法苑珠林 71.41

71.41

The faults of visible form being such, the rest—scents, tastes, touch, and so on—are all likewise. That all sentient beings from beginningless time have forever sunk into saṃsāra and been unable to escape is truly due to feminine form, by which they are bound and find it difficult to break free. Blind and devoid of the eye of wisdom, they do not see the pit of saṃsāra, causing them to plunge into it. Considering now that neither monastics nor laypeople contemplate the perils of desire, but instead rush toward them, on what day will they turn back and be able to escape this fault? Their minds are constantly defiled and cannot relinquish them even for a moment; when even the precepts are not preserved, how could there be concentration, wisdom, or contemplation of the Buddha-nature? Therefore, a verse from the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra* says: