ACI Course 7 — The Vows of the Bodhisattva · Class 9 · 次要违犯 35–46 · 四黑法四白法

Reading Nine: Secondary Offenses Against The Morality of Working for the Good of All Living Beings, and

The following reading is taken from folios 20b-22a of the String of Shining Jewels, by Geshe Tsewang Samdrup (early 19th Century), a tutor of His Holiness the Tenth Dalai Lama.

(35) The secondary offense of failing to assist someone in need

Suppose a circumstance arises where it would be appropriate for you to assist someone. We could list eight different kinds of people who might need help:

You commit this offense if, out of anger or laziness, you fail to assist such persons.

(36) The secondary offense of failing to serve the sick

Suppose a situation arises where it would be appropriate for you to serve and attend to the sick. You commit this offense if, out of anger or laziness, you fail to do so.

(37) The secondary offense of failing to remove suffering

Suppose a person is suffering due to any one or combination of the following seven problems: they are blind, deaf, handicapped, weary from travelling, tormented by any of the five mental obstacles, haunted by thoughts such as malice towards someone, or suffering from defeat at the hands of someone else. You commit this offense if, out of anger or laziness, you fail to make some attempt to remove the suffering they are undergoing due to the problem they have.

(38) The secondary offense of failing to give good reasons to those who are acting in a dangerous way

Suppose someone is acting in a way that is going to be detrimental to their interests in either this or the future life. You commit this offense when, out of anger or laziness, you fail to give them reasons that are clearly logical and also fitting for them, to show why they should stop.

(39) The secondary offense of failing to repay someone who has helped you, by helping them back

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to return a kindness done for you.

(40) The secondary offense of failing to dispel another person's grief

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to dispel the grief a person is feeling who has lost someone or something dear to them.

(41) The secondary offense of failing to give money or other material things to someone who wants them

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to give food and drink or anything of the like to a person who is asking you for them.

(42) The secondary offense of failing to fill the needs of your circle of disciples

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to grant spiritual advices to your circle of disciples, or when you fail on their behalf to seek out, in the proper way, the things which they need, from householders with faith and the means to help.

(43) The secondary offense of failing to get along with someone

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to get along with another person.

(44) The secondary offense of failing to praise someone's good qualities

You commit this when, out of a desire to hurt someone or out of laziness, you fail to praise another person's good qualities, or else fail to tell them how good something they said was.

(45) The secondary offense of failing to cut someone off when the time has come to do so

Suppose a problem has reached a point where the proper thing to do is to chastise someone, or punish them, or even expel them. You commit this offense when, out of mental afflictions or laziness, you fail to do whichever is necessary.

(46) The secondary offense of failing to use your supernormal powers to threaten someone or such when needed

Suppose you do possess various magical powers, and a situation has arisen where it would be the right time to use them to frighten a person, or inspire them, or prevent someone without vows from trying to make use of offerings that have been made [to the Sangha] in true faith, or anything of the like. If in such a case you fail to use your powers to frighten the person, or inspire them, or to prevent someone without vows from trying to make use of offerings that have been made in true faith, or anything of the like, then you commit this offense.

The twelve secondary offenses just listed all work against the morality which acts for the benefit of all living beings.

Secondary offenses against the precepts of the prayer for the wish for enlightenment

Here we will list additional offenses, which are committed against the precepts of the prayer for the wish for enlightenment. One would be failing to support those whom it would be proper to support, either with Dharma or with material things. Another would be failing to let go of your anger about something someone else had done to hurt you, or else discriminating between people, in the sense of liking some and disliking others.

There is also failing to take yourself to a holy lama, and giving up the practices of learning and contemplation upon what you have learned. Another is failing to have helping others in mind as you partake of food or clothing or any other thing you make use of. A final example would be to engage in any virtuous activity without having in mind the wish to reach enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. All these are spoken to be secondary offenses against the prayer.

The four black deeds, and the four white deeds

There are certain causes that will, further, prevent you from losing the wish for enlightenment in your other lives. For these you will have to give up the four black deeds, and then take up the four white deeds. Here is how to do so.

The first black deed is to intentionally deceive your Lama, or those to whom we make offerings, or any such person, by lying to them. The antidote for doing this is the first of the white deeds, which is never intentionally speaking a lie, even if only in jest, to any single living being there is.

The second black deed is to cause another person to regret some virtuous thing they have done. The antidote for doing this is the fourth white deed, which is to bring a person that you are cultivating to strive for total enlightenment, rather than bringing them to the path of the lower way.

The third black deed is to say something unpleasant to a bodhisattva out of anger. The antidote for doing this is the third white deed, which is to try to conceive of every sentient being as the Teacher himself, and to see all beings and things as totally pure.

The fourth black deed is to act in a devious way with any living being, without any sense of personal responsibility for their enlightenment. The antidote for doing this is the second white deed, where you maintain an attitude of total honesty towards every living being, free of any kind of deception.