宗鏡錄 99.19

99.19

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?’”