acquire enlightenment. He commenced his teaching career with Ajnata-Kaundinya as his first disciple to realize the truth, and his last pupil was Subhadra in accordance with his original determination to conclude his teaching in the last period of his life. He held and maintained the Dharma for eighty years for the salvation of he beings of the nine abodes. In his teachings no obscure point was left untaught, and nobody was not accepted, however slow-witted he might be. For lay followers in general, he only spoke briefly on the five prohibitive precepts, but when speaking exclusively to the monks, he fully expounded the seven groups of the rules of discipline. It was thought that even grave offenses of householders might be absolved when the disciplinary rules were observed, and that the minor faults of the living beings might be excused when the Vinaya (moral precepts) became manifest. A monk once broke a twig with a feeling of hatred, and on account of this action he was reborn in a family of dragons. On another occasion a monk, showing mercy to small insects in the water, refused to drink it and thus was reborn in the abode of Indra after his death. The consequences of good and evil actions are as clear as that. Thus both the sutras (scriptures) and sastras (commentaries) were taught, and mental concentration together with wisdom was employed. Isn't the Tripitaka (the three collections of sacred 205a

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he Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

writings) the key to receiving living beings? In the presence of he Great Teacher, one always heard him preaching the same doctrine, although he taught it according to variant circumstances to save living beings. His theories vanquished other people's arguments. When he first indicated his demise at Vaisâlï, Ànanda, whose mind was deluded by Mara the Evil One, failed to ask the Great Teacher to live longer. At his last preaching near the Hiranyavati River, Aniruddha revealed the truth to resolve the doubts of he audience. It may be said that this was the end of he Great Teacher's edification of iving beings, and that he had completed what he could do with full merit. His physical form was no more to be seen at the two rivers, to the despair of both human and heavenly beings. His shadow faded away under the twin sala trees, and even the dragons and spirits became broken-hearted. Beside the sala grove the tears of the people made the ground muddy, and nearby the mourners'blood made the place look like a garden of lowering trees. With the nirvana of he Great Teacher, the world became empty and unsubstantial.

Then there were assemblies held by Dharma-propagating arhats (perfect saints), the first one being held with five hundred participants, and the second one with seven hundred participators. The keepers of he Vinaya were mainly divided into eighteen different schools, and the Tripitaka had variant versions according to different views and traditions. The monks of arious schools wore their undergarments differently cut, either in straight lines or irregularly, and in wearing their upper robes, the folds might be made broad or narrow. When they had to lodge together, they might spend the night either in separate rooms or separated by partitions of ropes in the same room, both ways being blameless. At the time of eceiving food, the monks might accept it with their hands, or mark a place on the ground to put the food on, both ways being without fault and each being handed down by a different tradition, which traditions must not be mixed together. (Yijing's running note: The Sarvâstivâda School cut the undergarments in straight lines, while the other three schools cut them 10

Fascicle One

in irregular shapes. This school prescribed that monks should spend the night in separate rooms, while the Sammitiya School allowed their monks to separate their beds with rope partitions. The Sarvastivada School permitted monks to receive food into their hands, but the Mahasamghika School required them to mark a place on the ground to accept it.) The various schools and sects have different origins, and there are only four principal schools that have been handed down from the past in the Western Land. (Yijing's running note: (1) The Aryamahasamghika-nikaya, or Holy School of the Great Assembly of Monks, is subdivided into seven sects, and each of the three collections of the Tripitaka of this school consists of a hundred thousand stanzas, which would constitute a thousand fascicles if translated into Chinese. (2) The Aryasthavira-nikaya, or School of the Holy Elders, is subdivided into three sects, and the length of its Tripitaka is the same as that of the preceding school. (3) The Aryamulasarvastivadanikaya, or Holy Fundamental School of eality, is subdivided into four sects, and its Tripitaka is the same as that of the preceding school. (4) The Aryasammitiya-nikaya, or Holy School of Correct Measures, is subdivided into four sects, and its Tripitaka consists of three hundred thousand stanzas. But the subdivisions of the schools have varied according to different traditions. I have mentioned here eighteen subdivisions that exist now. As regards division into five schools, this is not heard of in the Western Land.) The schisms and their rise and fall, as well as the names of the subdivisions, are factually different, and as they are described elsewhere I need not go into detail here.

In all of he five parts of ndia, as well as the various islands of the South Seas, people speak of the four nikayas, but the number of followers of the nikayas varies at different places. In Magadha all four nikayas are in practice, but the Sarvastivada-nikaya is the one most flourishing. In Lata and Sindhu—names of ountries in West India—three of the nikayas have few followers, but the Sammitiya has a large number of dherents. In the north all monks follow the Sarvastivada-nikaya, though one may sometimes meet 11

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with ollowers of he Mahasamghika-nikaya. In the south all monks follow the Sthavira-nikaya, while the other nikayas have few followers. In the countries at the eastern frontier, all four nikayas are practiced in various ways. (Yijing's running note: All the places going eastward from Nalanda for ive hundred post stops are known as the eastern frontier. At the extreme east there is the Great Black Mountain, which is, I reckon, the southern boundary of Tibet. It is said that it is southwest of i-chuan, from which one may reach this mountain after a ourney of little more than a month. Further to the south from here and close to the sea coast, there is the country of Sriksetra. Further to the southeast is the country of Lankasu. Further to the east is the country of Dvarapati. Further to the extreme east is the country of Lin-yi. All these countries greatly venerate the triple gem. There are many men who observe the precepts, and the ascetic practice of alms-begging is the custom of he monks in these countries. In the Western Land I have seen such monks, who are really different from men of ordinary morality.)

In the Island of the Lion, all monks belong to the Sthaviranikaya, while the Mahasamghika-nikaya is repulsed. In the South Seas there are more than ten countries where only the Mulasarvastivada-nikaya is predominant, though one may occasionally find some followers of the Sammitiya-nikaya. Recently a few adherents of he other two nikayas have also been found here. (Yijing's running note: Counting from the west, there are Polu-si Island and then Malayu Island, which is now the country of Sribhoja, and also Mo-he-xin Island, He-ling Island, Da-da Island, Pen-pen Island, Po-li Island, Ku-lun Island, Bhojapura Island, Ashan Island, and Mo-jia-man Island. There are also small islands, of hich I cannot make a full list.) In all these countries the people follow Buddhism, but mostly of the Hinayana School, except in Malayu where there are a few Mahayana believers. The circumference of some of these countries is about a hundred li (one li equals one-half kilometer) or several hundred li, or about a hundred post stations. Although it is difficult to measure 12

Fascicle One

the size of he great sea, those who are used to sailing in merchant ships may know it by estimation. As the people of u-lun were the first to come to Jiao-zhou and Guang-zhou, these places were generally called the country of Kun-lun. In this country of Kun-lun, the people have curly hair and black bodies, while the inhabitants in the other countries are not different from the people of the Divine Land of China, but they are generally barefooted and wear the kambala (a woolen loincloth). The details are fully described in the Record of he South Seas.

Traveling due south on foot from Huan-zhou for over half a month, or for five or six high tides if going on board a ship, one may reach Bi-jing, and proceeding further south one arrives at Champa, that is, Lin-yi. In this country the majority of he monks belong to the Sammitlya-nikaya, with only a few adherents of he Sarvastivada-nikaya.

Traveling southwest for one month, one reaches the country of Banan, formerly called Funan. In old times this country was inhabited by naked people who mostly worshiped the devas. Afterwards Buddhism prevailed, but now a wicked king has completely eradicated it. No monks are found there, while various kinds of eretics live there. This is the southern seaboard of ambudvipa; it is not an island in the sea.

In East China, however, the main principles of Buddhism practiced are those of the Dharmagupta School, while in Central China the Mahasamghika-nikaya was also followed at various places in old times. South of the Yangzi River and outside the [local] mountain range, the Sarvastivada-nikaya flourished in former times. We speak of he Vinaya [of he Sarvastivada-nikaya] as the Vinaya of Ten Readings and that [of the Dharmaguptanikaya] as the Vinaya of our Divisions, because these names are mainly derived from the number of ections in the Vinaya texts of these schools. Upon close observation on the distinctions between the four schools and the differences in their Vinaya texts, we see that the grave offenses and light faults are dealt with quite differently by different schools. What is permitted by one school 13

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may be disallowed by another. The monks should observe the disciplinary rules of their respective schools, and should not substitute the rules governing light faults of other schools for those dealing with grave offenses of their own school. They should also not detest the prohibitive rules of ther schools, thinking that such affairs are allowed by their own school. Otherwise the distinctions between the schools will not be apparent, and the reasons for permission and prohibition will be unclear. How can one and the same person observe the disciplinary rules of all four schools? The parable of a piece of cotton skirt and a golden staff roken into fragments indicates the realization of nirvana and that those who practice the Dharma without discrimination should behave themselves according to the rules of their respective schools. (Yijing's running note: Once King Bimbisara dreamed that a piece of cotton cloth was torn into eighteen fragments and a golden staff roken into eighteen sections. Fearfully, he asked the Buddha about it. The Buddha said, "Over a hundred years after my nirvana, there will be a king named Asoka ruling over Jambudvipa. The bhiksus [mendicants] will then split into eighteen schools, but the gate leading to emancipation will be one and the same for them all. Your dream is a prediction. O king, don't worry about it!") Among the four schools there is no definite classification as to which ones should be put under Mahayana and which ones under Hinayana. In the regions of orth India and the South Seas, what is prevalent is purely Hinayana, while in the Divine Land of hina, the monks keep the great teaching in their minds. At other places both the Mahayana and the Hinayana are practiced in a mixed way. Through an examination of their practices, we see no differences in their disciplinary rules and restrictions. Both of hem classify the Vinaya rules into five sections and practice the four noble truths. Those who worship bodhisattvas and read Mahayana scriptures are named Mahayanists, and those who do not do so are called Hinayanists. What is known as Mahayana consists of only two sub-schools, first, the Madhyamika and second, the Yogacara. The Madhyamika School holds that things exist only 14

Fascicle One

conventionally; they are empty in reality, and their substance is void like an illusion. The Yogacara School asserts that external phenomena do not really exist. What exists exists internally, everything being manifestations of consciousness.

Both of these two schools follow the holy teachings of the Buddha. How can we say which is right and which is wrong, since both of them lead us similarly to nirvana? And how can we say which is true and which is false, as the purpose of both schools is to cut off our passions and save all living beings? Why should we try to cause more complications and increase perplexity? If we practice according to what they teach, we shall all reach the other shore, and if e act contrary to them, we shall remain submerged in the sea of rebirth. In the Western Land, both schools are professed without having absurd contradictions in their theories, and since we have no eye of isdom, who can udge the right and wrong of t? We should have confidence in what has long been practiced, and cultivate ourselves accordingly. We must not take the trouble to disconnect ourselves from them.

The different schools of he Vinaya observed in the Divine Land are mutually related. Lecturers and writers have produced numerous and diverse works on the Vinaya, rendering the five sections or seven groups of isciplinary rules, which had been easy to understand, difficult to comprehend. Expedient ways concerning the violation and observance of the rules had been obvious, but became obscure. Thus one's intention [to observe the Vinaya rules] dissolves at the moment when the first basketful of arth is poured down to build a mountain, and one's mind retrogresses after attending the initial lecture. Even the most talented men can achieve their learning of the Vinaya only when their mustaches have turned grey; how can men of edium or little talent gain any success even when their hair has become white? As the Vinaya texts are naturally verbose and have superfluous parts, it requires a lifetime to read all the commentaries. The established method of eachers transmitting knowledge to pupils is to discourse on chapters and sections, and explain them paragraph by paragraph and word 15

206a A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas by word; in narrating the absolution of offenses, they are analyzed sentence by sentence. To estimate the effort required for this method of tudy, it is as laborious as building a mountain; but so far as its advantages are concerned, it is often as lustrous as a sea pearl.

The purpose of writers is to help readers understand easily what is written by them. How could they intentionally use inexplicit language and then try to explain away their absurdity? It is like when a flood inundates a plain and the water vanishes into deep wells; a thirsty man dying for want of ater can by no means save his life. But such is not the case with examination of the Vinaya texts. For the judgment of major or minor offenses, a few lines would be sufficient, and for explanations of the conditions of committing faults, one need not trouble oneself for even half a day. Such is the general tendency of the Buddhist monks of India and the South Seas.

As regards the Divine Land, what is prevalent is the teaching of the ethical code of respecting and serving one's sovereign and parents, paying honor to and submitting to one's elders, keeping moral integrity and being modest and agreeable, and taking only what it is righteous to take. Sons should be filial to their parents and ministers loyal to the monarch. They should be prudent in conduct and lead a frugal life. The Emperor bestows great care upon his millions of subjects. As soon as the day breaks, he considers the plight of he destitute and homeless ones with pity, while none of his ministers is not respectfully executing his orders day and night with such great care as one shows when walking on thin ice. He sometimes opens a great meeting, provided with a hundred seats, to spread the teachings of the three Yanas (Vehicles). He has built caityas (temples) all over the empire, so that all men of insight turn their mind towards Buddhism, and he has also constructed samgharamas (monasteries) throughout is domain, so that those who had gone astray turn back to the right path. The farmers sing merrily in their fields, and the merchants chant oyfully on board ship or in their carts. So the people of the 16

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countries where cocks or elephants are honored and respected come to pay homage at the red terrace in front of he Throne Hall, and the inhabitants of he regions of olden Neighbors and Jade Ridge propose to pledge allegiance at the green moss-grown steps. Carry out things absolute; there is nothing more to be added to them. (Yijing's running note: The Cock-respecters is a name for the country of Korea used by the Indians, in whose language it is known as Kukkutesvara, kukkuta meaning cock and Isvara, respectable. It is said in India that cocks are respected as gods in Korea and that the people wear cocks'feathers by way of rnament. India is known as a country where elephants are honored because the kings of that country treat them with great honor. This is so in all five parts of India.)

As regards the homeless monks, they lecture on the disciplinary rules, with their disciples studying earnestly and respectfully learning the ultimate gists from the teachers. Some of hem retire to live in a deep and secluded valley away from worldly entanglements. They wash their mouths with the water flowing down from the cliffs before they practice meditation, or sit in a jungle where they find spiritual sustenance. They practice the Way during all six periods of he day and night; by doing this they repay the kindness extended to them by those of ure faith. They go into mental concentration twice during the night; this is worthy of he respect of gods and men. Since such actions are in perfect concordance with the scriptures and the Vinaya rules, what fault can one find with them?

But errors and mistakes have crept in during the course of transmission, so that the disciplinary rules have become discrepant. Long-standing irregular forms of conduct may become regular practices which are contrary to moral principles. I have carefully written this work entitled A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas in forty chapters, divided into four fascicles, according to the holy teachings and the essential rules and regulations currently in effect. I am also sending back another book of mine, The Memoirs of Eminent Monks Who Visited the Western 17

206b A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas Regions in Search of the Law during the Great Tang Dynasty, in two fascicles, together with some other miscellaneous scriptures and commentaries which I have copied. I wish that the venerable monks at home will cherish the mind of propagating the Dharma without harboring any prejudice and act with good deliberation in accordance with what the Buddha has taught, and that they will not ignore the Dharma because it is conveyed by a man of no significance.

However, the theories and concepts of he scriptures and commentaries handed down from ancient times to the present day are well interconnected with the practice of dhyana (meditation). But as I am far away from you, it is difficult for me to impart to you the subtle technique of ental concentration to keep the mind in tranquility. I can, nevertheless, make a rough statement of the practices prescribed in the Vinaya texts and submit it to you in advance. The rules and regulations that I have particularized below had been checked by my teachers before I committed them to writing in my Record. Even if I should die with the setting sun, I will still do my best to my last moment, so that when the flame of this candle goes out at dawn, a hundred lamps may continue to give light. By reading this Record, you may visit the five parts of ndia with a few steps without taking the trouble to move even one foot, and before the lapse of even a short span of time, you will be able to shed light upon the dark path for a thousand years to come. I hope that you will check and study the Tripitaka carefully, so as to arouse the sea of harma to expunge the four grievous offenses, and that with the five sections of the Vinaya rules, which are as clear as a mirror, you will sail the boat of wisdom to save those who are submerged in the river of six desires. Although I have received personal instructions from my teachers and what I have learned does not arise from my own originality, I am afraid that I may in the end be sneered at by men endowed with the eye of wisdom. This is all I have to say.

All the topics discussed here are discussed according to the Mulasarvastivada School; the traditions of other schools should 18

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not be intermingled with discussions of this work. The matters mentioned here are generally the same as those related in the Dasasvadhyaya-vinaya (the Vinaya of Ten Readings) of the Sarvastivada School, which has three sub-sects, namely, (1) the Dharmagupta, (2) the Mahisasaka, and (3) the Kasyapiya. These sub-sects are not prevalent in the five parts of India, except in Udyana, Kucha, and Kustana, where there are some adherents of these sub-sects mixed with the followers of other schools. Yet the Dasasvadhyaya-vinaya does not belong to the Mulasarvastivada School.

206c

19

the Inner Law

Sent Home from the South Seas

1. No Degradation Is Caused by a Breach of

the Summer Retreat

Those bhiksus who have broken away from the summer retreat are merely disqualified from receiving the ten benefits therefrom; it is unjustifiable to degrade them from their original position of seniority in the community of monks. How is it tolerable that a monk who used to receive homage from others at former times should now pay respect in reverse order to his juniors? Habitual forms of conduct like this may become customary but are groundless practices. The acceptance of a special invitation to a monk to go out during the summer retreat is as serious an offense as to earn a living by theft. Therefore, we should make a careful examination of this matter and must not neglect it. The priority of a monk's position should be determined by the date of his ordination. Even if he should fail to observe the summer retreat properly, he must not be degraded in position, because no such prescription is found in the holy teachings. Who was the person that at some former time initiated this practice? 2. Behavior towards the Honored Ones

According to the teachings of the Buddha, it is decorous for a monk to go barefoot in the presence of a holy statue or upon approaching his honored teachers, except if he is ill; wearing shoes or other footgear is not allowed under such circumstances. He must keep his right shoulder bare and cover his left arm with his robe, without wearing a kerchief or a turban. Such is the regular way, but 21

the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

he may be allowed to do otherwise without committing any fault when he is walking in other places. If e is in a cold country, he is permitted to put on short boots or shoes suitable to the local climate. As the climate may be hot or cold in different places and regions, many of the rules are adaptable according to the holy teachings. It is reasonable that a monk is allowed to wear warm clothes temporarily during the months of severe winter to keep the body in good health. But during the spring and summer seasons, a monk must act according to the regulations of he Vinaya. One should not circumambulate a Buddha's tope while wearing shoes; this was clearly taught at the very beginning. Those who wear laced boots must not enter temples; this has been declared long ago. But there are people who willfully violate this rule. They are rudely disregarding the golden words.

207a 3. Sitting on Small Chairs at Mealtimes

The monks of India in the west must wash their hands and feet before taking meals, and they each sit on a small chair which is about seven inches high and only a foot square. The seat, being woven out of attan cane and having round legs, is light to carry. For junior or younger monks, small pieces of wood the size of a chopping block may serve as seats. They place their feet on the ground, and plates and jars are put in front of them. The ground is smeared with cow's dung by ay of urification, with fresh leaves spread over it. The chairs are arranged at intervals of one cubit, so that the monks sitting on them do not touch each other. I have never seen monks [in India] sitting cross-legged on big couches to take meals. According to the holy regulations, the length of couch measures eight fingers of he Buddha. As the Buddha's fingers are three times longer than those of an ordinary man, the length of couch comes to twenty-four fingers of n ordinary man, corresponding to one and a half imes the Chinese hu ruler (a ceremonial tablet used by officials at court). In the monasteries of China in the east, the height of a couch exceeds two feet, but such 22

Fascicle One

a couch was originally unfit for a monk to sit on, as it is an offense for a monk to sit on a high couch. At present, many monks do sit on high couches, and what can we do about it? Those who incur blame should make a study of the prescribed measurement of couches. But in the Ling-yan and Si-chan Monasteries, the couches they use are one foot high. There was a reason for the virtuous people of ancient times to make this rule. One should know that sitting cross-legged side by side with knees put in a line is not the right manner for monks to take meals.

I have heard that in the beginning, when Buddhism was introduced into China, all monks sat squatting on their heels at mealtimes. This was so up to the Jin dynasty (265-419), when this manner of sitting to take meals came to be considered erroneous. Since then the monks have sat cross-legged to take meals. Seven hundred years have passed since the holy teachings spread to China in the east. Ten dynasties have gone by through this period, and each dynasty had its own prominent monks. Indian monks visited China one after another, and Chinese monks lined up to receive instruction from them. Some Chinese monks also went personally to India in the west and witnessed what was right and what was wrong. When they returned home, they told their fellow monks what they had seen abroad, but who would listen to them?

It is said in a scripture, "After taking food, they washed their feet. It is clear that the monks were not sitting cross-legged on couches to take their meal; they washed their feet because food remnants were dropped on the ground near their feet. From this we may know that the monks sat with their feet on the ground while eating. Disciples of he Buddha should follow the example of the Buddha. Even if it is hard for them to keep the rules, they must not deride them.

If monk spreads a kerchief nd sits on it with his legs crossed squarely, it is difficult for him to keep himself lean, as it is impossible to avoid getting stained in this posture by food remnants and spills. Moreover, to collect what has been left over from a meal 23

the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

does not at all conform with Indian custom. To collect the leftovers would pollute the plates used by the monks; the servants touch only clean and pure tableware. This is an inane tradition which is ineffective for the preservation of purity. Please make a good examination of these points and see what are the merits and demerits.

4. The Distinction between Pure and

Impure Food

It is customary for both monks and laypeople of India in the west to differentiate between clean and unclean food. If only a mouthful of food has been eaten, it all becomes defiled, and even the receptacle is unfit for reuse and must be put aside to be discarded together with other used containers after the meal is over. All leftover food is given to those who are suited to eat it. To collect and preserve it for further use is never allowed. All people of igh or low rank keep this custom, which is a convention observed not only by men but also by deities.

Therefore, it is said in several commentaries: "It is considered disdainful not to chew a willow twig [to cleanse the teeth], not to wash one's self after defecation, and not to distinguish between pure and impure food. How can we use defiled utensils to convey food once again, collect and preserve leftovers in the kitchen, put surplus cooked rice back in the pot, return the remaining soup to the thermal vessel, eat the next morning what broth and vegetables are left overnight, and keep cakes and fruits to be eaten the day after tomorrow? Those who observe the Vinaya rules know well about this distinction, but those who are undisciplined make no distinction between them and regard them as identical. On the occasion of eceiving offerings of ood, or at other times when an ordinary meal is taken, a monk is considered defiled as soon as he has put food into his mouth, and he must not touch others, nor take another dish of clean food, unless he has rinsed 24

Fascicle One

his mouth with pure water. If he touches another person before washing his mouth, the person he has touched becomes defiled too, and that person must wash himself. If he has touched a dog, he must also wash himself.

When offering sacrificial food to deities, the person who performs the rites should stand to one side. After the ceremony is over, he should wash his hands and rinse his mouth, and also wash the sacrificial utensils. Then he may touch the cooking pans and pots. Otherwise his supplication and incantation will be inefficacious, and even if sacrificial food is offered, the deities will not accept it. Therefore, we may say that whatever offerings are prepared either for presenting to the triple gem, or for giving to the spirits, or even for ordinary meals, must be pure and clean. If a monk has not washed himself clean and rinsed his mouth, and has not washed after relieving nature, he is unfit to prepare food. As the common saying goes: "Only pure food may be offered as a sacrifice to the deceased. Nails must be clipped cleanly right to the flesh [when making such an offering]. Whether it is for those who have abandoned this mundane world, or for such people as Confucius and his disciple Yan Hui, food offered as a sacrifice must be pure and clean, and leftovers are never used as offerings to the deceased." For the preparation of ood as an offering, or as a regular meal for the monks, a superintendent is needed to oversee the process. While waiting for the preparation, if monk or a layman fears that he might be delayed beyond the prescribed time for taking a meal, he may take a portion of food and eat it separately before the meal is properly served. This is permitted by the teachings of the Buddha and it is faultless.

I have recently seen that under the supervision of onks and nuns, meals are often served after noontime. In this way they committed a fault instead of gaining bliss; one must not do so. The fundamental difference between the five parts of India and other countries is this distinction between purity and impurity. Once some messengers of the Hu tribe in the north [of China] came to India in the west, and they were laughed at by the local people, 25

207b

the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

because they did not wash themselves after answering the call of nature, kept leftovers in a pot, sat so closely together as to touch each other at mealtimes, did not keep back from pigs and dogs, and did not chew willow twigs to cleanse their teeth. Thus they incurred ridicule and censure. Therefore, Dharma practitioners should be extremely mindful of hese matters and must not think of hem as trivialities. But in China no distinction was ever made between pure and impure food since the remote past. Although the monks have heard about it, they never have put the rules into practice, and until I speak to them in person, they will not get a real understanding of it.

207c 5. Cleansing after Taking Meals

After having taken a meal, a monk must wash his hands, then clean and chew a willow twig to cleanse, brush, and pick his teeth, as well as scrape his tongue, so as to make them all clean. He may do so either with a vessel to contain the used water, or at some secluded place, or over the opening of a drain, or near the flight of steps leading to a house. He may hold the water jar himself, or ask someone to provide water for him. If saliva remains in his mouth, he is considered not to have observed the fast. After that, he should use bean dregs, or sometimes mud made of arth mixed with water, to wipe his lips to clear away the smell of grease. After that, he should pour the water from a clean jar into a conchshell cup, which is placed either on a piece of fresh leaf or in the hand. Both the vessel and the hand must be cleaned with three kinds of regs, i.e., bean dregs, dry earth, and cow's dung, in order to wash away the grease. Or he may pour the water from a clean jar into his mouth at some secluded place, but if he is at an open place, he is forbidden to do so by the Vinaya rules. Just gargle two or three times; the mouth will be washed clean. Before doing so a monk is not allowed to swallow saliva, as it is not only a breach of etiquette but also a faulty behavior. Before the mouth has been 26

Fascicle One

rinsed again with pure water, the saliva must be spat out. If he did not do so after noontime, he would be considered to have violated the rule not to eat at irregular times. People seldom know about this point, and even if hey know this rule, it is not easy for them to keep it. From this point of iew, we may say that even the use of bean dregs or ash water can hardly keep us entirely free from fault, as food particles may still remain between the teeth and grease still stick on the tongue.

The wise ones should see into and be mindful about these points. It is not allowed for a monk to pass his time gossiping and talking after the meal is properly over, nor is he permitted not to keep a jar full of pure water and not to chew the tooth-cleaning twig, having an unclean mouth for the whole morning and incurring blame throughout the night. If one lives in this way till the end of life, it would be a disaster indeed! To ask a disciple to hold the jar and pour out the pure water for washing is also in conformity with the rules.

6. Two Bottles for Keeping Water

Water is used differently for pure and impure purposes, and it is kept separately in two bottles. Earthenware or porcelain bottles are used for keeping water for pure purposes, and copper or iron ones, for impure purposes. The pure water is kept for drinking in the afternoon, while the impure water is needed for washing after going to the latrine. The pure water bottle must be held with the clean hand and be stored in a clean place, and the bottle containing water for impure purposes should be grasped with the unclean hand and be put away at some unclean place. Only the water contained in a clean bottle, or in some new and clean vessel, is fit for drinking in the afternoon, while the water contained in other vessels is called "timely water," which can be drunk without fault at noontime or before noon, but it is faulty to drink it in the afternoon.

27

208a A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas In making a water bottle, there must be a lid to cover the outlet, which is about two finger-widths high, and on the top is a small hole, of a size that would allow a copper chopstick to be put in. One may drink the water from this spout. At the side of the bottle, there is another round hole as large as a coin with a mouth projecting two finger-widths high. The bottle is replenished through this hole. It may contain two or three liters of water. Bottles of smaller size are not used. If one fears that insects and dust may enter the bottle through these two apertures, one may cover them up, or close them with stoppers made of amboo, wood, linen, or leaves.

The Indian monks make their water bottles after this fashion. At the time of aking water, the inside of he bottle must be washed clean and free of any dust or filth before taking in fresh water. How can we take water without regarding whether it is pure or not, simply keeping it in a small copper jug and pouring it out with the lid covering the mouth, so that the water spills and splashes? It is [then] unfit for use, because it is hard to know whether the water kept in [the jug] is pure or not, as it may be dirty and smelly inside, not suitable for keeping water at all. Moreover, the amount—one liter and two deciliters—of ater contained in it is not sufficient for doing anything.

For making a bag for the bottle, a piece of loth about two feet long and one foot wide may be used. Fold the cloth to make the two ends meet and sew the edges together. Strings about the length of one span are attached to the upper corners for fastening the opening of he bag. The bag is hung on the monk's shoulder with a bottle inside it. When a monk is going round begging for food, the bag for his alms bowl is also made in the same fashion. It should cover the mouth of the bowl to keep dust from entering it. As the bottom of the bag is made in a pointed shape, the bowl does not turn about in it. But the bag for storing the bowl is different from that for the bottle, as is described elsewhere. When a monk is traveling, he carries his bottle, alms bowl, personal robes, and other articles separately on his shoulders, and, fully covered with his 28

Fascicle One

kasaya (religious robe), he goes away with an umbrella in his hand. These are the manners of Buddhist monks.

If he has a free hand, he may carry a bottle for unclean purposes and a bag containing his leather shoes, and hold a staff ith tin rings obliquely under his arm, while proceeding or stopping on the way composedly, ust as is described n the Sutra on the Parable of he Crow and the Moon.

At the season of worshiping the caityas, monks flocked from the four quarters to Rajagrha, the bodhi tree, Vulture Peak, Deer Park, the place of he sala trees which once burst into bloom with white blossoms resembling a flock of cranes, and the desolate Kukkutapada Mountain. Every day I saw thousands of onks attired in the above-mentioned style. As regards the learned monks of great virtue of Nalanda Monastery, they rode in palanquins, but never on horseback, and the monks of Maharaja Monastery did the same. All their requisite articles were carried for them by other persons or by grooms. Such is the rule of the monks of India in the west.

7. Morning Inspection of Water to Clear

Away Insects

Water must be inspected every morning. As water comes from different sources, from a bottle, a well, a pond, or a river, it is not inspected according to one uniform standard. At dawn, bottle water is first examined by pouring out a handful of it from a clean white copper cup, a copper dish, a conch-shell cup, or a lacquer vessel, onto a piece of brick. A wooden instrument may also be made for the special purpose of xamining water. With one's mouth covered by one's hand, one should observe the water for a good while. One may also observe the water in a basin or a pot. Even insects as tiny as a hair-point must be treated mindfully. If any insect has been found, the water should be returned to the bottle, which should be washed again and again until no insect is left in it. 29

208b A Record of the Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas If there is a pond or a river, take the bottle there and pour the water with the insects into it, and then refill the bottle with filtered fresh water. If here is only a well, strain the water in the usual way. In examining the water of well, one should first draw some water from the well, get a cupful of it from the pail with a copper cup, and then examine it as stated above. If there is no insect in it, the water can be used throughout the night, and if there is any insect, strain the water as mentioned before. As regards the inspection of ater of pond or a river, it is explained in detail in the Vinaya.

For the filtration of ater, the Indians in the west use the best white kapok cloth, but in China fine silk may be used. The silk should be starched with rice gruel or slightly boiled in water. Take a piece of boiled silk, four hu feet long. Hold the edges to pull it sidewards, and then put the two ends together and sew them up into the shape of a sieve. Laces are attached to the two corners, and loops to both sides. A stick is put across the silk in the middle to stretch it to one foot and six inches wide. The two ends of the strainer are fastened to posts and a basin is placed under it. When water is poured into it from a pot, the bottom of the pot must be inside the strainer. Otherwise the insects might drop with the water to the ground, or into the basin, where they would be bound to be killed. When water has just been poured into the strainer, hold it and see. If there is any insect, the strainer should be changed. If it is clean as usual, it may be used again. When sufficient water has been poured into it, the strainer may be turned inside out. Two persons, each holding one end, turn out the strainer into a life-preserving vessel, pour water over it three times, and then rinse it from outside. Water is put into it once again to make another examination. If no insect is found, the strainer may be stored away at will.

When this [filtered] water has been kept overnight, it must be reexamined. It is said in the Vinaya that the use of he water that has been kept overnight without being reexamined in the morning incurs guilt, whether it does or does not have insects. 30

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There are many different ways of rotecting life while drawing water. The strainer mentioned above is adequate for use at a well. At a river or a pond, one may fix a wooden bowl and use a double bottle as a temporary makeshift for a strainer. During the sixth and seventh months of the year, the insects are smaller and different from what they are at other times, and they can penetrate ten layers of raw silk. Those who rejoice in protecting life should be mindful to spare them. An earthenware basin may be made for the purpose, but the silk strainer is useful and simple to make. In the monasteries of India in the west, the basin is mostly made of copper. As this is also done in accordance with the rules laid down by the Buddha, one must not disdain it. The life-preserving vessel is a small water pot with an open mouth as big as the pot itself. There are two noses at the sides near the bottom, and strings are fastened to them. When it has been put into the water, pull the strings to turn it upside down and plunge it into the water over and over again before it is pulled out. If strainer is for common use in a monastery, it is unbefitting on principle for a fully ordained monk to touch it, nor should he take the "timely water" kept in his chamber. He may drink it only when it is brought to him by a monk not fully ordained. When drinking water at irregular times, one must use a pure strainer, a pure bottle, and a pure cup, and then one may drink it. The preservation of life is a disciplinary rule pertaining to natural morality. Among the rules of rohibition, taking life is a major violation, and it is at the head of he ten evil deeds. This should by no means be ignored or slighted.

The strainer, being one of the six requisites of a monk, is an indispensable article for him to possess. Without a strainer, one should not travel even for three or five li. If monk is aware that strainers are not used in a monastery, it is unbefitting for him to partake of a meal there. One would rather die of thirst [than drink unfiltered water] on a long journey, and this is sufficient to be a good example for us. How can we use our daily water without inspecting it?

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he Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

Although some monks do use strainers, they let the insects die inside them. Even if hey intend to save life, they seldom know the rules for doing it. They overturn the strainers over the mouth of a well, not knowing to use a life-preserver. Once the insects reach the water in the well, they are killed without doubt. Sometimes the monks make a small, round strainer out of raw, rough, and thin silk, capable of receiving only twelve deciliters of water. They do not look for insects in the strainer, but simply hang it up beside their alms bowl to let people see and know that it is there. They have no mind to protect life, and they commit faults everyday. They act in this manner, which is handed down from teacher to disciple, thinking that they are transmitting the Dharma! What a pity, and how regretful it is indeed! Everybody should keep his own vessel for inspection of water, and life-preservers should be provided at all places.

208c 8. Chewing Tooth Wood in the Morning

Every day in the morning, a monk must chew a piece of tooth wood to brush his teeth and scrape his tongue, and this must be done in the proper way. Only after one has washed one's hands and mouth may one make salutations. Otherwise both the saluter and the saluted are at fault. In Sanskrit the tooth wood is known as the dantakastha—danta meaning tooth, and kastha, a piece of wood. It is twelve finger-widths in length. The shortest is not less than eight finger-widths long, resembling the little finger in size. Chew one end of he wood well for a long while and then brush the teeth with it. If one has to go near a superior person [while chewing a tooth wood], one should cover the mouth with the left hand. After having used the wood for brushing the teeth, split and bend it to scrape the tongue. One may also use copper or iron to make a tongue-scraper. A thin flat piece of amboo or wood, the size of he surface of he little finger and sharpened at one end, may be used as a toothpick to clean broken teeth. When the wood is bent to 32

Fascicle One

scrape the tongue, take care not to hurt it. After having been used, the wood may be washed clean and discarded in some secluded place. When discarding the tooth wood, or spitting out water or saliva, one must snap one's fingers three times, or cough more than twice. Otherwise it would be a fault to discard them. Or one may break up a large piece of wood or cut a slender branch into short pieces to make tooth wood. Near a mountain or a village, one should give priority to the use of the branches of quercus, bine, and ampelopsis, while on the plains, one may collect in advance branches of ulberry, peach, locust tree, and willow at will, and keep them in store, so that they will not run short. Fresh twigs should be offered to others, while dry ones may be retained for one's own use. The younger monks may take the twigs and chew them at will, but the elders have to strike one end of the twig with a hammer to make it soft.

Twigs of bitter, astringent, or pungent taste, the end of hich may become cotton-like after being chewed, are best for using as tooth wood. The rough root of burweed is the most excellent for this purpose. (Yijing's running note: That is the root of anthium. Cut its root two inches under the ground.) It hardens the teeth and makes the mouth good-smelling, and also helps the digestion and cures heart disease. After using this root for half a month, foul breath will disappear, and toothache or dental disease can be healed after thirty days. One must chew the tooth wood well and wipe one's teeth clean. Let all the saliva and oozing blood come out of the mouth, and then rinse it clean with a large quantity of water. Such is the way of cleansing the mouth.

After that, if one can take in a spoonful of ater through the nose, that would be practicing Nagarjuna's art of ongevity. If ne is not accustomed to taking in water through one's nose, to drink water is also good. When this method is used for a long time, one will get less sickness. Dental calculus accumulates at the root of the teeth and is hardened through the passage of time; it should be completely scraped off. When the mouth is gargled clean, the teeth will not decay any more till the end of one's life. Toothache 33

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is almost unknown in India because the people there chew tooth 209a wood.

We must not mistake the tooth wood for willow twigs. In the whole country of India, the willow is scarcely seen. Although the translators used this name, the wood for the Buddha's tooth wood was not actually from the willow tree. I have seen it with my own eyes at Nalanda Monastery. I am not trying to convince others about this matter, but my readers need not take the trouble to doubt it. Even in the Sanskrit text of the Nirvana Sutra, there is the saying: "At the time of chewing tooth wood. ..." Some monks [in China] use five or six small willow twigs and chew them all in their mouths, not knowing how to rinse out the dregs. Some of them swallow the juice, thinking that it will cure their ailments. They try to be clean, but contrarily they become filthy, and though they hope to get rid of isease, they incur more serious illness. They may be unaware of his fact, and they are out of the limits of our discussion. According to the custom of the five parts of ndia, tooth wood is regularly chewed, and even a child of three is taught how to do it. Both the holy teachings of he Buddha and the secular custom of he people advocate this beneficial habit. I have explained the meritorious and demeritorious ways of hewing tooth wood, and it is up to my reader to decide at his own discretion whether he should practice or reject this custom. 9. Acceptance of an Invitation to a Feast

Concerning how monks go to attend a feast in India and the other countries of the South Seas, I shall give a brief description of the ceremony.

In India, the donor comes beforehand to the monks, and after paying homage to them, he invites them to attend the feast. On the festival day, he comes to inform them, "It is time [for the feast]." Utensils and seats for the monks are prepared according to circumstances. They may either use their own vessels, carried by 34

Fascicle One

monastic servants for them, or use the clean articles provided by the donor. The utensils are made solely of opper, which must be rubbed clean with fine ashes. Each onk sits in a small chair, placed at such a distance that one person does not touch another. The structure of he chairs has already been described in Chapter Three. Earthenware vessels that have not been used before may be used only once without fault. Once they have been used, they are thrown away into a pit or ditch, because defiled vessels should not be collected for further use. That is why in the western country of India, huge heaps of used vessels are piled up high at places beside the road where alms of food have been given, and none of them is to be used again. But earthenware of ood quality, such as that produced at Xiangyang, may be collected after having been used, as once they are discarded they may be washed clean by way of purification. In the five parts of India, there were formerly no porcelain and lacquer works. Porcelain vessels, which look as if made of clay mixed with oil, are clean without doubt. Lacquer articles are sometimes brought to India by merchants, but the people of the South Seas never use them as eating vessels because such articles are liable to become greasy. But if the vessels are new ones, they may be used as well after the smell of rease is cleansed away with pure ashes. Wooden vessels are not used for tableware. However, new ones may be used once without it being considered a fault, but it is an error to use them a second time. This matter is related in the Vinaya.

In the donor's house, the ground must be smeared with cow's dung at the place where the feast is prepared, and small chairs are arranged separately one by one. A large quantity of water is stored in clean jars in advance. When the monks arrive at the house, they untie the fastenings of their robes. After examining the water in the clean jars prepared for them, they wash their feet with it, if o insect has been found in it. Then they take their seats in the small chairs and rest for a while. Having observed the time and finding that the sun is nearly at the zenith, the donor 35

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209b makes the announcement that the time has arrived [for partaking of the feast]. Then each of he monks folds his upper robe and ties the two corners up in front, while taking up the right corner of the lower side and pressing it under the girdle at his left side. The monks wash their hands clean with bean powder or earth, either with the donor pouring water for them, or with the monks themselves using water from the kundika (jars). This is done according to which way is more convenient. Then they return to their seats and receive the eating vessels, which they ash slightly without letting the water overflow. Before taking the meal, they never say prayers. Having washed his hands and feet, the donor places food as a sacrificial offering to the holy monks at the beginning of the row of seats, and then distributes food to the monks one by one. At the end of the row, a plate of food is placed as an offering to Mother Hariti.

Once in her former life, this mother made a vow for some reason or other to devour all the babies in Rajagrha. Owing to her wicked vow, she forfeited her life and was reborn as a yaksi (female demon). She gave birth to five hundred children and ate some male or female babies of ajagrha every day. The people told this to the Buddha, who, therefore, concealed her little son, named Beloved Son. In the course of seeking her lost son in many places, the aksi at last found her child where the Buddha was. The Worldhonored One said to her, "Are you sorry for the loss of our Beloved Son? You grieved at the loss of only one out of our five hundred children, yet how much more pained are those who had only one or two children and have lost them?" Then the Buddha converted the yaksi and made her observe the five precepts as an updsikd (female devotee).

The yaksi asked the Buddha, "I have five hundred children. What shall we eat hereafter?" The Buddha said in reply, "In the monasteries where the bhiksus dwell, they will make daily offerings of food as meals for you and yours to eat." For this reason, in the monasteries of India in the west, images or portraits of Hariti, depicting her holding a baby in her arms, with three or five children 36

Fascicle One

round her knees, are found on the porch or in a corner in the kitchen. Every day abundant offerings of food are placed before this image. Being a subject of he four heavenly kings, this mother has the power to enrich people. If those who are suffering from illness or are childless offer sacrificial food to her, their wish will always be fulfilled. A full account of her is given in the Vinaya; I have just related the story in brief. In the Divine Land of hina, she was formerly known as the Mother of Demoniac Children. Moreover, in the great monasteries of India, a wooden statue of a deity, two or three feet high, is placed beside a pillar in the kitchen or in front of he gate of he main storehouse. The deity is seated in a small chair with a golden bag in his hand and one foot hanging down to the ground. Black in color and often anointed with oil, he is called Mahakala, or the Great Black Deity. Ancient tradition says that he is a subordinate of Mahesvara. By nature he adores the triple gem and extends protection to the five groups of uddhist clergy, so that they will not sustain any damage. Those who say prayers to him have their wishes fulfilled. At mealtimes, the cooks always offer incense and lamps to the deity and place before him all kinds of food and drink.

Once I saw more than a hundred resident monks having their meal at Bandhana Monastery, the site where the Buddha preached the Mahaparinirvana-sutra. In the spring and autumn seasons worshipers would arrive unexpectedly. One day five hundred monks suddenly came at about midday, and as it was exactly noontime, it was inconvenient for the resident monks to prepare more food for the uninvited guests. The managing monk said to the cooks, "In such a hurry, what can we do?" Then an old woman, the mother of monastic servant, told him, "This is a normal affair, don t worry about it." She burned much incense, lit many lamps, and offered abundant sacrificial food to the Black Deity, to whom she said, Although the Great Sage has entered nirvana, divine beings like you still exist. Now monks of he four quarters have come to worship this holy site. Let not he offerings of ood and drink e deficient for them. You have the power to do this, and you know this is the time. 209c

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Then all the monks were invited to take seats, and the regular amount of ood for the resident monks of he monastery was served to them all one by one. Every one of the great assembly of onks was fully satisfied, while the leftover food was just as much as usual. All of them shouted, "Sadhu, sadhu!" ("Excellent, excellent! "), and praised the power of the deity. I went there in person to worship the holy site. Thus I saw the features of that deity, before whom enormous heaps of food were placed as offerings. When I asked the reason, the monks told me the above story. Images of this deity were not formerly found in the areas north of the Huai River in China; however, they were installed in many monasteries south of the Yangzi River. Suppliants who prayed to the deity always got favorable responses, and his spiritual efficacy was not illusory. The naga Mahamucilinda of Mahabodhi Monastery also has such miraculous powers.

Food is served to the monks in the following way. First, one or two pieces of ginger about the size of a thumb and one or half a spoonful of alt placed on a leaf re distributed to each of he monks. The person who serves the salt folds his hands palm to palm and kneels before the chief monk while chanting, "Sampragatam," meaning "well come." The old transliteration sam-ba is erroneous. Then the chief monk says in reply, "Serve the food equally. " The utterance of the [Sanskrit] word is to indicate that the meal has been well prepared and it is time to serve the food. It should be understood as such according to the meaning of he word. Once the Buddha and his group of isciples received poisoned food from someone, and he taught them to say "Sampragatam. When they took the meal, all the poison turned to delicious food. From this incident we may say that this word is also a mystic formula, not merely meaning "well come." This word may be pronounced either in the eastern (Chinese) or in the western (Indian) way, as one wishes, at the time of uttering it. In the districts of Bing and Fen, the monks chant it shi zhi (the time has arrived), and they have a good reason for it.

The person who serves the food must stand respectfully, with his two feet close together, and bow before the recipient of the 38

Fascicle One

food. He holds a vessel ith cakes and ruits in his hands. The edibles should be dropped into the hand of he diner from one span above it, while other kinds of ood are put into the diner's vessel from one or two inches above it. Otherwise acceptance is not in conformity with the rules concerning a monk taking things from others. A monk may begin to eat as soon as his share of ood is distributed to him; he need not wait till food is served to all the partakers of he meal. To wait for food to be served to all monks is not a correct interpretation of good demeanor. Nor is it in agreement with the holy teaching to act as one wishes after a meal is over.

Next, cooked round-grained nonglutinous rice, together with thick bean soup, is served with hot ghee. The monks mix the rice and soup with their fingers, and add various condiments to the mixed food, which they eat with their right hands. When one is just half satiated with the food, cakes and fruits are served, and after that yogurt is served with granulated sugar. When the monks are thirsty, they drink cold water, whether it is winter or summer. This is a brief account of how the monks take their daily meal or attend a reception.

For making an offering of food to the monks, it is customary to show hospitality by preparing a large amount of edibles, so much that plates and bowls brim over with leftover cakes and rice, while as much ghee and yogurt may be consumed as one wishes. In the Buddha's time, King Prasenajit once personally offered food to the Buddha and his assembly of isciples. So much food, drink, ghee, and yogurt were prepared to serve them that the victuals overflowed on the ground. This event is mentioned in the Vinaya.

When I first arrived in the country of amralipti in East India, I intended to prepare a plain and moderate meal as an offering to entertain the monks. Someone advised me not to do so, saying, "You can, of course, prepare just enough food for a feast; but according to ancient tradition, one must make it a rich and sumptuous affair. If he food is ust enough to fill the stomach, I am afraid people will laugh at you. I have heard that you come from a great country where everything is abundant. If you cannot afford the 39

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expense, you had better not prepare the feast." Thus I acted according to their custom, which is not unreasonable, because the mind of giving generous alms will get a rich reward. But a poor man may present whatever gifts he can afford to the monks after a meal is over.

When the meal is over, the monks wash their mouths with a little water, which is swallowed instead of being spat out. Some water is put into a basin, in which a monk may wash his right hand briefly, and after that he may stand up from his seat. When he is about to stand up, he should take a handful of food in his right hand, whether it is food offered to the Buddha or distributed to the monks, to be taken out and given as alms to all living beings in accordance with the holy teaching. But it is not taught in the Vinaya to give away food before the meal. A plateful of ood is also taken out as an offering to the dead and other deities and spirits, as well as to those who are worthy of ating it. This custom has its origin at Vulture Peak, as is related in detail in a scripture. One may bring the food to the chief monk and kneel before him. The chief monk then sprinkles a few drops of water on the food and utters the following prayer:

May what blessedness we have cultivated

Benefit universally those in the realm of ghosts. After eating the food, they may escape from their plight And be reborn after death in a blissful site.

The happiness a bodhisattva enjoys

Is as limitless as empty space.

By alms-giving one may get such fruits,

Which will augment without cease.

Then the food is taken out and placed in a quiet spot or under a tree, or thrown into a river or a pond, as alms given to the deceased. In the regions between the Yangzi and the Huai Rivers in China, the people prepare a separate plateful of food besides the meal offered to the monks. This is the custom described above. After the meal is over, the donor gives tooth wood and pure water to the monks. How to wash one's hands and mouth has been 40

Fascicle One

related in Chapter Five. At the time of taking leave of the donor, the monks say to him,"We rejoice at whatever meritorious deeds you have done!" And then they disperse.

There is no other religious ceremony [performed in connection with the feast], except that each of the monks recites a stanza by himself. As for the leftovers after a meal, the monks are at liberty to order a boy to carry it away, or to give it to poor and low people or any others who need the food to eat. Or if it happens to be a year of amine, or if they fear that the donor might be of a stingy nature, they should ask for his permission before taking away the leftover food. But the donor of he feast should by no means collect the remains of the meal for himself. Such is the way that monks receive offerings of food in India.

Or the donor may invite monks to his house as described before. He should set up an image of he Buddha at his house beforehand. When noontime is approaching, the monks go to the holy image and crouch down with their hands joined palm to palm to venerate the Buddha's memory. After paying homage to the Buddha's image, they eat in the manner related before. Or they may ask someone from among themselves to go and kneel erect before the holy image with his hands joined palm to palm and praise the Buddha in a loud voice. (Yijing's running note: This erect kneeling means both knees touch the ground while the thighs support the body erect. In old times it was known as kneeling in the way of the Hu people. But it is wrong to say so, because the erect kneeling is popular in all five parts of ndia, so how can it be said to be the kneeling of the Hu people alone?) The monk who is asked to praise the Buddha only sings of the Buddha's virtues; nothing else is said.

Then the donor lights lamps, scatters flowers with singleminded devotion, rubs the monks'feet with perfumed paste, and burns incense in profusion. All this is not usually done by different persons. Meanwhile, according to circumstances, drums and stringed instruments may be played to accompany songs as an offering of music. Then the meal is served to each of the monks 41

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one by one as has been described before. When the meal is over, water is provided from a bottle in front of the monks. After that the chief onk utters a short danagatha (a verse to express gratitude) to the donor. Such is another ay that monks receive offerings of food in India.

Although the manner of eating in the western country of India is different in many ways from that of China, I will make a brief account of the Indian way of eating according to the rules of the Vinaya.

In the Vinaya the Sanskrit terms pahcabhojanlya and pancakhadaniya are mentioned. The word bhojaniya means regular food, and khadaniya, what is chewed and eaten. Aspanca means five,pancabhojanlya should be translated into Chinese as five kinds of edibles, which were formerly known as the five kinds of regular food according to the semantic meaning of the word. They are (1) cooked rice, (2) mixed meal made of barley and beans, (3) parched rice flour, (4) meat, and (5) cakes. The word pancakhadaniya should be translated as the five kinds of asticated food, namely, (1) roots, (2) stalks, (3) leaves, (4) flowers, and (5) fruits. If one has no choice but to eat the first group of ood, one would certainly not like to eat anything of the second group, but if one has first eaten food of the second category, one might still wish to eat some more of the first category. We know that milk, yogurt, etc., are not included in the two groups of ood, because no such names are separately mentioned in the Vinaya, and it is clear that they do not belong to the class of regular food. Any food made of heat flour, if o solid that a spoon put into it stands erect without slanting any way, is included under cakes and cooked rice. Dry rice flour mixed with water is also included under one of the five kinds of [regular] food, if it is so thick that finger traces remain visible on its surface. The boundaries of the five parts of India are extensive and remote, and, roughly speaking, the length of the radius stretching to the four quarters of he land is more than four hundred post stations. Although I did not see all things ith my own eyes at places other than the frontier regions, I could make careful inquiries 42

Fascicle One

to find out about them. All edibles, whether for eating or chewing, are exquisitely prepared in different ways. In the north, wheat flour is plentiful, while in the west, baked rice flour is abundant. In the country of agadha, wheat flour is scarce, but rice is abundant. The southern frontier and the eastern borderland grow the same crops as Magadha. Ghee and yogurt are found everywhere, and such things as cakes and fruits are uncountable. The laypeople seldom eat fish or meat. Most of the countries produce much nonglutinous rice but little millet and no glutinous millet at all. There are sweet melons and sugarcane, and taros are abundant. Okra is scarce, but rape turnips are grown in sufficient quantities. The latter has black and white seeds, which have recently been translated into Chinese as "mustard seeds. The oil extracted from these seeds is edible in all countries. When we eat its leaves as a vegetable, we find the taste is just the same as that of a Chinese turnip; the difference is that its root is hard and tough. The seed is so large that it is bigger than a [Chinese] mustard seed. The change may have been caused by the change of soil, just as the orange tree may bear citrons hen transplanted from one place to another. At Nalanda I discussed this perplexing matter with the Dhyana master Wuxing, but we could not clarify the matter in our debate. Again, the people of ll five parts of ndia do not eat different minced condiments made of inger, garlic, or leek, nor do they eat lettuce and the like. Therefore, they do not suffer from bellyaches. Their stomachs and intestines are soft and comfortable, and free from the trouble of ecoming hard and inelastic. In the ten islands of the South Seas, the offerings of food on festival days are still more substantially and liberally prepared. On the first day, a piece of betel nut, some fragrant oil extracted from aconite, and a small quantity of crushed rice are placed on a leaf as a vessel, which then is set on a big plate and covered with a piece of hite kapok cloth. Water contained in a golden bottle is dripped on the ground before the plate as a signal to invite the monks, who are asked to anoint themselves and take a bath before noontime on the day after the following day. After noontime on 43

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the following day, amid the music of rum-beating and the offering of fragrant flowers, a holy image is carried either in a canopied carriage or in an imperial palanquin with streamers and banners fluttering in the sun. Monks and lay followers of he Dharma hurry like scudding clouds to the house of the donor, where a tent with curtains has been pitched for the occasion. The golden or bronze image is brilliantly decorated in a beautiful manner and anointed with aromatic paste. It is placed in a basin, and the people bathe it in scented water with devotion. After having been wiped clean with a piece of erfumed cotton cloth, it is taken to the main hall of the house. As incense is burned and lamps lit in profusion, the people begin to sing eulogistic hymns. Then the chief onk recites the danagatha for the sake of the donor to explain the merits of alms-giving. After that the monks are invited to come out of the hall to wash their hands and mouths, and then they are entertained with sugar water and sufficient betel nuts. After this, the assembly of monks breaks up and departs.

When noontime is approaching on the third day, the donor goes to the monastery and announces respectfully that the time [for the invitation] has come. The monks, after taking baths, are led to the donor's house. The holy image is set up again and bathed briefly, but there are twice the flowers, incense, and music of eating drums as the previous morning. All offerings are placed before the image, and five or ten maidens, or sometimes boys according to circumstances, stand solemnly on each side of the image, holding in their hands thuribles or golden bathing jugs or incense or lamps or fresh flowers or white chauris. The people come with toilet sets placed on dressing tables and mirrors contained in cases and the like to offer to the image of the Buddha. When I asked them the meaning of their action, they replied that it was in the cause of cquiring blessedness, and said that if hey did not make offerings now, how could they expect to gain any rewards in the future? Logically speaking, theirs is a good action. Next, a monk is invited to sing hymns while kneeling before the image of the Buddha. Then two more monks are separately 44

Fascicle One

invited, each taking a seat to one side of the image, to recite a brief scripture of one or half a page. Sometimes they sanctify an image of he Buddha by marking out the pupils of he image, so as to acquire superior happiness. Then they return to whichever side as they please, and fold up their kasayas by fastening the two front corners together. After washing their hands, they are ready to take the meal. (Yijing's running note: Kasaya is a Sanskrit word, meaning the color of gandha [pounded sandalwood], and as it has no etymological connection with the Chinese language, why should one take the trouble to transliterate it with two Chinese characters to denote the monks'robes? According to the textual terms of the Vinaya, all three robes worn by a monk are known as civara [a monk's dress].) The manner of preparing for the meal, such as daubing the ground with cow's dung, examining water, washing the monks' feet, taking and serving the food, are generally the same as in India, except that they also eat the three kinds of ure meat. They generally sew leaves into plates as large as half mat to keep one or two dou (one dou equals ten liters) of cooked nonglutinous rice on each plate, or else smaller receptacles are made to contain one or two sheng (one sheng equals one liter) of rice, which is brought to the monks and handed to them. Then various other kinds of food, twenty or thirty items, are served to the monks. This is in the case of a meal prepared by a poor and humble household. If it is done by a royal family or rich people, bronze plates and bowls and leaf essels as large as a mat are used to contain more than a hundred varieties of ood and drink. Even the kings give up their noble position of dignity and call themselves servants so as to serve food to the monks with perfect respect and veneration.

The monks must accept without rejection whatever amount of food is offered to them. If they took just enough food to satisfy their hunger, the donor would feel displeased. He feels pleased only when he sees that too much food is being served. Four or five sheng of ooked rice and two or three plates of ancakes and fruits are offered to each monk, and the donor's relatives and neighbors 45

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211b may help prepare the meal by contributing rice or cakes. There is more than one dish of soup and vegetables for each partaker of the meal, and the leftover food for each monk is sufficient to feed three or four persons. In the case of a sumptuous meal, even ten persons cannot consume the remaining food left by one monk. All the remains of a meal are put at the disposal of the monks, who may order their servants to carry the food away with them. But the ceremony of easting the monks in the Divine Land of China is different from that of India in the west. In China, whatever food is left over is gathered by the donor, and the monks are not expected to take it away at will. Therefore, the monks should act according to the circumstances, be content with what they have, and not bring disgrace on themselves, so that they will not be unworthy of he good mind of the donor in alms-giving. But if he donor has made up his mind not to gather the remaining food and has invited the monks to take it away, they may then do what is suitable for the occasion.

After the monks have finished their meal and have washed their hands and mouths, the remaining food is cleared away and the ground swept clean. Flowers are scattered and lamps lit, while incense is burned to make the air aromatic, and what is to be presented to the monks is arranged before them. Then perfume paste, about the size of a seed of the Chinese parasol tree, is distributed to the monks, who rub their hands with it to make them fragrant and clean. Next, betel nuts and nutmegs mixed with cloves and camphor are offered to them. When chewed, this renders the mouth fragrant and also helps digestion and cures heart disease. These aromatic and medicinal things must be washed with pure water and wrapped in fresh leaves before they are handed to the monks. The donor then goes to the chief monk, or approaches a competent teacher, and pours water from the spout of a bottle into a basin, so that the water flows out incessantly like a slender copper stick. The teacher, with flowers in his hand, receives the trickling water while he recites the danagatha. He must first recite the verses spoken by the Buddha and then those composed by other 46

Fascicle One

persons. He may recite as many or as few verses as he wishes, according to the time he has at his disposal. He must mention the name of he donor, praying for wealth and happiness for him and wishing to transfer the happy reward of good deeds done in the present to the deceased predecessors, to the emperors and princes, as well as to the nagas (serpent demons) and spirits. He also wishes for rich harvests in the country, for the people and other creatures to live in peace, and for the noble teaching of Sakyamuni Buddha to be everlasting. The gatha, which I have translated in some other place, is the blessing uttered by the World-honored One when he was living in the world. After the meal is over, the Daksinagatha (verse of alms-giving) must be recited. Such is the ceremony of giving alms. A daksinlya is one who is worthy to be honored with alms. Therefore, the Holy One laid down the rule that after each meal the monks should recite one or two danagathas to recompense the donor for his bounteousness. (Yijing's running note: The word "donor" is a translation of he Sanskrit term danapati. Dana means alms and pati, a lord. The Chinese term tan-yue, indicating that by practicing alms-giving one may get across the stream of poverty, is not a correct translation of the Sanskrit word, in spite of the good interpretation. It is also incorrect to transliterate daksina as da-chen.) If we do not do so, we are not only acting contrary to the holy teachings, but we shall also be unworthy of the food we have consumed. Begging for the remains of a meal is sometimes practiced.

Then gifts are distributed, or a "wishing tree" is made and presented to the monks, or a golden lotus flower is manufactured as an offering to the image of he Buddha. There are fresh flowers in knee-high heaps and enough white kapok cloth to fill a couch. After midday a sermon is occasionally delivered on a short scripture, and the monks sometimes disperse at nightfall. At the time of eparture, they exclaim "Sadhu!" and also " numoda." Sadhu means "Well done!" and anumoda is translated as "I rejoice at what is being done!" When gifts are presented to others or to oneself, one should utter the same expressions. Both the one who 47

he Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas

2iic presents the gifts and the one who praises the action with oy will gain bliss in the same way. Such is the general custom of he monks receiving offerings of food in the ten islands of the South Seas. People of the middle class extend an invitation with the presentation of betel nuts to the monks on the first day. On the second day an image of the Buddha is bathed when it is nearly noontime, and the meal is finished at midday, while preaching is held in the evening. The poorer people either offer some tooth wood to invite the monks on the first day and simply prepare a meal on the following day, or they approach the monks and express their wish to invite them without further ceremony.

But the custom is different among the Hu tribes of the north, in countries such as Tukhara and Suri. There the donor first presents a flower canopy as an offering to the caitya (temple), and then the monks go round the holy object while asking a precentor to say the prayers in their entirety before they take the meal. How the flower canopy looks has been described in the Xi-fang-ji (A Record of he West).

Although the ceremonies for offering food to the monks may be simple or elaborate in different countries, and the dishes served may be rich or scant, the monks'regulations, such as those on the preservation of urity or the way of ating food with one's fingers, and the major monastic rules are much the same. Some of the monks practice the dhuta (ascetic) disciplines, living by begging for food and wearing only the three robes. If such a monk is invited and offered gold and valuables, he simply discards them like mucus or saliva and retires to live in a lonely forest. But in China in the east, the custom is that when a donor wishes to entertain some monks with a meal, he simply dispatches an invitation card to them. Even on the morning of he following day, he does not go in person to invite the monks. When compared with the teachings of he Buddha, this practice seems short of ordiality. The lay disciples should be taught proper manners. When going to attend a reception, a monk should bring his filter with him, and the water for the use of he monks must be examined. After the meal, a monk 48

Fascicle One

should chew tooth wood to clean his mouth. If there is any remnant food left in the mouth, the meal is considered unfinished, and even should he pass the whole night hungry, he will not be spared the guilt of taking food at irregular times [as he has food particles in his mouth], I hope that we will make a study of the manner of ating in India and reconsider the customs prevalent in China. Then we may naturally know what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. As I do not have the leisure to give a full account of the matter, I leave it to the wise to ponder. Once I wrote an essay, which reads as follows: The Supreme World-honored One, the Father of reat Compassion, having pity on those who are plunged in the sea of transmigration, tried hard to gain enlightenment for three great kalpas (eons), and, with the hope to guide them, he lived for seven dozens of ears to spread his teachings. Considering that the foremost requirements for upholding the Dharma were food and clothing, he feared that this might give rise to worldly troubles, and therefore laid down strict rules and prohibitions. These regulations, which reflect the will of the Buddha, should be observed and practiced. But on the contrary, there are some monks who indiscreetly think themselves guiltless and do not know what sorts of eating might cause defilement. They observe only the one rule against sexual conduct, and say, "Since we are guiltless, why should we take the trouble to study the Vinaya rules? Eating and drinking, dressing and undressing are irrelevant. The Buddha's will is pointing out the Way leading directly to the gate of oidness." But how do they know that the Vinaya rules were not laid down at the will of the Buddha? It is out of mere assumption that they value one rule and disregard another. Their disciples follow their examples and never read or have a look at the Vinaya rules. When they have copied just two fascicles of books on the gate of voidness, they say that this doctrine covers all the 49

he Inner Law Sent Home from the South Seas theories of the Tripitaka. They do not consider that each mouthful of food swallowed illegally might cause the suffering of rinking molten copper in hell. Do they also not know that each step taken carelessly might incur the misery of being a traitor?

The original intention of the bodhisattva is to keep the skin raft tight [so that we may cross the sea of ebirth]. We must not overlook any minor offense; then we may render this life the last one without further rebirth. It is right for us to practice both the Mahayana and the Hinayana doctrines in keeping with the instructions of the Compassionate World-honored One. What fault is there if we take precautions against minor offenses and gain insight into the great voidness, to accept all living beings and clarify their minds? For fear that [my fellow monks at home] may perplex themselves and misguide others, I just submit this incomplete information according to the Buddha's teachings in the hope that they may draw inferences from it and gain complete knowledge. The Dharma of voidness is true and not false, but this is not a reason to disregard the Vinaya texts. It befits us to recite the Vinaya rules and make a confession to clear away our faults every fortnight. One should always advise and exhort the disciples to worship the Buddha three times a day. The Buddha-dharma is declining in the world day by day, and I have noticed that what I saw in my childhood was totally different from what I see now in my old age. Since we have witnessed the present situation, we must be more careful about our behavior. Eating and drinking are, however, a burden to us. They are our constant necessity, but I hope those who respect the Buddha will not disregard his holy teachings. Let me repeat it:

Out of he eighty thousand holy teachings, only one or two are most important. Outwardly one should conform to the 50

Fascicle One

worldly way, while inwardly one should concentrate on true wisdom. But what is the worldly way? It is observing the prohibitive rules and being guiltless. And what is true wisdom? It is the abandonment of oth the faculty of ight and the object seen. One should follow the superior truth without any attachment, and do away with the entanglements of life arising from the chain of causality. One must diligently accumulate merit by practicing more good deeds, so as to realize the wonderful meaning of perfect truth. How can a monk falsely declare that he has attained the state of bodhi (enlightenment), while he has never studied the Tripitaka, knows neither the teachings nor the principles of the Dharma, and has committed sinful deeds as numerous as the grains of and in the Ganges River? Bodhi means enlightenment, in which all illusions and entanglements are destroyed. There is neither birth nor death in the state known as eternal reality. How can we carelessly say that we are living in the Western Paradise, while we are actually staying in the sea of uffering? One who desires to realize the truth of ternity should observe the disciplinary rules with purity as a basis. One should guard against a tiny hole that might be punctured in the air bag, and take precautions against the major offenses, even though they might assume such a small shape as a needle's eye. Of ll the great grievances, the foremost are mainly caused by food and clothing. If ne follows the Buddha's teachings, one will not be far from gaining spiritual liberation, and if one disregards the noble words, one will surely be submerged in the sea of rebirth for a long time.

I have so far related the rightful practices and briefly described some examples of our predecessors. All this is based on the holy regulations; none comes out of my own views and intentions. I hope my readers will not feel displeased at my straightforward 51

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statement, and that it may be useful for those who are far away from me. If do not make an exact statement and submit it to my readers, who will discern what is refined and what is vulgar? End of Fascicle One

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