諸經要集 12.6

12.6

Upon respectfully examining the sūtras and treatises, practitioners cultivating the Way all state that the five desires are the root of obstructions to the Way. If one does not learn to cut them off, there is no way to realize sagehood. Wishing to know their root, three kinds are briefly expounded: first, the internal five sense faculties; second, the external five sense objects; third, the five consciousnesses produced from them. It is on account of these three that defiled desires can arise. Therefore, the Nirvāṇa Sūtra states: "Good son, it is like a vicious elephant whose mind is not yet tamed; if someone mounts it, it will not go according to his wish, but will stray far from cities and towns to a wilderness. For one who is unable to properly restrain these five sense faculties, it is also just like this: they will carry a person far away from the city of nirvāṇa, to the wilderness of birth and death. Good son, it is like a flatterer advising a king to do evil; the flattering ministers that are the five faculties are also just like this, constantly urging sentient beings to commit immeasurable evils. It is like an unruly son: if he does not receive the instructions of his teachers, elders, and parents, there is no evil he will not commit. If one does not tame the five faculties, it is also just like this: not receiving the instructions and good words of teachers and elders, there is no evil they will not commit. Good son, when ordinary beings do not restrain the five faculties, they are constantly plundered and harmed by the hells, animals, and hungry ghosts, just as hostile bandits harm good people." Furthermore, the Yijiao jing states: "The thieves of the five faculties bring calamity across successive lifetimes; their harm is extremely severe, and one cannot but be cautious. Therefore, the wise restrain them and do not follow them, holding them in check as they would thieves. Even if one were to indulge them, in no long time one would see their destruction." Now, as to the "hindrances" (nīvaraṇa), they have the meaning of covering over: that is, they cover and obstruct the practitioner, causing his disposition and nature to become confused and submerged, and his concentration and wisdom unclear, obscuring the good person. Being the direct obstructions to cultivating the Way, they are therefore called hindrances. Hence the Abhidharma treatise states: "That these hindrances are able to prevent good qualities from becoming manifest is the meaning of hindrance. Covering and obscuring the mind, they obstruct the various good qualities, preventing them from developing; hence they are named hindrances." The former five desires arise from the external five sense objects, while these five hindrances issue forth from the internal five sense faculties.