法苑珠林 91.59

91.59

As the *Sūtra of One Hundred Parables* says: Formerly, there were two people who planted sugarcane together and made a vow, saying, “The one who grows good [canes] shall be rewarded, while the one who grows poor ones shall be heavily punished.” At that time, between the two people, one thought, “Sugarcane is extremely sweet; if I press and take its juice and pour it back to irrigate the sugarcane, my plants will surely surpass the other.” Having taken the juice to irrigate it, hoping for rich flavor, he instead ruined the seeds, and completely lost all of his sugarcane. People of the world are also like this: wishing to seek good fortune, they rely on their own nobility, depend on their status and leverage their power, oppressing the common people and plundering their wealth to perform meritorious deeds and goodness, not knowing that in the future they will instead reap calamity—just like pressing the sugarcane, where both self and other are lost.