Master Rurui: Why don't you sell poverty?

Master Rurui: Why don't you sell poverty?

Give good virtue and help all relatives,

Behavior without flaws is the most auspicious.

We should cultivate the good character of generosity and help relatives who are short of food and clothing; It is the most auspicious to check one's own behavior so that it is free of evil flaws.

The "Theory of Great Wisdom" says: "Those who are good at giving are respected by others, like the rising moon, and there is no one who does not love." "The six degrees are led by generosity, and there is also generosity in the four laws of the bodhisattva. Giving, Sanskrit Tan Paramita, we often call the benefactor a benefactor, why is it called that? The word sandalwood retains Sanskrit, and translates into Chinese as charity, giving of giving; The more you cross, the more transcendence. This means that generosity can overcome the suffering of poverty.

We may have heard the story of Venerable Kajanyan saving a poor woman. There was a maid who was often beaten and scolded by her master, and she couldn't eat enough or wear warm clothes every day. One day, she went to the river to fetch water, and because the more she thought about it, the more distressed she became, so she decided to commit suicide by throwing herself into the river. At this time, Venerable Gajanyan happened to pass by here and asked her what she was doing. So, she told His Holiness about her inner distress. After hearing this, Venerable Kajanyan said to her, "Since you feel suffering, why don't you sell your poverty?" She asked His Holiness puzzledly: "Poverty is on me, how can I sell it?" Can't be sold! ”

Venerable Gajanyan told her, "Yes. Although a person does not have an inch of cloth or a penny, if you know how to give, you can sell poverty! Then, out of compassion, His Holiness took his begging bowl and said to the poor girl, "Come and offer me!" "Because the poor girl had nothing, she only had a bowl of clean water to offer to the Venerable. With the merit of supplying water, the poor girl was born to heaven to enjoy happiness after her death. From this story, we can see that generosity can overcome the suffering of poverty.

In summary, there are no more than three types of generosity: financial giving, law giving, and fearless giving.

Wealth giving is the use of money to give, which belongs to promising giving, and cultivates blessings. Money is something outside the body, and it is often said in the classics that smart people will exchange their own unsolid wealth for solid wealth. Unsolid wealth refers to the money, houses, land, etc. in the world, which belong to the five families. Because it often encounters thieves, water rushes, fires, kings and prodigal sons, etc., it does not belong to one person, but is shared by five families.

If you can understand how to exchange unsolid wealth for solid wealth, that is, to use this tangible money to offer to the Three Jewels, or to the Buddhas, monks, the poor, etc. in the Eight Blessed Fields, then it is equivalent to depositing it in a solid and indestructible bank of the Three Jewels, and the use of merit will never be lost. If you go to pick it up later, it will be useful.

Some people will only complain about their poverty without knowing where the cause of poverty is. In terms of cause and effect, poverty comes from greed, and wealth comes from generosity. Therefore, we must know how to give money.