Perfection of Giving

The jade ladies, the precious queen and eighty-four thousand female retainers all draped their bodies in strands of pearls and rare jewels and then came to see the King, saying, "As his majesty has for so long now withdrawn from intimate audiences, we have dared to come and offer our greetings."

The King announced to them, "Sisters, each of you should maintain a mind imbued with correctness. You should serve me as friends. Don't act as my adversaries."

The jade ladies and the precious queen began to weep and, as their tears streamed down, they asked, "Why does the Great King now refer to us as 'sisters'? Surely he thinks [of us] differently now. Pray, may we hear his intent? Why do we now receive the remonstrance: 'You should serve me as friends. Don't act as my adversary.'?"

The King instructed them, saying, "If you find delight in seeing me as a worldly object with which to engage in the affairs of desire, this amounts to acting as my adversary. If, however, you are able to awaken to that which is beyond the ordinary and, realizing that the body is like an illusion, cultivate blessings, practice goodness and cut away desire-laden affections, this amounts to serving me as a friend."

The jade ladies responded, "We shall adhere respectfully to the dictates of the King." After they had spoken these words they were sent back to their quarters.

After the women had gone the King ascended into the multi-storied hall of gold and sat down upon the silver throne where he immersed himself in the samadhi of loving-kindness. He then ascended into the multi-storied hall of silver and sat down upon the throne of gold and immersed himself in the samadhi of compassion. Next he ascended into the multi-storied hall of beryl and sat down upon the crystal throne where he immersed himself in the samadhi of sympathetic joy. Finally, he ascended into the multi-storied jeweled hall of crystal and sat down upon the throne of beryl where he immersed himself in the samadhi of evenmindedness. This is an instance of the bodhisattva's practice of giving generating the paramita of dhyana.

How does the bodhisattva's giving bring about prajna paramita? When the bodhisattva gives he knows that this giving will definitely have a resulting reward and so he is not beset by the delusions of doubt and he is able to shatter erroneous views and ignorance. This constitutes giving bringing forth prajna paramita.

Furthermore, when the bodhisattva engages in giving he is able to distinguish and know the circumstances of the person who does not uphold the precepts. If someone whips, strikes, beats up, flogs, confines or ties up others, or if he circumvents the law and so obtains valuables and then proceeds to do acts of giving, he is reborn among elephants, horses or cattle. Although he takes on the form of an animal who carries heavy burdens, who is whipped and prodded, who is restrained by halters and fetters, and who is ridden, still he always obtains good living quarters and fine food, is prized by people and is provided for by people.

Additionally he knows about the circumstances of evil people who are much obsessed with hatefulness and anger, whose minds are devious and not upright, and yet who practice giving. He knows that they will fall into [rebirth in] the palaces of the dragons where they will obtain a palace composed of the seven precious things, and will have fine food and marvelous sensual pleasures.

He also knows that people who are arrogant and who engage in giving with a mind beset with conceit and hatefulness will fall into [rebirth] among the golden-winged [garu.da] birds where they will always experience sovereign independence and will have a necklace made of precious "as-you-wish-it" pearls. All sorts of things which they require will all be obtained without need for restraint and there will be nothing which will not be in accordance with their wishes. They will be able to perform [magical] transformations of a myriad sorts and there will be no matter which they will be unable to bring to completion.

He also knows of the circumstances of high government officials who circumvent the law and indulge in unscrupulous excesses at the expense of the people, and who do not follow along with regulatory laws and so take valuable goods. If they use them to perform acts of giving they fall [into rebirth] among ghosts and spirits where they become kumbhaa.n.da ghosts who are able to perform all sorts of transformations and please themselves with the five objects of the senses.

He also knows of the circumstances of those people who are beset with much hatred, who are tyrannical, who are much obsessed in their fondness for liquor and meat and who then perform acts of giving. They fall [into rebirth] among the earth-coursing yak.sa ghosts where they always obtain all sorts of pleasures, music, drink and food.

He also knows of the existence of those people who are obstinate and stubborn and who are unruly and defiant, and yet who are able to perform acts whereby they make gifts of carriages and horses as substitutes for foot travel. They fall [into rebirth] among the space-coursing yak.sas who are possessed of great strength and who arrive at their destinations [with speed] like the wind.

He also knows of the existence of those people who have jealous minds and who enjoy disputation, but who are able, on account of making gifts of fine dwellings, bedding, clothing, drink and food, to be reborn among the flying yak.sas who abide in palaces and Taoist temples. They possess all sorts of pleasurable things which provide personal convenience. In all sorts of cases such as these, when they are about to give, he is able to make distinctions and know about them. This constitutes the bodhisattva's practice of giving producing prajna.

Furthermore, when one makes offerings of drink and food one gains strength, physical attractiveness, long life and admiration. If one makes gifts of clothes one gains from birth an awareness of a sense of shame and a sense of blame. One's awesome virtue is upright and correct. In body and mind one enjoys peace and bliss. If one makes gifts of dwellings then one obtains all manner of palaces and towers composed of the seven precious things. One naturally comes to have the five objects of desire with which to bring oneself pleasure. If one makes gifts of the waters of wells, ponds and springs, and of all sorts of fine condiments, then wherever one is born one will succeed in being without hunger or thirst and will possess a complete supply of the five objects of desire. If one gives bridges, boats or shoes, then from birth one will have an abundance of all sorts of carriages and horses. If one gives parks and forests then one will achieve the honor of aristocratic social station and will become one to whom everyone looks in reliance. One will take on a body which is handsome and one's mind will be blissful and devoid of worries. All sorts of causes and conditions such as these within the realm of people constitute what is gained through giving. If a person gives as a way of cultivating meritorious qualities and does not find the life of conditioned karmic activity to be agreeable, then he succeeds in being reborn in the dwelling place of the four heavenly kings.

If in one's giving a person supplements it by making offerings to his father and mother as well as to his uncles, brothers and sisters, and if he gives without hatefulness and without enmity, and if he does not like to engage in disputation and also does not delight in seeing disputatious people, he then succeeds in being born in the Traayastri.m'sa heaven or in the Yaama, Tu.sita, Nirmaa.narati or Paranirmitava'savartin [heavens]. In all sorts of ways such as this he makes distinctions regarding giving. This constitutes the bodhisattva's practice of giving bringing forth prajna.

If there is no defiled attachment associated with one's mind of giving and if one is disgusted with and distressed by the world and so seeks nirvana, this constitutes the giving of the arhat and pratyekabuddha. If one gives for the sake of beings and for the sake of the buddha way, this constitutes the giving of the bodhisattva. Within all sorts of giving such as these, he makes distinctions and knows. This constitutes the practice of giving bringing forth the prajna paramita.

Then again, when the bodhisattva gives, he considers the reality mark of the three factors as discussed above. When one is able to know in this way, this constitutes giving bringing forth prajna paramita.

Moreover, the causes and conditions of all wisdom and merit all come from giving, just as with the thousand buddhas who, when they first brought forth the intention [to achieve buddhahood], they used all kinds of valuable things to make gifts to the buddhas. Perhaps they used flowers and incense or perhaps they used clothing. Perhaps they used willow branches as gifts and so brought forth the mind [intent on buddhahood] in that way. All sorts of giving like this constitutes the bodhisattva's practice of giving bringing forth the prajna paramita.

The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom

[The End of] Fascicle Number Twelve.

PART THREE ENDNOTES

19. "Thus I have heard, at one time..." is the opening line of each scripture attributed to the Buddha.

20. I have preferred here an alternate reading shared by four versions of the text of "newly" for Taisho's "gradually."

21. This should not be interpreted as an indication that suicide is somehow devoid of seriously negative karmic consequences. I recall hearing Master Hsuan Hua state that, in the case of a suicide, one's spirits are severely depressed and that this almost invariably leads to falling into extremely unfortunate circumstances in the immediately ensuing rebirth.

22. It is because one depends upon nominal description for knowledge of the four non-form aggregates (feeling, perception, karmic process and consciousness) that "name" is used as a shorthand reference for them. See DFB-1045c.

23. "Eighty-four thousand" is like the American English colloquial "millions." Although it may sometimes be taken literally, in most cases it just means "many."