The Diamond Sutra commonly uses the two character expression bushi (布施) to refer to giving. The character bu means “universal,” while shi means “to scatter or disperse;’ designating an especially inclusive type of giving. Giving, in all of its many forms, is what allows us to disperse our gifts universally and eliminate our habitual illusory thinking and afflictions. Why then did the Buddha use the empty vastness of space as a metaphor for merit?

Whenever Chan Master Seisetsu Shucho gave Dharma talks at Engaku Temple many, many people would come. Whenever there was a talk the crowd would be so tightly packed into the hall that you could barely move. Finally, someone suggested that a new wing be added to the temple to allow for a more spacious lecture hall.

One devotee filled a bag with one hundred taels of gold and brought it to the temple to give to Chan Master Seisetsu, explaining that the donation was to fund the building of the lecture hall. Seisetsu received the gold and then quickly busied himself with other matters.

The devotee was extremely displeased by the Chan master’s attitude. He thought to himself, “One hundred taels of gold is no small amount of money. How could the master receive such a large donation and not bother saying a single word of thanks?”

So the devotee followed Seisetsu and dropped a little hint, “Master, you know there are one hundred taels of gold in that bag I gave you.”

Seisetsu responded coolly, ”you already told me. I’m aware.”

The devotee raised his voice, “Hey! I donated one hundred taels of gold today!”

Seisetus had just reached the main shrine, and stopped.

“If you would like to treat donating money to the Buddhas like some sort of business deal, then on behalf of the Buddhas I can offer you a word of thanks for this transaction. Now consider the account between you and them settled.”

This may be a Chan story, but it does remind us as well that we must not fixate on notions. In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha uses the vastness of space as a metaphor for the merit of giving. Since karmic effects are related to karmic causes, we should ensure that when we give, our minds are also as open and genuine as space. When there is no favoritism or partiality, the positive karmic effect is as vast and extraordinary as space itself. We must be able to look upon all living beings as if they were our own children in order to inwardly destroy any miserly attitudes and outwardly perform beneficial deeds. There are three contemplations we can practice to help us foster a mind of equality that can accept all living beings and be as broad and expansive as the vastness of space. They are:

1. Contemplation of Renunciation
Contemplate the habitual karmic tendencies that carry on throughout the cycle of birth and death and the suffering and pain they bring to the body and mind. Observe and think carefully about how the body is as fleeting as foam on water and life is short. By contemplating renunciation in this way, we will not cling greedily to external wealth and property and can perform great acts of giving.

2. Contemplation of Enlightenment
Contemplate the dignified and magnificent physical features of the Buddha, and contemplate the pure morality that is the nature of the Dharma. By contemplating these you will come to see that there are no distinctions between one’s own mind, the Buddha, and all living beings. One will realize that our original enlightened nature is universal, and this will allow one to perform acts of giving out of reverence for all living beings.

3. Contemplation of Compassion
Consider all the negative karma that living beings create when they fail to encounter the Buddha, when they fail to understand the Dharma, and when they do not respect the monastic community because they do not know the Triple Gem and do not believe in cause and effect. Such a person is like a drunken man trying to walk down the street or a legless man trying to cross a river. You should care for living beings in the same way that you would care for your own body if it were covered with open wounds and dedicate all your attention to protecting and helping them.

Once there was a town in Taiwan hit by a particularly fearsome flash flood, such that people had to climb up to their roofs to avoid the rising water. One man trapped in the flood was an especially pious Buddhist, and as the floodwaters began to cover his feet, he began to urgently pray:

“O, Great Compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, please come quickly and save me!”

Not long afterwards, a Taiwanese aborigine saw the praying man and rowed his canoe over to save him. As the canoe approached, the man shouted at the aborigine, “No, I don’t want one of you mountain tribespeople coming to save me! I want the compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to come and save me.”

The storm waters continued to rise and climbed up to his waist. He prayed even more anxiously, “O, compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, come quickly and save me!”

Then a speedboat zoomed by, offering to take him to safety, but again the praying man turned them down.

“I have detested science and technology all my life. I can’t stand anything mechanical, no matter what it is. I want the compassionate Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to come and save me!”

The flood waters had now already risen to his chest and he was yelling in alarm and fear, “Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, come quickly and save me!”

Then there came an American flying a helicopter to save him, but the praying man waved the pilot off with his hands and said, “You’re a foreigner! I don’t want a foreigner saving me. I want Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to save me!”

Just when he was about to drown, the praying man was saved by a Chan master. He said to the Chan master, “I’ve been pious and faithful, how come Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva did not come to save me?”

The Chan master replied, “You’re really doing Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva an injustice. You called out for help and the bodhisattva tried to save you again and again. The bodhisattva manifested as a canoe, a speedboat, and a helicopter to come and save you. Not only were you ungrateful, but you were picky, as well.”

Once greed, grasping, and attachment arise in our consciousness, we become like the blind men trying to learn what an elephant is by touching it;¹ it is impossible for us to perceive the whole of reality. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva does not liberate living beings through any fixed method or employing any fixed appearance. In performing acts of giving in this world, we must do so without notions, for in that way merit can become limitless.

(to be continued)

Source: Hsing Yun, Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra, Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.

---

Footnote:

1. An allusion to a well-known parable in which a group of blind men encounter an elephant. Each feels a different part of the elephant, coming to a different conclusion about what an elephant is. For example, one touches the tail and thinks an elephant is like a rope, one touches the leg and thinks an elephant is like a pillar, etc. Ed.