English (machine translation)
Translation of 治禪病祕要法
- Language
- English
- Extent
- 174 passages, 15,191 words
- Text
- complete digital text
- Source
- pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.620 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…
Contents
Text
1.1
Translated by the Song dynasty lay devotee Juqu Jingsheng
1.2
Seventy-Two Methods for Curing the Illness of Mental Distraction in the Araṇya (Asked by the Venerable Śāriputra, drawn from the section on the araṇya in the Saṃyuktāgama)
1.3
Thus have I heard:
1.4
At one time the Buddha was staying in Śrāvastī at the Jeta Grove, in Anāthapiṇḍada's park, together with twelve hundred and fifty monks. On the fifteenth day of the fifth summer month, five hundred monks of the Śākya clan were beneath a bamboo grove practicing the Dharma of the araṇya, cultivating the twelve minds, and entering the vaiḍūrya samādhi through ānāpāna.
1.5
At that time, King Prasenajit had a crown prince named Virūḍhaka, who, together with five hundred sons of elders, mounted great gandhahastins and engaged in nala games beside the Jeta Grove, and further intoxicated the elephants to stage elephant fights.
1.6
There was a black elephant that walked with a lotus gait, whose cry was terrible, resembling a thunderclap, and in between issued a shrill cry like the screech of a kitten.
1.7
The Śākya monks—Dhyānanandi, Upanandi, and others—were terrified, their hair standing on end. In their contemplation of the wind element, notions of mad delusion arose, and they arose from dhyāna-concentration, galloping like drunken elephants that could not be restrained.
1.8
The Venerable Ānanda instructed the monks: "Firmly bar the doors of your rooms! Our Śākya brothers have now gone mad, and might inflict injury or destruction."
1.9
The assembly of monks then went to Śāriputra's place and said: "O Venerable One! The Venerable One's understanding and wisdom are unobstructed, like the foremost victorious banner of Śakra, King of the Gods, which is fearless wherever it goes. We pray only that you have compassion and rescue the Śākya monks from the suffering of madness and distraction."
1.10
At that time, Śāriputra immediately arose from his seat, took Ānanda by the hand, and went to the Buddha's presence. He circumambulated the Buddha three times, paid homage to the Buddha, knelt on both knees with palms joined, and addressed the Buddha, saying: "World-Honored One! We pray only that the God of Gods has compassion on all, and for the sake of the araṇya monks of future ages who go mad on account of five matters—first, on account of distracting sounds; second, on account of bad repute; third, on account of gain and offerings; fourth, on account of external wind; fifth, on account of internal wind—how should these five kinds of illnesses be cured? We pray only that the God of Gods explain it for our sake."
1.11
At that time, the World-Honored One smiled, and five-colored light issued from the Buddha's mouth, circumambulated the Buddha seven times, and re-entered through the crown of his head. He said to Śāriputra: "Listen attentively, listen attentively, and reflect well on it! I shall analyze and explain it for you.
1.12
"If there is a practitioner who practices in an araṇya, cultivating the twelve minds, and in ānāpāna, because an external harsh sound contacts the internal mental faculty, the four hundred and four channels, holding the mind tightly, become agitated all at once. Because the wind force is strong, madness initially arises; the mental channels churn, and the five winds enter the throat, first causing abusive speech. One should teach this practitioner to consume ghee, honey, and harītakī, fix the mind in one place, and first visualize a mirror of crystal color, observing their own body within that mirror performing various mad acts. Having seen this, they should further contemplate again and say: 'In the bright mirror, you yourself see your own body performing mad and delusional acts, and your parents and kin all see you performing inauspicious acts. I now teach you the Dharma for leaving behind madness and delusion; you should remember and know it. First, teach the removal of sound.'
1.13
"The method for removing sound is to raise the tongue toward the palate and visualize two maṇi jewels in both ear faculties. The tips of the cintāmaṇis are like droplets of milk; from within droplet after droplet, sarpirmaṇḍa flows forth, moistening the ear faculties so that they do not receive sounds. Even if there are loud sounds, being lubricated as with oil, they are completely unshakeable.
1.14
"When this visualization is accomplished, next visualize a nine-tiered vajra canopy emerging from the cintāmaṇi king, covering the practitioner's body. Below is a vajra flower, upon which the practitioner sits. There are vajra mountains surrounding the practitioner on all four sides, closely fitted between them, quiet and cutting off external sounds. Within each and every mountain there sit seven Buddhas, explaining the four applications of mindfulness for the practitioner. At that time, in stillness, external sounds are not heard, in accord with the Buddha's teaching. This is named the Dharma gate for removing distraction and the visualization of dispelling bad sounds."
1.15
He said to Śāriputra: "Practitioners such as you should cultivate this, being careful not to forget or lose it. (This is named the method for curing an agitated and inverted mind.)
1.16
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! Having removed external sounds, one must remove internal sounds.
1.17
"As for internal sounds: because external sounds agitate the six sense faculties, the mental channels become inverted. The five kinds of bad winds enter from the mental channels, and because wind moves the mind, one either sings or dances, performing various transformations. You should teach the contemplation of washing the mind.
1.18
"As for the contemplation of washing the mind: first, observe one's own mind, causing it gradually to brighten like a fire jewel—the four hundred and four channels like vaiḍūrya, with golden plantains reaching directly beside the mind. The fire jewel emits vapor that is neither cold nor hot, neither coarse nor fine, used to perfume the channels. Visualize a Brahmā king holding a maṇi mirror, illuminating the practitioner's chest. At that time, the practitioner observes their own chest as like the cintāmaṇi king, bright, pure, and delightful, with the fire jewel as the mind. In the palm of the Great Brahmā King is a wheel-turning seal; within the wheel-turning seal is a white lotus flower; upon the white lotus flower is a divine youth holding up milk in his hands, which emerges from the cintāmaṇi king to irrigate the channels. The milk gradually descends to the tip of the heart. The youth holds two needles in his hands—one golden-colored, the second blue-green—and places two golden flowers on both sides of the heart, piercing it with the needles. After seven piercings, the heart returns to being supple.
1.19
"As before, again wash the heart with milk. Droplets of milk flow and pour into the large intestine. When the large intestine is full, it enters the small intestine. When the small intestine is full, the milk flows forth, droplet after droplet without cease, into the mouths of eighty thousand families of worms. The worms are completely satisfied throughout the inside of the body, and the milk pours into the three hundred and thirty-six joints of the bones, causing it to permeate them everywhere. Then, visualize a milk pond, with white lotus flowers growing in the milk pond. The practitioner sits upon them and bathes with milk, visualizing tūla cotton wrapping around the body seven times like a white lotus flower, with the practitioner situated in the middle. The Brahmā king personally takes the milk from his own body and has the practitioner rinse with it. After the practitioner has rinsed, the Brahmā king holds a canopy covering over the practitioner. Under the Brahmā king's canopy, one everywhere sees all superior realms, and recovers one's original mind, free of confusion."
1.20
When the Buddha spoke these words, the five hundred Śākya monks followed the Buddha's words and practiced them one by one. Their minds immediately became cool and clear; contemplating form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness as impermanent, suffering, empty, and non-self, they were not greedy for the world, thoroughly understood the Dharma of emptiness, and suddenly recovered their original minds. They broke through eighty billion blazing fetters, became srotāpannas, and gradually practicing and studying, attained arhatship—with the three knowledges, the six supernormal knowledges, and endowed with the eight liberations. At that time, the monks heard what the Buddha said, and rejoiced and practiced it. (This is named the supple method for curing internal wind of the four great elements.)
1.21
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If a practitioner wishes to practice dhyāna-concentration, they should properly observe the realms of the four great elements, adapting to their increases and decreases according to the season. In spring, one should enter the fire samādhi to warm the body. When the firelight is fierce and blazing, and the body steams with heat, one should cure it. Visualize the lights of fire turning into cintāmaṇis emerging from the pores; between flame and flame, golden lotus flowers are made, with transformed Buddhas sitting upon them explaining methods for curing illness. Using three kinds of jewels—first, the moon-essence maṇi; second, the starlight maṇi, which is like a celestial star, white in light and blue-green in body; third, the water-crystal maṇi—visualize these three jewels, one illuminating the head, one illuminating the left shoulder, and one illuminating the right shoulder. Having seen the three jewels, visualize the pores of the body emitting the light of the three jewels, which is extremely cool, rendering the body and mind supple, so that entering the fire samādhi, one is not destroyed by it. (This is named the method for curing the samādhi of the fire element.)
1.22
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! In autumn, one should enter the earth samādhi. Entering the earth samādhi, one sees these earth marks: hundreds of thousands of stone mountains, iron mountains, Iron Ring Mountains, and vajra mountains from head to foot, the three hundred and thirty-six joints each becoming hundreds of thousands of mountains, with craggy mountain spirits. At that time, one should swiftly cure it. As for the method for curing the earth element, visualize these mountains, contemplating each and every one clearly as like a plantain tree; in this order, contemplate each and every one clearly according to the ten similes of the sūtras. At that time, one sees only the great earth in the ten directions like white vaiḍūrya, with white precious flowers, and sees Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, Kāśyapa, and Kātyāyana sitting in white vajra caves, treading on the ground as if it were water, explaining the five destructions and five combinations for the practitioner, and explaining the impermanence of earth. Having seen this, the practitioner's body and mind become supple, and they recover their original mind. (This is named the method for curing the earth element.)
1.23
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! When a practitioner enters the water samādhi, they see their own body as like a great surging spring, the three hundred and thirty-six joints flowing away with the water, and see the ground in the ten directions completely full of blue-green water, or white, or red. One should cure it urgently. As for the method for curing water, one should first contemplate the body as a maṇi jewel, an auspicious vase, covered above with golden flowers, causing the water of the ten directions to flow into the vase. This auspicious vase surges forth seven flowers, their seven stems distinct. Between each and every stem there are seven spring waters; within each and every spring there are seven golden flowers; upon each and every flower sits a Buddha, explaining the seven factors of awakening. (This is named the method for curing the water element.)
1.24
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If a practitioner enters the wind samādhi and sees their own body as a nine-headed nāga, each nāga head having nine hundred ears and immeasurable mouths, with the body's pores, ears, and mouths emitting fierce wind like great ravines, one should urgently cure it. As for the method of curing it: one should teach the practitioner to observe their own body as a vajra seat, visualizing from the four sides four vajra wheels to hold this wind. The vajra wheels further produce seven vajra flowers, and atop the flowers, transformed Buddhas hold water-pitchers with their hands; within the water-pitchers is a six-headed nāga that moves its body and inhales the wind, causing the winds of the ten directions to become calm and unmoving. At that time, the practitioner again sees the seven Buddhas and the four great śrāvakas repeatedly explaining the seven factors of awakening, and gradually enters the eightfold noble path. (This is named the great method for curing internal wind.) Contemplating ghee-embrace makes the four great elements supple, and one gradually enters the realm of noble knowledge.
1.25
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If a practitioner's four great elements are coarse and rough—such that they are either angry or joyful, either sorrowful or laughing, or crawl on their belly, or discharge downward wind—such illnesses should be taught to be cured urgently.
1.26
"As for the method of curing it: first contemplate the thin skin, starting from half a joint, seeing the thin skin as having ninety-nine layers, like bubbles of vapor. Next contemplate the thick skin, ninety-nine layers, like a plantain tree. Next again contemplate the membrane, like a cataract over the eye, ninety-nine layers, crumbling and about to pierce through. Next again contemplate the flesh, also ninety-nine layers, like plantain leaves, between which are worms finer than an autumn down, each worm having four heads, four mouths, and ninety-nine tails. Next one should contemplate the bones, seeing the bones dazzlingly white like white vaiḍūrya, ninety-eight layers, with the four hundred and four channels entering between the bones, flowing up and down like a plantain tree. Next one should contemplate the marrow, ninety-eight layers, like silken spiderwebs.
1.27
"Having contemplated the joints, next contemplate the skull: under each and every hair there are four hundred and four channels entering directly into the brain. The rest of the thin skin, thick skin, and bones are no different from the body, except that there are fourteen layers of brain membrane, the brain is divided into four parts, ninety-eight layers, with the four hundred and four channels flowing into the heart. The large intestine, small intestine, spleen, kidneys, liver, lungs, heart, gallbladder, throat, pulmonary fat, the two receptacles of the digested and undigested, and the eighty thousand families of worms—contemplate each and every one clearly, causing them all to become empty, dazzlingly white and pure, layer of skin wrapping layer of skin, clear and bright in between like white vaiḍūrya."
1.28
"Contemplating each half-joint clearly like this, make all three hundred and thirty-six joints distinctly clear, causing the mind to remain still; then repeat this back and forth one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times. Afterwards, gather the breath in one place, harmonise it by counting the breath, and visualise a Brahmā king holding a Brahmā vase in his hand, approaching the practitioner together with a retinue of Brahmās, and taking a vajra blade to bestow upon the practitioner. Having obtained the blade, [the practitioner] cuts out a piece of his own skull bone—as large as a horse's mother-of-pearl—and places it upon his left knee. In the Brahmā vase there grows a white lotus flower with nine nodes, nine stalks, and nine layers. Following behind the Brahmā king, a youth emerges from the first lotus flower, his body white like a person of white jade, holding a white vase in his hand containing sarpirmaṇḍa.
1.29
"From the cintāmaṇi in the topknot of the Brahmā king, medicines of various colours emerge and are placed into the sarpirmaṇḍa. The youth pours it, entering from the crown of the head into the brain-channels, flowing straight down to the half-joint of the big toe of the left foot. When that half-joint is filled and thoroughly moistened, [the medicine rises] even to the thin skin, and proceeds to the next joint. In this manner, it gradually fills half the body; having filled half the body, it fills the entire body; having filled the entire body, the various medicines flow through the four hundred and four channels, and he contemplates the three hundred and thirty-six joints of his body all becoming completely full. At that time, the practitioner takes his skull bone back and sets it upon his head; the youth then applies a blue-coloured medicine over his head, and this medicine enters drop by drop through every pore.
1.30
"Fearing that external wind may enter, the Brahmā king further instructs him to visualise Snowy Mountain butter, making it all gleaming white, with sarpirmaṇḍa flowing down like a crystal wall, which he uses to envelop the body forty-nine times. He then expands it to make a pool of sarpirmaṇḍa with white butter forming flowers; the practitioner sits upon it beneath a butter canopy and inside a butter cave, while the Brahmā king's medicine of loving-kindness is scattered among the butter.
1.31
"He contemplates in this way clearly nine hundred and ninety-nine times, and then visualises the second node. Within the lotus flower there is a red-coloured youth holding red-coloured medicine, which he sprinkles among the hair and into all the pores of the entire body, causing the red-coloured medicine to enter from the thin skin down to the marrow, making the area beneath the heart bright and the entire body gradually supple.
1.32
"In the third node, a lotus flower blooms again, and a golden-coloured youth holding yellow-coloured medicine sprinkles it among the hair and into all the pores of the entire body, causing the yellow-coloured medicine to enter from the thin skin down to the marrow, making the area beneath the heart bluish-green, and the entire body gradually grows [in vitality] and becomes increasingly supple.
1.33
"At the fourth node, a vaiḍūrya youth holding blue-coloured medicine in his right hand sprinkles it among the hair and into all the pores of the entire body, causing the blue-coloured medicine to enter from the thin skin down to the marrow, making the area beneath the heart red.
1.34
"He inserts a needle into every single pore, and pierces two needles upward from beneath the feet. Over the heart, he visualises three lotus flowers, and within the three flowers are three fire-jewels emitting red light that shines upon the heart, making the area beneath the heart gradually warm. Then he inserts three needles into each joint of both palms, harmonising the various breaths as they follow the channels up and down, generating the four hundred and four channels, without touching the large intestine, and increasing the kidney channels. He then pierces the channels of the left intestine with five needles. In this way, the youth harmonises the needles, and through inconceivable fumigation and inconceivable cultivation, he pulls out the needles, places them beneath the five fingernails, and strokes the practitioner's whole body with his hands.
1.35
"At the fifth node, a green-coloured youth holding a jade vase pours green-coloured medicine through the anus, permeating the channels of the large and small intestines and the five viscera, and this liquid flows back out through the anus. Various filthy worms flow out along with the liquid without harming the sarpirmaṇḍa; the worms cease and the liquid is depleted. He then scatters dry green medicine among the hair and into all the pores of the entire body, causing the dry green medicine to enter from the thin skin down to the marrow, making the area beneath the heart white and the entire body increasingly supple.
1.36
"At the sixth node, a purple-coloured youth holding a vase of rose-gem pearls filled with rose-gem water washes all the channels everywhere, causing the rose-gem water to emerge from all the pores, and the worms beneath the hairs all come out with the water. He then scatters an amber-coloured dry medicine among the hair and into all the pores of the entire body, causing the amber-coloured dry medicine to enter from the thin skin down to the marrow, making the area beneath the heart turn bright like the radiance of white snow, and the entire body increasingly supple.
1.37
"At the seventh node, a yellow-coloured youth holding a vajra drill drills beneath both feet, drills both palms, and drills both sides of the heart; he then holds the king of cintāmaṇis to rub and polish the six sense faculties, so that all faculties open to receive the bliss of the supreme taste of dhyāna, and between the skins and channels it is as though smeared with white balm, completely soft and supple.
1.38
"At the eighth node, a vajra-coloured youth holding two vases in his hands pours vajra-coloured medicine into both ears and into all the pores, harmonising and steadying all the joints like the method of massage, his body moving between the joints like linked chains.
1.39
"At the ninth node, a youth the colour of a maṇi jewel emerges from the mouth of the vase, comes to the practitioner, and inserts his five fingers into the practitioner's mouth; from the tips of his five fingers flow medicines of five colours. Having drunk them, the practitioner contemplates his body and mind, down to the various channels, as pure as a bright mirror, whose colour like crystal and maṇi is beyond compare. The youth offers lotus stalks for the practitioner to eat; when eating them, it is like eating lotus roots, with every drop pouring out amṛta. Having eaten these stalks, only nine flowers remain; in each flower there is a Brahmā king holding a Brahmā seat to give to the practitioner, having the practitioner sit down. Having sat upon this seat, a great canopy of seven treasures covers the practitioner, and each Brahmā king expounds the Dharma-gate of loving-kindness to instruct the practitioner. By the power of the Brahmā kings, the Buddhas of the ten directions stand before the practitioner and expound loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity for him, bestowing medicines according to his faculties and softening the four great elements."
1.40
[The Buddha] said to Śāriputra: "You must uphold well this method of softening the four great elements, subduing the ninety-eight defilements, [curing] all internal and external diseases of the body, and the Brahmā king's abhiseka and butter-enveloping infusion, and explain it to the four assemblies."
1.41
At that time, Śāriputra, the Venerable Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha spoke, rejoiced and put it into practice.
1.42
Method for Curing Choking Sickness
1.43
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If a monk in an araṇya applies his mind too urgently, counts his breaths too coarsely, sleeps with inadequate covering, and due to external wind and cold, or due to agitating the spleen conduit and the channels of the spleen and kidneys, wind arises in the tendons, reversed qi obstructs the chest, and fluids from every joint stop and stagnate within the chest, as a result turbulent blood and qi provoke headaches, fullness in the back, and cramping of the sinews, it should be treated quickly.
1.44
"The method of treating it is: first ingest rich, fatty, good worldly medicine, and then lie on one's back, count the breath to attain concentration, and visualise Lake Anavatapta filled with water to a measure of one yojana, with golden sand, the four treasures, and a golden wheel at its bottom, where golden flowers as large as cartwheels grow. Within the flowers are the heads of four precious beasts—an elephant's trunk pouring out water, a lion's mouth pouring out water, a horse's mouth pouring out water, and a bull's mouth pouring out water—encircling the lake seven times, with the seven-jewelled palace of the Nāga King Anavatapta situated between the four beasts' heads.
1.45
"From the cintāmaṇi atop the nāga king's head, by the power of the nāga king, one thousand five hundred multi-coloured lotus flowers are generated: five hundred blue lotus flowers, with the Venerable Piṇḍola and other arhats numbering five hundred sitting on them individually, which close at dusk and open during the day, with seven-jewelled canopies above the monks and seven-jewelled seats beneath the lotus flowers; five hundred golden lotus flowers, with Cundaka and other śrāmaṇeras numbering five hundred sitting on them individually, which close at dusk and open during the day, with seven-jewelled canopies above the śrāmaṇeras and seven-jewelled seats beneath the lotus flowers; five hundred red lotus flowers, with great arhats such as the Venerable Upananda and Vasumitra, or said to be great bodhisattvas with their retinues numbering five hundred, sitting on them individually, which close at dusk and open during the day, with seven-jewelled canopies above the monks and seven-jewelled seats beneath the lotus flowers; and a seven-jewelled high terrace eight thousand fathoms high emerges from below.
1.46
"Right in front of the palace of Nāga King Anavatapta, there are five hundred youths upon that terrace, their bodies of pure golden colour; the first youth is named Jīva, the second youth is named Sudhana, and the five-hundredth youth is named Abhiṣekabala.
1.47
"If a king wishes to cure the choking sickness, he should first focus his thought on the one thousand five hundred people including the Venerable Piṇḍola—as spoken above—and having seen them clearly, the Venerable Piṇḍola will lead this youth Jīva to take the white ambāḍa medicine consumed by the Nāga King Anavatapta (ambāḍa medicine tastes like sugar cane, is shaped like a lotus root, and some of it also tastes like rock sugar). Having taken this medicine, the choking sickness will be cured, the four great elements will be harmonised, and the eyes will become clear and bright.
1.48
"If [the practitioner] has generated the aspiration for the Great Vehicle, the five hundred youths including Jīva and Sudhana will expound the Great Vehicle Dharma for him, through which he will see the sixteen virtuous men such as Bhadrapāla, and will also see the one thousand bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa such as Maitreya. Because of this, he generates the mind of anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi and fulfills the six pāramitās; if he has generated the mind of a śrāvaka, the Venerable Piṇḍola will expound for him the Dharma of the four applications of mindfulness up to the eightfold noble path, and after ninety days he will attain the way of an arhat."
1.49
[The Buddha] said to Śāriputra: "You must receive and uphold well this method for curing choking sickness, and take care not to forget it."
1.50
At that time, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha spoke, rejoiced and put it into practice.
1.51
Method for Curing a Practitioner's Affliction of Lust
1.52
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If, when a practitioner enters dhyāna, sensual perceptions arise, the wind of lust agitates the four hundred and four channels, and from the eye to the body faculty all are shaken at once, the faculties become blocked and agitate the wind of the heart, driving the mind insane. Driven mad by this, possessed by ghosts and demons, he thinks of lust day and night as urgently as if trying to extinguish fire on his head; it must be treated quickly.
1.53
"The method of treating it is: instruct this practitioner to contemplate the womb. The womb is located below the stomach and above the large intestine, with ninety-nine layers of membrane like the bladder of a dead pig. Four hundred and four channels stem from the womb, spreading out to the various faculties like tree roots; like a sack filled with dung, it has one thousand nine hundred segments resembling banana leaves, with eighty thousand families of worms surrounding the four hundred and four channels and the womb; like a horse's intestine extending straight to the birth canal, shaped like an armlet, round and of various sizes, circular above and pointed below, resembling cowrie shells.
1.54
"In each of the ninety-nine layers there are four hundred and four worms, each worm having twelve heads and twelve mouths. When a person drinks water, the essence of the water enters the channels and is dispersed to the various worms, entering the head of the vīra worm straight to the birth canal; every half month it discharges impure fluid, each worm vomiting like putrid pus; entering the mouths of ninety worms, it emerges from the six orifices of twelve worms like putrid red juice. Furthermore, there are worms finer than an autumn down frolicking within it.
1.55
"In men, owing to past evil sins, four hundred and four channels spread out from the eye faculty to the four limbs, flowing down through the various intestines to below the stomach and above the large intestine.
1.56
"Along both sides of the fat of the lungs and the kidney channels, there are sixty-four worms on each side. Each worm has twelve heads and twelve mouths, coiled tightly together like finger rings, filled with bluish pus like the semen of a wild boar, foul and utterly intolerable. Reaching the genital region, it divides into three branches; the two upper branches, like banana leaves, have one thousand two hundred channels, and within each channel are born wind worms, fine as autumn down, resembling the bill of a vilānta bird.
1.57
"In the mouths of these worms are born sinew-coloured worms (the bodies of these worms resemble sinews, connecting and supporting the womb, capable of moving the various channels and sucking semen in and out; the male worms are bluish-white and the female worms are red), seventy-eight thousand in number, tangled together like linked rings, resembling the eyes of a kauśika bird. Ninety-eight channels surge upward to the heart and even to the topknot."
1.58
"When men's eyes contact forms, the wind stirs the mental faculty, and the four hundred and four channels are driven by the wind, moving and turning incessantly. The eighty thousand families of worms open their mouths at once; from their eyes emerges pus that pours through the channels all the way to the crowns of the worms. The worms collapse and stir, crazed and insensible, contacting the female organ before them: male semen is blue-white, which is the tears of these worms; female semen is yellow-red, which is the pus of these worms. This is the practice perfumed and cultivated by the ninety-eight proclivities; the eighty thousand families of worms, [composed of] earth, water, fire, and wind, stir and produce this."
1.59
He told Śāriputra: "If there are members of the fourfold assembly who wear the garment of shame, take the medicine of shame, and wish to seek liberation and cross over the sufferings of the world, they should study this method as if drinking sweet dew (amṛta).
1.60
"Those who study this method should visualize the aforementioned womb up to the female organ and the parts of a man's body: all the large and small worms opening their mouths, raising their ears, glaring with enraged eyes, and spitting pus. Turn it over with a hand and place it on the tip of the left knee. Count the breath to make [the mind] settled, contemplating it one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine times. Once this visualization is accomplished, place it on the tip of the right knee and contemplate it as before.
1.61
"Again turn it over with a hand and cover the head with it, causing these worms and multitude of impure things first to reach both eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, reaching nowhere that is left untouched.
1.62
"Having seen this, when looking with the eyes upon attractive female form, attractive male form, or even devaputras and devakanyās, look upon them as if seeing a leper's worm-infested ulcers, like the forms of the Pāṇḍara ghosts and spirits that are the arrows of hell, and like the fierce burning heat of the Avīci hell. One should closely contemplate one's own body and other bodies: the bodily parts of all sentient beings in the desire realm are impure, completely like this."
1.63
He told Śāriputra: "Do you know now? The foundational seeds of sentient beings' bodily faculty are entirely impure, beyond full description. One should simply count the breath and contemplate them with single-minded focus. If one takes this medicine, one is a great hero, a teacher of gods and humans, a tamer and lord of men, escaping the mire of desire, not drowned by the waters of the proclivities or the great river of emotional attachment, nor disturbed and harmed by the phantom-form demon spirits of licentiousness and inauspiciousness.
1.64
"You should know that before such a person has exited birth and death, their body is fragrant and pure like an utpala. They are a gandhahastin among men, a dragon king, an athlete, whom Maheśvara cannot equal—a mighty hero respected by gods and humans."
1.65
He told Śāriputra: "Uphold this well, speak it for the fourfold assembly, and be careful not to forget or lose it."
1.66
At that time, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha said, rejoiced and practiced it.
1.67
Method for Curing the Ulcer of Gain and Sustenance
1.68
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If there is a practitioner burned by the fire of greed, the poison arrow of gain and sustenance, stirred by evil winds, shoots into their heart. Due to the causes and conditions of greed, their mind becomes inverted, thinking day and night across the six periods of the day of expedients for greed, insatiable like a cat watching a mouse, spitting poison to cover their body like a seven-step viper. In such an evil person, the delicate smoothness of gain and sustenance gathers five hundred venomous snakes inside their body; instant by instant, the poisonous fire of their mind blazes without ceasing. Day and night across the six periods, the fierce wind of afflictions blows the firewood of gain and sustenance, blazing without ceasing within their mind, and the snakes contend together to burn the sprouts of good roots. Because of these causes and conditions, the fierce poison of the frenzied black ghost flares up violently; seeing others obtain gain is like an arrow shooting into the heart, like a thorn piercing the eye, like a nail driven into the ear. All sense faculties are blocked; five hundred and five snakes, the four great poisonous dragons, the five sword-wielding bandits, and the rākṣasas of the six villages compete together at once. If they become deranged on account of this, one must cure them quickly.
1.69
"The method for curing it: one should first count the breath, tethering the mind to make it settled. Visualize a sixteen-foot image—purple-golden in body, with the thirty-two marks—sitting on a jeweled lion throne within the seven-jeweled cave of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, expounding the method for eliminating greed to the fourfold assembly. [The image] says: 'Son of the Dharma! Contemplate the kāṣāya, six articles, and requisites worn by a greedy person: they are like needle-stitched seams in a forest of thorns, where sword-trees and hundreds of thousands of iron nails and iron-beaked worms will arise to peck and devour your body. Molten copper in caldrons, iron saws, and iron beds are your sitting mats; boiling feces, venomous snakes, iron pellets in caldrons, forests of knives, swords and halberds, tens of billions of thorns, rivers of fire with molten copper, ash broth, pus, and blood are your food and drink.'
1.70
"At that time, after the Bhagavat had spoken these words, he fell silent without a sound. He caused the practitioner to see their own body lying within a sevenfold iron city, seeing five rākṣasas opening their mouths in two directions, using eighty iron tongs to pull out their tongue; immeasurable iron plows resembling sword-trees plowing their tongue; molten copper pouring from between the hooves of iron oxen; within the bodies of iron soldiers hundreds of thousands of colored puses, with worms beyond count inside the pus. Seeing this, the hair on their body stands on end in terror. Emerging from samādhi and entering samādhi, they see the clothes they wear as pus and feces mixed with blood, adorned with iron-beaked worms, forests of knives, swords, and halberds; they see the food they eat as roundworms, with hundreds of thousands of small worms whose ears produce pus, feces, urine, and blood, eighty beaked worms, wind worms, fire worms, water worms, earth worms, and hell worms, all the worms spitting pus and poison to fill the pātra bowl; iron pellets, swords, and halberds serve as their fruits and melons.
1.71
"At that time, the Bhagavat spoke a verse:
1.72
"'Birth and death are unbroken,
Because of greed, desire, and craving for tastes.
Nourishing enemies, one enters the graves and mounds,
Enduring all bitterness and toil in vain.
The body stinks like a corpse,
The nine orifices flowing with impurity.
Like worms in a privy delighting in dung,
The fool's greed for the body is no different.
The wise should contemplate the body,
Not greedily attached to the world.
Free of entanglements and devoid of desires,
This is called true nirvāṇa.
As all the buddhas have spoken,
Practicing with single-minded determination,
Counting the breath in a quiet place,
This is called practicing the dhūta.'"
1.73
He told Śāriputra: "Gain and sustenance injure the body and ruin a person's good roots beyond full description. One should simply count the breath and contemplate them with single-minded focus. If one takes this medicine, one is a great hero, a teacher of gods and humans, a tamer and lord of men, escaping the mire of desire, not drowned by the waters of the proclivities or the great river of emotional attachment, nor burned and harmed by the inauspiciousness of greedy gain. You should know that before such a person has exited birth and death, their body is fragrant and pure like an utpala. They are a gandhahastin among men, a dragon king, an athlete, whom Maheśvara cannot equal—a mighty hero respected by gods and humans."
1.74
He told Śāriputra: "Uphold this well, speak it for the fourfold assembly, and be careful not to forget or lose it."
1.75
At that time, Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha said, rejoiced and practiced it.
1.76
Method for Curing Precept Violations
1.77
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, śikṣamāṇās, śrāmaṇeras, śrāmaṇerīs, upāsakas, or upāsikās receive the Buddha's prohibitive precepts, yet their bodies and minds are wild and deranged like monkeys—before the method of planting has grown, snapping branches and destroying roots; the sevenfold assembly is also like this: before the precept-form of the Buddha's prohibitive precepts has arisen, they commit duṣkṛtas up to pārājikas, like an intoxicated elephant heedless of good or bad, not recognizing directions, trampling and destroying all good and fine things; the fourfold assembly is also like this, trampling and breaking the blue lotus pond of pure precepts. Their precept-breaking is fierce and intense like a rabid dog, chasing and biting upon seeing a person, a tree, or even a bird or beast.
1.78
"The evil person who breaks the precepts sees the Buddha, arhats, and pure bhikṣus—fields of merit endowed with virtue—and pursues, reviles, slanders, and defames them. Drinking poison themselves, blood appears all over their body, and fire blazes from joint to joint. Wild, foolish, and devoid of wisdom, the fierce wind of the fetters and proclivities stirs the mountain of afflictions: lust is their eyes, anger their hands and feet, and delusion their body. Trampling upon the world, they plant evil seeds; having planted them themselves, they furthermore teach others to seek them. The hell wardens, rākṣasas, ox-headed Ābhangas, evil ghosts of the conflagration of the kalpa, spirits of the sword-forest, King Yama, and the other eighteen lords of hell constantly serve as their great intimates and supreme good spiritual friends, and they are certain to wander and abide day and night with such a kind of hell.
1.79
"In this person who breaks the precepts, the fierce fires of all evils have already entered the mind. For the sake of gain, sustenance, and fame, they claim to be virtuous and endowed with majestic power, going to the araṇyas of those who understand the Dharma, like a conjurer deceiving others' eyes. This deceitful person falsely practices the dhūtas; the evil wind of broken precepts blows flowers of sinful karma constantly showering upon them; with an evil mouth they slander, perfuming body and mind with the incense of an unwholesome mind. This person's body and mind are like the eraṇḍa tree, like hundreds of thousands of insect-ridden dogs; although they practice meditation, they falsely display the realms seen by counting the breath.
1.80
"At the very beginning, they see a black buddha resembling the foot of a black elephant; they see a person like ashes; they see bhikṣus with smashed heads and broken feet; they see bhikṣuṇīs adorned with flower garlands. They see heavenly elephants transform into monkeys, the tips of their hairs blazing with fire, coming to bother and disturb them. Or they see a wild fox and a jackal with hundreds of thousands of tails, the tip of each tail bearing immeasurable worms and all kinds of assorted evils. Or they see emaciated camels, donkeys, pigs, dogs, kumbhāṇḍas, and the like. Fierce yakṣas, rākṣasas, and executioners, each holding various weapons and evil fires, strike and beat the bhikṣu. Becoming deranged because of this—either singing, dancing, lying in excrement and filth, or committing all kinds of evils—one must cure them quickly.
1.81
"The method for curing it: speak sincerely to wise persons, confessing and repenting the evil, unwholesome karma that was committed. The wise person should instruct this bhikṣu to be mindful of Śākyamuni Buddha, and so on sequentially mindful of the seven buddhas; having been mindful of the seven buddhas, be mindful of the thirty-five buddhas; then afterwards one should further be mindful of the bodhisattvas and mindful of the Mahāyāna mind. Contemplate the phenomena of emptiness, deeply feeling shame and conscience oneself, visualizing each buddha holding water from a water pitcher and pouring it onto the crown of one's head.
1.82
"Furthermore, visualize one's body falling into the Avīci hell, suffering all afflictions in the eighteen hells; in the midst of hell, recite 'Namo Buddhāya, Namo Dharmāya, Namo Bhikṣusaṅghāya', practicing the six recollections. The buddhas and Tathāgatas, in their dreams, emit the white ūrṇā-ray to rescue them from the suffering of hell. Having seen this, like a debtor feeling ashamed and knowing they must repay it, with single-minded determination take off the saṅghāṭī, put on the antarvāsa, and go to the pure saṅgha, casting the five limbs to the ground like the collapse of a great mountain, feeling shame in the mind to confess and repent all sins, serving as a laborer for the saṅgha to perform all hard toil—sweeping toilets and carrying dung—for eight hundred days.
1.83
"Afterwards, one should then bathe the body and put on the saṅghāṭī again. Entering a stūpa, with single-minded focus join the palms and closely contemplate the light of the great man mark of the Tathāgata's white ūrṇā between the eyebrows for one to seven days, and return to the wise person to seek confession and repentance. The wise person should say: 'Bhikṣu! Now contemplate your own body, like a golden vase containing four venomous snakes—two pointing up, two pointing down—frighteningly spitting venom. Further contemplate a six-headed dragon coiling around the vase, the dragon also spitting venom dripping into the mouths of the snakes. Large trees of the four directions emerge from the golden vase, filling the three realms. A black elephant comes again, wishing to uproot these trees, and fire flares up on all four sides.' Having seen this, [the wise person] should say: 'Bhikṣu, you should know: the golden vase is the earth-vapor; the blue snake is born from the wind element and is the poison of the wind element; the green snake is born from the water element and is the poison of the water element; the white snake is born from the earth element and is the poison of the earth element; the yellow snake is born from the fire element and is the poison of the fire element; the six-headed dragon is the five aggregates and emptiness within your body. Such a body is venomous, harmful, and impure; how could you indulge in evil, breaking precepts without curing it?'"
1.84
"Having spoken these words, [the wise one] should further instruct [the monk] to sweep the stūpa, plaster the ground, perform all kinds of arduous labor, and instruct him to contemplate the Buddha again, seeing the Buddha emit golden light and rub his head with a hand. Only then should he instruct him in the contemplation of impurity. When the gate of impurity is penetrated through and free of all hindrances, only then may he be permitted to recite the precepts among the saṅgha.
1.85
"When he wishes to recite the precepts, he should make this announcement: 'The bhikṣu so-and-so (or bhikṣuṇī so-and-so) has performed arduous labor for eight hundred days and contemplated the ūrṇā between the Buddha's eyebrows for seven days; his contemplation of poisonous snakes and visualization of hell have succeeded. He has further contemplated a Buddha expounding the method of repentance, the gate of the contemplation of impurity, and the mirror of selflessness and impersonality, returning again to thorough mastery of the realm of practice. A Buddha has poured water from a washing jar onto this bhikṣu's crown, and a heavenly deity has appeared in a dream declaring him to be purified. Now he is ashamed and remorseful; I bear witness to this. May you please grant your permission.'"
1.86
"At that time, the vinaya master should further examine and question this person with the Vinaya, and further instruct him to recite the precepts. After eight hundred times, only then will he be admitted to be no different from a pure bhikṣu."
1.87
[The Buddha] told Śāriputra: "If any of the seven assemblies breaches a light precept and passes two nights without repenting, even if this person practices dhyāna-concentration in this life, he will never attain the Path. If one breaches a heavy precept, one will fall into the great hells; emerging from the hells, one will receive an animal body. Having completed this full cycle for a full three kalpas, only then will one become a human being. Even if one attains a human body, one will be poor and afflicted with leprosy for seventy-seven lives, not seeing a Buddha, not hearing the Dharma, and lacking the sensory faculties. Therefore, if a wise person breaches a Buddha's precept, regarding a duṣkṛta he should give rise to terror as if struck by a blade, and harbor deep shame and remorse. How much more so for a heavy precept! If one can take this medicine of keeping the precepts, know that this person is a foremost hero of shame, remorse, and patience, whom none can surpass."
1.88
At that time, the Bhagavat spoke in verse, saying:
1.89
"When one breaks the precepts, the mind is impure, / just like a thieving dog,
seeking gain and offerings everywhere, / killed by its own greedy mind.
One should take the medicine of shame and remorse, / take patience as one's clothing,
make repentance one's adorning flowers, / and perfume [oneself] with the incense of a good mind.
With single-mindedness contemplate the Buddha's marks; / eliminating suffering, one will be free of sorrowful distress.
One should also be mindful of empty dharmas, / cultivate the mind, and contemplate impurity.
This is called the medicine of all Tathāgatas' / amṛta consecration;
those who take it will have no grief in mind / and can reach the shore of nirvāṇa.
One should practice according to the Dharma; / what is not Dharma should not be done.
In this world or in lives to come, / those who practice the Dharma will attain deliverance.
Accord with what the Buddha has taught; / maintain the precepts and practice the dhūtas;
with body and mind free of evil deeds, / one will swiftly arrive at liberation."
1.90
At that time, the Bhagavat told Śāriputra: "Receive well this medicine for curing breaches of precepts, and be careful not to forget it."
1.91
Then Śāriputra, Ānanda, and the others, hearing what the Buddha had taught, rejoiced and undertook to practice it.
1.92
Zhi chanbing miyao fa, Fascicle One
2.1
Translated by the Song dynasty lay devotee Juqu Jingsheng
2.2
Method for Curing Delight in Music
2.3
"Furthermore, Śāriputra! If any of the four assemblies delights in musical entertainment and indulges in singing without satiety, thereby agitating the wind [element]—like an unfettered horse, like an autumn dog, or like an eṇeya deer king—infatuated and foolish, their minds like birdlime, attached wherever they go and impossible to restrain, they must be cured quickly.
2.4
"The method of curing it is: first visualize a celestial maiden of matchless beauty, with musical instruments spontaneously appearing in her hands, emitting myriad kinds of musical sounds. When the practitioner sees her, he sees this heavenly maiden exceeding worldly beauty by a hundred billion myriad times, and hears this heavenly music as matchless in the world; thereby he becomes infatuated, gazing at her beauty and listening to her sounds. Therefore, he should be instructed to contemplate the spheres of experience arising from this woman's six sense faculties. By the power of counting the breath, he sees six poisonous snakes produced from her lovely eyes, issuing from her eye faculties and entering her ear faculties. He further sees two birds resembling horned owls letting out great, dreadful screeches, breaking open her head, tearing out her brain, and scrambling to eat it. In her other four faculties, he sees cats, rats, dogs, and jackals scrambling to eat [her flesh]. Thereby he gets to see all female beauty as thirty-six impure and filthy things: the womb's roundworms serve as the woman's necklace, and the various musical instruments held by the woman are seen writhing in excrement, with vermin drumming and making jackal cries; the monstrosities she speaks cannot be listened to, sounding like the wailing of rākṣasas. He thereby develops aversion. He should go to a wise one, confess the evil and unwholesome deeds done previously, and sincerely repent. The wise one should instruct him in the contemplation of impermanence."
First 96 of 176 passages. Read on