[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [坐禪三昧經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614) › 2.3 # 坐禪三昧經 2.3 坐禪三昧經 2.3 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2.3) 觀欲云何知欲無常？功德怨家，如幻如化，空無所得，念之未得，癡心已亂，何況已得，婬欲纏覆？天上樂處，猶不常安，何況人中？人心著欲，無有厭足，如火得薪，如海吞流。如頂生王，雖雨七寶、王四天下、帝釋分座，猶不知足。如那睺沙（姓也），轉金輪王，為欲所逼，墮蟒蛇中。又如仙人，食果衣草，隱居深山，被髮求道，猶復不免，欲賊所壞。欲樂甚少，怨毒甚多。著欲之人，惡友相近，善人踈遠。欲為毒酒，愚惑醉死；欲為欺誑，走使愚人，疲苦萬端，不得自在。唯有離欲，身心安隱，快樂無極。欲無所得，如狗齩枯骨。求欲勤勞，極苦乃得，得之甚難，失之甚易。如假借須臾，勢不得久，如夢所見，恍惚即滅。欲之為患，求之既苦，得之亦苦，多得多苦。如火得薪，多益多熾，欲如搏肉，眾鳥競逐。以要言之！如蛾赴火，如魚吞鉤，如鹿逐聲，如渴飲鹹水。一切眾生，為欲致患，無苦不至。是故當知，欲為毒害，當求初禪，滅斷欲火。行者一心精懃信樂，令心增進，意不散亂，觀欲心厭，除結惱盡，得初禪定；離欲盛火得清涼定，如熱得蔭，如貧得富。是時便得，初禪喜覺，思惟禪中，種種功德，觀分別好醜，便得一心。 > Contemplating desire: how does one know that desire is impermanent? It is an enemy to virtues, like an illusion, like a phantom, empty with nothing to be gained. Merely thinking of it before having obtained it, the foolish mind is already disturbed; how much more so when one has obtained it and is entangled and enveloped by sensuous desire! Even joyful places in heaven are not permanently peaceful, let alone among humans. The human mind clings to desire without satisfaction, like fire receiving firewood, like the ocean swallowing streams. For instance, King Māndhātṛ, though he rained seven jewels, ruled over the four continents, and shared the seat of Śakra, still did not know satisfaction. Or Nahuṣa (a clan name), a gold-wheel-turning king, driven by desire, fell among pythons. Or again, the rṣi who ate fruit and wore grass, secluded in the deep mountains with disheveled hair seeking the Way, still could not escape being ruined by the thief of desire. Sensual pleasure is extremely little, while resentment and poison are extremely great. Those attached to desire draw near to bad friends and keep distant from good people. Desire is poisonous wine, in which fools are intoxicated and die; desire is a deception that drives foolish people into endless weariness and suffering, leaving them without self-mastery. Only by departing from desire are body and mind peaceful, with boundless joy. There is nothing to be gained from desire, like a dog gnawing a dry bone. Seeking desire is laborious; it is obtained only through extreme suffering; obtaining it is very difficult, and losing it is very easy. It is like a momentary loan whose momentum cannot last, like what is seen in a dream, vanishing in an instant. As for the affliction of desire: seeking it is suffering, obtaining it is also suffering, and obtaining much brings much suffering. Like fire receiving firewood, the more it is fed, the more fiercely it blazes; desire is like a piece of meat for which many birds fight. In brief: it is like a moth flying into a flame, like a fish swallowing a hook, like a deer chasing a sound, like a thirsty person drinking salt water. All sentient beings incur calamity because of desire, with no suffering not arriving. Therefore one should know that desire is a toxic harm; one should seek the first dhyāna to extinguish and sever the fire of desire. The practitioner, single-minded, diligent, faithful, and joyful, makes his mind advance without distraction. Contemplating desire with aversion in mind, he completely eliminates bonds and afflictions and attains the concentration of the first dhyāna; departing from the blazing fire of desire, he attains cool concentration, like getting shade when hot, like attaining wealth when poor. At that time, he attains the joy and initial thought of the first dhyāna. Reflecting upon the various virtues within dhyāna, and contemplating and discerning good and bad, he then attains one-pointedness of mind. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2.2) - [Next: 2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2.4) - [Up: 2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614~en-mt.2.3) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.614.2.3) · Pramāṇa