法苑珠林 67.12

67.12

'Furthermore, by wisdom born of hearing or by the divine eye, one sees sleep-loving worms: their shape is minute, like dust in a window chink; they dwell in all channels, circulating through the pathways of taste; they dwell within the bone marrow, or dwell within the flesh, or within the skull, or inside the cheeks, or inside the jawbones, or inside the throat bones, or in the ears, or in the eyes, or in the nose, or in the beard and hair. These sleep-loving worms drift and circulate driven by the wind. If these worms become sick, or if the worms become exhausted, they dwell within the heart. The heart is like a lotus flower: in the daytime it opens, and having no sunlight, at night it closes again; the heart is also like this. When the worms dwell within it, seizing upon many sensory objects, the sense faculties become exhausted; when the worms sleep, the human also sleeps. All sentient beings experience sleep; if these sleeping worms are exhausted during the day, the human also sleeps.'