39 Plastering the Walls

39见他人涂舍喻

Once there was a man who visited another man whose house had just had its walls plastered so they were made even and looked nice and neat. The man asked his host, “With what did you plaster the walls so that they look so nice?”

The host replied, “I used a mixture of rice bran, water, and clay to achieve such a fine result.”

The foolish man thought to himself, “It would be better if he had used rice grain instead of rice bran. The walls would be even more smooth, white, and clean.”

Thereupon he mixed rice grain together with clay and plastered the walls of his own house, hoping for a smooth and tidy effect. But the walls became cracked and uneven. He had wasted the rice grain to no avail. He would have done better if he had used the grain to practice giving and thereby accrued some merit and virtue.

Common people are this way, too. They hear the sages preach Dharma, which says that if people cultivate good acts, after they die they will be born in the heavens and attain liberation. Then these people kill themselves, thinking they can be reborn in the heavens or attain liberation this way. They merely lost their lives and obtain nothing. They are like the stupid man with the plaster.

译文

从前有一个人，到别人家去，见那屋舍的墙壁涂治得平平正正，清净美观，便问道：「用什么和混了涂，竟然这么好?」主人答道：「将碎稻谷壳浸在水中，使它软和了，再和泥涂壁，就成这个样子了。」愚人就想：倘若纯粹用稻壳，不如与稻米和合着一起用，壁可白净，也可涂得平正好看。便用稻谷和着泥来涂壁，祈望着更平正一些，不料反而是高高低低的，墙壁都坼裂开来，白白地耗费了稻谷，一点益处都没有，还不如惠施，倒是件功德事。

世上的人也是这样，听圣人说法，讲修行种种善业，到这命终了，便可以生到天上去，得到解脱，于是就自杀了，祈望能生到天上，得到解脱。徒然地使自己丧失了生命，一无所获，就如那愚人一样。

原典

昔有一人，往至他舍。见他屋舍，墙壁涂治，其地平正，清净甚好，便问之言：「用何涂壁，得如是好?」主人答言：「用稻谷(麦＋弋)①水浸令熟，和泥涂壁，故得如是。」愚人即便而作念言：若纯以稻(麦＋弋)「不如合稻而用作之，壁可白净，泥治平好。便用稻谷和泥，用涂其壁，望得平正，反更高下，壁都坼裂，虚弃稻谷，都无利益，不如惠施，可得功德。

凡夫之人，亦复如是，闻圣人之说法，修行诸善，舍此身已，可得生天及以解脱，便自杀身，望得生天及以解脱。徒自虚丧，空无所获，如彼愚人。

注释

①(麦＋弋)：音弋，碎麦壳或稻壳。