What Behaviors of a Bodhisattva Constitute a Crime?

《菩萨优婆塞五戒威仪经》原文：菩萨如是见如是语。菩萨不应乐于涅槃。应背涅槃。不应畏烦恼。不应灭烦恼。何以故。菩萨三阿僧祇往来生死故。如是语者。犯重垢罪。

Explanation: If a bodhisattva holds such views and speaks such words, he commits a grave defilement offense: A bodhisattva should not delight in and cling to nirvāṇa, but should turn his back on nirvāṇa. A bodhisattva should not fear afflictions, nor should he extinguish afflictions. Why is this said? Because a bodhisattva must traverse birth and death throughout three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas. One who speaks in this way commits a grave defilement offense.

This is because although a bodhisattva delights in nirvāṇa, he does not enter nirvāṇa; with a pure mind he leads sentient beings in cultivation, guiding them to liberation. A bodhisattva should not turn his back on nirvāṇa and have a defiled mind of afflictions; a defiled mind can harm the bodies and minds of sentient beings, making it impossible to deliver them, and one cannot have a positive influence on sentient beings. If a bodhisattva turns his back on nirvāṇa, he will sink into birth and death, unable to save himself, let alone save sentient beings. If he himself is not yet liberated, how can he enable sentient beings to attain liberation?

A bodhisattva's attitude toward afflictions should be: a bodhisattva should fear afflictions and should extinguish afflictions; he must extinguish afflictions, yet must not extinguish them completely. If he extinguishes them completely, he will realize the fourth fruit of arhatship and, upon the end of his life, will inevitably enter nirvāṇa without remainder, thereby abandoning sentient beings and the Buddha Way. If a bodhisattva does not sever afflictions, he cannot save himself—how then could he save sentient beings? Therefore a bodhisattva must also sever afflictions, realizing the first, second, and third fruits, severing afflictions to the level of the third fruit, but should not sever them completely and realize the fourth fruit.

It is sufficient for a bodhisattva to cultivate the Hīnayāna only up to the third fruit, which is enough to enable him to reach the stages of a bodhisattva from the first to the seventh bhūmi in his Mahāyāna cultivation, without obstructing his bodhisattva career, and it is even more convenient for delivering sentient beings. When he reaches the seventh bhūmi, he then, under the Buddha's blessing and empowerment, severs afflictions completely, realizes the eighth bhūmi, yet does not enter nirvāṇa without remainder. Although a bodhisattva cultivates and delivers sentient beings throughout three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, he cannot roam through the three realms with a body of afflictions; otherwise he cannot guarantee a human body or a deva body, and then he cannot liberate himself, let alone deliver sentient beings.

原文：何以故。如菩萨乐于涅槃。畏于烦恼。比于声闻。千万倍不可为喻。何以故。声闻之人顺自为己。菩萨常为一切众故。菩萨虽处有漏。于灭烦恼而得自在。过于罗汉处无漏者上。

Explanation: Why is this said? Because if a bodhisattva delights in and clings to nirvāṇa and fears afflictions, his mental conduct still surpasses that of śrāvakas by far more than ten million times. Why? Because śrāvakas, after all, follow their selfish nature and consider only themselves, disregarding the birth and death of sentient beings, whereas bodhisattvas constantly take all sentient beings into consideration. Although a bodhisattva dwells amid tainted afflictions, he is nonetheless completely at ease with regard to extinguishing afflictions—he extinguishes them the moment he intends to—because the last trace of affliction is deliberately retained. Therefore the bodhisattva surpasses the arhat who dwells in the untainted state.

原文：若菩萨起身口业。应自防护。莫使他人慢惰罪。若故不自护。使他惰罪者。犯重垢罪。若不作意自护。放散所作。生他罪者。犯轻垢罪。不犯者。若外道。若随出家如法所作。若值多嗔恶人。是名不犯。

Explanation: When a bodhisattva is about to create bodily and verbal karma, he should protect himself well, not producing evil conduct that would cause sentient beings to ridicule him, thereby giving rise to contempt in them, so that they incur offense through irreverence. If a bodhisattva deliberately fails to guard his own bodily and verbal conduct, causing sentient beings to commit offenses of irreverence, the bodhisattva commits a grave defilement offense. If a bodhisattva does not make a special effort of intention to guard his bodily and verbal karma, but is careless and indulgent, letting his body and mouth act at will, causing others to produce wrongdoing, he commits a minor defilement offense.

No offense is committed if one encounters non-Buddhists and rebukes their non-Buddhist practices and false dharmas, in which case bodily and verbal conduct may involve confrontation—this does not constitute an offense; or if a bodhisattva leaves home in accordance with conditions, and his bodily and verbal conduct accords with reason and the Dharma, no offense is committed; or if one encounters many hateful, evil people and, in order to chastise these evil people, does not restrain his bodily and verbal conduct, resulting in verbal and physical confrontation, this likewise does not constitute an offense.

Speaking of this, if a person's bodily, verbal, and mental actions are habitually undisciplined, displaying very obvious afflictions of the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, and he frequently causes sentient beings to slander and disparage him, who then go on to slander the Three Jewels, the Buddhist sutras, the Dharma principles, and other bodhisattvas—is such a person a qualified bodhisattva, and does he commit offenses? Such a person is not a qualified bodhisattva and commits a grave defilement offense. If, due to one's own impure bodily, verbal, and mental actions, large numbers of sentient beings produce slander, even slandering the Dharma, is the wrongdoing great? It is very great. If a person deliberately, with extremely great afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, causes large numbers of sentient beings to slander the Dharma and lose faith in the Dharma, is he a member of Māra's faction? He is a member of Māra's faction. Those who knowingly protect a member of Māra's faction who has greed, hatred, and delusion and who harms sentient beings are accomplices, and they likewise incur offense.

Therefore, to judge whether a person is a true bodhisattva or a good teacher (kalyāṇamitra), one must consider everything comprehensively; one cannot look at only one aspect while ignoring the rest. Among these, bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the most important criteria of assessment; they most expose a person's essential nature, are most revealing, have the greatest impact, and concern the credibility and prestige of Buddhism as well as its rise and decline. Therefore every Buddhist learner must pay attention to purifying his own bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and must never create evil karma of the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion.