坐禪三昧經 1.39

1.39

Seeing that people of much desire suffer in seeking desires, / and that guarding them when obtained is also suffering; / that the anxiety and distress of losing them is also great suffering, / and that when the mind obtains desires, the suffering of never being satisfied. / Desires are impermanent and empty, the causes of worry and grief; / all beings share in this, and one should awaken and abandon them. / Just as when a poisonous snake enters a person’s room, / if it is not urgently removed, harm will surely arrive. / Unstable, unreal, and without value, / one pursues various desires for upside-down pleasure. / Just as an arhat endowed with the six supernormal knowledges / admonished a disciple who had thoughts of desire, saying: / 'You have not broken the precepts, and your precepts are pure; / you do not stay overnight in the same room with a woman; / yet the poisonous snakes of the fetters of desire fill your mind’s room, / entangling and clinging to love and pleasure, not parting from them. / Since you know the bodily precepts must not be violated, / why does your mind constantly lodge together with the fire of desire? / You are one who has left home to seek the path— / on what grounds do you give rein to your mind like this? / Your parents gave you birth and nurtured you; / your relatives brought you up together with affection and love; / they all wept, pining for you and holding you dear— / could you abandon them without looking back, / yet your mind is constantly among thoughts of desire, / playing together with desires without any weariness, / always delighting to dwell in one place with the fire of desire, / rejoicing and passionately delighting without leaving it even for a moment?'