布施利人天 at 3:27 AM
布施利人天 (一) 海涛 辑
Giving (Generosity) - Benefiting Human and God Realms (I)
Compiled by Ven. Hai Tao
1.布施者，于六度中最易修习，是故先说。譬如世间诸所作事，若易作者先当作之。是故先说布施波罗蜜多。
1. Just like the way we deal with the worldly affairs in which the easiest one needs to be done first, the Six Paramitas begin with the giving paramita for the same reason.
2.六度彼岸，布施为门；四摄之行，而为其首，犹如大地，一切万物依之生长。以是义故，先说布施波罗蜜多。
2. As the gate to the Six Paramitas and the lead of the Four Means of Arraction, the giving paramita, like the earth where all living beings grow, is introduced foremost.
3.诸菩萨摩诃萨为欲利乐诸有情故，先行布施波罗蜜多。
3. The Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas regard the practice of the Giving Paramita as their first priority for the sake of benefiting and pleasing all sentient beings.
4.魔王波旬化为财宝，令使悭吝，以此方便惑乱我心，于大菩提而为障碍。以是义故，不应悭吝。一切珍财爱恋之心，皆应舍离。
4. To tempt human beings, Mara will transform himself into treasure to coax stinginess so as to block their cultivation of the Bodhi mind. For the afore-cited reason, stinginess and covetousness are what we need to renounce.
5.若诸菩萨多积珍财，不行布施，犹如白象，于殑伽河净澡浴已，以鼻噏取粪秽、尘土，遍身坌之。我以福德净水澡浴其身端严清洁，不应悭吝爱惜财宝，坌污其身。
5. Bodhisattvas who amass instead of donating treasure are like white elephants that suck the dirt and dust with their nose and then smear the dirt and dust all over their body after having taken a bath in the Ganges. One should dignify and purify the Bodhisattva’s body with the clean water of good fortune. For the afore-mentioned reason, Bodhisattvas shouldn’t pollute themselves with stinginess.
6.若他逼舍身命财，制不自由无利益，如是知已谛思惟，开心自施为最胜。迷人若悟梦幻法，内外皆舍无所著，如是布施等虚空，无我无受为最胜。
6. If our life is under threat, what freedom and welfare can we claim to? Having properly considered this way, one will realize that a happy voluntary giving is the wisest. If the deluded one is able to awake from the illusive world and lay aside the notion of the ego and worldly possessions without any attachment, the giving he practiced is as vast as the space, for the emancipation from self-attachment and the emotional attachment is the most superior.
7.檀施为刀，破悭吝贼。悭吝贼者，众苦根本。菩萨于此不生爱著。
7. Giving is akin to a knife that can kill the thief of stinginess, the root of all sufferings that a Bodhisattva should stay away from.
8.此法施者，有三种事胜于财施。云何为三？
一、财施者而有竭尽，法施增长则无有尽，以是校量胜于财施。
二、受财施者现在利益，受法施者现在、未来俱有利益，于无量世恒相随逐，无人侵夺，乃至无上正等菩提不相舍离。
三、财施者能施获益，受者无益，若法施者自、他俱益，由闻法故发心速趣无上菩提。
由此三义，法施之者胜于财施。由行法施名称远闻，一切人、天尊重、恭敬。以此因缘先说法施。
8. The giving of Dharma exceeds the giving of wealth in the following three:
(1)The giving of wealth will come to an end, while the giving of Dharma nurtures the recipient in a boundless way.
(2)The beneficiary of the giving of wealth enjoys only the current benefit, the recipient of the giving of Dharma, however, will not only benefit from now on till the endless future lifetimes but the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment will keep him company as well.
(3)In the practice of the wealth giving, the giver is the real beneficiary, but as for the giving of Dharma, because the recipient was inspired by the teaching to vow to quickly attain the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment, both the giver and the recipient benefit.
For the afore-cited three reasons, the giving of Dharma surpasses the giving of wealth. The one who practices the giving of Dharma is well-known and revered by both humankind and celestial beings. For such reasons, the giving of Dharma is introduced first.
9.云何菩萨摩诃萨修行布施无诸过患？谓自手营作而行布施，非嫉妒他、非畏恶名、非求恩德而行布施，为济贫乏、茕独（茕，音琼，孤独之意）、困苦而行布施，是名为施。
9. Why are Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas infallible by practicing giving? Neither out of jealousy, nor for fear of an ill fame, nor with an expectation of gratitude, the Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas practice giving on their own with a wish to help those who are impoverished, lonely and distressed, through which a true giving is demonstrated.
布施利人天 (二) 海涛 辑
Giving (Generosity) - Benefiting Human and God Realms (II)
Compiled by Ven. Hai Tao
1.云何少施功德多耶？以方便力少分布施，回向发愿，与一切众生同证无上正等菩提。以是功德无量无边，犹如少云渐遍世界。
1. Why is little giving recompensed with abundant merits? If one practiced giving in small degree at one’s convenience, and then transferred the merits to others and vowed to attain the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment together with all sentient beings, the merits accumulated thus are boundless, like a little cloud that gradually covers the whole universe.
2.菩萨摩诃萨一切宠爱珍惜之者悉皆布施，乃至成佛无上菩提。如是施者，名为菩萨行于大施。
2. Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas will give anything they cherish till they reach the state of Buddhahood. Such giving is named the great giving of Bodhisattvas.
3.菩萨摩诃萨所有世间妙好之物，不生贪著，常能惠施一切有情。所以者何？以大悲心等视众生，犹如一子。愿与一切众生永息贫穷，于所求愿悉令满足，而于生死旷野之中备七圣财，得佛智宝。
3. Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas are able to stay away from the worldly attractions and constantly benefit all living beings because they compassionately and indiscriminately view all sentient beings as their only child. They hope that all sentient beings are eternally from poverty, what they wish is gratified, and that in the wilderness of transmigration, they are equipped with the Seven Noble Wealth and able to acquire the Buddha’s wisdom.
4.若为名闻而作师长行于布施，如商贾人，非真施也。起大悲心，不择怨亲、财物多少而行布施，名真施也。
4. A hypocritical giving is when it’s conducted in a business way, in which the giver condescendingly practices giving to earn a good fame. A genuine giving is, however, motivated by compassion, regardless of the amount of charity and whether the recipient is a friend or foe.
5.有二种田！云何为二？一者、悲田，谓诸孤露、贫穷、困苦。二者、敬田，谓佛、法、僧、父母、师长。
5. There are two fields of merits: firstly, the Field of Compassion, in which orphans, the poor, and the distressed are included; secondly, the Field of Reverence, namely, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, our parents, teachers and elders.
6.于悲田所，不应轻贱，言无福田。于敬田所，不应求报。
6. Do not look down on the Field of Compassion, or it could cause a cutback on our own Field of Merits; as to the Field of Reverence, ask for no repayment.
7.以大悲心无所分别，等施一切，名真施也。
7. A true giving is based on compassion and indiscrimination.
8.又布施者勿起希求，而于财物不能舍离。或被官逼夺而行布施，或畏损失而行布施。于三宝所不得轻慢，应生尊重，不自称说而行布施。
8. Furthermore, givers should not hold on to their possessions and wouldn’t let go. Neither should they donate under the official enforcement nor for fear of loss. They should show respect instead of arrogance toward the Triple Jewels and refrain from boasting about it while practicing giving.
9.若以重宝无所爱著，不生我慢，亦不贡高，而行布施，名真布施。
9. If one is able to give one’s precious jewels with neither attachment nor arrogance and haughtiness, it is named true giving.
10.若于敬田不生恭敬，将所厌物而施与之，不名为施。或为家贫无妙好物，而有粗鄙，耻不施之，以是因缘都不行施。
10. It is not called giving when one irreverently gives what one dislikes to the Field of Reverence. Neither is it when a poor man is too embarrassed about the inferior quality of his possessions to give.
11.夫行施者不应分别，随其所有来即与之，是即名为檀波罗蜜。
11. A practitioner of Giving ought to give whatever is available to whoever may come, for a giving based on indiscrimination is true giving paramita.
12.菩萨摩诃萨不应自恃持戒、多闻、禅定、智慧而行布施，亦不轻慢他人、贪恚、愚痴、寡闻、破戒而行布施，非净施也。
12. While practicing giving, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas should show no conceit about their observance of the precepts, comprehensive knowledge, deep Samadhi and wisdom. Their giving shouldn’t be based on arrogance, covetousness, or resentment. Neither should they give if they are ignorant, sciolistic, nor even by violating the precepts. Giving like these is deemed an impure giving.
13.菩萨布施愿力能令众生得大利益、究竟安乐，亦令一切有情同此行愿，乃至无上正等菩提，誓不退转，常行是行，乃至涅槃，利益有情令得解脱。
13. A Bodhisattva’s vow to practice giving will bring great benefit and ultimate peace and joy to the sentient beings; it can also inspire all sentient beings to generate the same vow to give and to help others gain liberation till they themselves accomplish the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment and reach the state of nirvana.
布施利人天 (三) 海涛 辑
Giving (Generosity) - Benefiting Human and God Realms(III)Compiled by Ven. Hai Tao
1.菩萨摩诃萨所行布施，无不活畏、无恶趣畏，随其多少而施与之。以广大心皆得无尽无量功德，是即名为檀波罗蜜。
1. The Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas do not practice giving out of a fear for death or rebirth to the lower realms; they give what is needed. As the mind is extensive, so the merit is boundless. Such is named the paramita of giving.
2.若行施时，不能普为一切有情回向无上正等菩提，设以宝聚如妙高山而用布施，利益甚少。犹如芥子，易可穷尽；亦如片云，风飘即灭。
2. If a giver who donates treasure as high as Mt. Sumeru doesn’t transfer his merits to the attainment of the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment for all sentient beings, the benefits he gathered by giving are as easily used up as the mustard seeds, and as floating as the cloud which is easily blown away by the wind.
3.菩萨摩诃萨修习大乘布施行时，犹如伏藏，随自身行；如如意树，随有情意能满彼愿。
3. The Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, who practice giving in Mahayana way, are like being accompanied by a latent treasury and possessing a wish-fulfilling tree that can meet the desires of the sentient beings.
4.菩萨摩诃萨应当更发二种胜心：
一者、所有资财库藏诸物知自性空，犹如阳焰、梦想、幻化；
二者、于诸有情起大悲心，若见贫穷，起怜愍心。
4. The Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas should go further to generate two supreme minds: firstly, realize that the nature of the worldly possessions is as empty as the mock flames seen under the sun, as dreams, and as illusion; secondly, be compassionate to all sentient beings and feel empathy for the poor.
5.于是财宝不应悭吝，手自行施，愿与一切有情同证无上正等菩提。如是之财真我所有。设畜财物，终不为已，皆为饶益一切众生，悉皆成就檀波罗蜜。
5. One should generously give in person and vow to attain the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment together with all sentient beings; for the merit derived thus is one’s true wealth. Instead for personal usage, one should gather wealth for the sake of benefiting all sentient beings and wish them to accomplish the paramita of giving.
6.若我积聚种种财物，不能自施，如是之物非是我有，用不自在，同于裸形，如守藏人自无其分，无常贼来，风刀解体，所爱财物、妻妾持去别奉他人。彼人得已，倍复悭惜，乃至命终亦复如是，展转悭吝，终不能舍。如是等人暂时守护。
6. Gathered wealth that won’t be donated voluntarily is not one’s true wealth, because in order to keep his wealth, one needs to act sneakily like a naked pagan. As a treasure-keeper only temporarily keeps but has no claim of the treasure, so does the treasure-hoarding one, for at his last moment when his body is being disrupted, his cherished wealth and beloved wives would be taken away by others. The one who took his possessions suffers even a stronger attachment and is unable to let go till the end of his days. Those people are only temporary treasure-keepers.
7.如是资财定非我物，王、贼、水、火及与恶子悉皆有分、常惧侵夺，思寄亲知，寝食不安，恒忧散失。由悭不施招此忧危。
7. The wealth one gathered is never monopolized by oneself but is shared by the country, thieves, flood, fire, and the wastrel son. Tightfisted and reluctant to give, one will not only constantly suffer from the anxiety of being dispossessed of his property, wishing to let out his apprehension to his family, but he will also feel uneasy day and night, fearful of its depletion.
8.悭吝不施所畜财物，如把草炬，逆风而行，草尽烧手，当受痛苦；若速弃者则无诸苦。如是知已，当观此财犹如火炬亦如幻焰，应速舍之，求真实果。
8. A treasure-hoarding one who is too miserly to give is comparable to a torch-bearer walking against the wind. When the grass of the torch is burned out, his hand shall suffer the pain of the burn. Yet safe is the one from the pain who could discard the torch right away. With such understanding, one should view one’s worldly possessions as a torch and illusory flames, which one needs to renounce immediately for the real attainment.
9.能行施者，国王、大臣、婆罗门、居士之所称赞，所出言词人皆信受。悭吝之人不能惠施，常怀忧恼，谓施无福，当堕三涂。
9. A giver is praised by the king, ministers, Brahmans and lay practitioners, and his words trusted by all. Being penny-pinching, a miser tends to be apprehensive and shall eventually suffer a degenerate rebirth into the three lower realms for claiming that giving is reward-less.
10.复次能施之人一切敬爱，悭贪之辈众所憎嫌。能布施者如僧伽蓝，一切人、天悉皆归向；悭贪之人如陷塳墓，一切贤圣皆悉远之，亦如涸池，众鸟不集。
10. A giver is loved and revered by all, where a skinflint calls forth hatred and disgust. A giver is as holy as a monastery, to which all the human and celestial beings pay homage; whereas, a skinflint, like having one foot in the grave, is kept away from all the saints and the sages, and is desolated by birds, like an exhausted pond.
布施利人天 (四) 海涛 辑
Giving (Generosity) - Benefiting Human and God Realms(IV)
Compiled by Ven. Hai Tao
1.行布施者，诸天、贤圣乐与同处；悭不施者，饿鬼、畜生自然会集。
1. Celestial beings, saints and sages enjoy the giver’s company, while the hungry ghosts and animals will come to the miser uninvited.
2.行无相施，住第一义，得人、法空，能利自、他，究竟圆满。
2. Giving without attachment allows one to stay peacefully in the ultimate truth, and realize the empty nature of the self and the phenomenal world, as a result of which one is able to benefit both the self and others and attain the Buddhahood eventually.
3.见乞者来，颜色和悦，言无讥毁。若闻乞声，欢喜愍念。譬如孝子，违离父母五十余年，忽闻还家，不胜喜跃闻。
3. Genially attend to the beggars with no abusive words. When hearing the sound of begging, one should feel joyful as well as compassionate, like the parents who have departed with their child for over fifty years overjoyed by the news of their child’s coming home.
4.若时乞者至菩萨所，起大希望，菩萨是时家贫无物，应当软语慰谕彼人，无令嗔恨，不生疑惑，令悉有无。
4. If a beggar with great wish came to a Bodhisattva who failed to give due to poverty, the Bodhisattva should then pacify the beggar with tender words and try to explain away the beggar’s doubts.
5.菩萨摩诃萨行布施时，应当慈悲宽其心意，所有乞者任彼往来，随其所须皆不遮吝。
5. A Bodhisattva should practice giving with a compassionate and broad mind, giving whatever needed to whomever in need.
6.一切财物，无常败坏，众苦之本，如身疮疣，鸟持败肉。
6. Like boils and warts on one’s body and the rotten meat held in the beak, all worldly possessions, subject to the impermanence’s devastation, are the root of all sufferings.
7.其悭吝者，不自食用，功德不修，复不与人。坚守财宝亦复如是。当知此人非行施者、不名菩萨，于大乘法不发胜心，亦不能成不退转位。
7. A miser who is too tightfisted to give his extra food and treasure wouldn’t accumulate merits and is thus not eligible for the name of the Bodhisattva. Such a person will neither generate the exalted Mahayana mind nor reach the stage of Non-retrogression.
8.譬如大海不宿死尸，大乘海中不容悭者。
8. Just as the ocean puts up no corpses, so the sea of the Mahayana accommodates no misers.
9.菩萨所以修大乘行，为欲远离一切罪垢、具修功德，于佛法中不生疑虑，于诸有情及诸财宝一切时中心无分别，常行惠施，利乐群生。以如是行圆满布施波罗蜜多，速得成就阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。以上讲义资料整理自《大乘理趣六波罗蜜多经．布施波罗蜜多品》
9. The Bodhisattvas practice the Mahayana to stay away from all bad karma and to accumulate every merit. Bearing no doubts toward Buddha-dharma and no discrimination to all sentient beings and valuables, they constantly engage in benefiting and pleasing all living beings, by which they accomplish the paramita of giving and attain the Supreme, Perfect and Complete Enlightenment.
(Note: No.1～9 are quoted from “The Chapter of the Giving Paramita,” the Mahayana Sutra of the Six Paramitas; 大乘理趣六波罗蜜多经)
10.如《发菩提心经论》云：所不应施复有五事：
一、非理求财不以施人，物不净故。
二、酒及毒药不以施人，乱众生故。
三、罝罗、机网不以施人，恼众生故。
四、刀杖、弓箭不以施人，害众生故。
五、音乐、女色不以施人，坏净心故。
10. Five more inappropriate things for giving are stated in Treatise on the Bodhi Mind 《发菩提心经论》as follows:
(1) Avoid possessions earned improperly, for being impure.
(2) Avoid alcohol and drugs, for making sentient beings muddle-headed.
(3) Avoid nets, for vexing sentient beings.
(4) Avoid weapons, for harming sentient beings.
(5) Avoid music and women, for disturbing one’s pure mind.
11.乐施之人，获五种名闻善利：
一、常得亲近一切贤圣；二、一切众生之所乐见；
三、入大众时人所宗敬；四、好名善誉流闻十方；
五、能为菩提作上妙因。《发菩提心经论》
11. A generous giver will enjoy the prestige and benefits as the five below:
(1) He is constantly able to be close to all saints and sages.
(2) He is welcomed by all sentient beings.
(3) He is admired among the group.
(4) He is well-known for his good deeds.
(5) His practice of giving sows the superior seed for the Bodhi.
(quoted from Treatise on the Bodhi Mind)
《发菩提心经论》)
