Lecture No. 0281

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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0281

Lamrim Vol. 1: P37-L22 ~ LL11

Date: 9 Dec 2022

Topic: Causes and conditions of [Master Atisha’s] ordination, introduction to the four root schools

Today, we will continue to study the good qualities of Master Atisha. Everyone please turn to page 107, the first paragraph of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations. Everyone, let’s read together with me. [00:15]

Then, his gurus and chosen deities, either in person or in dreams, urged him to become a monk, saying that if he did so, it would benefit, vastly, the teachings and many beings. Upon their urging, as it states in Nag-tso’s Eighty Verses of Praise, “Your abbot was renowned by all as having attained the path of preparation.”, [Master Atisha] became a monk, “receiving ordination from an abbot, who was a Mahasamghika elder, a great upholder of near-perfection of the doctrines on discipline out of the four fundamental schools. “it doesn’t mean that the preceptor was a Mahasamghika practitioner because of his attainment on the path of preparation and [his conceptual understanding of] the wisdom of emptiness”. With the attainment on the perspective of the path of preparation – the Samadhi [meditative stabilization] that all phenomena are without intrinsic nature, the preceptor was called Silaraksita [meaning the protector of ethical discipline or armour of ethical discipline]. Furthermore, Master Atisha was given the name Sri Dipamkarajnana, meaning glorious illuminating wisdom. [01:14] [Lamrim vol.1 page 37 L21 to L30], [Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations Vol. 1, Pg 107 L1 to L6]
[*color scheme of annotations: red: Master Ba, green: Master Nga-wang Rab-ten/Venerable Yu]

 Now let’s take a look at the teaching from Rinpoche’s the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations. It says, “Then, his gurus and chosen deities, either in person or in dreams, urged him to become a monk, saying that if he did so, it would benefit vastly the teachings and many beings. Upon their urging, as it states in Nag-tso’s Eighty Verses of Praise, “Your abbot was renowned by all as having attained the path of preparation.” “Then” means from that point on, many gurus and chosen deities, either meeting Master Atisha in person or in dreams, all urged him to ordain as a monk. Why? If he did so, he would benefit the teachings and many beings vastly. Consequently, Master Atisha was ordained. [01:54]

Here we may say that it is an introduction to the causes and conditions of how Master Atisha became a monastic. The causes and conditions of his ordination were very unique. There was no account or details of how he developed disenchantment with the three realms; he was urged by his gurus and chosen deities to ordain as a monk. What was the reason (that his gurus and chosen deities all urged him to receive ordination)? “If he did so, it would benefit, vastly, the teachings and many beings!” Evidently, this reason definitely touched Master Atisha’s heart profoundly. As he was the prince, if he did not ordained, he would have his royal duties. If he became a monk, it would benefit, vastly, the sublime teachings and many sentient beings. Thus, even though Master Atisha was born in the royal family, he was very compliant to the instructions from his gurus. These were the causes and conditions of how he ordained as a monk. [02:41]

Next, “a great upholder of near-perfection of the doctrines on discipline out of the four fundamental schools.” Here the four fundamental Buddhist schools refer to: Sarvāstivāda, Mahasamghika, Sthaviravāda, and Sammatīya. I will briefly introduce these four schools to you. They all originated from a single Sangha community in Buddha’s time. After Buddha passed into maha-parinirvana, the Sangha was divided into four schools. You are aware right? Sthaviravāda, Mahasamghika, Sammatīya, and what else? Sarvāstivāda; a total of four. [03:11]

The Sthaviravāda School was named because the members were from the noble lineage; so they were named Sthaviravāda [meaning school of elders]. Their teaching was transmitted from Venerable Kātyāyana; its main doctrine was that when attaining the state of extinction [nirodha-samāpatti], one’s mental state is still active but without erroneous consciousness, and within ten even to thirty counts of immeasurable eons, one can attain Buddhahood. This immeasurable eon can be understood as asaṃkhyeya-kalpa. The Sthaviravada chanted the sutra using Piśāca [Kravyād] language. Every school used different languages to chant the sutras. Their kasaya (robes) used five to twenty pieces of cloth, and what was [the emblem] on the kasaya? It had the sign of conch. Their birthplace or armor was appended after the name of the monk. The birthplace is the place of origin. This is the Sthaviravāda School. [04:00]

What is next? It is Mahasamghika. For some reason, majority of the monks who had not attained their arhatship in the sangha formed another school after the passing of Sakyamuni Buddha and named it as Mahasamghika [meaning school of the great community]. The Mahasamghika received teachings from Elder Mahākāśyapa and chanted sutras in the Pali language. Taking China as an example; in every province, too many of these provinces are different. I discovered that they all used different dialects to chant the sutras. It is just like the Chinese people from the Sichuan province like to chant the sutra with Sichuan people; if Sichuan people chant the sutra with people from the Shandong province, there might be the dialect issue. The Mahasamghika used Pali language while chanting the sutras, and their emblem on the kasaya was also different. The kasaya of the Sthaviravāda School was designed with five pieces cloth, whereas the Mahasamghika used seven to twenty-two pieces of cloth. There was such a rule between [these 2 schools]. The good-luck knot and conch are used as the emblem on the kasaya. This is the Mahasamghika School. [05:00]

Next is the Sammatīya School, which is translated to mean the honorable school in Tibetan; that is, it is venerated by everyone. As it is respected by everyone, so, it was named Sammatīya School. I am wondering, are the other schools not respected by people? This is a query I have. This school was receiving teachings from Venerable Upāli. They advocated the concept of “inexplicable self”; that is, all objects of knowledge can be categorized into explicable and inexplicable. They use Ah-po-shang-xia language in chanting sutra. The emblem on the kasaya was the same as the Sthaviravāda School. In the Sthaviravāda School, the birthplace and what was appended after the name of the monk? Armor, right? [In the Sammatiya School,] “min” or “bu” are appended after the name of the monk – as in the Chinese word for public/masses, or the word for sect. [05:44]

The last one is the Sarvāstivāda; in fact, its full name is Mūlasarvāstivāda”. It is said that all the other schools were evolved from this school, hence, the prefix mula [meaning root]. They teach form, mind, other mental processes[KL1] , citta-viprayukta-sajskāra [conditions that are not associated with mind], asaṃskṛta [the state in which all things are transient], etc. five objects of knowledge as true reality; thus, they are known as “Sarvāstivāda” [doctrine that all is real]. Their teaching was passed from Rāhula; they believed in the existence of past, present, and future lives, and all composite phenomena are temporary. After receiving training for three counts of immeasurable eons, which is the three asaṃkhyeya-kalpas, then one is able to attain Buddhahood. They chant the sutra with Sanskrit language, that is Deva-Vani [‘Deva’ means Gods – ‘Vani’ means language]. The kasaya of this school is made of nine to twenty-five pieces of cloth, with the emblem of Dharma wheel and lotus. Propitious, kindness or mental essence were appended after the name of the monk. These are the four schools. [06:38]

We can clearly see that the languages the four schools used for chanting the sutra were different, they were taught by these arhats. Hence, we should pay respect to them all without discrimination- to prostrate to these monks with respect. Why do I introduce these four schools to you? Because we want to introduce the teachers of Master Atisha, right? ” A great upholder of near-perfection of the doctrines on discipline out of the four fundamental schools”; who took the near-perfection discipline? Was it Master Atisha’s teacher? Now we are introducing Master Atisha’s gurus. Rinpoche, in his teaching said that although the four root schools all belong to the sravaka tradition, the teacher who ordained Master Atisha was Silaraksita whom we mentioned earlier - protector of ethical discipline or armour of ethical discipline. He did not enter the sravaka tradition; he followed the Hinayana religious ritual merely to receive the monastic ordination. And it was not that he regressed from being a Mahayana practitioner to a Hinayana practitioner. [07:36]

Eng

【全球广论 II 讲次: 0281】

讲次 | 0281 (2020-12-07 ~ 2020-12-09)

标题 | 出家因缘、介绍四根本部派

《广论》段落 | P3-LL2 ~ P4-L2 此后尊重及诸本尊……其讳又名胜燃灯智。

入门段落 | 第1册 P107-L1 ~ P107-LL3 此后尊重及诸本尊......不是从大乘向下趣入小乘。

备注 | 四家合注《白话校注集》第1册 P116-LL6注释⑤ ~ P117-L9注释⑤完 四根本部......后面加上吉祥、贤善或心要。

(更新日期: 2022年12月9日)

00:00

今天我们继续向下学习阿底峡尊者的功德，请大家把《四家合注入门》翻到 107 页第一段，大家可以跟我一起看文。00:15

此后尊重及诸本尊，若寤若梦，随其所应，劝云若出家者，则于圣教及诸众生起大饶益。依是劝已，如《赞》中云：“共称汝亲教，为加行道者。”随请〔大众部持律上座， 以其受四根本部中大众部轨近圆戒，故作是说，非是真大众部，以言其获加行道及证空性故。〕得加行道一分真实 名证所取无自性三摩地者，厥号〔希拉惹喀大 戒护或戒铠。〕为亲教师而正出家，其讳又名胜燃灯智。 01:14

现在我们看仁波切的讲记，“此后尊重及诸本尊，若寤若梦，随其所应，劝云若出家者，则于圣教及诸众生起大饶益。依是劝已，如《赞》中云：‘共称汝亲教，为加行道者。’”。“此后”就是从那以后，许多上师与本尊，不论是亲见的或者在梦中看到的，都劝阿底峡尊者要出家。为什么呢？因为如果出家，会对圣教及众生有广大的利益，于是尊者就出家了。01:54

在这里边可以说介绍尊者出家因缘。尊者出家因缘非常地奇特，没有写对三界生起厌离怎样怎样，他是本尊和上师劝出家的。理由是什么呢？“如果出家，会对圣教及众生有广大利益！”很显然这个理由一定是深深地撼动了尊者的内心，因为他是王子，不出家就有在家的一份事业，出家就是对圣教及众生有广大的利益。所以看来阿底峡尊者虽然贵为王族，他非常听从上师的教诲，他出家因缘是这样的。02:41

接下来，“以其受四根本部中大众部轨近圆戒，故作是说”，四根本部就是：说一切有部、大众部、上座部、正量部。我给大家稍稍介绍一下四部。四根本部是佛陀原来的一个僧团，在佛陀圆寂之后分出了四个部派，这个知道吧？上座部、大众部、正量部，还有什么？说一切有，总共四部。03:11

上座部因为他的上座都是圣者种姓，所以称为上座部。它是由迦旃延尊者传授的，主张灭尽定时有心、无颠倒识、经过十无数劫乃至三十无数劫以内可以成佛——这无数劫可以理解为阿僧祇劫。是用毕舍遮语——颠鬼语诵经。这每个部派诵经的语言都是不一样的。他的袈裟用五幅以上、二十一幅以下，袈裟上有什么呢？有海螺为标记。比丘的名字后面就加上了生处或者是铠甲，生处就是出生处。这是上座部。04:00

接着到什么了？大众部。因为在前期的僧团，阿罗汉以外大部分的僧众因为一种什么原因就再另组一个僧团，所以称为大众部。大众部是由大迦叶尊者传授的，是用巴利语诵经。比如说要是中国的话，各个省、太多省的都不一样。我发现他诵经使用的语言都不一样。就像四川人就喜欢跟四川人在一块诵经，如果四川人跟山东人在一块诵经，可能语言都是不一样的。大众部是用巴利语诵经，袈裟的制作也是不一样的，原来上座部袈裟是五幅，大众部的就是七幅以上到二十三幅以下，它中间有一个这样的规则；袈裟上是以吉祥结和海螺为标记。这是大众部。05:00

接着到正量部，藏文义译为众敬部，就是众人尊敬的意思，因为受众人恭敬，所以称为正量部。我在想：其他部派不受人恭敬吗？这个是请问一下。它是由优波离尊者传授的，主张有不可说的我、一切所知摄为可说与不可说两种。是用阿婆商夏语——讹误语诵经。袈裟条幅与上座部相同。比丘的名字上座部是加出生地和什么？铠甲，对不对？他的名字后面加上了“民”或者“部”——民众的民，或者部派的部。05:44

接下来该到了说一切有部，全名其实为“根本说一切有部”。也有说其他部派都是从这个部派演变而来的，所以称为根本；宣说色、心、心所、心不相应行、无为法等所知五事为实有，所以称为“说一切有”。它是由罗睺罗传授的，主张三世实有、诸有为法为刹那性，经过三无数劫，也就三阿僧祇劫可以成佛。是用梵语，就是天语来诵经。袈裟就用九幅以上、二十五幅以下，以法轮及莲花为标记。比丘的名字后面加上了吉祥、贤善或心要。这就是四个部派。06:38

我们可以清晰地看到四个部派他们诵经的语言是有差别的，都是由这些阿罗汉传授的。所以普同恭敬就是了，要顶礼这些比丘们。为什么介绍了这四个部派呢？因为要介绍阿底峡尊者的老师，对不对？“以其受四根本部中大众部轨近圆戒”，谁受大众部近圆戒？是不是阿底峡尊者的老师？现在都在介绍他的老师。在仁波切的讲记里说，虽然根本四部全部都是声闻部派，但是尊者的亲教师戒铠，就是刚才说那个希拉惹喀大——戒护或戒铠，他不是入声闻部派，只是用小乘他们的宗规出家受取近圆的律仪而已，并不是从大乘往下走、趣小乘了。07:36