坐禪三昧經 1.46

1.46

Answer: "Sentient beings are of hundreds of thousands of kinds; / various diseases turn by turns constantly come to vex them. / The thief of death lies in wait, ever wishing to kill them; / they drown of themselves in immeasurable sufferings. / How could a good person further add vexation, / slandering and plotting harm without loving-kindness or benevolence? / Before one manages to injure another, calamity befalls one’s own body. / If worldly people give rise to vexation, that is pardonable: / this matter is a mundane dharma, a cause of evil karma, / and they do not claim for themselves, 'I cultivate the good.' / But for one who has left home to seek the pure path / to produce ill-will and harbor a jealous mind / is like releasing poisonous fire from within cool, clear clouds— / one should know this evil guilt is exceedingly deep. / When an araṇya dweller gave rise to jealousy, / an arhat who possessed the knowledge of the minds of others / instructed and sternly rebuked him: 'How foolish you are! / Jealousy itself destroys your roots of merit. / If you seek offerings, you should yourself amass / the roots of all merit to adorn your person. / If you do not uphold the precepts, practice dhyāna, and learn much, / falsely wearing dyed robes will destroy the Dharma-body. / You are truly a beggar, a degraded and evil person; / how can you seek offerings to benefit yourself? / Hunger, thirst, cold, and heat—hundreds of thousands of pains— / sentient beings are constantly distressed by these vexations; / the afflictions of body and mind are without end— / how could a good person add further vexations? / It is like sticking a needle into an aching sore, / or like a prison inmate whose interrogation is not yet decided: / with suffering and distress entangling the body and all vexations gathered, / how could loving-kindness make them even more severe?'