釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 8.54

8.54

The lungs are the grandee: positioned above and below, they discard injustice. The liver is the commandant. The benevolent heart is in the center, receiving the categories [of beings]. The spleen is between them, harmonizing the five flavors. The kidneys are below, surging into the four energies, nurturing the seven physical components to form the body. Bones are used to prop it up, marrow to lubricate it, sinews to bind it together, vessels to connect it, blood to moisten it, flesh to wrap it, and skin to cover it. Through these conditions, there are the major divisions of the body—head, torso, arms, and legs. Surplus bone becomes teeth, surplus flesh becomes the tongue, surplus sinew becomes nails, surplus blood becomes hair, and surplus skin becomes ears. With the conscious spirit within and through the causal conditions of the power of the precepts, the five vesicles open up, and the derived form of the four great elements becomes pure, transforming into the five sense organs. Therefore, facing sense objects, one perceives and cognizes by relying on the sense organs; through the conditions of the five forms, mental consciousness arises; and when the sense objects pass away, consciousness returns to the five viscera. In a single lifespan's retributive fruition, the four great elements, five aggregates, twelve sense bases, and eighteen elements are fully accomplished. This is a brief explanation of the root of a single lifespan's retributive fruition and that from which the mundane meaning derives.