廣弘明集 26.46

26.46

諸大德僧尼。諸義學僧尼。諸寺三官。復當應思一大事。若使噉食眾生父。眾生亦報噉食其父。若噉食眾生母。眾生亦報噉食其母。若噉食眾生子。眾生亦報噉食其子。如是怨對報相噉食。歷劫長夜無有窮已。如經說。有一女人五百世害狼兒。狼兒亦五百世害其子。又有女人五百世斷鬼命根。鬼亦五百世斷其命根。如此皆是經說。不可不信。其餘相報推例可知。諸大德僧尼。諸義學僧尼。諸寺三官。又有一大事當應信受。從無始以來至于此生。經歷六道備諸果報。一切親緣遍一切處。直以經生歷死神明隔障。是諸眷屬不復相識。今日眾生或經是父母。或經是師長。或經是兄弟。或經是姊妹。或經是兒孫。或經是朋友。而今日無有道眼。不能分別。還相噉食不自覺知。噉食之時。此物有靈。即生忿恨還成怨對。向者至親還成至怨。如是之事豈可不思。暫爭舌端一時少味。永與宿親長為怨對。可為痛心難以言說。白衣居家未可適道。出家學人被如來衣習菩薩行。宜應深思。

All venerable monks and nuns, all doctrinal monks and nuns, and all three officers of the monasteries, you should further reflect on one great matter. If one eats the father of a sentient being, that sentient being will also retaliate by eating one's father. If one eats the mother of a sentient being, that sentient being will also retaliate by eating one's mother. If one eats the child of a sentient being, that sentient being will also retaliate by eating one's child. In this way, mutual enemies retaliate by devouring one another, through kalpas of the long night without end. As the sūtra states: There was a woman who for five hundred lifetimes killed a wolf cub, and for five hundred lifetimes the wolf cub also killed her child. Again, there was a woman who for five hundred lifetimes ended the life-faculty of a ghost, and the ghost also ended her life-faculty for five hundred lifetimes. These are all teachings from the sūtras and cannot be disbelieved. The remaining mutual retributions can be known by inference. All venerable monks and nuns, all doctrinal monks and nuns, and all three officers of the monasteries, there is yet another great matter that you should accept with faith: From the beginningless past down to this present life, we have passed through the six realms of rebirth, undergoing all varieties of fruit and retribution; our close relatives are everywhere. It is merely because we have crossed through births and deaths that our spirits are obstructed and obscured, so that these kinfolk no longer recognize one another. The sentient beings of today may have formerly been our fathers and mothers, or formerly been our teachers and elders, or formerly been our brothers, or formerly been our sisters, or formerly been our children and grandchildren, or formerly been our friends. Yet today, lacking the eye of the Way, we cannot discern this; we turn and devour one another without realizing it ourselves. At the moment of being devoured, this being possesses a spirit, which immediately gives rise to wrath and resentment and turns into an enemy. Those who were formerly the closest kin turn into the bitterest enemies. How can such a matter not be contemplated? For the momentary dispute over a meager taste on the tip of the tongue, one permanently becomes an enemy with past kin for long ages. This is so heartbreaking it is difficult to express in words. White-robed householders have not yet attained the Way; but renunciant practitioners, who wear the robes of the Tathāgata and cultivate the bodhisattva conduct, ought deeply to reflect upon this.