法苑珠林 21.53

21.53

Now, among lay men, status has two kinds: the noble and the base; the wealthy and the poor. Those of wealth and nobility are mostly heedless: arrogant and conceited, they despise, humiliate, and oppress their inferiors. Some rely on authority and status to honor themselves and mistreat others; some rely on broad knowledge and intelligence to flaunt their talents and mistreat others; some rely on eloquence and sharp tongue to speak smoothly and mistreat others; some boast of luxury and extravagance to despise and mistreat others; some rely on handsome looks and charming manners to flaunt their beauty and mistreat others; some ride plump horses and race mounts to flaunt their riding and mistreat others; some possess wealth and slaves to flaunt their riches and mistreat others. So many are they that they cannot be recounted in full. Sentient beings in their folly are truly pitiable. Unaware that impermanence is approaching, they wrongly give rise to haughty thoughts. In future retribution, boiling water and burning coals await them; hell-wardens holding pitchforks have long been waiting on them. Without worrying over these matters, they openly rejoice. How is this different from pigs and sheep unaware of approaching death? How is this different from flies covetously delighting in dead corpses? Reflecting on the past and contemplating the present, wealth and noble status have appeared repeatedly. As birth and death pass before one's eyes, noble and base alike turn to dust. Of the wealthy and noble, one sees only desolate graves; the poor and base have already become ash and soil. Since one knows that noble and base alike become ash, one must humble oneself and respect superiors. Thus, intimacy and estrangement are never fixed; nobility and baseness are not permanent; suffering and joy exchange places, and rising and sinking alternate.