鐔津文集 2.19

2.19

What is meant by the teaching speaking of giving (dāna)? Although I discussed giving in 'An Inquiry into the Teaching' (Yuanjiao), I did not exhaust it; here I exhaust it. Giving is the sage's wish for people to generate good fortune. Does good fortune have any physical form? It resides merely in whether the mind is good or not good. Greed and stinginess are the mind's non-goodness; helping people and benefiting creatures are the mind's goodness. When a good mind evokes a response, it becomes good fortune; when an un-good mind evokes a response, it becomes the ultimate ill. The principle of good fortune and ultimate ill is found in the 'Grand Norm' (Huangji) of the Confucians; the Grand Norm sets it forth without debating it. What is spoken of as giving is the sage's wish for people to bring forth the mind that evokes good fortune. When bringing it forth, there are superior and inferior qualities; hence in the response, there are greater and lesser magnitudes. Bringing forth one's mind of giving for Buddhist matters is superior; bringing forth one's mind of giving for worldly affairs is inferior. The sage wishes people's good fortune to be bountiful, so he places the superior first and the inferior second. The inferior is called base; the superior is called excellent. The Confucians say: 'Good fortune means complete preparedness. Complete preparedness is the name for a hundred accords.' Having nothing that is not in accord is called complete preparedness. This describes its conditions, but does not describe its cause; without the cause, the world will not know that by which it becomes good fortune. If the ground one plants in is barren, the things produced will not be luxuriant; if the ground one plants in is fertile, the things produced will surely be bountiful. Therefore, when the sage reveals the excellent and the inferior to people, how could there be any carelessness? If one gives to people with material wealth, the good fortune can be measured; if one gives to people with the Dharma, the good fortune cannot be measured. That which can be measured is spoken of in terms of the worldly; that which cannot be measured is spoken of in terms of the world-transcending.