Why Uphold Precepts

The Bodhisattva Lion's Roar said: "Oh, World Honored One! Why do we uphold prohibitive shila?"

The Buddha said: "Oh, good man! If so, the mind has no regrets. Why does not regrets? Because one gains bliss. How does one gain bliss? This comes from segregation. Why do we need to seek segregation? To gain peace. How does one gain peace? Through meditation. Why meditate? To obtain the true knowledge and vision. In what way do we have true knowledge and vision? Through the vision of many ills and worries of birth and death. This is for our mind not to cling greedily. Why do we need to have our mind not clinging greedily? Because we gain Emancipation. How do we gain Emancipation? By gaining unsurpassed Great Nirvana. How do we gain unsurpassed Great Nirvana? By gaining the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure. Why do we say that we gain the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure? Due to gain of birthlessness and deathlessness. How do we gain birthlessness and deathlessness? By seeing the Buddha Nature. Thus, the Bodhisattva, by nature, upholds the shila of absolute purity.

Oh, good man! The Monk who upholds shila may not take a vow to gain the non-regretting mind, but the non-regretting mind will come about by itself. Why? Because the nature of law makes things be so spontaneously. Although he may not particularly seek to arrive at segregation, peace, samadhi, knowledge and vision, the ills of birth and death, the mind that not clings greedily to [things], to emancipation, to Nirvana, to the Eternal, Bliss, the Self, and the Pure, to the birthlessness and deathlessness, and to the Buddha Nature; yet, all these things will arise spontaneously. Why? Because of the all-naturalness of the law nature. "

Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 34, on the Bodhisattva Lion's Roar 2.

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