..续本文上一页ck discernment. Why do they lack discernment

　　 Because we don”t practice concentration in the heart, and so we take stubborn possession of the body, latching onto it and wrongly assuming it to be the self, to the point where even the slightest touch from mosquitoes or horseflies, sun or rain, can cause our goodness to wither and die.

　　Transcendent virtues are thus supreme; mundane virtues are not yet lasting. As to whether virtue will be transcendent or mundane, the matter lies entirely with the heart.

　　A dull-witted heart, lacking discernment,

　　Latches onto the body,

　　But once it dies, it doesn”t get to eat the meat

　　Or sit on the skin —

　　It”ll choke on the bones.

　　Lacking training, it lies sunk in pain.

　　But a trained heart gives rise to discernment,

　　Lets go of the body,

　　Discards it at death without regret.

　　Having seen the truth,

　　It”s called noble, supreme.

　　This ends the discussion of the third topic.

　　4. To answer the fourth question — "What is the essence of virtue

　　" — we first have to distinguish the essence of virtue, the intention to abstain (cetana-virati), from the expressions of virtue, which are of three kinds: sampatta-virati, samadana virati and samuchheda-virati. These three are called expressions of virtue because they follow on the precepts.

　　Sampatta-virati means to restrain one”s behavior on one”s own, without taking a vow — for example, going out into the wide open fields or into the forest and seeing an animal that would be good to kill, but not killing it, for fear of the sin; or seeing another person”s belongings that would be good to take, but not taking them, for fear of doing evil.

　　Samadana-virati means to take the precepts as a vow — either on one”s own or repeating them after another person — and then being careful not to violate them.

　　Samuccheda-virati means to keep one”s precepts pure and unblemished, regardless of whether or not one has taken them as vows.

　　For these expressions of virtue to be pure or impure depends on a number of minor factors arising from the exercise of thought, word, and deed that either run counter to these expressions (thus blemishing them) or are careful to follow them (thus keeping them pure).

　　As for the essence of virtue — "essence" here meaning the chief agent or determining factor — the essence is the heart that wills to abstain from harm in thought, word, or deed — the five forms of harm, the eight, the ten, or what-have-you — and is mindful to keep the mind in a state of normalcy. Thus there are two kinds of virtue: pure virtue, i.e., spotlessness in thought, word, and deed; and blemished virtue, i.e., virtue torn into pieces or cut into holes. For example, to observe two precepts but to break three that come in succession, is virtue torn into pieces. If the precepts that are broken don”t come in succession, this is called stained virtue or virtue cut into holes.

　　This is how to develop a bad character. People of bad character do have virtue, but they don”t take care of it. They don”t make the effort to maintain the precepts and so let evil come flowing in through their words and deeds. Stained virtue, torn virtue, and virtue cut into holes: Even though these are classed as evil, they”re still better than having no virtue at all. To have torn virtue is better than having no virtue to tear, just as wearing torn clothes is better than wearing no clothes at all. Everyone born has virtue built into them; the only exceptions are those who have died.

　　If this is the case, why do we have to observe precepts

　　 To observe precepts means that we take the virtue we already have and cleanse it, not that we go gathering the virtues that grow on monks and novices.

　　We”ve already seen that virtue means a mind with sound intentions; blemished virtue means a mind with unsound intentions. …

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