法苑珠林 99.16

99.16

如修行道地經云。其修行者已得初果道迹。知諸五欲皆歸無常。不能盡除。所以者何。由見色聲香味細滑之念。故起愛欲未能斷除。譬如梵志。淨潔自喜。詣下舍後。卒污於指。行語金師。指污不淨。以火燒之。金師諫曰。勿發是心。有餘方便除此不淨。以灰土拭之。用水洗之。設吾火燒卿不能忍。火熱毒痛自觸其身。更甚于前。梵志子聞即懷瞋恚。便罵金師。莫以己心量度他人。自不能忍謂人不堪。吾無所用手有垢污。不敢行路畏人觸我。吾儻近之失吾道德。世所道術天文地理。一切典籍無不知之。曷因不淨著吾手指。勿得停久。當隨我言除其指穢也。金師聞之。燒鉗正赤以㩉彼指。梵志得熱痛不能忍。掣指著口。金師大笑。謂年少言。卿自稱譽。聰明博學。採古知今。無不該通。清淨無瑕。於今無耐。持不淨指含著口中。當知輕躁未足為師。梵志報曰。不遭痛時見指不淨。適遇火毒即忘指穢。求道如是。長夜修習離於愛欲。適見好色婬意還動。所以者何。諸根未制。諸漏未盡。邪根未除。正定未發。宿愛不除。染欲還起。於是頌曰。

As the Xiuxing daodi jing states: That practitioner, having attained the first fruit of stream-entry, knows that all five desires ultimately return to impermanence, yet cannot completely eliminate them. Why is this? Because upon seeing sights, sounds, scents, tastes, and fine tactile objects, thoughts arise, and therefore passionate desires are stirred and cannot yet be severed. It is like a brāhmaṇa who delights in purity and cleanliness; having gone behind an outhouse, he accidentally defiles his finger. Walking to a goldsmith, he says: 'My finger has been defiled with impurity. Burn it with fire!' The goldsmith admonishes him, saying: 'Do not have such an intention! There are other expedients to remove this impurity: wipe it with ashes and earth, wash it with water. If I burn it with fire, you will not be able to bear it; the burning pain of fire striking your body will be far worse than before.' Hearing this, the brāhmaṇa's son became filled with anger and scolded the goldsmith: 'Do not measure others with your own mind! Just because you cannot bear it yourself, you say others cannot endure it. I have no use for a hand that has filth upon it. I dare not walk on the road, fearing that someone will touch me; if I were to approach them, I would lose my moral virtue. Among worldly arts and techniques, astronomy, and geography, there is no classic or record I do not know. Why should impurity cling to my finger? Do not delay; follow my words and remove the filth on this finger!' Hearing this, the goldsmith heated his tongs until glowing red and clamped his finger with them. Feeling the searing pain, the brāhmaṇa could not endure it and jerked his finger, putting it into his mouth. The goldsmith laughed heartily and said to the youth: 'You praised yourself as clever, erudite, gathering the ancient and knowing the present, with nothing you have not mastered, pure and spotless. Yet now you have no self-control, holding an impure finger inside your mouth! You should know that being rash and frivolous is not enough to make one a master.' The brāhmaṇa replied: 'When I was not encountering the pain, I saw the finger's impurity; as soon as I met with the fiery venom, I instantly forgot the filth of the finger.' Seeking the path is just like this: through the long night one cultivates detachment from passionate desire, yet as soon as one sees a beautiful form, lustful intentions stir again. Why is this? The sense faculties are not yet restrained, the outflows are not yet exhausted, the roots of error are not yet eradicated, right concentration has not yet arisen, past attachments are not eliminated, and defiled desires arise again. Thereupon the verses say: