諸經要集 6.48

6.48

Now poverty, wealth, noble status, and lowliness are all caused by past karma; gains, losses, possessing, and lacking all stem from past conduct. Therefore a sūtra says: "If you wish to know past causes, look at present fruits; if you wish to know future fruits, look at present causes." Thus in the house of Yuan Xian or the chamber of Qianlou, cord-hung door pivots and jar-rim windows failed to keep out the wind and dust, while rush mats for doors and mugwort screens did not ward off the frost and dew. Some spread rice straw to serve as mats, or cut lotus leaves to use as garments. Drawing in the elbows, both sleeves were worn through; stitching up threads, both lapels were equally torn. Their sustenance was dependent on Anyi, and their lodgings were lodged in the Lingtai. On their heads they wore hats of ten years' age; on their bodies they draped threads of a hundred patches. In their native villages they had neither fields nor houses, and in Luoyang they lacked a host. Wandering with the times, passing their days amid rugged hardships, though ashamed before Lingzhe, they had the plight of sheltering beneath the mulberry; embarrassed before Boyi, they brought upon themselves the agony of Mount Shouyang. Abruptly lacking coats and skirts, how could they see the warm spring? Possessing not even a sheng or a dou of grain, how could they finish out the year? The reason it is like this is entirely because in former days they did not practice generous giving and always harbored stinginess and greed, causing their retribution of blessings to be completely exhausted in a single morning. Therefore, practitioners should practice giving.