Dfasdr ser er aservawerv

World Honoured One, future generations will gradually move farther away
from the Buddha and (will meet) heretics as many as the sand grains in the
Ganges. In order to control their minds for entry into Samdhi, what should
they do to set up seats of study and learning (bodhimandala)
to keep the demon away and avoid failure (in their cultivation) of the mind
set on enlightenment?
The Buddha praised Ananda and said: Excellent, Ananda, excellent, (it is
good that) you ask about the setting up of bodhimandalas for the protection
of living beings against failure in the Dharma ending age. Listen attentively
to what I now tell you..
Ananda and the assembly reverently awaited the (holy) teaching.
Discipline & its Three Decisive Steps:
Precepts, Dhyna, & Prajna
The Buddha said: Ananda, you have always heard me teach about discipline
(vinaya) which consists in the practice of three decisive steps, the control of
mind, called precepts which leads to stillness (dhyna) and thence to wisdom
(prajn). This is called the threefold study of the supramundane way.
Prohibition against carnality
Ananda, why is control of mind called precepts? If all living beings in the six
worlds of existence abstain from sexual desire, they will not be subject to the
continual round of births and deaths. Your practice of Samdhi should free
you from defilements but they cannot be eliminated if your lustful mind is
not wiped out. Even after you have acquired such wisdom, if you fail to kill
sensuality, then when dhyna manifests, you will fall into the way of demons
in which their king takes the high, his male subjects the middle and his
female subjects the low rank. These demons have their following and boast
of having attained the Supreme Path. After my nirvna, in the Dharma
ending age, these subjects of Mra will be found
everywhere, will encourage sensuality and will disguise themselves as men
of good counsel (kalynamitras) and cause living beings to fall into the pit of
lust thereby missing the Bodhi path.
You should teach worldly men who practise Samdhi to cut off their lustful
minds at the very start. This is called the Buddha's profound teaching of the
first decisive deed. Therefore, Ananda, if carnality is not wiped out, the
practice of dhyna is like cooking gravel to make rice; even if it is
boiled for hundreds and thousands of aeons, it will be only hot gravel. Why?
Because instead of rice grains it contains only stones. If you set your lustful
mind on seeking the profound fruit of Buddhahood, whatever you may realize
will be carnal by nature. If your root is lustful, you will have to transmigrate
through three unhappy ways (to the hells of fire, blood and swords) from
which you will not escape. How then can you find the way to cultivate the
Tathgata's nirvna? You should cut off both the sensual body and mind until
even the very idea of doing so ceases; only then can you hope to seek the
Buddha's Enlightenment. This teaching of mine is that of the Buddha

whereas any other one is that of evil demons (ppiyn).

Prohibition against killing
Ananda, if living beings in the six worlds of existence cease to kill they will
not be subject to the continual round of births and deaths. Your practice of
Samdhi should free you from defilernents but if your murderous mind is not
cut off, they cannot be eliminated. You may acquire much wisdom but if you
fail to stop killing, when dhyna manifests, you will fall into the way of spirits,
in which the high rank is attained by the mighty ghost (preta), the middle
one by flying yaksas and chief ghosts, and the low one by earth-bound
rksasas. These have followers and boast that they have attained the
Supreme Path. After my nirvna, in the Dharma ending age, these ghosts will
be found throughout in the world, and will
boast of how they feed on flesh which leads them to realize Bodhi. Ananda, I
permit the bhiksus to eat only the five kinds of pure flesh which are the
product of my transcendental power of transformation and not of animal
slaughter. You, Brahman, live in a country where vegetables do not
grow because it is too damp and hot and because of all the gravel and rock. I
use my spiritual power of compassion to provide you with illusory meat to
satisfy your appetite. How then, after my nirvna, can you eat the flesh of
living beings and so pretend to be my disciple? You should know that those
who eat meat, though their minds may open and realizea semblance of
Samdhi, are but great rksasas who, after this life, will sink back into the
bitter ocean of samsra and cannot be my disciples. They will kill and devour
one another ceaselessly; how then can they escape from the three worlds of
existence?
In addition you should teach worldly men who practise Samdhi not to kill.
This is called the Buddha.s profound teaching of the second decisive deed.
Therefore, Ananda, if killing is not stopped, the practice of dhyna-samdhi is
like shutting one's ears while crying in the hope that people will not hear
one's voice, or like trying to hide something that is already exposed to full
view. All bhiksus who live purely and all Bodhisattvas always refrain even
from walking on the grass; how can they agree to uproot it? How then can
those who practise great compassion feed on the flesh and blood of living
beings? If bhiksus do not wear garments made of (Chinese) silk, boots of
local leather and furs, and refrain from consuming milk, cream and butter,
they will really be liberated from the worldly; after paying their former debts,
they will not transmigrate in the three realms of existence. Why? Because by
using animal products, one creates causes (which are always followed by
effects), just like a man who eats cereals grown in the soil and whose feet
cannot leave the ground. If a man can (control) his body and mind and
thereby refrains from eating animal flesh and wearing animal products, I say
he will really be liberated. This teaching of mine is that of the Buddha
whereas any other is that of evil demons.
Prohibition against stealing
Further, Ananda, if living beings in the six worlds of existence cease to steal,
they will not be subject to the continual round of births and deaths. Your

practice of Samdhi should free you from defilements, but if your robber's
mind is not wiped out, they cannot be eliminated. You may acquire much
wisdom but if you do not stop stealing, when dhyna manifests, you will fall
into the way of devils in which the high rank is attained by cunning spirits,
the intermediate one by evil spirits and the low one by bedevilled men.
These devils have their following and boast that they attain Supreme Bodhi.
After my nirvna, in the Dharma ending age, these devils will be found
everywhere in the world. They will hide their perfidy, pose as men of good
counsel and declare that they have won the Superior Dharma to deceive the
ignorant who will thus lose their minds; wherever they pass, they will cause
untold miseries to their believers.
This is why I teach the bhiksus to beg for food so that they can overcome
cupidity and realize Bodhi. They do not cook themselves and pass their
remaining years as transitory travellers in the three realms of existence to
prove their last transmigration without incarnating again. How can thieves
who wear the Sangha robe, act as Tathgata-mongers and commit karmic
deeds, claim that they all preach the Buddha Dharma? They are not (true)
leavers of home and are not ordained Hnayna bhikus. They deceive an
incalculable number of living beings causing them to fall into the realm of
unintermittent hells.
After my nirvna, if there is a bhiksu who, in token of his determination to
practise Samdhi, lights in front of an image of the Tathgata a torch
(planted in his body) or burns a bone of his finger or an incense stick inserted
in his flesh, I say he will thus repay all his karmic debts since the time
without beginning, will leave the worldly way for ever and will escape from
the stream of transmigration, for although he has not yet attained Supreme
Bodhi, his mind is already set decisively on the Dharma. However, without
these small sacrifices, even if he realizes something, he will be reborn as a
human being and will have to repay his former debts, as I did when I had to
eat the grain fed to horses.
Then you should teach worldly men who practise Samdhi not to steal. This
is called the Buddha's profound teaching of the third decisive deed. Ananda,
if stealing is not stopped, the practice of dhyna-samdhi is like pouring
water into a vessel which will never hold it in spite of the
passing of aeons countless as dust. If this bhiksu does not keep garments in
excess of what he needs, gives to others all food in excess of his
requirement, joins his two palms to salute the community and regards as
praise abuse and blows . that is if he is ready to give away his own flesh,
bones and blood, and if he does not pose as an expert interpreter of the
expedient incomplete doctrine and does not teach it to beginners in order
not to mislead them, the Buddha will seal his realization of Samdhi. This
teaching of mine is that of the Buddha, whereas any other is that of evil
demons.
Prohibition against lying
Ananda, if living beings in the six worlds of existence, after cleansing their
bodies and minds from killing, stealing and carnality, continue to lie, they will

fail to realize Samdhi and will become demons (filled with) pride and
prejudice. As a result, they will lose the Tathgata seed and, in their search
for worldly fame, will claim that they have achieved and realized what really
they have not. They boast of their realization of the states of srota-panna,
sakrdgmin, angmin, arhat and pratyeka-buddha and the ten stages of
Bodhisattva development, in order to attract believers who will make
offerings to them for the atonement of sins. These unbelievers (icchantika)
will destroy the Buddha seed as easily as cutting into the trunk of a palm
with a sharp chopper (to stop it from growing). The Buddha predicts that
these people will destroy their excellent roots, will not regain common sense,
will sink into the three oceans (realms) of suffering and will never achieve
Samdhi.
I now command Bodhisattvas and Arhats to appear, in the Dharma ending
age after my nirvna, in all appropriate transformation bodies to save those
caught in the wheel of samsra. They should come as monks, lay disciples,
princes, ministers, boys, girls, and even as prostitutes, widows, rogues,
thieves, butchers, pedlars, etc., to keep company with them and praise the
Buddha Dharma in their presence so as to convert them and urge them to
practise it. In so doing they should not disclose that they are true
Bodhisattvas and Arhats. They will not reveal to beginners the Buddha's
esoteric cause but when they are about to die, they will secretly show some
proof of their enlightenment (to increase their disciples' faith in the Dharma).
How then can such persons deceive living beings by telling deliberate lies?
You should teach worldly men who practise Samdhi not to lie. This is called
the Buddha.s profound teaching of the fourth decisive deed. Ananda, if lying
is not stopped, the practice of dhyna-samdhi is like copying in excrement a
sandalwood statue and expecting it to be fragrant, which is impossible. I
teach the bhiksus to develop a straightforward mind which is the temple of
enlightenment (bodhimandala) and to be righteous in their common acts of
daily life, while walking, standing, sitting and reclining. How can a liar
pretend that he has realized the Supreme Dharma? This is like a poor man
proclaiming himself a king; he will only invite trouble and misfortune. Still
less can he usurp the (throne of the) King of the Law. If the causal ground is
false, its fruit will be distorted, and the quest of Buddha.s Enlightenment will
become impossible.
If a bhiksu (develops) a mind as straight as a lute-string and is truthful under
all circumstances, he will avoid, in his practice of Samdhi, all troubles
caused by the demon. I will seal his realization of the Bodhisattva's Supreme
Bodhi. This teaching of mine is that of the Buddha whereas any other one is
that of evil demons..