過去莊嚴劫千佛名經 1.34

1.34

"Having completed the repentance for the retributions of the hells, we should now next repent of the retributions of the three evil paths. In the sūtras the Buddha said: 'Because those of many desires seek much profit, their suffering and affliction are also great. Those who know contentment, though lying on the bare ground, still consider it joyful; those who do not know contentment, though abiding in heavenly palaces, are still not pleased.' Yet worldly people, when sudden danger strikes, can abandon their wealth without counting how much; and yet they do not realize that their very bodies are poised over the deep abyss of the three evil destinies, and that once a single breath does not return, they must immediately fall. When a good friend suddenly attends to merited virtue and bids them cultivate the provisions of future wholesome dharmas, they hold tightly to their stingy minds and find no reason to do so. Those who are like this are utterly foolish and deluded. Why is this? In the sūtras the Buddha said: 'At birth, one brings not a single coin; in death, one also takes not a single coin away. Accumulating [wealth] with a weary body brings only worry and affliction: to oneself it brings no benefit, and it merely passes to others. Having no wholesome deed to rely on, and no virtue to depend upon, it brings about that when life ends, one falls into the evil destinies.' Therefore, we disciples bow our heads today and sincerely take refuge in the Buddha.