安樂集 1.112

1.112

答曰：「雖言流轉，然於三惡道中，受身偏多。如經說云：『於虛空中量取方圓八肘，從地至於色究竟天。於此量內所有可見眾生，即多於三千大千世界人、天之身。』故知惡道身多。何故如此？但惡法易起，善心難生故也。今時但看現在眾生，若得富貴，唯事放逸、破戒；天中即復著樂者多。是故經云：『眾生等是流轉，恒三惡道為常家。』人、天暫來即去，名為客舍故也。依《大莊嚴論》，勸一切眾生，常須繫念現前，偈云：『盛年無患時，懈怠不精進，貪營眾事務，不修施戒禪，臨為死所吞，方悔求修善。智者應觀察，除斷五欲想，精勤習心者，終時無悔恨。心意既專至，無有錯亂念，智者勤投心，臨終意不散。不習心專至，臨終必散亂，心若散亂時，如調馬用磑，若其鬪戰時，迴旋不直行。』」

The answer is: 'Although they transmigrate, they receive bodies far more often in the three evil destinies. As a sūtra states: "Measure out eight cubits square in empty space, reaching from the ground up to the Akaniṣṭha Heaven. The visible sentient beings within this measure are more numerous than the human and deva bodies in a trichiliocosm." Therefore we know that bodies in the evil destinies are numerous. Why is this so? Simply because evil dharmas arise easily, while a wholesome mind is difficult to produce. Nowadays, just look at present sentient beings: if they attain wealth and status, they engage only in negligence and breaking precepts; in the heavens, moreover, those attached to pleasures are many. Therefore the sūtra states: "Sentient beings transmigrate continuously, taking the three evil destinies as their permanent home." Humans and devas come briefly and depart at once, and are therefore called guest lodgings. Relying on the Mahālaṅkāra-śāstra, which urges all sentient beings that they must constantly keep mindfulness before them, the verse states: / "In the prime of life without illness, / Lax and unvigorous, / Covetously busied with manifold affairs, / Neither cultivating giving, precepts, nor dhyāna, / When about to be swallowed by death, / Only then regretting and seeking to cultivate good. / The wise should observe this, / Cut off thoughts of the five desires, / And diligently train their minds; / At the end there will be no regret. / When the mind is single-minded, / There are no confused thoughts; / The wise person diligently devotes the mind, / So at death the intent is not scattered. / If one does not train the mind to be single-minded, / At the time of death it will surely be scattered; / When the mind is scattered, / It is like using a millstone to train a horse: / When going into battle, / It circles around and does not advance straight."'