The Dignified Bearing of a Monastic

Practitioners of the two vehicles are divided into those who have already seen the path and those who have not yet seen the path. Practitioners who have already seen the path, because they have realized that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are subject to arising, ceasing, and change, without any real existence, without any sovereign self, have realized the samādhi of no-self, broken through the four marks—having no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span—and attained purity of the dharma eye. Therefore, in their minds the four marks feel empty and unreal, and conditioned dharmas pertaining to the four marks of self and person become fewer and fewer. Because of the precepts shared with the path (dharma-samādhi precepts), their minds naturally experience less greed and lessening of disputes over self and others, and they can subdue afflictions. After cultivating the first dhyāna, afflictions are severed, and the afflictions of greed and hatred are completely extinguished. At this point, when coming into contact with the opposite sex, there is no lustful mind; the mind is free and unobstructed. However, because of the monastic precepts, and in order to set an example for sentient beings and to avoid causing them misunderstanding, those of the third and fourth fruits abide by the precepts in their words and deeds, conforming to the standards, while inwardly they are unfettered.

Monastics are the refuge of sentient beings; in their outward appearance they must observe dignified deportment, so that sentient beings who see them will give rise to reverence toward the Three Jewels and plant roots of goodness. When the World-Honored One established the Saṅgha during his lifetime, it was first to enable sentient beings to leave the mundane world and attain liberation, and second to serve as a refuge for sentient beings, guiding them to leave the mundane world and take refuge in the Three Jewels, planting the seeds of liberation. Every monastic, whether or not they have seen the path, leads by example,模范遵守戒律 (exemplarily observing the precepts), with regulated speech and conduct and complete dignified deportment. When they go on alms rounds with their bowls, they come into contact with many sentient beings, and should all the more maintain complete dignified deportment, lest they be ridiculed by sentient beings, who would thereby create evil karma and reap evil retribution. Therefore, when they go for alms and walk along the road, they lower their heads and look at the path ahead, not glancing left or right, not looking askance, and not raising their heads to stare directly at the crowd before them. When they meet a donor of alms, they certainly do not distinguish whether the person is male or female, beautiful or ugly; taking the bowl of food, they turn and leave, without polite pleasantries. Because these practitioners single-mindedly seek liberation from birth and death, their minds are not on the objects of the six sense dusts, nor on worldly matters; only thus can they realize the path and ensure they are not entangled by the worldly five desires and six sense dusts.