諸經要集 20
English (machine translation) 20
- Language
- English
20.1
Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoshi of Ximing Monastery
20.2
Section 30: Miscellaneous Essentials (This has thirteen topics)
20.3
Topic of Stating Intentions
Topic of Bitterness and Resentment
Topic of the Eight Sufferings
Topic of Insect Habitation
Topic of the Five Pungent Roots
Topic of Sneezing
Topic of Urination and Defecation
Topic of Protecting Purity
Topic of Striking the Bell
Topic of Entering the Assembly
Topic of Signs of Decline
Topic of Sleep and Dreams
Topic of Miscellaneous Practices
20.4
Topic of Stating Intentions, First
20.5
Now, the spiritual principle is without sound, and expresses intent by relying on words; words are without trace, and realise the perfect sound by depending on writing. Therefore, characters are the snare for words, and words are the trap for the principle. Sound and sense must correspond; neither can be neglected. For this reason, the practical application of writing encompasses the universe: though its traces are manifold in brush and ink, its principle accords with the spirit. Yet because sūtras and treatises are vast and extensive, to record them fully is difficult to make exhaustive; records and biographies are voluminous, having both detailed and concise accounts. Thus, in order to guide all quarters and instruct future students, the circumstances and traces of establishing the teaching are brilliantly made complete, and the origins of matters that instruct the worldly are abundantly present. Searching out the chapters, extracting the essential pivots, and compiling with brush and ink, these have been fully set forth in the preceding chapters. As for the other miscellaneous duties that draw in and benefit the worldly and can be put into practice at present, they are noted below, in the hope that darkness and delusion may gradually be removed and the lamp of the Dharma may shine far and wide.
20.6
Section 2: Conditions of Hostility and Suffering
20.7
As the Madhyamāgama says: At that time, the Bhagavat addressed the bhikṣus: 'Sentient beings wander through the long night of saṃsāra from beginningless time, not knowing the original limit of suffering. Bhikṣus, what do you think? If all the grass and trees of this great earth were cut into counting-sticks of four fingers' measure to count the parents you have depended upon wandering through the long night of saṃsāra, the number of sticks would be exhausted, yet the number of those parents would still not be exhausted. Bhikṣus, such is the wandering through the long night of beginningless saṃsāra, not knowing the original limit of suffering.' The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: 'In wandering through saṃsāra, the mother's milk you have drunk is more than the waters of the Ganges and the four great oceans. Why is this? In the long night, you may have been born among elephants and drunk their mother's milk immeasurably and innumerably; or born as camels, horses, oxen, donkeys, and various kinds of birds and beasts, drinking their mother's milk in an immeasurable number. Abandoned in charnel grounds in the long night, the pus and blood that flowed from you was likewise so. Or falling into hells, animal realms, and hungry ghosts, the marrow and blood that flowed from you was likewise so.'
20.8
The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: 'In wandering through the long night of saṃsāra, the blood shed from your bodies has been exceedingly abundant and innumerable, surpassing the waters of the Ganges and the four great oceans. In the long night, you were once born among elephants, where your ears, noses, heads, tails, and four feet were severed, and the blood was immeasurable; or you received rebirth as horses, camels, donkeys, oxen, and birds and beasts, where your ears, noses, heads, feet, and four limbs were cut off, and the blood was immeasurable; or your bodies decayed and life ended, abandoned in charnel grounds, the pus and blood flowing out in an immeasurable number; or falling into hells, animal realms, and hungry ghosts, your bodies decayed and life ended, and the blood shed was likewise so. Or wandering through the long night of saṃsāra, you lost parents, brothers, sisters, the six classes of kin, and friends, or lost wealth and shed tears for them, exceedingly abundantly and immeasurably, surpassing the waters of the four great oceans.'
20.9
The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: 'When you see sentient beings in security and experiencing various pleasures, you should reflect thus: "In wandering through the long night of saṃsāra, we too have experienced such pleasures in immeasurable realms." Or when you see sentient beings enduring various sufferings and afflictions, you should reflect thus: "Since wandering through the long night of saṃsāra in the past, we too have experienced such sufferings an immeasurable number of times." Or when you see sentient beings and give rise to fear so that your hair stands on end, you should reflect thus: "In the past we must have taken life, acted as tormentors, or been bad companions; wandering through the long night of beginningless saṃsāra, we did not know the original limit of suffering." Or when you see sentient beings and feel affection and joy toward them, you should reflect thus: "In past lives they must have been our parents, brothers, sisters, wives, children, relatives, teachers, and friends." Thus wandering through the long night of saṃsāra, veiled by ignorance and with craving binding the neck, one wanders through the long night, not knowing the original limit of suffering. Therefore, bhikṣus, you should train thus, exerting energetic skill-in-means to sever the roots [of suffering] and not let them increase.' At that time, the Bhagavat spoke this verse:
20.10
'The bones of one person's body / Accumulated in a single kalpa, / Constantly piling up without rotting away, / Would be like Mount Vipula. / If the noble disciples / See the true realities with right knowledge: / This suffering, and the origin of suffering, / Overcoming suffering to attain cessation, / Cultivating the practice of the Eightfold Path, / Directly heading toward parinirvāṇa, / At most reaching seven existences, / Transmigrating between devas and humans, / They exhaust all the fetters, / And ultimately reach the end of suffering.'
20.11
The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: 'Sentient beings wander through the long night of beginningless saṃsāra, not knowing the original limit of suffering. There is no single place where one has not been born and has not died. Such is the wandering through the long night of beginningless saṃsāra, not knowing the original limit of suffering. Nor is there any place where one has not had parents, brothers, wives, children, dependents, kinsmen, teachers, and elders. Just as when heavy rain falls, bubbles arise and vanish, so too are sentient beings veiled by ignorance and with craving binding the neck; they wander through the long night, not knowing the original limit of suffering. Just as when heavy rain pours over the whole sky, without interruption in the east, west, south, or north, so too in the immeasurable lands of the four directions, in the formation and destruction of kalpas, just as heavy rain pours across all under heaven without interruption, they wander through the long night, not knowing the original limit of suffering. Just as when a stick is thrown into the air, sometimes the tip hits the ground, sometimes the tail hits the ground, and sometimes the middle hits the ground, so too in wandering through the long night of beginningless saṃsāra, sometimes one falls into hell, sometimes into the animal realm, and sometimes into the hungry ghost realm.'
20.12
Furthermore, the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra says: At that time, the Yama Devarāja briefly said to the assembly of devas: 'Among humans, there are sixteen sufferings. What are the sixteen? They are subsumed under the good realm among devas and humans: first, the suffering of the intermediate existence; second, the suffering of dwelling in the womb; third, the suffering of emerging from the womb; fourth, the suffering of seeking food; fifth, the suffering of meeting with the hated; sixth, the suffering of parting from the loved; seventh, the suffering of cold, heat, and the like; eighth, the suffering of illness; ninth, the suffering of serving others; tenth, the suffering of seeking and laboring; eleventh, the suffering of associating with bad companions; twelfth, the suffering of affliction and decline among wives, children, and relatives; thirteenth, the suffering of hunger and thirst; fourteenth, the suffering of being despised and disparaged by others; fifteenth, the suffering of old age; sixteenth, the suffering of death. Such are the sixteen great sufferings among humans. In the human realm, up to the end of life and the remaining manifold sufferings, within saṃsāra they cannot be endured; within conditioned phenomena there is not the least pleasure; all is impermanent and all is ruinous.' At that time, the Yama Devarāja spoke in verse:
20.13
'In the world of humans, / The aggregates are all suffering; / Where there is birth, there must be death; / Where there is death, there must be birth. / If one abides in the intermediate existence, / One suffers affliction from one's own karma; / The suffering of long journeys through the long night, / This suffering cannot be told. / Submerged in feces and urine, / Burned by steaming heat, / Such is the suffering of dwelling in the womb, / It cannot be fully told. / Constantly craving the flavor of food, / One's mind ever longing, / Transforming into great suffering regarding flavors, / This suffering cannot be told. / With narrow minds constantly craving, / Never content in desires, / The various afflictions endured, / This suffering cannot be told. / Meeting with the hated and disliked, / Is like a great fire and poison; / The various afflictions produced, / This suffering cannot be told. / In parting from affection and love, / Sentient beings give rise to great suffering; / An immense evil difficult to bear, / This suffering cannot be told. / The great fearful suffering of cold and heat, / Produces immeasurable kinds of suffering, / Produces immeasurable kinds of evil, / This suffering cannot be told. / The suffering of illness destroys human life; / Illness is the messenger of King Death. / Sentient beings endure this suffering; / This suffering cannot be told. / Driven and commanded by others, / Always devoid of autonomy, / Sentient beings endure this suffering; / This suffering cannot be told. / The poison of craving burns sentient beings; / Seeking brings great suffering, / Progressing in turn even unto death; / This suffering cannot be told. / If one associates with bad companions, / Manifold sufferings never cease, / Constantly enduring suffering in bad realms; / This suffering cannot be told. / When wives and children meet with decline and affliction, / Seeing it brings forth great suffering, / Surpassing the hells; / This suffering cannot be told. / Hunger and thirst burn one's body, / Just like blazing flames, / Able to destroy body and mind; / This suffering cannot be told. / Constantly being despised by other / Relatives and companions, / Gives rise to worry and grief; / This suffering cannot be told. / A person pressed down by old age, / Has a frail body and feeble mind, / Bent over, walking with a staff; / This suffering cannot be told. / A person seized by death, / Goes from this world to another; / This death is a great suffering, / It cannot be told.'
20.14
Section 3: Conditions of the Eight Sufferings
20.15
As the Sūtra of the Five Kings says: The Buddha expounded the Dharma to five kings, saying: 'When people live in the world, immeasurable sufferings constantly afflict their bodies. Now I will roughly explain the eight sufferings to you in brief. What are the eight sufferings? First, the suffering of birth; second, the suffering of old age; third, the suffering of illness; fourth, the suffering of death; fifth, the suffering of parting from what is loved; sixth, the suffering of not getting what is sought; seventh, the suffering of meeting with the hated; eighth, the suffering of worry and grief. These are the eight sufferings. What is the suffering of birth? When a person dies, they do not know what path their consciousness heads toward. Not having yet obtained a place of birth, they universally take on the form of the intermediate existence. By the third seven days, when the parents unite, they then enter the womb. In the first seven days, it is like thin curds; in the second seven days, like thick curds; in the third seven days, like congealed butter; in the fourth seven days, like a lump of flesh; in the fifth seven days, the blister of flesh forms. A subtle wind enters the belly and blows upon the body, and the six sense faculties open and expand. In the mother's womb, beneath the stomach for raw food and above the stomach for digested food, when the mother eats a cup of hot food, it pours over the body as if entering a cauldron of boiling water; when the mother drinks a cup of cold water, it is also like freezing ice cutting into the body. When the mother is full, the body is squeezed and pressed with unspeakable pain; when the mother is hungry, the belly is cramped as if hanging upside down, enduring immeasurable suffering. When the months are fulfilled and birth is imminent, the head turns toward the birth canal, agonizing as if between two crags of a ravine. At the time of delivery, the mother is in danger and the father is terrified. Falling upon the grass at birth, the body is delicate and tender; the grass touching the body is like treading on knives and swords, suddenly causing a cry of loud wailing. Is this not suffering?' All the people said: 'This is indeed great suffering.'
20.16
'What is the suffering of old age? It refers to being raised by parents until grown up, relying on one's own strength and vigor, carrying light and bearing heavy loads without moderation, and disregarding cold and heat. When old age arrives, the head turns white, the teeth fall out, the eyes become dim and blurred, the ears no longer hear clearly, vitality departs and decline arrives, the skin slacks and the face wrinkles, the hundred joints ache, walking is extremely arduous, sitting down and standing up brings groaning, the mind is afflicted with worry and grief, consciousness and memory gradually fade, forgetting as soon as one turns around, life daily hastens toward its end, speaking of it brings forth tears, and sitting or standing requires [the support of] others. Is this not suffering?' They replied: 'It is great suffering.'
20.17
'What is the suffering of illness? A human is composed of the harmony of the four great elements. If one element is out of harmony, a hundred and one diseases arise; if the four great elements are out of harmony, four hundred and four diseases arise all at once. If the earth element is out of harmony, the whole body feels heavy; if the water element is out of harmony, the whole body swells; if the fire element is out of harmony, the whole body is feverish and steamy; if the wind element is out of harmony, the whole body becomes stiff and rigid. The hundred joints suffer pain as though beaten with sticks and whips. With the flux of the four elements, hands and feet become useless, vitality is exhausted, and sitting or rising requires others. The mouth is parched and the lips are scorched; tendons snap and the nose cracks; the eyes do not see forms and the ears do not hear sounds; impurities flow forth, and one lies upon them; the mind harbors anguish, and the speech expresses sorrow. Kinfolk are at one's side, watching day and night without rest. Fine dishes and delicacies are all bitter when entering the mouth. Is this not suffering?' They replied: 'Indeed it is great suffering.'
20.18
"What is meant by the suffering of death? At the time when a person dies, the four hundred and four ailments arise all at once. The four great elements are about to disperse, and the soul is ill at ease. When on the verge of death, the knife-like wind dissevers the body, and there is nowhere that does not ache. White sweat flows forth, and both hands grope at the air. Family and kin, both within and without, surround them on left and right, grieving, weeping, their pain piercing to the bone marrow, unable to bear it. The dying person departs: the breath is gone and respiration ceases; the fire is extinguished and the body grows cold. Wind and light lose their order; the soul departs. The corpse lies stiff and straight, conscious of nothing. Within ten days, the flesh rots and blood flows forth; it swells, festers, and stinks so terribly that none can approach. Cast out into the open wilderness, birds devour it. The flesh consumed and the bones dried up, the skull lies in another place. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering." "What is meant by the suffering of separation from what is loved? It means that inside and outside the household, brothers, wives, and children fondly cherish one another. In a single morning they are ruined and destroyed, plundered by bandits, and scattered in every direction: father to the east, son to the west, mother to the south, and daughter to the north—none in the same place. Becoming slaves and maidservants, they each cry out in grief, their hearts and flesh torn asunder, in vast obscurity, with no prospect of ever seeing one another again. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering."
20.19
"What is meant by the suffering of not getting what one seeks? One expends the wealth within one's household to pursue favor with high officials, petty clerks, and the people, hoping to attain wealth and nobility. One seeks it through tireless toil, never ceasing until an opportunity arises. Having obtained an appointment, one becomes a magistrate in a frontier region. Before long, greedily seizing the property of the people, one is denounced by others. In a single morning an incident occurs, and a caged prisoner-cart stands waiting. When on the verge of being executed, the grief and anguish are boundless, not knowing which day one will live or die. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering."
20.20
"What is meant by the suffering of meeting with what is hated? People in the world are shallow and vulgar; living together amidst desires, they quarrel over matters of no urgency and go on to kill and harm one another, ultimately becoming great enemies. Each evades the other, having nowhere to hide; each grinds knives, fits arrows, draws bows, and grasps staves, terrified of meeting. When by chance they meet face-to-face on a narrow road, they draw bows, loose showers of arrows, and face each other blade to blade, neither knowing who will triumph or fail. At such a time, the terror is boundless. Is this suffering or not?" One replies: "Truly, it is great suffering."
20.21
"What is meant by the suffering of grief, sorrow, and affliction? It refers to human life in the world: those who are long-lived reach up to a hundred years; those who are short-lived are harmed and aborted in the womb. For those who are long-lived, granting them a hundred years: the nights consume half of it, leaving fifty years. In that, through drunkenness and illness, when one is unconscious of being a person, deduct five years. When small, one is ignorant; up to the age of fifteen, one does not yet understand ritual and duty. Past the age of eighty, the faculties are dull and devoid of wisdom, the ears deaf and the eyes dim, with no sense of principles; deduct another twenty. Ninety years have passed; out of the remaining ten years, they are filled with many anxieties: when the empire is about to fall into chaos, one worries; when there is a drought under heaven, one worries; when there is a great flood under heaven, one worries; when there is a great frost under heaven, one worries; when the harvest fails under heaven, one worries; when many illnesses arise within and without the household, one worries; when managing the household property to make a living, fearing loss, one worries; when the official levies and taxes are not yet paid, one worries; when a family member is prosecuted by officials and locked in prison, not knowing the date of release, one worries; when brothers travel far and have not returned, one worries; when the household is poor and cold, lacking food and clothing, one worries; when neighboring villages face troubles, one worries; when offerings to the local gods cannot be prepared, one worries; when a family member dies and there is no wealth for the funeral, one worries; when spring planting arrives and there is no plow ox, one worries. In these various manners of grief and sorrow, there is no time of joy. Even when festivals arrive and people gather together, when they should be joyful, they end up weeping face to face. Is this suffering or not?" He replied: "Truly, it is great suffering."
20.22
Furthermore, the Jinse wang jing says that a goddess spoke a gāthā to King Kanakavarṇa, saying:
20.23
"What phenomenon is called suffering? / It is that which is called poverty. / What suffering is the most severe? / It is that which is called the suffering of poverty. / The suffering of death and poverty— / these two sufferings are equal and no different. / Better to endure the suffering of death / than to live in poverty."
20.24
Circumstance 4: Parasitic Worms
20.25
As the Chan miyao jing says: "Furthermore, Śāriputra, when a practitioner enters dhyāna-concentration, if sexual thoughts arise, the wind of lust stirs the four hundred and four vessels, agitating them all at once from the eyes down to the tactile organ of the body. The sensory faculties become blocked, agitating the heart-wind and driving the mind mad. Consequently, falling into madness, they are possessed by demonic spirits, day and night longing for desire as if trying to save their head while on fire. One must cure it quickly. The method of curing it is to instruct this practitioner to contemplate the womb. The womb is situated beneath the receptacle of unripe food and above the receptacle of digested food, consisting of ninety-nine layers of membranes, like a dead pig's bladder. Four hundred and four vessels emerge from the womb, like tree roots, spreading across the various faculties like a sack filled with feces, with one thousand nine hundred segments resembling plantain leaves, surrounded on all sides by eighty families of worms. The one hundred and four vessels and the womb are like a horse's intestines, extending straight down to the birth canal, shaped like an armlet, round and circular in size, round above and pointed below, resembling a cowrie tooth. Between each of the ninety-nine layers are four hundred and four worms, each worm having twelve heads and twelve mouths. When a person drinks water, the water-essence enters the vessels and spreads to the various worms, entering the crown of the vilā-worm and going straight to the birth canal. Half month by half month, impure fluid is discharged: the worms each spit it out like spoiled pus into the mouths of ninety worms, and it is discharged from the six orifices of twelve worms, resembling ruined madder juice. Furthermore, there are worms finer than the tip of an autumn hair, playing within it. On account of the past evil misdeeds of men, four hundred and four vessels spread from the eye faculty down to the four limbs, flowing into the intestines beneath the receptacle of unripe food and above the receptacle of digested food. On both sides of the vessels of the lungs, spleen, and kidneys, there are sixty-four worms each, each with twelve heads and also twelve mouths, entwined together in the shape of a finger ring, filled with bluish pus like the semen of a wild boar, foul and insufferable. Arriving at the pudenda, they divide into three branches; twice nine are above, resembling plantain leaves, with ten thousand two hundred vessels. Within each vessel are born wind-worms, fine as the tip of an autumn hair, resembling the beaks of viraṇḍa birds. Among the worms are born sinew-colored worms (the bodies of these worms resemble sinews, connecting and holding the womb; they can move the vessels and draw semen in and out, the male worms being blue-white and the female worms red), seventy-eight thousand in number, wrapped around one another like a spiral conch ring, resembling the eyes of the ghoṣila bird. Ninety-eight vessels surge upward to the heart and up to the topknot. When men's eyes make contact with physical form, the wind stirs the mental marks; the four hundred and four vessels are driven by the wind and shift without ceasing. The eighty families of worms open their mouths all at once; their eyes exude pus flowing into the vessels, up to the crowns of the worms, and the worms crumble in motion, mad and senseless, coming into contact with the female organ before them. The male semen is blue-white; it is the tears of these worms. The female semen is yellowish-red; it is the pus of these worms. These are the phenomena perfumed and cultivated by the ninety-eight latent afflictions, and the actions stirred up by the eighty families of worms and the four great elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. The Buddha said to Śāriputra: 'If there are members of the four assemblies who wear the robe of shame and conscience, take the medicine of shame and conscience, and seek liberation to transcend the world's sufferings, they should learn this method as if drinking ambrosia. One who learns this method should visualize the aforementioned womb and the female organ, the parts of the male body, and the large and small worms, opening their mouths, baring their fangs, glaring with furious eyes, and vomiting pus. Invert it with the hand and place it on the tip of the left knee, counting the breaths to attain stillness; contemplate this one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times. When this visualization is achieved, place it on the tip of the right knee and contemplate it as before. Then invert it again with the hand and use it to cover the top of the head, causing these worms and multitudes of impure things to first reach both eyes, then the ears, nose, and mouth, reaching everywhere. Having seen this, if their eyes gaze upon beautiful female forms, beautiful male forms, or even sons of gods and goddesses, it will be like seeing a leper, an ulcer-worm, an arrow of hell, the form of a bandhara demon, or the fierce, blazing flames of the Avīci Hell. One should carefully contemplate one's own body and others' bodies: the impure components of all sentient beings in the desire realm are entirely like this. Śāriputra, do you know now? The fundamental seed of the bodily faculties of sentient beings is wholly impure, beyond full description. One should simply count the breaths and contemplate it with a unified mind. If one takes this medicine, one is a great man, a teacher of gods and humans, a taming leader of persons; one avoids the mire of desire and is not swept away by the water of desire and the great river of attachment, nor harmed by the ominous illusions of lasciviousness and bewitching specters. You should know that though this person has not yet escaped saṃsāra, their body is fragrant and pure like an utpala flower. Fragrant elephants among men, dragon kings, mighty warriors, and Maheśvara cannot equal them; they are great, powerful men revered by gods and humans.' The Buddha said to Śāriputra: 'Receive and uphold this well, and preach it to the four assemblies; be careful not to forget it.' Then Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha had said, rejoiced and practiced accordingly."
20.26
Furthermore, the Zhengfa nian jing says: "A bhikṣu practitioner sees the body as it truly is, observing the body sequentially from head to foot. Through wisdom gained from hearing or through the divine eye, [he sees that] within the skull there are worms crawling, called 'brain-crawlers'. Moving within the bone, they are born inside the brain; moving or staying, they consume this brain. Furthermore, there are worms residing in the skull: moving or feeding, they in turn eat the skull. Furthermore, there are hair-worms, residing outside the bone, eating the roots of the hair; when the worms become enraged, they cause the hair to fall out. Furthermore, there are ear-worms, residing in the ear, eating the flesh within the ear; when the worms become enraged, they cause ear pain or deafness in the person. Furthermore, there are nose-worms, residing in the nose, eating the flesh within the nose; when the worms become enraged, they cause food and drink to be unpalatable to the person, and brain-mucus flows down; because the worms eat the brain-mucus, this causes food and drink to be unpalatable to the person. Furthermore, there are fat-worms, born in the fat, residing in the fat and constantly eating human fat; when the worms become enraged, they cause headaches in the person. Furthermore, there are connecting-worms, born between the joints; there are also body-worms, residing and entering into human teeth; when the worms become enraged, they cause pain in the vessels like the piercing of needles. Furthermore, there are worms called 'saliva-eaters', residing in the root of the tongue; when the worms become enraged, they cause the mouth to become dry. Furthermore, there are worms called 'tooth-root worms', residing at the roots of the teeth; when the worms become enraged, they cause toothaches in the person. Furthermore, there are worms called 'vomiting worms'; when food disagrees [with them], they frequently cause vomiting. This is called the internal practitioner's sequential contemplation of the body: these ten kinds of worms reside within the head. Either through wisdom gained from hearing or through the divine eye, one first contemplates the throat, where there is a worm called 'saliva-eater'. When chewing food, it is like vomiting, mixed with saliva; when about to swallow, it combines with the brain-mucus, and the saliva-worms in the throat share and eat this food to maintain their lives. If the worms multiply, they cause coughs in the person. If one eats much grease, or eats much filth, or eats smoked food, or eats sour food, or eats cold food, the worms multiply, causing diseases to arise in the throat."
20.27
"Furthermore, through wisdom gained from hearing or through the divine eye, one sees the saliva-digesting worms residing in the throat. If a person does not eat grease and the like as mentioned above, the worms remain at peace and can digest the saliva, exuding delicious flavors through the ten vessels so that one rests comfortably in ease. If a person salivates excessively, the worms become sick; because the worms are sick, they vomit cold froth, thus causing disease in the chest."
20.28
"Furthermore, through wisdom gained from hearing or through the divine eye, one contemplates the vomiting-worms residing in the human body, dwelling where the ten vessels flow. When a person eats, these worms leap upward from the lower vessels into the throat, immediately causing the person to vomit. They produce five kinds of vomiting: first, wind vomiting; second, phlegm vomiting; third, saliva vomiting; fourth, mixed vomiting; and fifth, fly vomiting. If the worms are at peace, they pass smoothly into the abdomen at the opening of the stomach."
20.29
"Furthermore, through wisdom gained from hearing or through the divine eye, one sees that because flies consume impurity, flies enter into the throat, disturbing the vomiting-worms; when disturbed, a great vomiting ensues."
20.30
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the flavour-intoxicated worm moving on the tip of the tongue, even causing the vessels between it to either move or stop. It is minute and legless. If one eats delicious food, the worm becomes drunkenly intoxicated and flourishes; if one eats unpalatable food, the worm becomes withered and weak. If I do not eat, the intoxicated worm falls ill and finds no ease.
20.31
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the worm of negligence dwelling on the crown of the head. If it reaches the bregma, it makes a person ill; if it reaches the crown of the head, it causes sores to erupt; if it reaches the throat, it is as though ants filled the entire throat. If it remains in its original place, no illness arises.
20.32
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the worm of the six flavours. Whatever flavours it craves to consume, I also crave. Whatever this flavour-worm does not crave, I also find unsuitable. If [the person] contracts a fever, the worm also first contracts such a fever. Due to this fault, whatever the patient eats lacks deliciousness and has no taste of food.
20.33
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the breath-discharging worm. Out of anger, it eats the brain and makes holes, or causes throat pain, or obstructs the throat, producing the suffering of death. Together with all the other worms in the throat, this breath-discharging worm brings disorder and stirs up all manner of pain and distress. This breath-discharging worm is constantly covered in saliva; the worm is short and small, having a face and feet.
20.34
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the flavour-loathing worm dwelling below the head at the root of the throat. How does this worm cause me distress and affliction, or else bring about ease? One sees that this worm loathes various flavours and craves only a single flavour: it may crave sweet flavours and loathe other flavours, or crave sour flavours and loathe other flavours. Whatever flavour it loathes, I too loathe it; whatever the worm craves, I too crave it. There is a vessel at the tip of the tongue that conforms to flavours and makes the tongue dry. Due to the worm's anger, it makes the tongue prickle with heaviness, or causes the throat to contract slight ailments. If it does not get angry, the throat is free from the aforementioned ailments.
20.35
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the sleep-craving worm. Its shape is minute, like dust in a sunbeam. It dwells in all vessels, circulating through the pathways [of the body], dwelling within the bone marrow, or dwelling within the flesh, or within the skull, or inside the cheeks, or inside the jawbones, or in the throat bones, or in the ears, or in the eyes, or in the nose, or in the sideburns and hair. This sleep-craving worm is swept and circulated by the wind. If this worm falls ill or becomes utterly exhausted, it stays in the heart. The heart is like a lotus flower: it opens during the day, and because there is no sunlight, it closes again at night. The heart is also like this. When the worm stays within it, grasping at many sense objects until the sense faculties are utterly exhausted, the worm falls asleep, and the human also falls asleep. All sentient beings possess sleep. When this sleep-worm becomes utterly exhausted during the daytime, the human also falls asleep.
20.36
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the swelling-worm moving within the body. Its body is minute. Wherever the worm drinks blood, a swelling rises, prickling with pain—either on the face, or on the crown of the head, or in the throat, or at the bregma, or in other places. Wherever it is, it can cause swellings to arise. If it stays in the sinews, there is no suffering of disease.
20.37
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees ten kinds of worms. When they reach the liver and lungs, a person becomes diseased. What are the ten? The first is named the hair-eating worm; the second is named the cavity-crawling worm; the third is named the candamāla worm; the fourth is named the red worm; the fifth is named the sap-eating worm; the sixth is named the hair-lamp worm; the seventh is named the blood-angering worm; the eighth is named the flesh-eating worm; the ninth is named the prickling worm; the tenth is named the sour-juice worm. All these worms are minute in form, without feet and without eyes, moving within the blood, taking pain and itching as their characteristics.
20.38
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the hair-eating worm. If anger arises in it, it can devour the beard and eyebrows, causing them all to fall out and bringing about leprosy in the person. If anger arises in the cavity-crawling worm, it moves through the blood, making the body coarse and rough, and the head numb and insensate. If the candamāla worm circulates in the blood, either in the nose or in the mouth, it makes both mouth and nose foul-smelling. If anger arises in the red worm, it moves through the blood, causing ulcers to erupt in that person's throat. If anger arises in the sap-eating worm, it moves through the blood, making the person's body emaciated and cyanotic, or black or yellow with a wasting disease. If anger arises in the hair-lamp worm, it circulates in the blood, giving rise to painful diseases: ulcerous ringworm, jaundice with fever, or scabies and leprosy with cracked skin. If the blood-angering worm, out of anger, circulates through the blood, it either causes red-discharge disease, menorrhagia in women, itching over the body, or ulcerated scabies running with pus. If the blood-eating worm becomes angry, it brings about suffering and distress, causing dizziness in the head, ulcers in the throat, ulcers in the mouth, and ulcers in the lower orifice. If the prickling worm circulates in the blood, diseases arise: extreme exhaustion and fatigue, with no desire for food or drink. If anger arises in the sour-juice worm, it also causes the person to contract such diseases.
20.39
Furthermore, one contemplates ten kinds of worms moving in the secret places. What are the ten? The first is named the sore-producing worm; the second is named the piercing worm; the third is named the sinew-obstructing worm; the fourth is named the vessel-agitating worm; the fifth is named the skin-eating worm; the sixth is named the fat-agitating worm; the seventh is named the combining worm; the eighth is named the foul-smelling worm; the ninth is named the moisture-born worm; the tenth is named the heat worm.
20.40
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the sore-producing worm: wherever there is a sore, these worms gather around and devour it, or they produce sore diseases in the throat. Or one sees the piercing worm: if anger arises in it, it gives the person diarrhea as though burning with fire, causing dryness in the mouth and indigestion of food and drink. If the person grieves, the worm rejoices, gnawing at the person's blood vessels to inflict harm, either causing the discharge of red blood or causing undigested diarrhea. Or one sees the sinew-obstructing worm moving through coarse sinews or fine sinews: if one feels the worm moving, the sinews are painful; if one does not feel it moving, the sinews are not painful. All the bones and flesh become emaciated, with pain within the sinews. If the worm becomes angry, the person cannot eat; if it stays in the sinews and drinks the person's blood, it leaves the person powerless; if it eats the person's flesh, it makes him gaunt. Or one sees the vessel-agitating worm: this worm travels everywhere in all vessels, its body minute and moving without hindrance. If the worm enters and stays in the alimentary vessel, disease faults arise, making the body dry and averse to food and drink. If the worm stays in the water vessel, disease arises, making the mouth dry. If it is in the sweat vessel, it leaves all the pores of the person sweatless. If it is in the urine vessel, it causes strangury, spoils the semen, or inflicts agony. If the worm becomes angry and moves in the lower orifice, it causes the feces to become blocked and obstructed, causing distress to the point of death. Or one sees the skin-eating worm: due to dietary errors, the worm becomes angry, giving the person an ugly facial complexion, or producing foul boils that are either itchy, red, yellow, or burst open, or causing the beard and nails to fall off, bringing about repulsive diseases in the person, or breaking down the skin, or rotting the flesh. Or one sees the fat-agitating worm dwelling within the fat vessels of the body: if there are dietary errors or excessive sleep, this worm becomes angry and food is not digested; or scabies arises, or foul swellings and boils at the hair roots, or goiters, or swollen vessels, or dry wasting, or a foul body odor, or profuse sweating while eating. Or one sees the combining worm, which gathers two kinds of bodies: the first is the sentient body, and the second is the insentient body. The skin, flesh, blood, and the like are called the sentient body; the hair, nails, teeth, and the like are called the insentient body. Due to dietary errors, the worm becomes powerless, and the human also becomes powerless, unable to walk back and forth swiftly, falling into heavy, stuporous slumber, or suffering great parching thirst, with skin, flesh, bones, blood, marrow, and semen wasting away. Or one sees the foul-smelling worm dwelling in the flesh and amidst the feces and urine: due to dietary errors, the worm becomes angry, and the body's flesh, feces, urine, saliva, and snot all turn foul-smelling, with rotting pus in the nose or foul, rotting tears in the eyes; wherever the worm travels, all becomes foul and filthy. Whether clothing, bedding, or food—when it dwells in the teeth, because the worm is foul, the food likewise turns foul, and the clothing and bedding become completely foul; on the tongue there is much bloody grime and foul filth, and the body's grime is also foul. Or one sees the moisture-traveling worm moving in the flesh of the back: knowing that the food has been digested, it enters the three apertures of the waist, extracting the human filth, where the fluid becomes urine and the residue becomes feces, directing them into the lower orifice.
20.41
Furthermore, a practitioner cultivating contemplation contemplates the body internally by observing the body, contemplating ten kinds of worms that move within the body, from which all human bodies emerge. What are the ten? The first is named the prickling worm; the second is named the fluttering worm; the third is named the shoot-flower worm; the fourth is named the flame worm; the fifth is named the black worm; the sixth is named the voracious worm; the seventh is named the warm-traveling worm; the eighth is named the heat-generating worm; the ninth is named the fire worm; the tenth is named the great fire worm. All these worms dwell in the dark bile.
20.42
Furthermore, by the wisdom acquired from hearing, or with the divine eye, one sees the prickling worm. Due to dietary errors, the worm becomes angry and devours the person's eyelids, causing the eyes to itch and tear profusely. If this minute worm travels in the eyes, the eyes suffer many ailments, or it destroys vision; if it enters the pupils, white film forms on the eyes. The worm is red in color. If the worm does not get angry, these ailments do not occur. Or one sees the fluttering worm dwelling in the human body, moving in the dark regions, with dark bile covering the body: if it enters the bones, it gives the person a steaming heat; if it moves in the skin, there is constant fever day and night, with both hands and feet feverish; if it enters beneath the skin, the body breaks into sweat. Or one sees the shoot-flower worm moving and dwelling in the dark regions, with sharp beaks and short legs, its body like a repository of fire, having no desire for food or drink; wherever it travels, there is intense heat and rotting, the flesh of the body swells, and the body steams with heat. If the worm moves smoothly, there is no such illness. Or one sees the flame worm dwelling in the body and moving in the bile and dark regions, sometimes at ease and sometimes uneasy. Due to dietary errors, the worm becomes angry: from head to foot it travels without hindrance, causing all the hot blood in the body to produce fever-blisters, and blood or dark fluids flow out from the mouth and ears. If the worm does not get angry, there is no such ailment. Or one sees the black worm dwelling within the body and moving in the bile, sometimes at ease and sometimes uneasy. Due to dietary errors, the worm becomes angry, making the person's face wrinkled, producing many nightmares, or turning black, yellow, or red, or causing the body to smell foul, or causing night blindness, or causing sores to erupt in the mouth, or sores to erupt in the places of urination and defecation. If the worm does not get angry, there is no such ailment. Or one sees the voracious worm: due to dietary errors, it gives rise to anger; dwelling in the dark bile, it digests along with the food. If the worm does not get angry, there is no such ailment. Or one sees the warm-traveling worm, which constantly loves warm food and loathes cold food: if I eat cold food, the worm becomes angry, causing much water to flow from the mouth, or laziness, or sleepiness, or heavy stupor in the mind and dark regions, or aching stiffness in the body, or profuse saliva, or throat ailments. If the worm does not get angry, there is no such ailment. Or one sees the heat worm dwelling in the human body: due to dietary errors, disease-filth increases, hindering the breath from entering and leaving the body, making the body coarse and swollen, or obstructing the throat, and turning both feces and urine entirely white, disliking cold and unable to tolerate bland food. Or one sees the fire-eating worm dwelling within the body, moving and resting in the dark regions: when it is cold, this worm is pleased; when it is hot, it becomes withered and weak. Because it is pleased by the cold, the person craves food; when it is hot, hating the fire, he does not wish for food or drink. In the winter cold, the dark regions are cool; when it is hot, the dark regions flare up. Or one sees the great fire worm: if an item does not suit a person's constitution and he forces himself to eat it, the worm becomes angry due to dietary errors, devouring the worms inside the body and causing intestinal pain, or pain in the feet and hands; wherever it eats the worms, pain ensues. If the worm does not get angry, there are no such [ailments] as mentioned above.
20.43
Furthermore, a practitioner, observing the body internally according to the body, by means of wisdom gained from hearing or by means of the divine eye, observes that there are ten kinds of worms in the bones. What are the ten? The first is named the bone-larva worm; the second is named the bone-gnawing worm; the third is named the joint-severing worm; the fourth is named the red-mouthed foul-smelling worm; the fifth is named the rotting worm; the sixth is named the red-mouthed worm; the seventh is named the toutoumo worm; the eighth is named the skin-eating worm; the ninth is named the wind-knife worm; the tenth is named the knife-mouthed worm. These ten kinds of worms move through the bones. Their violation of one's disposition and harming of the body cannot be fully recounted.
20.44
Furthermore, a practitioner, observing the body internally according to the body, by means of wisdom gained from hearing or by means of the divine eye, sees ten kinds of worms moving through the urine. What are the ten? The first is named the living worm; the second is named the needle-mouthed worm; the third is named the node worm; the fourth is named the legless worm; the fifth is named the juice-dispersing worm; the sixth is named the three-scorched worm; the seventh is named the bowel-breaking worm; the eighth is named the obstructing worm; the ninth is named the good-colored worm; the tenth is named the foul-gate ulcer worm. Their hair is repulsive, and they dwell in excrement and filth. If these ten kinds of worms become angry contrary to their nature, they also harm the human body. This is fully described in the sūtra text and cannot be recounted in full.
20.45
Furthermore, a practitioner, observing the body internally according to the body, by means of wisdom gained from hearing or by means of the divine eye, sees ten kinds of worms moving through the marrow, which move in the semen. What are the ten? The first is named the hairy worm; the second is named the black-mouthed worm; the third is named the powerless worm; the fourth is named the great-pain worm; the fifth is named the anguish worm; the sixth is named the fire worm; the seventh is named the slippery worm; the eighth is named the downward-flowing worm; the ninth is named the genital-arousing worm; the tenth is named the mindful-delight worm. If these ten worms become angry contrary to their nature, they also harm the human body. It is fully as explained in the sūtra and cannot be recounted in full.
20.46
Circumstance 5: The Five Pungent Roots
20.47
As the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra states: “The Buddha said: ‘Mahāmati, all such scallions, leeks, and garlic are foul, filthy, and impure; they can obstruct the noble path and can also obstruct the pure realms of humans and devas in the world, not to mention the karmic reward of the pure lands of all Buddhas. Liquor is also like this.’”
20.48
Also, the Nirvāṇa-sūtra states: “Even eating scallions, leeks, garlic, and Chinese squill is all like this: one will be born in painful places. They are foul, filthy, and impure, and can obstruct the noble path; they can also obstruct the pure realms of humans and devas in the world, not to mention the karmic reward of the pure lands of all Buddhas. Liquor is also like this: it can obstruct the noble path, impair wholesome karma, and give rise to all faults.”
20.49
Also, the Saṃyuktāgama states: “One should not eat the five pungent roots. What are the five? The first is wooden scallion; the second is leather scallion; the third is garlic; the fourth is asafoetida; the fifth is orchid scallion.” Also, the Brahmajāla-sūtra states: “If one is a disciple of the Buddha, one must not eat the five pungent roots: garlic, leather scallion, compassionate scallion, orchid scallion, and asafoetida. These five kinds must not be eaten.”
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- 諸經要集 — Classical Chinese