法苑珠林 55.30

55.30

The Sūtra of One Hundred Parables also says: Formerly, there was a man whose appearance was upright and handsome, who was fully endowed with wisdom, and who had abundant wealth; everyone in the world praised him. At that time, there was a foolish person who, seeing him like this, said, 'He is my elder brother.' Later, seeing that he was demanded to repay debts, he said, 'He is not my brother.' A bystander said to him, 'You are a foolish person! Why did you acknowledge someone else as your brother when you wanted wealth, and then when he was dunned for debts, say he is not your brother?' The fool replied, 'Because I wished to obtain his wealth, I recognized him as my brother. He is not truly my brother.' Hearing these words, everyone laughed at him. It is just like those non-Buddhists who hear the Buddha's good words, greedily steal them, and use them as their own. Even when bystanders urge them to cultivate the practice, they refuse to cultivate it, and make this statement: 'For the sake of gain and support, we stole what the Buddha taught to convert and guide sentient beings, but there is no reality to it. Why should we cultivate it?' This is just like that fool who, in order to get wealth, said, 'He is my brother,' and when debts were demanded, said again, 'He is not my brother.' This is also like that.