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阿難。是善男子。成佛子已。具足無量。如來妙德。十方隨順。名歡喜行。
前面講十住的菩薩位，現在講十行的菩薩位。這十行，第一就叫歡喜行。這個十行，也就是十度，也就是十種波羅蜜。這第一的歡喜行，也就是布施行。所以佛，又叫一聲阿難，說「阿難！是善男子，成佛子已」；既然受灌頂，做了佛子了：「具足無量，如來妙德」：已經具足無量這麼多的如來妙德，佛所有的德行差不多了。「十方隨順」；所有十方的一切國土、一切眾生，都隨順都隨喜他。
「名歡喜行」；歡喜、隨順就是做布施。這個布施波羅密有兩種的意思，以前常常講，這個布施本來有三個意思：財施、法施、無畏施，那麼現在又講兩個意思。這兩個意思並不是財施、法施、無畏施這三種，這是另外有兩個意思。因為它叫歡喜行，第一的意思是自己去做布施，要有一種歡喜心，歡喜行這個布施。不是說我要做布施，又很勉強的，很不自然的又想做，又想不做；又不想做，又要做，猶豫不决的。我想做，想布施，但是這個錢給人家了，捨錢如割肉：指錢就像在自己身上割一樣，又捨不得痛。不想布施嘛！那我又做不了功德，又沒有功德。所以就又想做，又怕錢也沒有了；又不想做，又怕自己的功德沒有了。所以你說也不知道是往前進好？還是往後退好？這就不叫歡喜行，這就叫勉強行，勉強去做布施。這種布施不能說沒有功德，但是有功德已經打了折扣了，已經減去一半了。為什麼？你不是真心做的。做布施要生歡喜心，我就甚至於做了布施，我自己就沒有錢用，我都要生歡喜心，這是你自己要有歡喜心。
那麼第二個意思，又要令眾生歡喜。你布施給眾生，你不要好像開戶拿給要飯的那個樣子，好像門口來要飯的說：「大爺！大奶奶！你.....你幫助我，幫幫忙啦！」啊！你拿出來，或者十個cents（分），或者是那麼兩毫半，就往他那一掉：「哎！拿去了！」這麼樣給他，這不是叫布施，這種根本就談不到什麼功德，並且那個接受的人也不會生歡喜心。
在中國有這麼一句話，說：「不食嗟來食！」不食嗟來食是怎麼樣子啊？好像有人沒有飯吃，他到你的門口去討飯，你拿著一碗飯：「給你啦！」這麼樣子，你給他了，還要罵他一頓，這個若是有廉恥的人，就不吃這碗飯，寧可餓著，也不吃這碗飯，這叫「不食嗟來食」。若是這樣去布施給人，人就不會歡喜的。你一定要表現得很真誠的，布施給人、幫忙人，自己還不要令他生一種感謝的心，說：「喔！這我可要謝謝你了！」不要有這種的求，這叫令人也歡喜，你布施給對方，使令對方也要歡喜。你要是令對方不歡喜，那也談不到歡喜行。所以這歡喜行也就這個樣子，要彼此的，自己要歡喜，他人也要歡喜，這叫歡喜行。
→待續
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A reminder of the Sutra text:
From last issue: The Dwelling of Endowment with Skill-in-means, the Dwelling of the Proper Mind, the Dwelling of Irreversibility, the Dwelling of a Pure Youth, the Dwelling of a Dharma Prince, the Dwelling of Anointing the Crown. |
Ananda, after these good men have become sons of the Buddha, they are replete with the limitlessly many wonderful virtues of the Tathagatas, and all beings throughout the ten directions comply and accord with them. This is called the Conduct of Happiness.
 Previously, we talked about the Ten Dwellings. Now we are talking about the Ten Conducts in the stages of a Bodhisattva. The first conduct is called the Conduct of Happiness. These Ten Conducts correspond to the Ten Perfections, the Ten Paramitas, so the first one, the Conduct of Happiness, is also called the Conduct of Giving. Shakyamuni Buddha called out again, "Ananda, after these good men have become sons of the Buddha, they are replete with the limitlessly many wonderful virtues of the Tathagatas." Since they have been anointed on the crown of their heads and become sons of the Buddha, they already possess the limitlessly many wondrous virtues of the Tathagata, and their virtuous conduct is almost the same as that of a Buddha. All beings throughout the ten directions comply and accord with them. All the lands and all the living beings in the ten directions comply and rejoice along with him.
This is called the Conduct of Happiness. To "comply and accord" with happiness means to practice giving. The Paramita of Giving has two aspects. We have discussed giving many times and have mentioned that there are three kinds of giving: the giving of wealth, the giving of Dharma, and the giving of fearlessness. However, now we are talking about two aspects of giving, which are not the same as the three kinds. The two aspects refer to something else. Since it is called the Conduct of Happiness, the first aspect is that one should practice giving with a happy heart. One should enjoy giving. It's not that you say, "I want to give," but you feel forced and unnatural when you give. On the one hand you want to give, but on the other hand you don't want to. You don't really want to, but then again, you want to. You're wavering and indecisive, thinking, "I'd like to make a gift, but giving this money to others is like cutting off a piece of my flesh." You cannot bear the pain. On the other hand, you know that if you do not practice giving, you will not create any merit. So it's a real dilemma: you want to give, but you fear you will have no money left; you don't want to give, but you fear you will have no merit. So there you stand, not knowing whether to take a step forward or backward. That's certainly not called the Conduct of Happiness. That's more like the conduct of reluctance, of being compelled to give. Now, you can't say that there wouldn't be any merit in this kind of giving, but the merit certainly would be reduced by half. Why? Because you are not doing it with a true mind. Therefore, you should practice giving with a happy heart. Even if you must do without money yourself after doing the giving, you should be happy about it. This is with respect to yourself.
The second aspect of giving is that you should make living beings happy. When you practice giving, you should not act like someone tossing crumbs to a beggar. It shouldn't be that they have to come crawling to your door crying, "Old uncle, old auntie, can't you spare a little?" only to have you open the door a crack, throw out a dime or a quarter, and shout, "Here, take that!" That can't even be called giving. There's no merit in that kind of act, and certainly the person on the receiving end will not be happy.
In China there's the phrase: "One doesn't eat what is rudely offered." What does that mean? Suppose a beggar comes to your door asking for food. You shove him a bowl of food, saying, "Okay, take that!" You give it to him, but you insult him in the process. If he has any sense of modesty, he will not eat that bowl of food; he would rather go hungry than eat it. That's the meaning of the phrase: "One doesn't eat what is rudely offered." If you try to give things to people in that way, they will not be happy. You must show that you are very sincere when you give to or help others, but be careful not to make them feel they must thank you. When you do not seek their gratitude, then you are giving in a way that causes people to be happy. If you make others unhappy, then you are not practicing the Conduct of Happiness. In the Conduct of Happiness, both parties, you and the person you are giving to, are happy. →To be continued
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