諸經要集 7.7

7.7

夫在家丈夫。尊卑有二。一貴二賤。一富二貧。富貴之者。人多放逸。慠慢貢高。輕辱陵下。或有乘威藉勢。尊己陵人。或有博識聰達。恃才陵人。或有辯口利詞。暢說凌人。或有誇豪奢侈。輕慢陵人。或有美容恣態。恃色陵人。或有乘肥騁騎。恃乘陵人。或有資財奴婢。恃富陵人。如是眾多不可具述。眾生愚癡甚為可愍。不知無常將至。妄起高心。來報湯炭煎煮相待。獄卒執叉伺候日久。不憂斯事公然喜樂。何異猪羊不知死至。何異飛蠅貪樂死屍。惟古思今。富貴非一。生滅交臂。貴賤同塵。富貴者唯見荒墳。貧賤者已同灰壤。既知生滅交切。即須卑己敬上。是以親疎無定。貴賤不恒。苦樂易位升沈更代也。

As for men who dwell at home, there are two kinds of noble and base: first, the exalted; second, the lowly; first, the wealthy; second, the poor. Among the wealthy and exalted, people are mostly unrestrained, haughty, and arrogant, slighting and oppressing their inferiors. Some rely on majesty and take advantage of their authority, honouring themselves and bullying others. Some are widely learned and thoroughly perceptive, relying on talent to bully others. Some have eloquent mouths and sharp words, fluent in speech to bully others. Some boast of grandeur and extravagance, negligent and contemptuous to bully others. Some have handsome features and charming bearing, relying on looks to bully others. Some ride plump horses and race steed, relying on mounts to bully others. Some possess wealth and retain male and female slaves, relying on riches to bully others. Such varieties are so numerous they cannot be fully recounted. Sentient beings in their folly are exceedingly pitiable: unaware that impermanence is about to arrive, they falsely raise lofty thoughts. The retributions to come—scalding soup and burning coals to boil and roast—await them; hell wardens holding pitchforks have long been lying in wait. Not worrying over these matters, they openly make merry. How does this differ from pigs and sheep unaware that death has come? How does it differ from flying flies greedily delighting in a corpse? When reflecting on antiquity and contemplating the present, wealthy and exalted persons have not been few. Birth and extinction pass in an instant; the noble and the base return to the same dust. For the wealthy and exalted, one sees only desolate tombs; the poor and lowly have already become the same as ash and soil. Having recognized that birth and extinction press closely upon us, one must humble oneself and respect those above. Thus near and distant are unfixed, noble and base are inconstant, and pain and pleasure exchange positions, rising and sinking taking turns.