起信論疏筆削記 18.30

18.30

Regarding giving: In the treatise, "all who come seeking and begging" refers to the recipients of giving. This is not like Shan de, who was restricted to seven kinds of persons; hence it says "all," meaning without discriminating between enemies and kin, the old and the young, the sick and the healthy, the high and the low, the poor and the destitute, the distant and the near, and so forth. "Whatever one has," below, refers to the objects given. The phrase "according to one's capacity" seems to have two senses: first, according to the capacity of one's wealth or poverty; second, according to the capacity of one's renunciation and giving. If it is in accordance with one's capacity, one will certainly not force oneself, avoiding giving rise to vexation. "From [the desire] to..." below indicates the intention behind practicing giving. "Personally relinquishing stinginess and greed" means practicing dāna in accord with one's nature, which is the practice of self-benefit; "causing them to rejoice" means delivering sentient beings and bestowing kindness, which is the practice of benefiting others. Thus we know that although the bodhisattva undertakes a single practice, both benefits are already combined; this is gathering the poor through giving. In the commentary, "giving of material goods" refers to articles that sustain the body; hence they are also called external wealth, because they are things outside the body; they are also called requisites of life, because wealth sustains life. According to the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra, twelve kinds of defiled giving are taught: 1. giving unequally to sentient beings; 2. giving out of conditions of sexual desire for men or women; 3. giving out of fear to a king to seek protection; 4. giving with a deluded mind, such as the feasts of non-Buddhists; 5. giving merely by imitating others without knowing karmic retribution; 6. giving only after a beggar earnestly pleads; 7. giving to make someone trust you, knowing they have possessions, so as to defraud them later; 8. giving goods and instructing them to break harmony and form an alliance, bringing them decline and vexation later; 9. giving goods to a man or woman to arrange a marriage, either having the man give to the woman or vice versa; 10. buying goods cheaply and selling them dearly on the day of a vegetarian feast, offering only a slight discount; 11. giving for the sake of reputation; 12. giving goods to one's wife and children who are hungry and poor. Being free from these twelve is called pure giving. Besides these, there are another twelve kinds of complete giving, which cannot be detailed here. The Upāsakaśīla-sūtra states that a bodhisattva practicing giving should avoid five things: 1. when giving, not choosing between the virtuous and the unvirtuous; 2. when giving, not speaking of good and evil; 3. when giving, not selecting castes; 4. when giving, not slighting the petitioner; 5. when giving, not speaking harshly. Furthermore, there are three matters through which, having given, one does not obtain an exquisite retribution: 1. first intending much, but later giving little; 2. choosing inferior goods to give to others; 3. having practiced giving, generating regret in one's mind. Being free from these three matters, the result is exquisite.