法苑珠林 67.5

67.5

Furthermore, the Zhengfa nian jing says: 'When a monk-practitioner sees the body as it truly is, observing the body from head to foot, by means of wisdom born of hearing or by means of the divine eye he observes inside the skull that there are worms moving about, named "brain-crawlers". Roaming through the bones, they are born within the brain; moving or resting, they constantly feed on this brain. There are also worms residing in the skull: whether moving or feeding, they feed on the skull. There are also hair-worms residing outside the bone, feeding on the roots of the hair; when these worms become angry, they cause the hair to fall out. There are also ear-worms residing in the ears, feeding on the flesh inside the ears; when these worms become angry, they cause ear pain or cause deafness. There are also nose-worms residing in the nose, feeding on the flesh inside the nose; when these worms become angry, they make one's food and drink unpalatable and cause brain-saliva to drip down—because the worms consume the brain-saliva, food and drink are therefore unpalatable. There are also fat-worms born within the fat, residing within the fat, constantly feeding on the person's fat; when these worms become angry, they cause headaches. There are also joint-worms born between the joints. There are worms named "body-worms" residing in human teeth; when these worms become angry, they cause pain in the vessels like the piercing of needles. There are also worms named "saliva-eaters", residing in the root of the tongue; when these worms become angry, they cause the mouth to become parched. There are also worms named "tooth-root worms", residing in the roots of the teeth; when these worms become angry, they cause toothaches. There are also worms named "vomit worms"; when food is discordant, they produce excessive vomiting. This is called the inner practitioner's contemplation of the body. These ten kinds of worms reside in the head. Either through wisdom born of hearing or through the divine eye, when first observing the throat, there are worms named "saliva-eaters": when chewing food, as if mixed with vomited saliva, when about to swallow it joins with the brain-saliva; the saliva-worms in the throat feed together on this food to sustain their lives. If these worms multiply, they cause coughing illnesses. If one eats excessive grease, or eats sweets, or eats smoked food, or eats sour food, or eats cold food, the worms will multiply, causing diseases to arise in the person's throat. Furthermore, by wisdom born of hearing or by the divine eye, one sees saliva-digesting worms flowing into the throat; if a person does not eat the aforementioned greases and the like, the worms remain at peace and can digest the saliva, causing delicious flavours to flow out from the ten channels, experiencing peaceful pleasure. If a person produces excessive saliva, the worms become ill; because the worms are ill, they vomit cold foam, and because cold foam is vomited, illness develops in the chest. Furthermore, by wisdom born of hearing or by the divine eye, one contemplates vomit worms residing in the human body, dwelling where the ten channels flow; when a person eats, such worms surge upward through the body from the ten channels, and upon reaching the throat they immediately cause the person to vomit, producing five kinds of vomiting: first, wind vomiting; second, phlegm vomiting; third, saliva vomiting; fourth, mixed vomiting; fifth, fly vomiting. If the worms are at peace, then they proceed smoothly from the stomach into the abdomen.'