Senjō

There exists a practice-realization maintained by the buddhas and ancestors, which is called "untainted." When the Sixth Ancestor asked Great Master Dàhuì of Nányuè Mountain Guānyīn Monastery, "Does it still rely on practice and realization or not?" Dàhuì said, "Practice and realization are not nonexistent; yet tainting is precisely not permissible." The Sixth Ancestor said, "Just this untaintedness is what all buddhas guard and bear in mind. You are thus, I am thus, and the ancestors of India are also thus.

The Sutra of Three Thousand Dignified Observances for Great Bhikshus states: "To purify the body is to wash after defecation and urination and to cut the nails of the ten fingers." Therefore, although body and mind are originally undefiled, there is a method and a mind of purifying the body. It is not merely purifying body and mind; it also purifies the land and the ground beneath the trees.

Although the land has never been dusty or foul, purifying it is what all buddhas protect and bear in mind. Even upon reaching buddhahood, one still does not abandon or neglect this. Its essential principle is difficult to fathom completely. The observances are the essential principle; attaining the Way is the observances.

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, "Purifying Practices" chapter, states: "When going to the left or right to relieve oneself, one should vow that all beings may eliminate filth and be without greed, anger, and delusion." And then: "When approaching water, one should vow that all beings may turn toward the unsurpassed Way and attain the dharma that transcends the world." And: "When using water to wash away filth, one should vow that all beings may fully possess pure patience and ultimately be without defilement." Water is not originally pure, nor is it originally impure. The body is not originally pure, nor is it originally impure. All dharmas are like this.

Water is not yet sentient or insentient; the body is not yet sentient or insentient; all dharmas are like this. The Buddha World-Honored One's teaching is like this. However, it is not that one purifies the body with water. There is this model of maintaining the buddha-dharma by means of the buddha-dharma. This is called "washing and purifying." It is intimately transmitting the very body-mind of the Buddhas and Ancestors.

It is closely seeing and hearing the one phrase of the Buddhas and Ancestors. It is clearly abiding in and maintaining the one light of the Buddhas and Ancestors. It broadly causes immeasurable, boundless merit to manifest and become actual. At the very time when one makes the dignified deportment of practice actual in body and mind, one has fully and perfectly realized the original practice of the distant past. Therefore, the body and mind of practice are originally manifest.

One should cut the nails of the ten fingers. The ten fingers refer to the nails of the fingers of both the left and right hands. The nails of the toes should likewise be cut. The sutra says that if the length of the nails becomes even about that of a grain of wheat, one incurs a transgression. Therefore, one must not let the nails grow long. Long nails are naturally the mark of non-Buddhist paths. One should specifically cut the nails. Yet, in the monastic communities of Great Song China today, there are many who, though lacking the eye of study and practice, let their nails grow long. Some are one or two inches long, and there are even those three or four inches long.

This is contrary to the dharma. It is not the body and mind of the Buddha-Dharma. It is because they lack the training of the Buddha’s house that they are like this. Venerable elders who have the Way are not like this. There are also those who let their hair grow long; this too is contrary to the dharma. Do not mistakenly think that because it is the conduct of monastic communities in a great country, it must be the true dharma.

When the ancient buddhas, our former teachers, bestowed their deeply cautioning words upon the long-haired and long-nailed companions in the monastic communities of the world, they said: “Not understanding pure shaving, one is not a layperson, not a monastic, but simply an animal. Among the buddhas and ancestors since ancient times, who has not practiced pure shaving? Those who do not understand pure shaving now are truly animals.” When they thus instructed the assembly, many of the companions who had not shaved their heads for years shaved their heads. Sometimes, during formal hall addresses or during general discourses, they would snap their fingers loudly and reprimand them.

I do not know what principle this is. It is pitiable that those who胡乱 grow long hair and long nails cause the body and mind of Jambudvīpa to dwell in a non-path. In recent centuries, because the Way of the ancestral teachers has declined, there are many such companions. Such types become masters of temples and monasteries, receive titles as teachers, and assume the appearance of guiding the assembly—this is a misfortune for humans and devas.

In the various mountains of the world today, there is not a single one with the mind of the Way, those who have attained the Way have long been extinct, and there are only ragged idlers. When one thus speaks in general discourse, those in various places who rashly bear the name of elder do not resent it and offer no explanation. Know that long hair is what the buddhas and ancestors caution against; long nails are the practice of non-Buddhist paths. The descendants of the buddhas and ancestors must not indulge in these violations of the dharma. One should purify body and mind; one should cut the nails and shave the head.

Do not neglect washing after urination and defecation. There was an instance where Śāriputra used this dharma to subdue non-Buddhist ascetics. It was not originally the intent of the non-Buddhists, nor was it Śāriputra's usual concern, but where the dignified deportment of the Buddhas and Ancestors manifests, erroneous teachings naturally submit. When practicing under trees or in open spaces, there is no built structure; one uses suitable streams, valley rivers, and the like to wash and cleanse by dividing the earth. Here there is no ash; one uses only fourteen pellets of earth. The method for using the fourteen pellets is: first, remove the kesa, fold it, and set it aside.

Then, take clean, non-black, yellowish earth and divide it into pellets, each about the size of a large soybean. On a rock or a suitable place, arrange seven pellets in one row, and place fourteen pellets in two rows. After that, procure a stone suitable for use as a grinding stone. Then defecate. After defecating, use a cleaning stick or paper. Then proceed to the water's edge to wash and cleanse. First, take three pellets of earth for washing.

Take one pellet of earth in the palm, add a little water, mix it with the water to dissolve it, making it thinner than mud, about the consistency of a thin paste, and first wash the urinary area. Next, use one pellet of earth as before to wash the defecation area. Next, use one pellet of earth as before to briefly wash the contacting hand. Since residing in temple quarters, that structure has been erected. This is called the tōsu (east hall). In olden times it was called sei or kawa, and there were also times it was called shi. It is an essential building for the dwelling place of the monastic community.

The method for approaching the tōsu (lavatory) is to always carry a hand towel. The method is to fold the towel in two, place it over the left elbow, and cover it with the sleeve of the sansō robe. Upon reaching the tōsu, one should hang the towel on the jōkan (clean pole). The method for hanging it is as if draping it over the arm. If one has come wearing a nine-stripe or seven-strip kesa, one should hang it alongside the towel. One should arrange them together so they do not fall. Do not hang them carelessly. One must mark them carefully. "Marking" means that characters are placed on the jōkan.

They are written on white paper, made round like a full moon, and attached in a row on the jōkan. Given this, "marking" means not forgetting on which character one's jikitotsu robe is hung, so that there is no disorder. When many members of the community have come, one must not confuse one's own and others' pole positions. In the meantime, if members of the community come and stand in a row, one should join palms and bow. When bowing, it is not necessarily required to face each other and bend deeply.

It is a bow with demeanor, made simply by placing the joined palms in front of the chest. Even when not wearing the jikitotsu robe in the tōsu, one bows with demeanor to the community. If both hands have not yet touched anything, and both hands are not carrying anything, one should join both hands and bow. If one hand has already touched something, and the other hand is carrying something, one should bow with one hand. To bow with one hand, raise the hand, slightly bend the fingertips, hold it as if about to scoop water, and bow as if slightly lowering the head. If others act thus, one should act thus oneself. If one acts thus oneself, others will also do so.

The method for removing the hensan robe and the jikitotsu robe and hanging them beside the towel is: upon removing the jikitotsu, bring the two sleeves together to the back, take hold of the two areas below the armpits and lift them up, so that the two sleeves overlap. At this time, with the left hand take the base of the back collar of the jikitotsu, and with the right hand pull up from the armpit; then the two sleeve-ends and the left and right lapels will overlap.

Overlap the two sleeves and the two lapels, then fold them lengthwise from the middle, and toss the collar of the jikitotsu over to the far side of the jōkan. The skirt of the jikitotsu and the sleeve openings, etc., hang on the near side of the pole. For example, the joined waist of the jikitotsu hangs on the jōkan. Next, take the two ends of the towel hanging on the pole, cross them over, pull them through from the jikitotsu, and on the side where the towel was not hanging, cross them again and tie a knot. Cross them over two or three times, tie it, so that the jikitotsu will not fall to the ground from the jōkan. Sometimes one faces the jikitotsu and joins palms.

Next, take the hanshi (undergarment cord) and hang it over both arms. Next, proceed to the jōka (clean shelf), fill the jōtō (clean bucket) with water, carry it in the right hand, and ascend to the jōso (clean toilet). The method for putting water in the jōtō is: do not fill it fully; nine-tenths is the measure. In front of the toilet door, one should change shoes.

One puts on straw sandals and removes one's own shoes in front of the toilet door. This is called changing shoes.

The Zen'en Shingi says: When you wish to go to the toilet, you should go beforehand. Do not wait until the last moment when you are urgently pressed from within and are rushed. Then, fold your kāṣāya and place it on the desk in your quarters or on a clean rack. When you arrive inside the toilet, use your left hand to close the door. Next, pour a little water from the clean bucket into the trough. Next, place the clean bucket in its designated spot in front of you. Next, while standing facing the trough, you should snap your fingers three times.

When snapping your fingers, the left hand is made into a fist and held at the left hip. [This is based on the Zen'en Shingi and the scriptures on the three thousand dignified manners.] Next, tuck in the openings of your trousers and the corners of your robe, face the door, place both feet on the two sides of the trough rim, squat down, and defecate. Do not soil the two sides; do not let it splash forward or backward. During this time, you should be silent. Do not talk or laugh through the partition wall; do not raise your voice in recitation.

Do not let mucus or saliva become scattered and disorderly; do not be angry or violently abrupt. Do not write characters on the wall; do not use the toilet stick to scratch the ground.

When defecating and stepping back, one must use the cleaning stick. There is also the method of using paper. One must not use paper with writing. Paper on which characters are written must not be used. One must distinguish between the contaminated stick and the clean stick. The stick is made eight inches long and triangular. Its thickness is about that of the thumb. Some are lacquered, some are not yet lacquered. The contaminated one is thrown into the stick container, the clean one is originally on the stick rack. The stick rack is placed on the edge of the board at the front of the trough.

After using the stick or using paper, the method of washing is to hold the washing bucket in the right hand, thoroughly wet the left hand, then form the left hand into a scoop to receive water, and first wash the urinary organ three times. Next, wash the anus. Wash properly according to the method to make it clean. During this, do not tilt the washing bucket roughly, causing water to spill and splash outside the hand, and do not waste water quickly. After finishing washing, place the washing bucket in its place on the bucket stand, then take the stick and wipe. Or one may use paper.

Thoroughly wipe both areas. Next, with the right hand, arrange the trouser opening and robe hem, then with the right hand lift the washing bucket and upon exiting the toilet door, remove the straw sandals and put on one's own shoes. Next, return to the washing stand and place the washing bucket in its original place.

Next, one should wash one’s hands. Taking the ash ladle in the right hand, first scoop it and place it on the surface of the tile or stone, then with the right hand sprinkle dripping water and wash the soiled hands. One rubs and washes them against the tile or stone. It is like sharpening a rusty sword against a whetstone. In this manner, one should wash with ash three times. Next, place earth, sprinkle water, and wash three times. Next, take the soap pod in the right hand, immerse it in the water of the small bucket, and rub and wash both hands together. Even up to the arms, one should wash thoroughly. One should wash with sincere mind and diligence.

It is ash three times, earth three times, soap pod once. Together, these make one set of seven washings. Next, wash with the large bucket. At this time, one does not use face powder, earth, ash, or the like; one washes only with water or hot water. After washing once, transfer that water to the small bucket, then add fresh water and wash both hands.

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: “When washing the palms with water, one should vow that all beings may obtain sublime hands and receive and uphold the Buddha’s dharma.” When taking the water dipper, one must always do so with the right hand. During this, do not make noise with buckets or dippers, and do not act clamorously. Do not scatter water, do not scatter soap pods, do not wet the edges of the water stand; in general, do not be hasty. Do not be disorderly. Next, wipe the hands on the public hand towel. Or wipe them on one’s own hand towel. Having finished wiping the hands, proceed to below the clean pole and in front of the jikitotsu, remove the hangeshi and hang it on the pole.

Next, after joining the palms, untie the hand towel, take the jikitotsu, and put it on. Next, place the hand towel over the left arm and apply incense paste. In the public area there is incense paste; fragrant wood is made into the shape of a precious vase. Its size is that of a thumb. It is made to a length of four finger-widths. Using a thin cord about a foot long, it is strung through both ends of the incense. This is hung on the clean pole.

When one rubs both palms together against this, its fragrance naturally transfers to both hands. When hanging the hangeshi on the pole, do not pile it haphazardly on top of others, do not tangle hangeshi with hangeshi, and do not cause the cords to become disordered. Acting in this manner is all purifying the Buddha-land, adorning the Buddha-land. One should act attentively; one should not be hasty. Do not think anxiously, “I wish to finish quickly and return.” One should quietly ponder the principle that in the toilet, the Buddha’s dharma is not spoken.

Do not stare intently at the faces of the many people who have come and are sitting there. For cleansing in the privy, cold water is suitable; it is said that hot water induces intestinal wind. For washing the hands, warm water may be used; there is no hindrance in this. The placement of a single kettle is for the purpose of heating water for washing hands. The qinggui says, "In the evening, heat water and apply oil; constantly ensure that hot water and cold water continue without break, and do not cause the assembly to give rise to thought." From this, we know that both hot and cold water are to be used. If there has been contact within the privy, close the door and hang the contact plaque. If, by mistake, there is a dropped bucket, close the door and hang the dropped-bucket plaque. When these plaques are hung, do not enter that stall. If one has already ascended to the privy seat and another person outside snaps their fingers, one should leave for a while.

The Qinggui states: If one does not wash oneself clean, one may not sit on the monk's seat nor make obeisance to the Three Treasures. Nor may one receive the obeisance of others. The Sutra of Three Thousand Dignified Observances states: If one does not wash after urinating or defecating, one incurs a duṣkṛta offense. Nor may one sit on a monk's clean sitting cloth, nor make obeisance to the Three Treasures. Even if one were to make obeisance, there would be no merit. Therefore, in the dōjō for the practice of the Way, this observance must come first. How could one not make obeisance to the Three Treasures? How could one not receive the obeisance of others?

How could one not make obeisance to others? The dōjō of the Buddhas and Ancestors invariably has this dignified observance. Those within the dōjō of the Buddhas and Ancestors invariably possess this dignified observance in full. This is not one's own forced doing; it is the action of dignified observance. It is the constant observance of all buddhas, the everyday activity of all ancestors.

It is not only the observance of the buddhas in this world; it is the observance of the buddhas in the ten directions, the observance of the buddhas in pure lands and defiled lands. Those of little learning think that the buddhas have no dignified observance regarding the toilet, and that the dignified observance of the buddhas in this sahā world is not like that of the buddhas in pure lands. This is not learning the Buddha Way. Know that purity and defilement are the single drop of blood apart from the person. Sometimes it is warm, sometimes it is cold. Know that for the buddhas there is a toilet.

The fourteenth volume of the Ten Section Vinaya states: "The novice Rāhula lodged in the Buddha's privy. The Buddha, having awakened, stroked Rāhula's head with his right hand and spoke this verse: 'You did not do this out of poverty, nor did you do it having lost wealth and honor. It is solely for the sake of seeking the Way that you, having left home, should endure hardship.'" Therefore, there is a privy within the Buddha's place of practice; the dignified conduct within the Buddha's privy is purification. This has been transmitted through the generations of ancestors. That the Buddha's dignified conduct still remains is the joyful fortune of admiring antiquity, a rare encounter. How much more so is it that the Tathāgata, in his graciousness, expounds the Dharma for Rāhula within the privy. The privy is one assembly where the Buddha turns the wheel of the Dharma. The conduct and protocols of this place of practice are the authentic transmission of the Buddhas and ancestors.

The Mahāsāṅghika-vinaya, volume thirty-four, states: "The latrine must not be placed to the east or to the north; it should be placed to the south or to the west. The place for minor relief is also like this." This should be adapted according to the suitability of the locality. This is the layout of the various vihāras in the western land of India. It is the establishment from the time of the Tathāgata's presence. Know that it is not merely the buddha decorum of one buddha; it is the bodhimaṇḍa of the seven buddhas, it is the vihāra. It is the bodhimaṇḍa of all buddhas, it is the vihāra. It is not something that began; it is the dignified manner of all buddhas.

Before these matters are clarified, if one initiates the construction of a monastery and practices the buddha-dharma, errors will be many, the buddha's dignified manner will not be complete, and buddha-bodhi will not yet be manifest. If one is to establish a bodhimaṇḍa and initiate the construction of a monastery, one must rely on the dharma decorum correctly transmitted by the buddhas and ancestors.

One must rely on this dharma decorum of the correct, direct transmission; because it is the correct, direct transmission, its merit is accumulated and piled up. Unless one is a direct heir of the correct transmission of the buddhas and ancestors, one does not yet know the body-and-mind of the buddha-dharma; not knowing the body-and-mind of the buddha-dharma, one does not clarify the buddha work of the buddha family. That the great master Śākyamuni Buddha's buddha-dharma is now transmitted everywhere throughout the ten directions means it is the manifesting of the buddha's body-and-mind. At the very time of the manifesting of the buddha's body-and-mind, it is just like this.

The True Dharma-Eye Treasury, Number Fifty-Four