..續本文上一頁ce the Bodhisattvaship that they should endeavor to acquire sufficient knowledge and eloquence before being able to lead the sentient beings to the Path of liberation and confer upon them the great happiness.

　　Annotation 12

　　The act of charity is renunciation and by charity, we destroy greed. Greed cannot be quenched. The more we grasp, the more we want to grasp. A miller with one mill tries to have two, and one with two strive for four and the process goes on without an end. The same applies to owners of mine, forests and oil-wells. They strive for more possessions since greed can never be satisfied. But there is satisfaction in performing the opposite experiment--renunciation. If greed is extinguished, we enjoy the peace of mind. One thing here we should remember is that when we practice alms-giving, we should not make any discrimination between friends and foes. By magnanimity, we should treat them on equal footing.

　　There are three kinds of charity; namely,

　　(1) alms-giving -- Alms-giving is again pided into two types:

　　(a) the offerings of limb or life to confer benefit on others.

　　(b) the offerings of belongings such as money, clothing food, lodging, etc.

　　(2) The offerings of knowledge. Knowledge is again pided into two types;

　　(a) Worldly knowledge such as to teach people to read, to write, to sew, to repair bridges and roads, etc.

　　(b) Inconceivable and inexplicable knowledge to this world, such as to preach the Buddha”s doctrine, in order to guide all sentient beings to do meritorious deeds as well as to avoid harmful deeds.

　　(3) The offerings of help and assistance with great sacrifice and without fear, such as to relieve people who are persecuted by enemies, tortured by war, robbed by robbers, chased by fierce animals, drowning by flood or burning by fire etc.

　　Annotation 13

　　At the Buddha”s time, there were other religious leaders in India which were most embarrassed when many of their disciples left them and entered the Order of the Buddha. They tried to kill him with the help of the Buddha”s cousin Devadatta. In this connection, we admire the magnanimity of the Buddha towards the animosity of Devadatta and the hostilities of the other sects. In fact, the loving kindness He radiated to those enemies and to His favorite disciple Ananda was the same profound intensity, not one bit too much or too less.

　　Annotation 14

　　The five passions embrace excessive desire for wealth, women, reputation and over-indulgence in food and sleep. It is the passion which blinds the eyes. It is also the passion which leads us to go astray. Therefore, all evil is engendered by passion. When the eyes are opened, the absence of lust makes us see things as they really are. As a matter of fact, worldly pleasures are the bait, and the result is pain.

　　Annotation 15

　　Robes wearing, according to circumstances, by Buddhist monks, are of three kinds, namely;

　　(a) Overcoat with 9 stripes wearing only for great occasions.

　　(b) Clothes with 7 stripes wearing for monks meetings or classes.

　　(c) Clothes with 5 stripes wearing for daily works.

　　Annotation 16

　　In older time monks did not prepare themselves meals. They went around with their tiled howls, begging alms for their meals. This custom is still maintained in the Southeast Asian Nations. Why have laymen to think of three kinds of robes, tiled bowls and instruments used by Monks

　　 The reason is quite simple. Mentally, they have to think how the monks observe the Buddhist doctrine and follow them strictly in order to he always on the alert not to commit sins.

　　Annotation 17

　　Our great Master Gotama Buddha surveyed the world and found only suffering. He analyzed the eight great sufferings, as follows:

　　(a) The suffering of birth.-- A child cries bitterly when it is born, because it cannot stand the cold air.…

《佛說八大人覺經 The Enlightenment Sutra translated by Dr· Tetcheng Liao》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…