五戒の細則

All dharmas in the world are subject to arising, abiding, alteration, and cessation, changing rapidly—so impermanent. How exactly they arise, abide, alter, and cease, how exactly they are impermanent, everyone should be able to perceive and have personal experience of this. Buddhism itself is likewise subject to arising, abiding, alteration, cessation, and impermanence; what it will become in the future is unknown. Now monastics are becoming fewer and fewer, temples are becoming more and more desolate, the spiritual faculties (indriya) of lay Buddhists are getting worse and worse, the quality of members in online groups is declining, and the development of Buddhism is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, if one does not seize the time to practice now, in the difficult days ahead the conditions for practice may not even be complete. People with wisdom should seize the moment and use every available moment to practice deeply. Do not wait or rely on others—no one can be relied upon; you can only rely on yourself. If you are not diligent yourself, even a savior would be of no use.

Buddhism's room for development in the future will become narrower and more limited. Due to the karma and collective karma of sentient beings, survival will become increasingly difficult. Later on, great practitioners and bodhisattvas will find it very hard to come to this world to practice and transmit the Dharma; even if they come, they will choose to withdraw from worldly affairs and live in seclusion, because worldly affairs are difficult, sentient beings' faculties are poor, and transmitting the Dharma is very hard. So while the current environment for practice is still acceptable, everyone should let go of everything and practice single-mindedly, sparing no effort. Opportunity, once missed, will not come again. Do not wait until you intend to practice seriously, only to find that the best opportunity has been lost.

If anything develops too quickly, reaching the point of "a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools contending," it has reached its limit and begins to decline. When the majority of people believe in Buddhism and study Buddhism, Buddhism begins to decline. What is the principle behind this? In the secular world this phenomenon is described as "things reverse when they reach their extreme," but in fact it is the internal interplay between quantity and quality. When quantity grows ever larger, quality is inevitably affected and changes. A large quantity may not elevate quality; it may instead lower quality and dilute it, so that quality can no longer be guaranteed.

The more sentient beings study Buddhism, the greater Buddhism's influence, and the greater the karma that accumulates. Who bears this karma? It is borne by Buddhism as a whole, and by those within Buddhism who are of high quality and caliber, who practice well and possess virtue—this is called bearing karma. Those with greater capacity bear the karma; those with weaker capacity are the ones whose karma is borne by others, with a few people bearing the karma of the many. When the population of those with weak capacity grows ever larger, the karma becomes too great to bear, and the result is a decline in the quality of the group, beginning a downward spiral into decay.

Why did the Chan school develop for so long in the past? It was precisely because the Chan school was transmitted through a single lineage, never spreading indiscriminately everywhere. By the time of the Sixth Patriarch, "one flower opened with five petals," and as more people became enlightened, the genuine and the false became mixed together, and the Chan school declined and withered, even becoming lost. The Buddha-Dharma can only endure as a long, steady stream, receiving those who have the spiritual faculties (indriya) and sentient beings with deep karmic affinity with the Three Jewels. Only in this way can the overall high quality of Buddhism be guaranteed and Buddhism endure without decline; spreading everywhere can only lead to rapid decay. In view of this, I choose quality over quantity—a long, steady stream—delivering true bodhisattvas and true practitioners, so that the true Buddha-Dharma may endure without decline.