人天眼目 3.183

3.183

Jiyin said: The *Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra* states, 'There are three kinds of death: namely, due to exhaustion of lifespan, due to exhaustion of merit, and due to failing to avoid imbalances. It should be known that there are also timely and untimely deaths, and they occur either from a wholesome mind, an unwholesome mind, or an indeterminate mind. What is death due to exhaustion of lifespan? It is like someone whose lifespan, as conditioned [by past karma], has reached its full limit, and thus they die; this is called timely death. What is death due to exhaustion of merit? It is like someone dying due to a lack of life-sustaining necessities. What is death due to failing to avoid imbalances? As the World-Honoured One spoke of the nine causes and nine conditions under which one dies before exhausting one's lifespan. What are the nine? Namely: eating without measure; eating at inappropriate times; eating again before digestion; not regurgitating what is raw; retaining what is fully cooked; not approaching doctors and medicine; not knowing what is harmful or beneficial to oneself; and indulging in unchaste conduct at improper times and without restraint. This is called untimely death.' Viewing it in this light, I know that eating in accordance with the proper time means not dying in vain, and this is called right-livelihood food. Huangbo said, 'Nowadays, as soon as people come out from the assembly, they only want to know much and understand much, seeking broadly for texts and meanings, calling this practice. They do not know that much knowledge and much understanding turn out to cause obstructions. It is just like giving a child too much curd, having no idea at all whether it is digested or undigested. Practitioners of the three vehicles are all like this; all of it is called undigested food. Undigested food refers to intellectual understanding that is not digested, all of which becomes poison, all belonging to the realm of arising and ceasing. Within true suchness, there is no such thing.' From this we know that Caoshan valued right-livelihood food and established the three falls.