法苑珠林 77.9

77.9

Therefore the Mahāyānasaṃgraha says: 'Stinginess is an obstacle to great wealth; jealousy is an obstacle to high status.' Furthermore, when sentient beings give rise to greed, nothing exceeds sensual form and wealth. First, excessive attachment to sensual form has many faults, as has been recounted before; for those who do not yet accept this, it will now be discussed briefly again. As the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: 'Suppose a person takes a rākṣasī as his wife and concubine; whatever children this rākṣasī gives birth to, having given birth to them she immediately devours them, and when the children are exhausted, she then devours her husband. Attachment, like the rākṣasī, is also like this: whatever children of wholesome roots sentient beings give birth to, it devours them as they are born, and when the wholesome children are exhausted, it then devours the sentient beings, causing them to fall into hells, animals, and hungry ghosts. Furthermore, suppose a person by nature loves beautiful flowers, and failing to see the peril of a poisonous snake in the flower stem, immediately reaches forward to grasp it; having grasped it, the snake bites him, and having been bitten, his life ends. All ordinary beings are also like this: coveting the flowers of the five desires, they do not see the peril of the poisonous snake of attachment, and thus accept it, immediately being bitten by the venom of attachment, and after their lives end, they fall into the three evil paths.' Second, as for those who give rise to greed toward wealth: greed for wealth brings about disaster and is afflicted by great suffering, turning against both the monastic and lay ways and causing estrangement among kin. Thus the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: 'Material possessions are the conditions for various defilements and sinful karmas; upholding precepts, dhyāna meditation, wisdom, and various wholesome dharmas are the conditions for nirvāṇa. For this reason, material possessions should be discarded by oneself, how much more should they not be given away in excellent fields of merit? For example, there were two brothers, each carrying ten catties of gold, traveling on a road with no other companions. The elder brother thought: "Why should I not kill my younger brother and take his gold? On this open road, no one will know." The younger brother also gave rise to the thought of wanting to kill his elder brother and take his gold. Both brothers harbored evil intentions; their words and gazes both altered. The brothers then awakened to themselves and gave rise to regret: "We are inhuman; how do we differ from beasts? Being brothers of the same womb, yet for the sake of a little gold, we gave rise to evil intentions!" The brothers went together to the edge of a spring. The elder brother threw his gold into the water, and the younger brother said, "Excellent, excellent!" The younger brother also cast his gold into the water, and the elder brother said, "Excellent, excellent!" The brothers asked each other: "Why did you say 'Excellent'?" Each answered: "Because of this gold, I gave rise to unwholesome thoughts wanting to harm you; now that I have discarded it, I said 'Excellent.'" Both spoke identical words. Due to this cause, one should always abandon [wealth] oneself.'