Keeping What Was Received
The Gate of the Precept-Essence explained what actually happens inside the mind at the moment of ordination. This gate asks the next, plainer question: once that essence has been received, what is a person actually supposed to do with it, day after day, for the rest of a life? Dao Xuan answers with a single homely image — building a house — and then delivers this section's hardest teaching: the pleasant fruit of practice ripens in the ongoing keeping, not in the reception itself, so that reception without follow-through leaves a person, in his blunt phrase, "deceived by their own precept." The gate closes by explaining how, and why, the precepts may formally be set down again.
1. Milestone: What "Precept-Conduct" Actually Means
The gate opens with a single definition sentence from the Procedural Commentary, glossed at once by the Zichi Commentary. The definition is deceptively simple — conduct that "accords in principle" with the vow made at reception — but the gloss does real work, splitting "skillful means" into teaching (the Vinaya texts, learned from a master) and practice (the actual countering of transgression, which no one else can do on one's behalf), and locating the entire operation inside a single mind exercising three functions at once.
▲事鈔云『戒行者。既受得此戒、秉之在心。必須廣修方便。檢察身口威儀之行。克志專崇、高慕前聖。持心後起、義順於前、名為戒行。』
資持釋云『初躡前科。必下示行相。方便有二即教行也、教謂律藏必依師學、行謂對治唯在己修。由本興心、稟教期行以為受體、今還如體而學而修。文明檢察以偏約行、然離過對治非學不立、廣修之語理必兼含。
檢察即心、心即行體。準業疏具三、能憶能垢能防、一心三用、無非順受、方成隨行。此謂能察、身口威儀即所察。此二句須明成就二持、遠離兩犯。而云身口且據粗非、約準今宗義通三業。
上云檢察正示修行、下云慕聖明其標志。克猶定也。崇重也。前聖通目三乘已成道者。持下結示名義。持心即行後起順前示隨行義。』見事鈔記卷三
▲ The Procedural Commentary (Xingshi Chao) says: "Precept-conduct is this: having already received and obtained this precept, and holding it in the mind, one must broadly cultivate skillful means, examining the conduct of body and speech in bearing and deportment — resolved in intent, single-mindedly reverent, aspiring loftily to the sages who came before. Sustaining the mind that arises afterward in a sense that accords with what came before: this is called precept-conduct."
The Zichi Commentary explains: "The opening treads upon the preceding section. From 'must' onward it shows the marks of this conduct. There are two aspects to 'skillful means' — namely, teaching and practice. 'Teaching' means the Vinaya canon, which one must necessarily study depending on a master; 'practice' means countering [transgression], which lies solely in one's own cultivation. Because the mind originally arose, at reception, by receiving the teaching and vowing to carry out the practice, this became the precept-essence; now one returns to study and cultivate in accordance with that very essence. The text clarifies 'examining' with particular reference to practice, yet countering and departing from transgression cannot be established without study, so the phrase 'broadly cultivate' necessarily includes both in its meaning.
"'Examining' is itself the mind; the mind is itself the essence of conduct. According to the Karman Commentary, [the mind] is endowed with three functions — the capacity to remember, to uphold, and to guard against [transgression] — one mind with three functions, none of which fails to accord with reception; only then is ongoing observance accomplished. This refers to the capacity that examines; the deportment of body and speech is what is examined. These two phrases must be understood as accomplishing the two kinds of upholding and departing from the two kinds of transgression. And though it speaks of 'body and speech,' this is stated only with reference to the coarser wrongs; measured by the meaning of the present school, it extends through all three types of karma.
"What is said above about 'examining' directly shows the actual cultivation; what is said below about 'aspiring to the sages' clarifies its outward sign. 'Resolved' is equivalent to 'fixed'; 'reverent' means 'to honor.' 'The sages who came before' refers generally to those of the three vehicles who have already accomplished the path. From 'sustaining' onward, the passage concludes by showing the meaning of the name: 'sustaining the mind' means that the conduct arising afterward accords with what came before — this shows the meaning of 'ongoing observance.'" [Zichi Commentary, fasc. 3]
The companion guide sets this gate in its place along the whole sequence: the Gate of the Precept-Dharma asked what is actually received; the Gate of the Precept-Essence asked what that reception sets in motion inside the mind; this gate asks what one is then supposed to do about it, day by day. It reads the Zichi Commentary's "teaching and practice" split as a division of labor — the Vinaya texts can only be learned from a teacher, but countering one's own faults can only ever be done by oneself, and no amount of textual study substitutes for that private, ongoing labor.
It also underlines the three-function description of the single mind at work in ongoing observance — remembering, upholding, and guarding — as the real technical center of the whole passage: one mind, doing three things at once, every time it meets an object through body, speech, or thought. This is the same capacity discussed at length under the Consummate Teaching in the previous gate; here it is simply put to work.
2. Milestone: Building a House — How Reception and Ongoing Observance Support Each Other
Dao Xuan's central image for this entire gate is architectural: reception is a courtyard wall, ongoing observance is everything built inside it over a lifetime. The Procedural Commentary first lays out the simile, then immediately turns it around to show what goes wrong when either half is missing on its own.
▲事鈔云『然則受是要期思願、隨是稱願修行。譬如築營宮宅。先立院牆周匝、即謂壇場受體也。後便隨處營構盡於一生、謂受後隨行。』
資持釋云『初對體辨行中二、前約法明。要期即盡形斷惡決絕之誓、思即緣境周遍慈愍之心、合此二心混為一願、即受體也。稱願者合上要思、即隨順義。
譬下次約喻顯初營宮宅喻求聖道。下喻受隨可知。營構謂造立屋宇。』
△事鈔續云『若但有受無隨、直是空願之院、不免寒露之弊。若但有隨無受、此行或隨生死、又是局狹不周、譬如無院屋宇、不免怨賊之穿窬也。必須受隨相資、方有所至。』
資持釋云『二互顯相須中二、初敘互闕又二、先明闕隨。寒露者喻無善蓋覆。弊謂困死、喻沈惡道。若下明闕受。隨生死者但是世善、非道基故。又局狹者緣境不遍、惡心存故。穿窬謂穿壁、窬牆也。由無外院、其間房室容彼穿窬。此明無受防約、雖修善行、還為塵擾、喪失善根。如賊穿窬、盜竊財寶也。
必下次示相須。』
▲ The Procedural Commentary says: "This being so, reception is the vow of resolute expectation and aspiration; ongoing observance is the practice carried out in accordance with that vow. It is like building and laying out a palace-dwelling: first one erects the surrounding courtyard wall all the way around — this is called the precept-essence received at the ordination platform. Afterward one goes on constructing throughout the site for the rest of one's life — this is called the ongoing observance that follows reception."
The Zichi Commentary explains: "The first part, distinguishing conduct in relation to the essence, has two parts; the former clarifies through the Dharma. 'Resolute expectation' means the decisive vow to cut off evil for the rest of one's bodily life; 'aspiration' means the compassionate mind that pervades every object encountered. Combining these two minds into a single vow is the precept-essence. 'In accordance with the vow' matches the 'resolute expectation and aspiration' above — it carries the meaning of 'following in accord.' From 'it is like' onward, the passage next clarifies through simile: 'building and laying out a palace-dwelling' is a simile for seeking the noble path. What follows compares to reception and ongoing observance and may be understood accordingly. 'Constructing' means erecting a dwelling."
△ The Procedural Commentary continues: "If there is only reception without ongoing observance, this is simply a courtyard of empty vows, and one cannot avoid the hardship of cold and exposure to dew. If there is only ongoing observance without reception, this conduct may simply follow along with birth-and-death, and moreover is confined and narrow, not encompassing everything — like a dwelling with no surrounding wall, unable to avoid enemies and thieves boring and climbing through. Reception and ongoing observance must support one another; only then does one arrive anywhere."
The Zichi Commentary explains: "The second part, mutually showing that each requires the other, has two parts. The first narrates the mutual lack, which again has two parts: first it clarifies the lack of ongoing observance. 'Cold and dew' is a simile for having no goodness to give shelter and cover; 'hardship' means being reduced to death, a simile for sinking into the evil destinies. From 'if' onward, it clarifies the lack of reception. 'Following along with birth-and-death' means this is merely worldly goodness, not the foundation of the path. Moreover, 'confined and narrow' means the objects encountered are not all-encompassing, because the evil mind still remains. 'Boring and climbing through' means boring through a wall and climbing over a fence. Because there is no outer courtyard wall, the rooms within allow such boring and climbing. This clarifies that, without the protective restraint of reception, even if one cultivates good conduct, one is still disturbed by the dust [of the passions] and loses one's roots of goodness — just as a thief bores through and climbs over to steal one's wealth.
"From 'must' onward, the passage next shows that the two must support one another."
The companion guide lays this out as a small table: reception without ongoing observance is a walled courtyard with nothing built inside it — a formal boundary that shelters no one, since cold and exposure still get in wherever there is no roof. Ongoing observance without reception is the reverse failure — conduct with no wall around it, so that even sincere effort remains "confined and narrow," porous to whatever still-unresolved evil intention happens to pass through, since nothing was ever marked off to keep it out. Neither failure is about sincerity; both are about structure.
It stresses that the simile is doing exactly the same work as the earlier gate's teaching on the precept-essence: reception marks the boundary once, decisively, for the whole of a lifetime, while ongoing observance is the unglamorous, repeated labor of construction that actually happens inside that boundary, day after day, for as long as the boundary holds.
3. Milestone: Where the Fruit Actually Ripens
Having shown that reception and ongoing observance need each other, the Procedural Commentary poses the question this gate is really organized around: when a person receives full ordination, is it the reception itself or the ongoing conduct that actually produces the pleasant fruit of a good rebirth? The answer is direct, and its consequences are sharper than the earlier architectural image might suggest.
▲事鈔云『問、今受具戒、招生樂果為受為隨。』
資持釋云『問中。上明相須其功一等、招生感果必有親疏、故須顯示。』
△事鈔續云『答。受是助緣、未有行功。必須因隨對境防擬、以此隨行至得聖果、不親受體。故知一受已後、盡壽已來、方便正念、護本所受、流入長遠心 、三善為體、則明戒行隨相可修。若但有受無隨行者、反為戒欺、流入苦海。不如不受、無戒可違。
是故行者明須善識。業性灼然、非為濫述。』
資持釋云『答中二、初對顯親疏二、上二句明受疏也。必下明隨親也。以壇場初受頓起虛願、對境防約漸修實行、行即成因、因能感果。故業疏云、故偏就行能起後習、不約虛願來招樂果。然受隨二法義必相須、但望牽生功有強弱。隨雖感果全自受生、受雖虛願終為隨醞釀。是則懸防發行則受勝隨微、起習招生則隨強受弱。教文用與、學者宜知。
故下二別彰行相又三、初成隨之相。一受等者舉始終也。方便者對治智也。正念者攝妄緣也。護本受者隨順義也。入行心者即示二持成業處也。三善體者明業性也。則明等者示必修也。以知感果功在隨中、則知徒受不持無益矣。
若下明無隨之失。為戒欺者功業深重、犯致大罪故不如不受者激勵之切、非抑退也。是下結誥行者之言通囑末代也。令善識者誡精學也。一須識教教有開制、二須識行行有順違、三須識業業有善惡、四須識果果有苦樂、必明此四始可攝修。業性等者如向所明順持違犯善惡因果、皆如業理、非妄抑揚、令生信故。灼明也。』已上皆見事鈔記卷十六
▲ The Procedural Commentary says: "Question: now, in receiving the full precepts, is it reception or ongoing observance that brings about the pleasant fruit of rebirth?"
The Zichi Commentary explains: "In the question: what was clarified above is that [reception and ongoing observance] mutually require one another and their merit is of a single order; yet in bringing about rebirth and the resulting fruit there must be a difference of nearness and remoteness — hence this must be made clear."
△ The Procedural Commentary continues: "Answer: reception is merely an assisting condition; it has as yet no merit of actual conduct. One must, by means of ongoing observance, guard against and restrain oneself in the face of every object encountered — it is by this ongoing observance that one arrives at the attainment of the noble fruit, not directly through the precept-essence itself. Hence one should know that from the moment of reception onward, for the rest of one's life, skillful means and right mindfulness protect what was originally received and flow into a mind sustained over the long term, with the three kinds of goodness as its essence — this is what shows that the marks of ongoing observance in precept-conduct are indeed to be cultivated. But if there is only reception without ongoing conduct, one is instead deceived by one's own precept and flows into the sea of suffering — it would be better not to have received at all, and have no precept to transgress.
"For this reason the practitioner must clearly and rightly understand this. The nature of karma is manifestly evident, and this is not stated carelessly or in excess."
The Zichi Commentary explains: "The answer has two parts. The first contrasts and reveals nearness and remoteness, which again has two parts: the first two sentences make clear that reception is remote. From 'must' onward it makes clear that ongoing observance is near. Because the initial reception at the ordination platform gives rise all at once to an as-yet-unfulfilled vow, while restraining oneself against every object encountered is a gradually cultivated, actual practice — practice itself becomes the cause, and the cause is able to bring about the fruit. Hence the Karman Commentary says: 'It is specifically with reference to conduct that later habituation can arise — the pleasant fruit is not brought about by an as-yet-unfulfilled vow.' Yet in principle the two dharmas of reception and ongoing observance must necessarily rely upon one another; it is only that, with regard to the merit that draws forth rebirth, there is a difference of strong and weak. Although it is ongoing observance that brings about the fruit, it entirely arises out of reception; and although reception is an as-yet-unfulfilled vow, it in the end becomes the ferment out of which ongoing observance brews. This being so: with regard to setting up the safeguard and giving rise to practice, reception is strong and ongoing observance slight; with regard to arousing habituation and drawing forth rebirth, ongoing observance is strong and reception weak. The teaching-texts use these terms accordingly, and students of the teaching ought to know this.
"From 'hence' onward is the second part, distinctly manifesting the marks of conduct, which has three further parts. The first is the mark of accomplishing ongoing observance. 'From the moment of reception' and so on refers to beginning and end together. 'Skillful means' is the wisdom that counters [transgression]. 'Right mindfulness' is what gathers in deluded conditions. 'Protecting what was originally received' carries the meaning of following in accord. 'Entering into the mind of conduct' shows the place where the two kinds of upholding become karma. 'The essence of the three kinds of goodness' clarifies the nature of this karma. 'This is what shows' and so on indicates that cultivation is indeed necessary. Since one knows that the merit which brings about the fruit lies within ongoing observance, one thereby knows that to receive alone without upholding is of no benefit whatsoever.
"From 'if' onward clarifies the fault of lacking ongoing observance. 'Deceived by the precept' means that the weight of this fault runs deep, since the transgression brings about a grave offense; 'it would be better not to have received' is spoken with earnest urging, not as a discouragement to retreat. From 'this' onward concludes with an admonition to practitioners, addressed generally to the generations of the Final Dharma age. 'Make them rightly understand' warns them to study diligently: first, one must understand the teaching, for the teaching has both permission and prohibition; second, one must understand conduct, for conduct has both accordance and violation; third, one must understand karma, for karma has both good and evil; fourth, one must understand the fruit, for the fruit has both suffering and joy. Only once these four are clearly understood can one gather in and cultivate [the practice]. 'The nature of karma' and so on: as clarified just above, according with upholding, violating and transgressing, good and evil, cause and effect — all of this accords with the principle of karma; it is not idly exaggerated or diminished, but stated so as to give rise to genuine faith. 'Manifestly evident' means 'clearly bright.'" [All of the above is found in the Zichi Commentary, fasc. 16.]
The companion guide calls this the gate's single hardest teaching, and puts it as plainly as possible: reception is "remote" and ongoing observance is "near" with respect to the fruit that is actually produced — an as-yet-unfulfilled vow, arising all at once, cannot by itself generate merit the way gradual, repeated, real practice can. The Karman Commentary is quoted for the sharpest version of the point: the fruit is brought about specifically by conduct, not by the vow. Reception still matters — without it there is no boundary within which ongoing observance can accumulate anything at all — but it is not itself where the fruit ripens.
It singles out the phrase "deceived by one's own precept" as the passage's real warning: someone who receives the precepts and then never keeps them is, on this reading, worse off than someone who never received them, because the unfulfilled vow itself becomes an additional occasion for transgression and its consequence, rather than a neutral non-event. The guide also draws out the fourfold "must understand" — teaching, conduct, karma, and fruit — as a practical checklist, and reads the "three collections" passage that follows in the source (restraining wrong as the collection of the moral codes, applying wisdom as the collection of wholesome dharmas, and protecting others as the collection of benefiting sentient beings) as showing that a single act of upholding one precept, done with the right understanding, is already functioning on all three levels of Mahayana practice at once.
4. Milestone: Eyes and Feet — and Where the Path Finally Leads
The Zichi Commentary closes its treatment of ongoing observance with a second image laid directly over the first: reception as the eyes that see the direction, ongoing observance as the feet that actually cover the ground. The gate's first chapter then ends with a passage from Yuan Zhao's own Zhiyuan Yibian, which pushes the whole discussion one step further than Dao Xuan does — toward the Pure Land.
▲資持云『圓修者。既知受體、當發心時為成三聚。故於隨行、隨持一戒、禁惡不起、即攝律儀。用智觀察、即攝善法。無非將護、即攝眾生。因成三行、果獲三佛。由受起隨、從因至果。故業疏云、是故行人常思此行即三聚等。又云、終歸大乘故須域心於處。又云、既知此意當護如命如浮囊。略提大綱、餘廣如彼。咨爾後學、微細研詳。
且五濁深纏、四蛇未脫。與鬼畜而同處、為苦惱之交煎。豈得不念清昇、坐守塗炭。縱有修奉、不得其門、徒務勤劬、終無所詣。若乃盡無窮之生死、截無邊之業非、破無始之昏惑、證無上之法身者、唯戒一門最為要術。諸佛稱歎遍在群經、諸祖弘持盛於前代。當須深信、勿遲疑。固當以受體為雙眸、以隨行為兩足。受隨相副雖萬行而可成、目足更資雖千里而必至。自非同道、夫復何言。悲夫。』見事鈔記卷十六
▲芝苑云『每以兩端開誘來學。一者入道須有始、二期心必有終。
言有始者。即須受戒、專志奉持。令於一切時中、對諸塵境常憶受體。著衣喫飯行住坐臥語默動靜、不可暫忘也。言其終者。謂歸心淨土、決誓往生也。以五濁惡世末法之時、惑業深纏、慣習難斷。自無道力、何由修證。故釋迦出世五十餘年、說無量法、應可度者皆悉已度、其未度者皆亦已作得度因緣。因緣雖多、難為造入。唯淨土法門、是修行徑路。故諸經論偏贊淨土。佛法滅盡、唯無量壽佛經百年在世。十方勸贊、信不徒然。』見芝苑遺編卷三
▲ The Zichi Commentary says: "As for consummate cultivation: once one already knows the precept-essence, then, at the moment the mind is aroused, it is for the sake of accomplishing the three collections [of pure conduct]. Hence within ongoing observance, following and upholding even a single precept, restraining evil so that it does not arise, is itself the collection of the moral codes. Applying wisdom to observe and discern is itself the collection of wholesome dharmas. Nothing but sheltering and protecting [other beings] is itself the collection of benefiting sentient beings. Through the cause, the three kinds of conduct are accomplished; through the fruit, the three bodies of buddhahood are obtained. From reception, ongoing observance arises; from the cause, one arrives at the fruit. Hence the Karman Commentary says: 'For this reason the practitioner should constantly reflect that this very conduct is itself the three collections,' and so on; and again it says, 'In the end one returns to the Great Vehicle, and therefore one must fix the mind upon its proper place'; and again it says, 'Once one knows this meaning, one should guard it as one's own life, as a floating bladder [that keeps one from drowning].' This briefly raises the main outline; the rest is broadly treated as in that text. I say to later students: study this in fine and careful detail.
"Consider: the five turbidities bind deeply, and the four serpents [of the elements] are not yet escaped. Dwelling in the same place as hungry ghosts and animals, one is caught in the mutual scorching of suffering and vexation. How, then, could one fail to think of rising to purity, and simply sit and guard over a mire of mud and coals? Even if one has some measure of practice and observance, if one does not find the right gate, one merely toils in vain and in the end arrives nowhere. But if one is to exhaust the boundless cycle of birth-and-death, cut off the limitless wrongs of karma, break through the beginningless darkness of confusion, and realize the unsurpassed Dharma-body, then this single gate of precepts is the most essential method of all. The Buddhas' praise of it fills the sutras everywhere; the patriarchs' upholding and propagation of it flourished throughout former ages. One should deeply believe this and not hesitate. One should firmly take the precept-essence as one's two eyes, and ongoing observance as one's two feet. When reception and ongoing observance assist one another, then, though the practices number ten thousand, they can be accomplished; when eyes and feet further support one another, then, though the road be a thousand li, one is sure to arrive. Apart from those who share this path, what more is there to say? How sorrowful indeed!" [Zichi Commentary, fasc. 16]
▲ The Zhiyuan Yibian says: "I have always used these two ends to open and guide those who come to study. First, entering the path must have a beginning; second, the resolve of the mind must have an end.
"To speak of having a beginning: one must receive the precepts and single-mindedly uphold and carry them out, so that at all times, in the face of every worldly object encountered, one constantly remembers the precept-essence — while putting on clothes, eating meals, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, speaking or falling silent, moving or being still, one must never forget it even for a moment. To speak of its having an end: this means turning the mind toward the Pure Land, and resolutely vowing to be reborn there. Because in this evil age of the five turbidities, in the Final Dharma period, delusion and karma bind deeply and habituated tendencies are hard to cut off, one has no strength of the path of one's own — by what means, then, could one cultivate and realize [awakening]? Hence, throughout the more than fifty years since Śākyamuni appeared in the world and expounded immeasurable teachings, all those capable of being delivered have already been delivered, and even those not yet delivered have all already had the causes and conditions for their eventual deliverance established. Yet although the causes and conditions are many, it is difficult to enter through them. Only the Dharma-gate of the Pure Land is the direct road of practice. This is why the sutras and treatises give special praise to the Pure Land. When the Buddha-dharma is entirely extinguished, only the Immeasurable Life Sutra will remain in the world for a hundred years more. That the ten directions urge and praise it is a matter of genuine, not idle, faith."
The companion guide reads "eyes and feet" as the whole gate's summary image: the precept-essence, like eyes, can see clearly which direction the path runs, but seeing a direction is not the same as covering the distance; ongoing observance, like feet, is what actually gets a person there — and neither organ, on its own, is of much use without the other. It also draws attention to the "three collections" passage as tying this gate directly back to the Consummate Teaching discussed in the Gate of the Precept-Essence: a single kept precept, cultivated with the right understanding, is simultaneously an act of restraint, an act of wisdom, and an act of care for other beings, so that the whole of Mahayana practice is already latent in the ordinary, unglamorous keeping of one rule.
On the closing passage from the Zhiyuan Yibian, the guide notes that Yuan Zhao is doing something Dao Xuan's own Procedural Commentary does not explicitly do: naming a destination, not just a discipline. "A beginning" is reception, carried moment to moment through ordinary activity; "an end" is a resolute vow to be reborn in the Pure Land, offered specifically because Yuan Zhao judges that beings in this degenerate age lack the strength to reach realization through their own effort alone. The guide reads this less as a departure from the vinaya's own logic than as its natural completion: precept-conduct supplies the walkable ground; the Pure Land supplies the place the road is actually walking toward.
5. Milestone: How the Precepts May Be Relinquished
The gate's second, much shorter chapter turns from keeping the precepts to formally setting them down. The Commentary on the Precept-Text opens by surveying, without fully sorting out, several different ways the sutras and treatises describe a person's precept-status coming to an end.
▲戒疏云『汎列經論捨相不同。如雜說、若命終斷善二形也。善生經、加受惡戒時捨善戒。俱舍論、八戒期心盡夜分終故捨。且列如此。』
行宗釋云『雜心四捨、言若捨者即作法、斷善即起邪見。善生惡戒即惡律儀。上五通五八十具。俱舍期心唯局八戒、義兼五戒。言且列者示未盡故。』
斷善即起邪見者、邪見語通未能的指。考行宗別文云、斷善失戒、四捨之一、即生邪見遠捨三寶。見戒疏記卷五。
▲ The Commentary on the Precept-Text (Jieshu) says: "Broadly listing the various marks of relinquishing found across the sutras and treatises, they are not all the same. As in the Miscellaneous Treatise: relinquishing by formal act, death, the cutting off of good roots, and the arising of the two sexual organs. The Sutra on Virtuous Generation (Shansheng Jing) adds: when one receives an evil precept, the good precept is thereby relinquished. The Abhidharmakośa says: for the eight precepts, since the appointed time of the mind's resolve ends when the night comes to an end, they are relinquished at that point. This is simply listed as such."
The Xingzong Commentary explains: "The Miscellaneous Treatise gives four kinds of relinquishing. Speaking of 'relinquishing' means relinquishing by formal act; 'cutting off good roots' means giving rise to false views; 'receiving an evil precept' means taking up an evil code of discipline. The above five [modes] apply in common to the five precepts, the eight precepts, and the full precepts. The Abhidharmakośa's 'appointed time of the mind's resolve' is confined specifically to the eight precepts, though its meaning also extends to the five precepts. Saying 'simply listed as such' shows that the list is not exhaustive."
On "cutting off good roots means giving rise to false views": the term "false views" here is used broadly and does not point to anything specific. Checking another passage of the Xingzong Commentary, it says: cutting off good roots and losing the precept is one of the four kinds of relinquishing, namely giving rise to false views and thereupon relinquishing and distancing oneself from the Three Jewels. [Xingzong Commentary, fasc. 5]
The companion guide organizes these into a short table: relinquishing by formal act; death, at which point the precept-essence lapses along with the body; cutting off good roots by falling into false views, which produces an evil code of discipline in its place; the arising of the two sexual organs in one body; taking up an actual evil vocation, which the Sutra on Virtuous Generation adds as automatically canceling a previously received good precept; and, specifically for the eight precepts, simple expiration when the vowed period — one day and one night — comes to its natural end. The guide is careful to note that Dao Xuan's own text calls this list incomplete ("simply listed as such"), which is itself part of the teaching: relinquishing is not a single tidy category but several genuinely different ways a precept-status can end.
6. Milestone: What Is Actually Given Up When Precepts Are Relinquished
Before explaining the formal procedure for relinquishing, the Commentary on the Precept-Text pauses on a precise question: when someone relinquishes the precepts, do they thereby lose the merit already accumulated through years of ongoing observance, or only the unconditioned essence received at ordination? The answer draws a sharp, reassuring line.
▲戒疏云『問、今捨戒者、為捨已生隨行為因之業、為捨初願本受無作體耶。
答。已生為因、不可捨也。得聖無漏、方傾善習。今所捨者、止是本體更不相續。故雜心云、言捨戒者、戒身種類滅也。』
行宗釋云『未捨之前、所有隨中持行、名已生善。後未修者、名未生善。今明捨戒、為捨何者。問中乃約行願兩審、答文方見已未存亡。答中二、初答因業不失。結業在心、行功不滅、故不可捨。乃證初果、無漏智力達罪福性、漏業方傾。習合作集謂集因也
今下次明無作體失。本體即無作、不相續者失未生善也。故下引證戒身即受體無作、種類即相續善行、二皆云滅、證上可知。』
▲ The Commentary on the Precept-Text says: "Question: as for relinquishing the precepts now under discussion — does one relinquish the karma of ongoing observance already generated as a cause, or does one relinquish the unconditioned essence of the original reception, the vow first made?
"Answer: what has already been generated as a cause cannot be relinquished. Only by attaining the noble, uncontaminated [wisdom of a saint] can one's accumulated wholesome habituation be overturned. What is relinquished now is only the original essence itself, so that it no longer continues on. Hence the Miscellaneous Treatise says: to speak of relinquishing the precept means that the class and kind of the precept-body is extinguished."
The Xingzong Commentary explains: "Before relinquishing, all the upholding conduct within ongoing observance is called 'already-generated goodness.' What has not yet been cultivated afterward is called 'not-yet-generated goodness.' The present passage clarifies relinquishing the precepts by asking: which of these is relinquished? The question examines both conduct and vow side by side; only in the answer does it become clear which persists and which is extinguished. The answer has two parts. The first answers that the karma of the cause is not lost: karma already bound up in the mind, the merit of conduct, does not perish, and therefore cannot be relinquished. Only upon realizing the first fruit [of stream-entry], when the power of uncontaminated wisdom penetrates the very nature of offense and merit, does contaminated karma begin to be overturned. "Habituation combining and accumulating" refers to the accumulating of causes.
"From 'now' onward, the second part clarifies the loss of the unconditioned essence. 'The original essence' is precisely the unconditioned [precept-substance]; 'no longer continuing on' means the loss of 'not-yet-generated goodness.' From 'hence' onward, the passage cites proof: the 'precept-body' is precisely the unconditioned essence received [at ordination], while 'class and kind' is precisely the continuing wholesome conduct — both are said to be 'extinguished,' which proves what was clarified above."
The companion guide frames this as the gate's most reassuring technical point, directly answering a worry the earlier teaching on "deceived by one's own precept" might otherwise leave hanging: relinquishing the precepts does not erase the merit of the years already spent keeping them. That merit is called "already-generated goodness," and it is described as bound up in the mind in a way that only the uncontaminated wisdom of a realized saint could ever overturn — an ordinary act of formal relinquishment cannot touch it. What relinquishment actually removes is only the "not-yet-generated goodness" — the capacity for the precept-essence to keep producing new merit going forward. The guide reads this as directly supporting the intuition that sincere practice, once done, is never wasted, whatever a person's precept-status later becomes.
7. Milestone: The Five Conditions for Formal Relinquishment, and Why the Buddha Permits It
The gate closes with the practical mechanics of relinquishing by formal act — five conditions that must all be satisfied — followed by Dao Xuan's own explanation of why the Buddha, so exacting about the precepts elsewhere, built in this deliberate exit at all.
▲戒疏云『作法捨中、具緣有五。初是住自性者。二所對人境。如多論云、若無出家人、隨得白衣外道相解者成。三有捨心。四心境相當。如律、中邊不領、前人不解、並不成捨。五一說便成。』
行宗釋云『初云住自性者即具本受體也。』
▲戒疏云『所以開者。凡夫退位、知何不為帶戒犯非、業則難拔。故開捨戒、往來無障。即是大聖善達機緣、任物垂教、號法王也。』
行宗釋云『初敘機劣。內凡以上不羸不捨、已前皆容有退、故云退位、即外凡也。故下顯開意。往謂開捨、來謂再受。善惡兩通故云無障。即下結歎權巧。王者得其自在、於法自在故稱法王。』已上皆見戒疏記卷六
▲ The Commentary on the Precept-Text says: "Within relinquishing by formal act, five conditions must be complete. First, abiding in one's own [precept-]nature. Second, the person facing whom [the act is performed] and the setting — as the Multi-Treatise says, if there is no monastic present, then any lay person or non-Buddhist practitioner capable of understanding [what is said] will do. Third, having the mind to relinquish. Fourth, the mind and the setting must correspond to one another — as in the Vinaya, if the border [regions'] language is not understood, or if the person present does not comprehend, then in neither case is the relinquishing accomplished. Fifth, a single utterance completes it."
The Xingzong Commentary explains: "Saying, at the outset, 'abiding in one's own nature' means one who possesses the essence originally received."
▲ The Commentary on the Precept-Text says: "The reason this is permitted is this: an ordinary worldling, still at a stage capable of falling back, cannot know what he will or will not do; if he carries the precept while committing wrong, the resulting karma becomes hard to uproot. Hence [the Buddha] permits the relinquishing of precepts, so that going and returning are unobstructed. This is precisely the great sage's thorough understanding of the capacities and conditions [of beings], bestowing teaching according to what suits each — which is why he is called the Dharma King."
The Xingzong Commentary explains: "The first part narrates the inferior capacity [of the ordinary worldling]. From the inner stage of the ordinary worldling upward, one is neither weak nor liable to relinquish; before that stage, all are liable to fall back — hence it says 'the stage capable of falling back,' which refers precisely to the outer stage of the ordinary worldling. From 'hence' onward, the passage reveals the intent behind permitting this: 'going' refers to permitting relinquishment, 'returning' refers to receiving the precepts again. Since this applies equally to both good and evil [circumstances], it is said to be 'unobstructed.' From 'this is precisely' onward, the passage concludes with praise for this skillful expedient: one who is a 'king' attains self-mastery; because [the Buddha] has attained self-mastery with regard to the Dharma, he is called the 'Dharma King.'" [All of the above is found in the Xingzong Commentary, fasc. 6.]
The companion guide lists the five conditions plainly: the person must actually hold the precept-essence to begin with (nothing is relinquished by someone who never received it); a proper person or setting must be present to receive the declaration — a monastic if available, otherwise any layperson or even a non-Buddhist practitioner capable of understanding what is said; a genuine intention to relinquish must actually be present; the two parties must understand each other, since a declaration made across an unbridgeable language gap, or to someone who simply does not grasp what is happening, does not count; and, unlike reception itself, which traditionally requires a threefold declaration, a single utterance is sufficient to complete the act.
On why the Buddha permits this at all, the guide reads Dao Xuan's explanation as an act of realism rather than laxity: an ordinary practitioner below the higher stages remains genuinely liable to fall back, and someone who continues carrying a precept-essence while knowingly violating it accumulates karma that becomes very hard to undo. Formally relinquishing, and later formally receiving again, keeps that "going and returning" open and unobstructed — better, on this reasoning, to set the precept down honestly than to keep breaking it while still bound by it. The guide reads the Buddha's title here, "Dharma King," as pointing to exactly this: a sovereign's freedom is measured by having real options built into the very structure of the law, not by the law never bending at all.
上來宗篇中第三門戒行竟
The above concludes the third gate, Precept-Conduct, within the Doctrinal Fascicle.