諸經要集 10.64

10.64

Suppose there are two people: one is very rich, and one is poor. A beggar comes, and both people harbor distress. The one who has wealth fears that the beggar will make demands of him. The one who lacks wealth thinks, 'How can I obtain a little wealth to give him?' Though the sorrow and distress of these two are the same, their retributions are different: the poor person who thinks with compassion will be born among gods and humans to experience boundless pleasure; the rich person who is stingy will be born among hungry ghosts to suffer boundless pain. If a bodhisattva merely has a compassionate mind, it is already complete—how much more so if he gives even a small thing! When a bodhisattva with a mind of compassion thinks to give but has no wealth, seeing someone beg he cannot bear to say he has nothing; sorrowful and pained, he sheds tears. If he cannot even bear to hear of another's suffering, how much less could he see another's distress with his own eyes and not rescue him! Such a thing cannot be. One who has a compassionate mind, seeing poor and suffering sentient beings with no wealth to give them, sighs with sorrow and pain beyond compare. One who rescues sentient beings, seeing sentient beings suffer, weeps with compassion and sheds tears; because he sheds tears, one knows what his mind experiences. A bodhisattva sheds tears on three occasions: first, seeing one who cultivates merit, he sheds tears out of love and reverence; second, seeing distressed sentient beings who lack merit, he sheds tears out of compassion; third, when practicing great giving, he sheds tears out of leapings of sorrow and joy. If one were to calculate the tears the bodhisattva has shed, they would be more than the waters of the four great oceans. The weeping and shedding of tears by worldly beings upon parting from their relatives does not equal the weeping and shedding of tears of a bodhisattva when he sees poor and suffering sentient beings and has no wealth to give them. When a bodhisattva hears the beggar's voice, he sheds tears for him. When the beggar sees the bodhisattva raining tears, though he has not yet said he will give, one should know he certainly will obtain it. When the bodhisattva sees the beggar come, he gives rise to extreme sorrow and distress; when the beggar obtains the wealth and goods, his mind gives rise to joy and he puts an end to his sorrow and distress. When the bodhisattva hears the begging words, he weeps and sheds tears, unable to stop himself. The beggar says, 'It is enough.' At that time, after the bodhisattva has practiced giving and sentient beings are satisfied, he enters the mountain forests to practice dhyāna-meditation, eradicating the three poisons. 'When wealth and goods were twice as abundant, there was no beggar to give to; now I go forth from household life (pravrajyā) to cut off all defilements and fetters.'