He who conforms to the One
Thusness while spreading his teaching is
the Dharma king; he whose virtues permeate the four seas and transmit
his influence among the people is the benevolent king. This being so,
the Dharma king and the benevolent king work together to reveal each
other's presence and enlighten all beings; the Absolute Truth and the
secular truth rely on each other to spread the Buddhist teachings. It
is for this reason that the profound writings of Buddhism fill the
world and sage counsel overflows under heaven.
Now we foolish monks accept
and obey the heavenly net of the
nation's laws and respect and obey the emperor's severe decrees. There
is no time for us to rest complacent.
There are three periods to
the Dharma. There are also three types
of people. Instructions concerning the teachings and precepts arise and
disappear depending on the time, and words repudiating or praising the
keeping of the precepts are employed or cast aside depending upon the
audience. As for the fortunes of Fu Hsi, Wen Wang, and Confucius, the
three ancient worthies of China, their rise and fall were not the same;
as for the capacities of the beings of the five five-hundred year
periods after the Buddha's decrease, their wisdom and enlightenment are
also different. How can beings of different capacities be saved by
identical means? How can all of the Buddha's teachings concerning the
precepts be arranged under one principle?
For this reason, I shall
detail the sucessive stages of the True,
Imitative, and Latter Dharma and clarify the activities carried out by
monks who break and keep the precepts during these respective periods.
This work consists of the following three sections: (1) definitions of
the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharma; (2) explanations of the
behavior of monks who break and keep the precepts during the three
Dharmas; (3) quotations from the Buddha's teachings and the comparison
of them with the behavior of the monks of the present age.
First, the definitions of
the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharmas.
There are different theories concerning the length of the three
periods. To begin with, one theory will be given. [K'uei-]chi of the
Mahayana, quoting the Sutra of the Good Aeon, says:
"After the Buddha's nirvana,
the True Dharma will last five hundred
years and the Imitative Dharma will last one thousand years. After
these fifteen hundred years, Sakyamuni's Dharma will perish
completely."
The Latter Dharma is not
mentioned here. According to another
authority, since the nuns did not observe the eight rules of deference,
and were lax and negligent, the True Dharma was not prolonged,
Therefore we shall not rely on this theory.
Further, it is stated in the
Nirvana Sutra:
"In the Latter Dharma there
is a group of 120,000 great
bodhisattvas who keep the Dharma, ensuring that it will not perish."
Since this refers to
bodhisattvas of superior rank, it will not be
used either.
Question: If so, what
are the activities of the monks during
these fifteen hundred years?
Answer: Looking at
the Sutra of Maya, we find:
"In the first five hundred
years after the Buddha's nirvana, the
seven wise sages, such as Mahakasyapa, will successively uphold the
True Dharma, ensuring that it will not perish. After five hundred
years, the True Dharma will perish completely. After six hundred years,
the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist teaching will thrive, and
Asvaghosa will appear in the world to humble them. After seven hundred
years, Nagarjuna will appear in the world and strike down the banners
of erroneous views. After eight hundred years, the bhiksus
(monks) will become self-indulgent and idle, and there will be only one
or two people who attain enlightenment. After nine hundred years,
menservants will become bhiksus and maidservants will become bhiksunis
(nuns). After one thousand years, they will become wrathful when they
hear of the Buddhist practice of contemplation of impurities and will
not wish to practice it. After eleven hundred years, monks and nuns
will marry and break and slander the precepts. After twelve hundred
years, the monks and nuns will have children. After thirteen hundred
years, they will wear the white robes of lay people. After fourteen
hundred years, the four groups of disciples--monks, nuns, laymen and
laywomen--will be like hunters and sell away the offerings presented to
the Three Treasures. After fifteen hundred years, there will be two
monks in the country of Kausambi who will quarrel with each other and
eventually murder each other. Consequently the Buddhist teachings will
be stored away in the dragon's palace."
These words are also found
in roll eighteen of the Nirvana Sutra,
as well as the Benevolent Kings Sutra, etc. According to these
sutras' words, precepts, concentration, and wisdom will disappear after
fifteen hundred years. For this reason, it is stated in roll fifty-one
of the Great Collection Sutra (Mahasamnipata-sutra):
"After my nirvana, in the
first five hundred years, the various bhiksus
will abide within my True Dharma, and they will be steadfast in their
liberation. ('Liberation' refers to the initial attainment of the
fruits of the Holy Path.) In the next five hundred years, they will be
steadfast in their contemplation. In the next five hundred years, they
will be steadfast in listening to many teachings. In the next five
hundred years, they will be steadfast in building temples. In the last
five fundred years, they will be steadfast in quarreling with each
other, and the pure Dharma will disappear completely. (And so forth.)"
This means that in the first
three five-hundred year periods, they
will be steadfast in practicing the three Dharmas of precepts,
concentration, and wisdom. In other words, these periods correspond to
the periods of the True Dharma of five hundred years and the Imitative
Dharma of one thousand years quoted above. The two periods beginning
with the period wherein temples are built belong to the Latter Dharma.
For this reason, it is stated in [K'uei-]chi's Reconciling the
Inconsistencies of the Diamond Wisdom Sutra:
"The True Dharma lasts
five-hundred years, and the Imitative Dharma
lasts one thousand years. After these fifteen hundred years, the True
Dharma, which had been current, will perish completely."
Therefore we see that the
two periods beginning with the period of
the construction of temples belong to the Latter Dharma.
Question: If this is
so, then in which period does the
present world fall?
Answer: Although
there are many theories concerning the
chronology since the Buddha's nirvana, we shall consider [only] two
theories here. First, the Dharma master Fa-shang and others, using the Record
of Extraordinary Events in the Chou Dynasty, says that the Buddha
entered nirvana in the water-monkey year of the fifty-third year of the
reign of Mu Wang-man, the fifth lord of the Chou Dynasty (1122-1115
B.C.) According to this theory, from that monkey year until now, the
metal-snake year of the twentieth year of Enryaku, it has been 1750
years.
Second, Fei Ch'ang-fang and
others, using the Spring and Autumn
Annals of the country of Lu, says the Buddha entered nirvana in the
water-rat year of the fourth year of the reign of K'uang Wang-pan, the
twenty-first lord of the Chou Dynasty. According to this theory, from
that water-rat year until now, the metal-snake year of the twentieth
year of Enryaku, it has been 1410 years.
Therefore we can see that
the present time is at the extreme end of
the Imitative Dharma. The activities of the monks of this age are
already identical to those of the Latter Dharma. Within the Latter
Dharma only the written teachings exist. Their is neither practice nor
enlightenment. If precepts existed, then it would be possible to break
the precepts. But since precepts no longer exist, what precepts are
there to break? And since it is no longer possible to break the
precepts, how much less can one keep the precepts? For this reason, the
Great Collection Sutra states:
"After the Buddha's nirvana,
monks without precepts will be found
thoughout the province. (And so forth.)"
Question: Throughout
the various sutras and vinayas,
monks are admonished to refrain from breaking the precepts, and those
who do so are not allowed in the Buddhist community. If monks who break
the precepts are admonished in this way, then how much more so should
the monks without precepts [be admonished]! However, here you argue
repeatedly that there are no precepts to be kept in the Latter Dharma.
Why should one without a wound hurt himself?
Answer: Your
reasoning is not correct. The kinds of
activities prevailing in the True, Imitative, and Latter Dharmas are
disclosed in various sutras. Whether monk or layman, Buddhist or
non-Buddhist, can there be anyone who opens the sutras without finding
such passages? Why should I, while being attached to my evil way of
life, conceal the True Dharma that maintains the country?
However, the point under
discussion here concerns the fact that in
the Latter Dharma, there are only nominal bhiksus. These
nominal bhiksus are the True Treasures of the world. There are
no other field of merit where one can plant merit. Furthermore, if
someone were to keep the precepts in the Latter Dharma, this would be
exceedingly strange indeed. It would be like a tiger in the
marketplace. Who could believe it?
Question: I can see
that the True, Imitative, and Latter
Dharmas are described in many sutras. But in what scripture does the
arguement that the nominal bhiksu of the Latter Dharma is the
True Treasure of the world appear?
Answer: In roll nine
of the Great Collection Sutra,
it is stated:
"For example, pure gold is
considered a priceless treasure. But if
pure gold did not exist, then silver would be considered a priceless
treasure. If silver did not exist, then brass, a false treasure, would
be considered a priceless treasure. If a false treasure did not exist,
then cuprite, nickel, iron, pewter, lead, or tin would be considered
priceless treasures. Likewise, in the entire world, the Buddha Treasure
is priceless. If the Buddha Treasure did not exist, then the pratyekabuddha
would be considered supreme. If no pratyekabuddha existed, then
the arhat would be considered supreme. If no arhat existed, then the
remaining group of wise sages would be considered supreme. If the
remaining group of wise sages did not exist, an ordinary man who had
attained a state of concentration would be considered supreme. If no
ordinary man who had attained a state of concentration existed, a pure
keeper of the precepts would be considered supreme. If no pure keeper
of the precepts existed, then a bhiksu who kept the precepts
imperfectly would be considered supreme. If no bhiksu who kept
the precepts existed, then a nominal bhiksu who shaved his hair
and beard and donned Buddhist robes would be considered the Supreme
Treasure. This is because he is preeminent when compared to the
practitioners of the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths. He is
worthy of accepting the veneration of the people of the world and
becoming the field of merit of the populace. Why? Because he is feared
by sentient beings. The person who protects, cares for, and worships
him will quickly attain the rank of insight in the birthlessness of
dharmas. (This ends the quotation from the sutra.)"
This passage enumerates
eight levels of pricelessness: the
Tathagata, the pratyekabuddha, the sravaka, as well as
the practitioners who have attained a state of concentration, the one
who keeps the precepts, the one who breaks the precepts, and the
nominal monk without the precepts. In this order, they all become
priceless treasures during the time of the True Imitative, and Latter
Dharmas. The first four belong to the time of the True Dharma, the next
three belong to the time of the Imitative Dharma, and the last one
belongs to the time of the Latter Dharma. For this reason, we can
clearly see that monks who break the precepts and monks who do not keep
the precepts are both True Treasures.
Question: Looking
respectfully at the statement above, it
has become clear that even monks who break the precepts and nominal bhiksus
are none other than True Treasures. Why, then do the Nirvana Sutra,
the Great Collection Sutra and other works state, 'If kings and
ministers vernerate a monk who breaks the precepts, the three
calamities, those caused by famine, war, and pestilence, will arise in
the country, and they will ultimately be born in hell?' Since this is
so for bhiksus who break the precepts, how much more so for bhiksus
who do not keep the precepts! This would mean that the Tathagata
sometimes admonishes and sometimes praises monks who break the
precepts. How can the words on one Sage have the error of
inconsistency?
Answer: Your
reasoning is not correct. To begin with, the Nirvana
Sutra and other sutras prohibited the monks of the True Dharma from
breaking the precepts, and not the bhiksus of the Imitative and
Latter Dharmas. Although they are called by the same names, there is a
difference in the times. To prohibit or permit according to the the
time: this is the purport of the Great Sage. Therefore, there is no
inconsistency in the World-honored One.
Question: If so, then
how do we know that the Nirvana
and other sutras only prohibit monks of the True Dharma from breaking
the precepts, and not those of the Imitative and Latter Dharmas?
Answer: The
exposition concerning the eight levels of True
Treasures in the Great Collection Sutra quoted above is the
proof. It is because all become priceless treasures in their time. Only
during the time of the True Dharma do the bhiksus who break the
precepts defile the pure Sangha. For this reason the Buddha firmly
prohibited monks from breaking the precepts and did not allow those who
did so to remain in the Sangha.
As to the reason why it is
so, it is stated in roll three of the Nirvana
Sutra:
The Tathagata has just now
bestowed the unsurpassable True Dharma
upon kings, ministers, councilors, monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen.
These kings, the ministers, and the four kinds of Buddhists should
encourage and inspire the students of the Way and enjoin them to attain
the highest precepts, concentrations, and wisdom. If there should be a
person who does not study these three kinds of things, is lax and
negligent, breaks the precepts, and destroys the True Dharma, then the
kings, the ministers, and the four kinds of Buddhists should chastise
him. Such kings, ministers, etc., will gain immeasurable merit. If
there is a good bhiksu who sees a person doing things that
subvert the Dharma, but leaves him alone and does not scold, expel, or
dispose of him, you should know that this person is an enemy of the
Buddha-Dharma.
Also, it is stated in roll
twenty-eight of the Great Collection
Sutra:
"If there is a king of a
country who forsakes and does not defend
the Dharma when he sees it being subverted, then the merits accruing
from the charity, precepts, and wisdom that he cultivated in
innumerable past lives will all disappear. The three types of unlucky
occurances will appear in his country... At the end of his life, he
will be born in the great hell."
It is also stated in roll
thirty-one of the same sutra:
"The Buddha said, "O great
king! Protect the one single bhiksu
who follows the Dharma, and do not protect the innumerable bhiksus
who have committed the various evil acts. I now permit you to care for
and protect only two kinds of people. One is the arhat who possesses
the eightfold liberation. The second is the srotapanna."
We find a number of such
prohibitions. All of them are prohibitions
valid only for the time of the True Dharma and are not the teaching for
the Imitative and Latter Dharmas. The reason why this is so is because
in the closing years of the Imitative Dharma and in the Latter Dharma,
the True Dharma is not practiced. Thus there is no Dharma that can be
broken. What could be called the breaking of the Dharma? There are no
precepts that can be broken. Who could be called the breaker of the
precepts? Also, there exists no practice that the great king of that
age can protect. How could the three calamities appear? How could he
lose the merits accruing from his charity, precepts, and wisdom? Also,
in the Imitative and Latter Dharmas, there is no one who has attained
enlightenment. How could the king be told that he is permitted to
protect the two kinds of sages? Therefore you should know that all the
above explanations are made with reference to the world of the True
Dharma, when, because there exists the keeping of the precepts, there
also exists the breaking of the precepts.
Next, during the first five
hundred years of the one thousand year
Imitative Dharma, monks who keep the precepts gradually decrease, and
monks who break the precepts gradually increase. Although the practice
of keeping the precepts exists, there is no attainment of
enlightenment.
For this reason, it is
stated in roll seven of the Nirvana
Sutra:
"Kasyapa Bodhisattva said to
the Buddha, "World-honored One! The
Buddha has explained that there are four kinds of demons. How can I
distinguish between the teachings of the demons and the teachings of
the Buddha? Various sentient beings will follow and pursue the practice
of the demons. There will also be those who follow and obey what was
preached by the Buddha. How can I recognize these people?" The Buddha
said to Kasyapa, "Seven hundred years after my parinirvana,
these demon papiyas will gradually come into being and obstruct
and subvert my True Dharma. The demon-king papiyas are like
hunters who wear monks' robes. They will create a figure of a bhiksu,
a figure of a bhiksuni, a figure of a layman and a laywoman;
they will also conjure up a body of a srotapanna...they will
conjure up a body of a arhat, as well the material body of a Buddha. By
means of these defiled forms, the demon-kings will create undefiled
bodies and subvert my True Dharma. These demon papiyas, to
subvert my True Dharma, will say thus: 'The Buddha was staying at
Jetavana Vihara (Monastery) in Sravasti. He permitted the bhiksus
to receive and accumulate menservants, maidservants, servants, cows,
sheep, elephants, horses ... copper and iron kettles and cauldrons,
large and small bronze basins, and other necessities; to till the
fields and plant seeds; to buy, sell, and engage in business; and to
accumulate rice and cereals. Because of his great compassion, the
Buddha pities sentient beings and allowed all these things to be
accumulated.' These sutras and vinayas are all the teachings of
the demons."
It is stated above that
after seven hundred years has passed since
the Buddha's nirvana, the papiyas gradually come into being.
For this reason, we know the bhiksus of that time gradually
come to covet and accumulate the eight impure things. These deluded
teachings are taught by the demons. Within these and other sutras, the
age is clearly indicated and the activities of the period are described
in detail. Certainly they must not be doubted. Here we have just given
one quotation to illustrate the age. The rest should be understood
following this example.
Next, in the latter half of
the Imitative Dharma, monks who keep
the precepts decreaseand there are innumerable monks who break the
precepts. For this reason, it is stated in roll six of the Nirvana
Sutra:
"The Buddha said the the
bodhisattva, 'Good son! For example,
suppose there is a kalaka grove with a great number of trees.
In this grove, there is just one tree called the tinduka. The
fruit of the kalaka and the tinduka look alike and
cannot be distinguished. When the fruits had ripened, a woman picked
them all. Only one tenth of them were fruits of the tinduka
while nine tenths were fruits of the kalaka. This woman
unwittingly brought them back to the marketplace and displayed them for
sale. Ignorant people and small children, again not
distinguishingbetween the fruits, bought the kalaka and died
after eating them. A group of wise men heard of this and asked the
woman, "You! Where did you get this fruit?" The woman then told them
where. The people then said, "At that place there are many kalaka
trees, and ther is only one tinduka." The people, once they
found out, laughed and threw them away. Good son! The eight impure
things within the great Sangha are also like this. Within the Sangha
there are many who receive and use these eight impure things. He knows
that many monks receive and accumulate these prohibitive things, but he
stays with them and and doe snot shun or leave them. He is like the one
tinduka tree in the grove.'"
Also it is stated in the Sutra
of the Ten Wheels:
"If a person, taking refuge
in my Dharma, renounces the world and
commits evil deeds, even though such a person styles himself a sramana,
he is not a sramana; even though he styles himself a performer
of pure deeds, he is not performing good deeds. Such bhiksus
open and indicate the hidden treasury of merit of the all-virtuous
Dharma to every heavenly being, dragon, and yaksa and become
good friends in the Dharma to sentient beings. Even though they are not
the kind of people who crave little and are satisfied, they shave off
their hair and beards and wear the robes of the Dharma. Because of the
causal relationship, they will nourish the sentient beings' good roots
leading to enlightenment and open and indicate the good Way for
heavenly beings... The bhiksu who breaks the precepts, even
though he is [spiritually] dead, due to the remaining vigor of the
precepts is like the medicinal cow's gallstone. The cow is dead, but it
is like the musk of the musk deer, which is useful after the deer's
death. (And so forth.)"
It is stated above that in
the kalaka grove, there is one tinduka
tree. This is a parable that the fortune of the Imitative Dharma has
already abated, that monks who break the precepts fill the world, and
that there are no more that one or two bhiksus who keep the
precepts. Also, it is stated that the bhiksus who break the
precepts, even though they are dead, are like the musk deer's musk,
which is useful though the musk deer is dead. To be useful though dead
means that they become sentient beings' good friends in the Dharma. You
should know clearly that this statement, that at this time monks who
break the precepts are gradually tolerated and become the fields of
merit of the people of the world, is identical to the statement of the Great
Collection Sutra above.
Next, after the closing
years of the Imitative Dharma, the precepts
do not exist at all. The Buddha, with insight into the destiny of this
age, praised the nominal monk as the field of merit of the people of
the world in order to save the people of the Latter Dharma.
Also it is stated in roll
fifty-two of the Great Collection
Sutra:
"Suppose there is a nominal bhiksu
in the Latter World to
come who has, within my Dharma, shaved off his hair and has beared and
donned
a robe. If there is a donor who gives donations to him in faith and
venerates him, the donor will gain an immeasurable and limitless amount
of merit."
Also, it is stated in the Sutra
of the Wise and Foolish:
"Suppose there is a donor in
the future Latter World when the
Dharma is about to expire. He must treat with respect a Sangha of over
four nominal bhiksus, just as if they were Sariputra,
Mahamaudgalyayana, etc., even if the bhiksus keep wives and
have children."
Also it is stated in the Great
Collection Sutra:
"The crime of striking and
reproaching a monk who wears a robe but
breaks or does not keep the precepts is the same as causing a trillion
Buddhas to shed blood. If there are sentient beings who, for my Dharma,
shave off their hair and beards, and wear a robe, they are all already
sanctioned by the seal of nirvana, even if they do not keep the
precepts. These people indicate the way to nirvana to various people
and heavenly beings. These people are already within the Three
Treasure, have give rise to faith and respect in their minds, and
surpass the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist path. These people will
invariably enter nirvana quickly. They excel all laymen and secular
people, with the exception of the householders who have attained
endurance. For this reason, heavenly beings and humans should venerate
them, even if they break the precepts"
Also, it is stated in the Great
Compassion Sutra:
"The Buddha said to Ananda,
'In the Latter World to come, at the
time when the Dharma is about to perish, there will be bhiksus
and bhiksunis who, within my Dharma, after having entered the
monkhood, will wander from one wine-shop to another, leading their
children by the arm, and who, within my Dharma, will commit impure
deeds. Such people, even if they are given to wine, will all attain parinirvana
with the present Good Aeon. In this Good Aeon, a thousand Buddhas will
appear in this world. I am the fourth. Next, after me, Maitreya will
take my place. This goes on in this way until the final Rocana
Tathagata. The order will be like this. You, Ananda, should know that
even if there are, within my Dharma, people who are sramanas in
their natures only, and who defile the practice of a sramana,
calling themselves sramanas and looking like sramanas,
they are the ones who actually wear the Buddhist robes. Within the Good
Aeon, with Maitreya at the beginning and so forth on down to Rocana
Tathagata, these various sramanas, in the presence of these
Buddhas in the nirvana without residue, will gradually enter nirvana
and will completely disappear without a trace. Why? Because for every
one of these sramanas, if he even once calls out the Buddha's
name and even once experiences faith, the merit created will ultimately
not be in vain. This I declare becuase I, through my Buddha-wisdom, am
well-versed in the Dharma-realm.'"
It is stated in the Vimalakirti
Sutra:
"Among the ten titles of the
Buddha, if the Buddha explains them
extensively, the merits of hearing the first three would not be
exhausted, even if an aeon were to elapse. (And so forth.)"
These sutras all specify the
age and say that the nomial bhiksu
of the future Latter World will become the mentor of the people of the
world. If one regulates these nominal monks of the world of the Latter
Dharma using the precepts of the time of the True Dharma, then the
teachings and the [monks'] capacities will be opposed to each other;
the Dharma and the people will be incompatible. For this reason, it is
stated in the vinaya, "Regulations that regulate what is not to
be regulated would negate the Buddha's predictions." How can there be
any crimes?
With the above, quotations
of passages from the sutras for the
three Dharmas conclude.
Finally, the teachings of
the Buddha will be quoted and compared
with the behavior of the monks of the presetn age. In the age of the
Latter Dharma, the Latter Dharma is reality, and the True Dharma is
destroyed. The three actions, physical, vocal, and mental, and
indeterminate, and the four deportments, the correct ways of walking,
standing, sitting, and lying down, are not followed. As the Sutra
Settling Doubts Concerning the Imitative Dharma says:
"If, furthermore, there are
people who construct stupas and temples
and venerate the Three Treasures but do not arouse a feeling of respect
and honor toward them; who invite monks to reside in temples but do not
offer them drink or food, clothing or medicine; who, furthermore, turn
right around to beg these things from the monks, and eat the monks'
food; who whether rich or poor, desire in all they do to work solely
against the interest of the Sangha, impairing and causing distress in
it, such people will fall into the three evil paths for a long time."
Right now, surveying the
secular world, we find that such deeds are
widespread. But this is simply the destiny of the age; it is not due to
the people. Donors do not have the true intentions of donors to begin
with. Who can censure monks for not practicing as monks?
Also it is stated in the Sutra
of the Teachings Bequeathed by
the Buddha, "To ride on a horse or cart for one day disqualifies a
monk for receiving meals from a donor for five hundred days." How can
the wrongs of the practitioners of the present age reveal the virtues
of those properly receiving ritual meals?
Also it is stated in the Dharma
Practice Sutra:
"Even if my disciple
receives a special invitation, he should not
step on the king's land or drink water from the king's ground. Once he
does, five hundred great demons will constantly obstruct his path, and
five thousand great demons will constantly follow and revile him,
calling him a great traiter to the Buddha-Dharma."
It is stated in the Mrgaramatr
Sutra:
Even if one gives a special
invitation to five hundred arhats, they
cannot be called fields of merit. If one gives alms to one evil bhiksu
who resembles a true monk, one will gain immeasurable merit. Inasmuch
as the followers of the Way in the present age are fond of special
invitations, where can merits be planted? Why should people who keep
the precepts be like this? They cannot step on the king's land, nor are
they permitted to drink the king's water. Five thousand great demons
must surely revile them as great traitor. Alas, why does not the Sangha
of monks who keep the precepts reform their errors?
Also it is stated in the Benevolent
Kings Sutra:
"If any of my disciples
serves the government, he is not my
disciple. When the offices of major and minor superintendents of monks
are established, the government and the Sangha will be bound together.
When that time comes, the Buddha-Dharma will be destroyed. It will be
the cause of the destruction of the Buddha-Dharma and the destruction
of the country. (And so forth.)"
Judging from the words of
the Benevolent Kings Sutra, etc.,
to venerate the superintendant of monks is a profanity destroying the
community of monks. In the Great Collection Sutra, etc., monks
who do not keep the precepts are praised as the Treasure for the
salvation of the people of the world. Alas, why should one let the
locust that destroys the country remain while casting aside the
Treasure that protects the country? These two groups of monks should
not be distinguished from each other, and they should all partake of
the meal of identical taste. Then the monks and nuns will not
disappear, and the temple bell will not lose time. If things happen
this way, it will be in accord with the teachings of the Latter Dharma,
which are the way of sustaining the country.
The Candle of the Latter
Dharma (Mappo Tomyo Ki) by Saicho. BDK
English Tripitaka Vol. 107-III. Translated from the Japanese by Robert
Rhodes. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. 1994. For
non-profit educational use only.