宗鏡錄 99.19

99.19

分別功德論云。有論沙門。行諸禪觀。或在塚間。或在樹下。時在塚間。觀於死屍。夜見餓鬼打一死屍。沙門問曰。何以打此死屍耶。答曰。此死屍困我如是。是以打之。道人曰。何以不打汝心。打此死屍。當復何益也。於須臾頃。復有一天。以天曼陀羅華。散一臭屍。沙門問曰。何為散華此臭屍耶。答曰。由我此屍。得生天上。此屍即是我之善友。故來散華。報往昔恩。道人答曰。何以不散華汝心中。乃散臭屍。夫為善惡之本。皆心所為。乃捨本求末耶。

The Fenbie gongde lun says: “There was a śramaṇa of the treatises practicing various dhyāna-contemplations, sometimes in a charnel ground, sometimes under a tree. Once, while in a charnel ground contemplating corpses, he saw at night a hungry ghost beating a corpse. The śramaṇa asked, ‘Why are you beating this corpse?’ It replied, ‘This corpse has brought me to such misery; therefore I am beating it.’ The man of the Way said, ‘Why do you not beat your own mind? What benefit can there be in beating this corpse?’ In an instant, a deva appeared, scattering heavenly māndārava flowers over a putrid corpse. The śramaṇa asked, ‘Why are you scattering flowers over this putrid corpse?’ It replied, ‘Due to this corpse of mine, I attained birth in heaven. This corpse is indeed my good friend; therefore I have come to scatter flowers to repay its past kindness.’ The man of the Way replied, ‘Why do you not scatter flowers in your own mind instead of scattering them over a putrid corpse? For the root of good and evil is entirely the making of the mind; why then abandon the root to pursue the branches?’”