B4. The Sutra of Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching

Sakyamuni Buddha, when he first set in motion the wheel of Dharma, saved AjnataKaundinya, and in his last sermon he saved Subhadra. Those who were to be saved he has saved, and now he lay among the twin Sal-trees under which Buddha was about to enter Nirvana. The time was the middle of the night, calm and noiseless. For the sake of all the disciples he briefly spoke of the most important Dharma doctrines.

Ye Bhikshus! After my annihilation you must revere, value and respect, the Pratimoksa. They are like finding a light in the darkness, like a poor man securing the precious treasure. You ought to know, therefore, they are indeed your Guru, there shall be no difference in these than when I myself lived in this world. Those who would keep pure commandments should not buy, sell, or trade. They should not covet fields and buildings, nor accumulate servants or female slaves or animals. From all planting and all sorts of wealth ought they to keep away like one would move afar off a fiery-pit. You should not cut trees and grasses, plow the soil, hoe the lands, mix medicines, to prophesy good or evil from a man's physiognomy, to look up the position of constellations, cast horoscopes by the waxing and the waning of the moon, not reckon day of good fortune, as all these things are improper for the Bhikshus to do. Restrain the body, eat at proper time and conduct your life in purity and chastity. You ought not to concern yourselves with the worldly affairs and be away from unexpected blame and praise. You should not concern yourselves in reciting incantations, nor use the elixir of life, nor bind yourselves to prominent persons in friendship, nor become familiar and have indecent behaviour with them so that you may be able to boast of it. You ought to, with fixed mind, in right contemplation, seek for salvation. You should not conceal your faults and defects, nor give rise to heresy, nor lead people astray. Of the four offerings for a monk, you know the limits, you understand what is enough. When you have received a small provision, you must not store it up. Here, therefore, I shall speak briefly about the phenomena of keeping the commandments. The commandments are the basis of the decision of liberation. Therefore they are called the Pratimoksa. If you rely on the cause of the commandments, you will attain many stages of Ch‘an and Ting and shall have wisdom of the extinction from suffering. For this reason, Bhikshus, you should always keep the commandments pure and must not break and destroy them. The man who can keep these commandments pure. indeed will be of good conduct in the world, if there are no pure commandments, no meritorious virtues can arise at all. You ought to know for this reason that the meritorious virtues of the place of perfect solid is acquired throughout the commandments.

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