Scriptures on not commercialising the Buddha Dharma

Discuss and learn about the traditional Mahayana scriptures, without assuming that any one school ‘owns’ the only correct interpretation.
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plwk
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Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:41 am

Scriptures on not commercialising the Buddha Dharma

Post by plwk »

I am interested about collecting scriptural citations on advising the laity and monastics against commercialising, making monetary profits for self or corporations and related such from the Buddha Dharma. If anyone knows any appropriate one(s), please contribute. :thanks:
DGA
Former staff member
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Re: Scriptures on not commercialising the Buddha Dharma

Post by DGA »

Lotus Sutra, chapter 14 advises against making a spectacle of oneself, favoring the powerful (by extension the wealthy in today's context), or being motivated for selfish reasons in teaching. One's reward for teaching is instead the joy of sharing the Dharma.

perhaps more directly relevant is vow #41 from the Brahma Net Sutra: (emphasis added)
41. Teaching for the Sake of Profit
If a disciple of the Buddha, when teaching others and developing their faith in the Mahayana, should discover that a particular person wishes to receive the Bodhisattva precepts, he should act as a teaching master and instruct that person to seek out two Masters, a Dharma Master and a Precept Master.
These two Masters should ask the Precept candidate whether he has committed any of the Seven Cardinal Sins in this life. If he has, he cannot receive the precepts. If not, he may receive the precepts.
If he has broken any of the Ten Major Precepts, he should be instructed to repent before the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. He should do so six times a day and recite the Ten Major and Forty-eight Minor Precepts, paying respect with utter sincerity to the Buddhas of the Three Periods of Time. He should continue in this manner until he receives an auspicious response, which could occur after seven days, fourteen days, twenty-one days, or even a year. Examples of auspicious signs include: experiencing the Buddhas rub the crown of one's head, or seeing lights, halos, flowers and other such rare phenomena.
The witnessing of an auspicious sign indicates that the candidate's karma has been dissipated. Otherwise, although he has repented, it was of no avail. He still has not received the precepts. However, the merits accrued will increase his chances of receiving the precepts in a future lifetime.
Unlike the case of a major Bodhisattva precept, if a candidate has violated any of the Forty-eight Secondary Precepts, he can confess his infraction and sincerely repent before Bodhisattva-monks or nuns. After that, his offense will be eradicated.
The officiating Master, however, must fully understand the Mahayana sutras and moral codes, the secondary as well as the major Bodhisattva precepts, what constitutes an offense and what does not, the truth of Primary Meaning, as well as the various Bodhisattva cultivation stages -- the Ten Dwellings, the Ten Practices, the Ten Dedications, the Ten Grounds, and Equal and Wonderful Enlightenment.
He should also know the type and degree of contemplation required for entering and exiting these stages and be familiar with the Ten Limbs of Enlightenment as well as a variety of other contemplations.
If he is not familiar with the above and, out of greed for fame, disciples or offerings, he makes a pretense of understanding the sutras and moral codes, he is deceiving himself as well as others. Hence, if he intentionally acts as Precept Master, transmitting the precepts to others, he commits a secondary offense.
http://www.purifymind.com/BrahmaNetSutra.htm
JKhedrup
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Joined: Wed May 30, 2012 8:28 am

Re: Scriptures on not commercialising the Buddha Dharma

Post by JKhedrup »

The Lam Rim by Lama Tzongkhapa mentions the negativity of selling texts and holy images for profit.
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