Vinaya Essentials Later Collection (律要後集)

About 律要後集

Ming · by 智旭集

8,380 · about 28 min

The Essential Compendium of Vinaya Principles is a significant work on monastic discipline compiled by the late Ming dynasty eminent monk Ouyi Zhixu. During the late Ming period, Buddhist precepts had become lax, and Master Zhixu composed this text by extracting essential teachings from the Vinaya canon in order to rectify the Dharma path. Its contents primarily encompass the specific precepts for bhikṣus and bodhisattvas, the principles of upholding, violating, applying, and suspending the precepts, along with key points for practical application, systematically expounding both the observance and the spirit of the Vinaya. This work is profound yet accessible, closely aligned with practical needs, and has been esteemed as an important guide to Vinaya studies since the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has exerted a profound influence on the transmission and propagation of Vinaya studies within Chinese Buddhism and remains an indispensable canonical text for the study of Buddhist monastic discipline.