法苑珠林 21.29

21.29

Now, faith is the source of the Way and the mother of meritorious virtues; wisdom is the foundation for leaving the world and attaining liberation. Without faith, one cannot board the light skiff; without wisdom, one cannot sever subtle delusions. This Way is manifest: ascending and sinking are witnessed by the eye. Yet we repeatedly see foolish men who do not believe that karmic causes can generate retributive fruits. They say that poverty and wealth are natural, suffering and joy are heavenly endowments; beauty and ugliness do not stem from forbearance and anger, high and low station are unrelated to reverence and negligence. Sentient beings affect themselves [they say], just as plants and trees are naturally fine or crude: how could they be obtained from causes? Now, relying on the Buddhist sūtras, this differs from non-Buddhist teachings. In discussing poverty and wealth, all arise from karmic conditions; noble and base station are unrelated to mere fate. Fools and the wise cannot simply exchange their minds; the shapely and ugly cannot swap their bodies. Therefore a sūtra says: 'Good and bad karmic retributions are determined by karma.' The books say: 'The good and bad fortune of destiny and physiognomy are suspended from Heaven.' Speaking from this: if the karma of commoners is to be poor, giving to them will still leave them without; if their physiognomy is destined for wealth, leaving them be will still find them ever prosperous. Thus Emperor Wen of the Han favored Deng Tong because of a dream, yet a physiognomist divined that Tong was poor and would starve to death. The emperor said, 'Enriching him rests with me; why speak of poverty?' and bestowed upon him a copper mountain, leaving him free to smelt and cast coin. Later, having encountered trouble, he fled into hiding and starved to death in another's house. Furthermore, the king of Ningbingli's attendant maid became pregnant; a physiognomist divined it, saying that he would be noble and become king. The king said, 'He is not my offspring,' and wanted to kill him. The maid said, 'A qi came from heaven, and therefore I became pregnant.' When the child was born, the king considered it inauspicious; abandoned in the pigpen, the pigs breathed warm air on him; cast into the stable, the horses nursed him with milk; and so he did not die, ultimately becoming the king of Buyeo. Hence we know that karmic conditions and fate are determined by unseen omens; in the end they do not change, and cannot be given or taken away. Thus we know that performing good brings blessings, while doing evil incurs calamity; karmic fruit is unerring, and this principle is radiant. How can one remain confined in folly, harboring confusion without awakening? Furthermore, formerly in the time of Wu Ding, a mulberry and a paper mulberry grew together at court in Bo. The Grand Astrologer divined: 'Wild weeds growing at court means the court will perish.' Wu Ding was terrified, humbled himself, and cultivated good; the mulberry and paper mulberry withered and died, and the Shang Way flourished midway. Is this not having blessings from doing good? Furthermore, in the time of Di Xin, a sparrow gave birth to a crow in the corner of the city wall. The Grand Astrologer divined: 'A small bearing a large means the state will surely prosper.' Di Xin became arrogant and violent, failing to cultivate good governance; the Shang state consequently perished. Is this not having calamity from doing evil? Historical records such as these are cited comprehensively in more than one instance. How can one be so stubborn as to completely contravene both sūtras and histories? The people of the world all witness that sowing seeds in spring brings harvest in winter; just as giving has a coming retribution, evoking [the rebirth with] fine white cloth and coins in hand, so virtue must receive present recompense, bringing about the holding of a pearl in the mouth and carrying a deer on the back. Moreover, when a man of old used a single gourd of food to rescue a starving traveler, he still received recompense with the supporting of wheels; now, in offering a single vegetarian meal to the great assembly, how could there not be puṇya and emolument to repay it?