起信論疏筆削記 19.36

19.36

"Young boys and girls," etc., refers to agreeable conditions, namely producing the physical forms of parents, brothers, various Buddhas, and the like. "Frightful forms" refers to forms such as tigers, wolves, lions, or rākṣasas, various terrifying shapes coming to frighten the practitioner. It is like what Chan Master Wei saw: some had no head, and the master, seeing them, said: "Excellent! You have no trouble with headaches!" Or they had no belly, internal organs, and the like, and he playfully mocked them all with words. He also saw a young woman, and the master said: "This poor monk's body is like withered wood, and his mind is like dead ashes; do not test me with a leather bag of filth!" This ghost immediately flew into the air and retreated, even leaving a verse: "The great ocean may dry up, / Mount Sumeru may tumble, / But that superior man / Holds his resolve steadfast and pure." Regarding the si: some say it resembles an ox, is blue-black in color with a single horn, weighs over a thousand catties, and has sharp fangs and claws that can subdue a thousand tigers. "And so on": if they mostly come during the hour of the Rabbit (5–7 a.m.), they must be hares, deer, and the like; if during the hour of the Dragon (7–9 a.m.), dragons, alligators, fish, and the like; if during the hour of the Snake (9–11 a.m.), snakes, earthworms, loaches, and the like; if during the hour of the Horse (11 a.m.–1 p.m.), horses, donkeys, camels, and the like; if during the hour of the Goat (1–3 p.m.), sheep, wild geese, hawks, and the like; if during the hour of the Monkey (3–5 p.m.), monkeys, apes, gibbons, and the like; if during the hour of the Rooster (5–7 p.m.), roosters, crows, pheasants, and the like; if during the hour of the Dog (7–9 p.m.), dogs, wolves, jackals, and the like; if during the hour of the Pig (9–11 p.m.), pigs, boars, swine, and the like; if during the hour of the Rat (11 p.m.–1 a.m.), rats, swallows, bats, and the like; and if during the hour of the Ox (1–3 a.m.), oxen, turtles, crabs, and the like.