ACI Course 7 — The Vows of the Bodhisattva · Class 8 · 次要违犯 17–34

Reading Eight: The Secondary Offenses, Part Two: Those That Work Against Patience, Effort, Concentration,

The following reading is taken from folios 19b-20b of the String of Shining Jewels, by Geshe Tsewang Samdrup (early 19th Century), a tutor of His Holiness the Tenth Dalai Lama.

(17) The secondary offense of losing the four points of the practice of virtue

Suppose another person has done any of these four, or something similar, to you: scolded you, gotten angry at you, beaten you, or criticized you. You commit this offense when you respond to them with the same.

(18) The secondary offense of simply ignoring those who are angry

Suppose you have done something wrong towards another person, or even that this person just believes you have done so. You commit this offense if, out of a desire to hurt them, or pride, or laziness, you fail to explain yourself to them in an appropriate manner.

(19) The secondary offense of refusing to forgive another person when they apologize for doing something wrong to you

Suppose another person has done something wrong to you, and they come to you in an appropriate way to explain themselves. If out of a desire to hurt them, or thoughts of malice, or simply because you don't feel like it you refuse to accept this apology, then you have committed the offense.

(20) The secondary offense of allowing thoughts of anger to go on

You commit this when you start to feel anger towards someone, and then continue to hold this anger, and willingly let it go on, because you see nothing wrong with it.

The four secondary offenses just listed all work against the practice of patience.

(21) The secondary offense of collecting a group of disciples out of a desire to have others pay honor to you

You commit this when you collect a group of disciples in hopes of having people pay honor to you, or serve you, or make material offerings to you.

(22) The secondary offense of failing to dispel your laziness and the like

This offense refers first of all to the entire day, and to the first and final periods of the night: all but the middle part. Suppose that during this time you quite willingly give yourself up to the pleasant feeling of sleep; or to the pleasure of laying down, staying in bed, or anything of the like. And you do so because of sloth, out of laziness. When you act this way and fail to dispel these tendencies, then you've committed the offense.

(23) The secondary offense of spending time with busy talk because you enjoy it

You commit this offense when you just pass the time in a lot of busy talk that you are all wrapped up in, discussing politics or crimes or the opposite sex or whatever.

The three secondary offenses just listed all work against the practice of effort.

(24) The secondary offense of failing to seek the meaning of meditative concentration

You commit this offense when, despite the fact that you want to learn how to put your mind into balanced meditation, you fail to go to a person who could impart to you the necessary instructions for developing concentration, and you do so out of a desire to hurt someone, or laziness.

(25) The secondary offense of failing to purge yourself of the obstacles to meditation

Suppose you have any one or combination of the five typical obstacles to meditation: the pair of restless desire and missing something or someone; feelings of malice about someone; the pair of drowsiness and mental dullness; attraction to the objects of the senses; and unresolved doubts. You commit this offense when you allow yourself these five, and fail to act to dispel them.

(26) The secondary offense of considering the pleasant sensation of meditation to be an important personal attainment

You commit this when you start to develop a craving for the pleasant feeling you get during meditation, and begin to consider the experience of this sensation to be an important personal attainment.

The three secondary offenses just listed all work against the practice of meditation.

(27) The secondary offense of rejecting the way of the listeners

You commit this when you entertain and express to others the opinion that "Those who belong to the lesser way must learn the scriptural collection of the listeners, grasp its meaning and memorize its words, train themselves in it and so on. This is not however necessary for bodhisattvas."

(28) The secondary offense of making efforts in the other system, when our own is available

You commit this in an instance where you do have available to you an opportunity to exert yourself in the scriptural collection of the bodhisattvas, and yet you discard this opportunity, and make efforts instead with the scriptural collection of the listeners.

(29) The secondary offense of making efforts in non-Buddhist texts where no efforts should be made

You commit this in an instance where you do have available to you an opportunity to exert yourself in the word of the Buddhas, and make efforts instead with non-Buddhist texts.

(30) The secondary offense of being attracted, even in a case where one must make efforts

Suppose even that there is case where there is some compelling need for you to make efforts in non-Buddhist texts. You commit this offense when you engage in this study with feelings of attraction for it throughout the process: at the beginning, during the interim, and in the end.

(31) The secondary offense of rejecting the greater way

You commit this when you say the following words, and thereby discount any particular part of the scriptural collection of the bodhisattvas: "This part is not as good," or "The composition at this point is inferior," or "The author of this part was not the best," or "This part won't contribute to the welfare of living beings."

(32) The secondary offense of praising oneself and criticizing others

You commit this when, out of pride or anger, you praise yourself and criticize others.

(33) The secondary offense of not going to hear the Dharma

You commit this when, out of pride or laziness, you fail to attend a teaching where someone is explaining the Dharma, or a discussion about the Dharma, or something of the like.

(34) The secondary offense of focussing on the vessel and the letters

You commit this when you fail to think of the person giving you the Dharma as the Teacher himself, and pay him or her the proper respect, and so on. Rather you dismiss them completely, or criticize them behind their backs, and focus on whether the way they express themselves is beautiful or not, instead of focussing on the meaning.

The eight secondary offenses just listed all work against the practice of wisdom; and thus the thirty-four up to here represent offenses that work against the six perfections for collecting goodness.