法苑珠林 62.27

62.27

若以房舍臥具湯藥園林池井牛羊象馬種種資生。布施於他。施已命終。是人福德隨所施物。住用久近。福德常生。是福追人如影隨形。或有說言。終已便失。是義不然。何以故。物壞不用二時中失。非命盡失。若出家人効在家人。歲節之日棄飲食者。隨世法故非真實也。亦信世法出世法故。若能隨家所有好惡。常樂施者。名一切施。若以身分及以妻子。所重之物施於人者。是則名為不思議施。

"If one gives to others rooms and dwellings, bedding, medicines, parks, ponds, wells, oxen, sheep, elephants, horses, and various necessities of life, and dies after having given them, this person's blessings and merit will constantly arise according to how long the donated objects endure and are used. This merit follows the person like a shadow following a form. Some may say that once one dies it is lost, but this meaning is not so. Why? It is lost during the two times when the object is destroyed or no longer used; it is not lost at the end of life. If renunciants imitate householders by discarding food and drink on festival days, this is merely following worldly customs and is not real [virtue], because they believe in both worldly and transmundane dharmas. If one can constantly delight in giving according to whatever one's household possesses, whether good or bad, this is called 'giving of everything.' If one gives to others parts of one's own body, or wives, children, and precious objects, this is called 'inconceivable giving.'"