藏人、华人、尼泊尔人、西方人与供养

While teaching the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, as he explained the section on the paramita of generosity, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche felt it was important to relate it more closely to western people, and he gave this very useful instruction.

讲授《道次第智慧藏》时，乌金督佳仁波切讲到布施波罗蜜这一节，觉得有必要更贴近西方人的情况，于是给予了以下非常有用的指导。

The first of the six paramitas, the perfection of generosity, is not exclusively about giving things to poor people. Both offering to the Three Jewels and to those in need are included in the paramita of ‘generosity’.

六波罗蜜中的第一项，布施波罗蜜，并不只是把东西送给穷人。供养三宝以及施予有需要的人，都属于「布施」波罗蜜。

I have noticed something about offering that seems strange to me and so I want to talk about it.

关于供养，我注意到一件让我觉得奇怪的事，因此想谈一谈。

When a ceremony and a tsok are performed in a Tibetan context, many people join in. Each lama and monk brings a large bag and a bowl. Lay women and men bring incense, oil, and a little money. You will see all this if you go to Tibet. Strictly speaking, lamas and monks are supposed to bring more offerings than lay people, but in reality they each carry an empty bag and an empty bowl. Lamas rarely make even the tiniest offering whereas every single lay person will bring something. This happens all over Tibet – it’s a Tibetan tradition. But it is wrong.

在西藏，举行仪式和荟供时，会有很多人参加。每个上师和僧人都带着一个大袋子和一个碗。在家男女则带来香、油和一点钱。你去西藏就会看见这一切。严格说来，上师和僧人本该比在家人带来更多供品，但实际情况是，他们各自带着一个空袋子和一个空碗。上师们连极少的供养都很少做，而每一位在家人都会带点东西。整个西藏都是如此，这是西藏的传统。但这是不对的。

We attain enlightenment having perfected the accumulations and eliminated all obscurations – lamas and monks know more about this than lay people. If my lama, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, heard that someone was reciting a short practice or wanted to buy a few dharma books, he would immediately give them a little something, saying “This is my offering. I want to make a connection with your virtuous activities”.

我们圆满资粮、净除一切障碍之后，才能证得菩提。上师和僧人对此比在家人懂得更多。我的上师顶果钦哲仁波切，若听说有人正在念修一个简短法门，或者想买几本佛书，就会立刻给他们一点东西，说：「这是我的供养。我想与你们的善行结个缘。」

In the West, as practitioners, you know that you must perfect the two accumulations of merit and wisdom, and eliminate the two obscurations. The accumulation of merit involves bearing in mind the various aspects of a meritorious action and requires you to make an actual offering. You then make imagined offerings in addition to your physical offerings. To accumulate wisdom, which is beyond all reference, we must meditate. When we organize group practices to accumulate merit, we have to tell most westerners that they should bring offerings. We even have to tell them what they should bring and how much! Very few westerners know about bringing offerings.

在西方，身为修行者，你们知道必须圆满福德与智慧二资粮，净除二障。积累福德资粮，需要心中观照福业的各个方面，也需要你实际作出供养。在实物供养之外，再作意幻供养。至于积累超越一切所缘的智慧资粮，则必须禅修。我们组织共修积累福德时，对于大多数西方人，都必须告诉他们应该带供品。甚至还得告诉他们要带什么、带多少！很少有西方人知道要带供品。

When I organize vast tsok offerings, at Bodhgaya for example, the Tibetans and the Chinese all bring offerings. The Chinese, who are richer than the Tibetans, tend to bring larger offerings and the Westerners bring their cameras. But if the Westerners are told, “You cannot pass beyond this point unless you pay 500 rupees”, they have no problem handing over the money. So, if you tell them that they cannot enter Longchenpa’s monastery unless they pay a fee, they pay up immediately. If I were to tell the westerners, “Tomorrow I will organize a tenth day tsok at my house and each of you needs to bring a certain amount of money,” they wouldn’t hesitate to bring the money. But if I say nothing, they don’t bring anything.

我组织广大荟供时，例如在菩提伽耶，藏人和华人都会带来供品。华人比藏人富有，往往会带来更多供品，而西方人带来的是相机。不过，如果对西方人说：「不交五百卢比，就不能越过这里」，他们便毫无困难地把钱拿出来。因此，若告诉他们，不付入场费便不能进入龙钦巴的寺院，他们就会立即付钱。如果我对西方人说：「明天我要在家里办初十荟供，你们每个人都需要带一定数目的钱」，他们也会毫不迟疑地把钱带来。但如果我什么都不说，他们就什么都不带。

I have often worked with the Nyingma Monlam organizing committee. We find that the most generous offerings come from the Bhutanese and the second most generous offerings from the Tibetans. A few East Asians also make offerings, but very few Westerners. The Nepalese only ever take stuff away with them – they bring nothing and leave with their hands full. Westerners don’t take anything away, but neither do they bring anything – equanimity. I told Tarthang Rinpoche about it. He said, “That’s right. Unless you tell them to pay, they don’t offer. You need to make rules, otherwise they won’t give anything.” But we Tibetans don’t have a tradition in our culture of making that kind of rule.

我常常与宁玛祈愿法会的筹备委员会合作。我们发现，最慷慨的供养来自不丹人，其次是藏人。有一些东亚人也作供养，西方人却很少。尼泊尔人总是只拿东西走：什么都不带来，却满手东西地离开。西方人什么都不拿走，也什么都不带来——平等舍。我把这件事告诉塔唐仁波切。他说：「没错，除非你叫他们付钱，否则他们就不供养。你得立规矩，不然他们什么都不会给。」可是，在我们藏人的文化里，并没有立这种规矩的传统。

These days, all the lamas are making rules and setting prices. But the point is to be motivated to make a connection with any act of generosity that is being performed by contributing something towards it. If there is a tsok, you could participate by bringing tsok substances. If butter lamps are offered, you could offer a few lamps. Whatever the virtuous action, you can connect with it by making a small offering. And when you do make offerings, you can easily make that offering qualify as the kind of generosity described in the paramita of generosity by not being stingy, and so on. It is good to start small and increase your offerings slowly. If you start by making small offerings, you will eventually be able to make big offerings – it’s important to understand this. But being forced to pay a fixed price to comply with a rule is a completely different story. Who knows how pure your motivation is if all you’re doing is following the rules?

如今，各位上师都在立规矩、定价格。但重点在于：无论哪里有人行布施，你都应发心有所贡献，与这项善行结缘。若有荟供，你可以带来荟供物品参与；若有人供灯，你可以供上几盏。无论是什么善行，你都能以一点小小的供养与之结缘。而且，当你供养时，只要不悭吝等等，就很容易使这份供养成为布施波罗蜜所说的布施。从少量开始，慢慢增加供养，是很好的。若从少量供养开始，最终便能作广大的供养——明白这一点很重要。但为了服从规矩，被迫支付规定价钱，则是完全不同的事。如果你所做的仅仅是遵守规矩，谁知道你的动机有多清净？

That’s what I think. I have been thinking about this for a long time and, having found myself among so many westerners, I felt I had to say something. Not making offerings is probably just one of your cultural habits, nothing more, because when there is a fixed price, you all pay up instantly. But if there is no fixed price, you don’t even think about giving some money. If you are told “this is the price”, if you have money you pay it, and if you don’t, you simply leave and don’t think any more about it. This is not a good tradition.

我就是这样想的。这件事我想了很久，如今置身于这么多西方人当中，觉得必须说一说。不作供养，大概只是你们的一种文化习惯，仅此而已，因为一旦有固定价格，你们都会马上付钱。但若没有固定价格，你们甚至不会想到给一点钱。如果有人告诉你「就是这个价格」，你有钱就付，没钱就直接离开，不再多想。这不是一个好传统。

The six paramitas are the true basis of all the Mahayana paths. This needs to be explained because although some of you know this teaching, some of you don’t and need to learn about it. If you don’t know about the six paramitas it is difficult to follow the path. There is a discussion about sadhana practices and so on, later in the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo, that begins by talking almost exclusively about offerings – outer offerings, inner offerings, secret offerings. It is all about perfecting the paramita of generosity and perfecting the accumulations, right? This is why you need to know a bit about it. At least, that is what I think. I don’t know if it’s true or not.

六波罗蜜是一切大乘道的真正基础。有必要解释这一点，因为你们有些人知道这些教法，有些人却不知道，需要学习。如果不了解六波罗蜜，就很难修道。《道次第智慧藏》后面谈到成就法等修持时，一开始几乎完全在讲供养：外供、内供、密供。这全都是为了圆满布施波罗蜜、圆满资粮，对不对？因此，你们需要对此有所了解。至少我是这样想的。究竟对不对，我也不知道。

Translated by Gyurmé Avertin
Edited by Janine Schulz

英译：久美·阿韦尔坦
编辑：雅尼娜·舒尔茨