Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: Desires Harm Our Will to Practice (欲想害道 九想治之)
Date: July.17.2018
“Thoughts of desire damage our Bodhicitta. We must carefully guard ourselves against the menace of desire. We must discipline ourselves to not even give rise to the thought of it, let alone engage in physical interactions. If we become defiled by appealing figures we must use the Nine Kinds of Contemplation to cure ourselves. A virgin is an unmarried woman. A window is a woman without her husband.”
These verses are very clear. We should understand them by looking at them. The Buddha went to great lengths to repeatedly alert us; as we go about our daily living, how do we treat people and deal with matters? When we meet people, what should we contemplate? This requires us to constantly adjust our thinking. If we can properly adjust our thoughts, then our actions will not deviate. If our actions have not deviated, we naturally will not create afflictions. When our afflictions stop increasing, we grow our roots of goodness. Life is limited and time is fleeting, so we should put effort into learning how to grow our wisdom-lives and get rid of afflictions. Otherwise, although on the one hand we may engage in spiritual practice, on the other hand, we are increasing [afflictions]. Our afflictions grow, and our spiritual practice cannot keep pace with our afflictions. Our afflictions increase faster than we can purify ourselves of them in our practice. So, we should be very vigilant in not letting the [easily] afflicted mind respond to circumstances, sense objects and people by giving rise to discursive thoughts. We must always take good care of our minds. If we are inclined toward “thoughts of desire,” this desire can be very troublesome. There are many different kinds of desires. With the view of self, “I” become the center of everything. “I want this! I need that!” We might be pursuing fame. “I am not after profit, I only want to be famous. I am not after material things. I just want people to respect me.” This constantly inflated view of self-importance is also a kind of desire. It is taking oneself to be the most important. This intangible craving is for people’s attitude toward us. All we want is to be respected. Although we may not crave or be attached to material things, we are craving fame. [People seek] fame, fortune and sensual pleasures, especially sensual pleasures.
Because there are various forms, people are driven to dispute [over various things] in their lives. “Forms” come in many varieties. What forms [do we desire]? Is it material things or the sensual desires of lust? Whether the objects of desire are inanimate or [other people], they all lead to thoughts arising [in the mind]. The Chinese character “thought” is composed of the character “appearance” and the character “mind”. So, all forms or appearances weight upon our minds. So, because of this, they can easily harm our aspiration for Bodhi. Bodhi is “awakening”. As we go about seeking knowledge and awakening, our thought of diligence might be displaced by “appearances” on the “mind”. As these names and appearances are on the mind, they displace our thoughts of seeking enlightenment. Because of this it says, “Thoughts of desire damage our Bodhicitta.” They can harm our aspiration to seek the path and truth. So, we need to earnestly deepen our resolve and earnestly be mindful to guard against the [thoughts of desire]. We must discipline ourselves to guard against these desires. When it comes to our desires for fame, fortune, authority or power, we must use discipline [to end these desires]. So, “We must carefully guard ourselves against the menace of desire.” We must be meticulous when it comes to this. These are all [things with] name and form. What [reasons] do we have to pursue them? There is not enough time; it is best to quickly focus our mind. We must earnestly safeguard against these appearances weighing upon our minds. These forms and images must be removed quickly. So, “thoughts of desire” damage our Bodhicitta. We must earnestly guard against wrongs, stop evil and take precautions. As for “precepts,” we must always earnestly apply them in our daily living. Haven’t we discussed this? The precepts, Samadhi and wisdom must be upheld flawlessly. If the precepts, Samadhi and wisdom are not maintained in our daily living, in our minds, whenever we listen to the Dharma, it will always leak away and we continually and repeatedly have “thoughts [of desire]”. We make the mistake of wanting so much. So, we must guard against this by earnestly, thoroughly and constantly reminding ourselves to be disciplined. So, “We must carefully guard ourselves against the menace of desire.” These thoughts of desire are what we must constantly guard against. “We must discipline ourselves to not even give rise to the thought of it.” We have to be disciplined, be on very strict guard, take strict precautions and remember to guard against wrongs and stop evil. We must always be elevating our discipline. We must always uphold discipline in our mind. So, “We must discipline ourselves to not even give rise to the thought of it.” We must discipline ourselves to the point where our minds will not give rise to greed for any kinds of forms and appearances. We must not even have a thought about them. “Thoughts” begin whenever we see external forms. This is when the mind stirs and thoughts arise. These are “thoughts”. We must discipline ourselves to the point that in the mind, no thoughts of appearances will arise, “let alone engage in physical interactions.” We must not even give rise to thoughts, so how can we allow our physical body to become entangled with form objects? We must not! Thus, we must carefully maintain discipline. So, “[We must not] engage in physical interactions. If we become defiled by appealing figures….” If our minds are defiled, when we see an appealing figure, we give rise to inappropriate thoughts. “We must use the Nine Kinds of Contemplation to cure ourselves.” There is a way.
The Buddha had nine methods to help us earnestly guard against this. These nine methods will be explained to us later. So, these nine methods are all meant to prevent untoward affairs between men and women. The source of calamities in life is mostly the affairs between men and women. So, “A virgin is an unmarried woman. A widow is a woman without her husband.” These are women who are by themselves. There are many men who are lustful, especially when it comes to single women. These men give rise to inappropriate thoughts. We must learn to take precautions against this. This is because in the sutra it says that men should not associate with women and so forth. Why shouldn’t they associate with women? It is very lamentable. The sutra constantly reminds us to take precautions.
Women lack in power of aspirations. Begins tender and weak, they are not vessels for the Dharma. They are unsuitable as main companions to befriend. Refraining from intimacy enables us to safeguard our minds, avoid the pricks of the mulberry thorns and keep ourselves from giving rise to greed and desire. This is the careful practice of avoiding criticism. By not conversing [with women], we keep our minds from being disturbed.
“Women lack in power of aspirations.” This is because women have this karma. This kind of mindset is due to pre-existing habitual tendencies. This is to say, “Being tender and weak, they are not vessels for the Dharma.” When people lack resolve and the power of vows, they tend to always rely on others. “They are like little birds relying on people.” There are many such sayings implying that women must rely upon others all their lives and fight their rivals to win affection. Since ancient times, from the large royal families to the small average families, didn’t many family problems result from this? Moral problems in families and so on are all related to lust. Countries and cities fell due to people’s lust for women. There have been many such stories since ancient times. If there were no women, there would be no stories to tell in the world. On stage, there are many splendid dramas about love, hate, passion or revenge. These all involve women. “Being tender and weak, they are not vessels for the Dharma.” When people see women’s alluring appearances, they sometimes dare not make eye contact with them. However, some people are very lustful and love to look. This causes many societal problems due to entanglements. So, “Being tender and weak, they are not vessels for the Dharma.” This is because, first, they lack the power of resolve. They do not have the appearance of a great man. Not only do they appear tender, they are also weak in both body and mindset. So, the Buddha said that they are not vessels for the Dharma. Because they do not have the resolve, “they are not vessels for the Dharma.” So, “They are unsuitable as main companions to befriend.” We must not constantly be their companion. When men and women are together, affection will arise between them over time. “Proximity begets intimacy.” This can often be a problem.
So, “They are unsuitable as main companions to befriend.” By refraining from intimacy we safeguard our minds. Especially for spiritual practitioners, men and women should refrain from intimacy. We should constantly heighten our vigilance so that we may safeguard our minds. So, this is the only way to avoid “the pricks of mulberry thorns.” Mulberry is the plant used to raise silkworms. When its leaves are tender, they can be used to raise silkworms. In the past, there were mulberry-picking women. Among the thickets of mulberry bushes, they were always afraid of being pricked by thorns. “[We must] keep ourselves from giving rise to greed and desire.”
There is another story. Zhuangzi was married, when suddenly he had a vision that before long he would pass away. After he died he would be buried. So he told [his wife], “Woman, if you want to marry again, wait until my grave is dry; then you can remarry.” So, for the grave to dry out more quickly, the widow went every day to fan the grave. She would use a hand fan to fan the grave, so the earth would dry faster and she could quickly remarry. See! They used to be deeply in love, but as soon as the husband died, she was in a hurry to remarry. In the woman’s mind, she kept thinking, “If I don’t quickly remarry, I will have nobody to lean on.” Because of that, she wanted the grave to dry quickly.
We often hear of this also nowadays, women who quickly find a [new] husband to rely on. There is a woman who married a first husband, then a second and a third husband. Every one of those husbands abused her and tormented her. She kept having children and her torment continued. If the husband passed away, the marriage ended in divorce or she was again abused and couldn’t take it, she would marry another man. After marrying several husbands, did any of them make her happy? Still, the woman would not give up. This is lacking the power of aspirations; she was unable to stand up for herself and live independently. She was suffering greatly. There are many such stories in the world.
So, we “keep ourselves from giving rise to greed or desire.” We must not be entangled in lust. When we see something that may lead us to improper feelings, we must not let these arise in our hearts.
Actually, this all is not fair to the women. Aren’t most of the Bodhisattvas in Tzu Chi mothers? Aren’t most of the volunteers women? They have abundant roots of goodness. Didn’t Guanyin Bodhisat manifest as a woman? [These women] can truly make vows to accomplish their mission in the world by willingly giving of themselves. “I have my own family, but I work for the [great] family of the world.” There are many Bodhisattvas like this! Before we built the [Hualien] hospital, wasn’t there such an example? A woman had her own family and her finances were not great, [but she thought], “It’s ok, I have my time. I am strong. I will ask for money in advance, offering to work three years for a few hundred thousand dollars. For three years, I will offer my physical labor to you. Any manual labor you want me to do, I am willing to do it. But first, I need that deposit to help build the hospital.” In ancient times, people sold themselves into servitude to helps others. In our time, there are [women] doing the same. They started in the past and are still continuing today. Woman’s compassion and virtues are very strong. Women are like loving mothers. Motherhood gives a woman strength. In fact, if the strength coming from motherhood, this resolve, can be applied universally toward all beings, that is having the [power of] aspirations. This is the willingness to dedicate oneself to helping sentient beings. So, we “keep ourselves from giving rise to greed and desire”. We do not crave for everything to go as we wish, we only hope to be of some help to everyone. With this mindset, our mind will never be in confusion, and we will also be free of thoughts of desire. We just give without seeking anything in return. Then our hearts will remain pure.
So, “This is the careful practice of avoiding criticism”. For spiritual practitioners, there should be a separation between male and female practitioners. There has to be a distance. In attitudes and so forth, we must avoid some subtle actions. Whether in speech or actions and so on, we must be very careful. “By not conversing [with women], we keep our minds from being disturbed”. Because we will discuss these ideas later, I want to first mention this passage to everyone. The next sutra passage is to remind us of the perspective to have toward women.
The previous passage said, “They also refrain from drawing near to those who only seek to be Hearers, whether they are bhiksus or bhiksunis, upasakas or upasikas, nor do they pay them their respects”.
During this time, they should try their best to avoid being alone with any of them or become attached to their appearances. We must be very vigilant. “If they are in a room, a place for walking meditation or a lecture hall, Bodhisattvas should not remain there with them”.
As for these bhiksus and bhiksunis, their thinking is not close to ours; they only practice the Small Vehicle and they do not recognize the Great Vehicle, if we think that because we wish to practice the Great Vehicle Dharma, we should keep debating with them, then we will be like the heretical Vama-Lokayatas and the Lokayatas. These non-Buddhist practitioners debate like this. Does it mean we need to debate the Buddha-Dharma like them? Do we need to reject them or refute them? There is no need. If our intent and mission do not align, we need not forcefully debate with them or even associate or even associate with them.
“If people like this ever approach them, they will teach the Dharma in a suitable way”. We need not argue with them or forcefully debate with them. If they wish to speak with us, they may want to convince us to agree with them.
We must then remain determined. Or perhaps they want to understand us and see what the Great Vehicle Dhamra is about. Then we can give them suitable teachings. If they accept it, if their capacities are ready, then we can tell them more in depth. If they do not accept or the timing is not right, then we should respectfully let them be. No further argument is needed. This is how we should handle people like these bhiksus and bhiksunis, how we should handle these verbal arguments and differences in opinions. We need to take precatuions with all these people.
It goes on, “Manjusri, furthermore, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not be attached to the idea of women’s bodies as objects of desire and for that reason teach them the Dharma. They must not delight in looking at them either. If they enter others’ homes, they must not converse with young girls, virgins, widows and the like”.
In this passage, the Buddha again [called out], He again called out, “Manjusri”. In the previous passages, He discussed those we should not draw near to. Be it powerful people or those with contradicting principles, we should not associate with them. Also those with karma from killing and so on are people we should try to avoid. Since we do not have the power to transform them, we should just avoid them. We need not argue with them or forcefully debate with them. As for these bhiksus and bhiksunis, though we share the same path, the Great and Small Vehicle teachings differ. We need not debate with them about whether we should benefit only ourselves or we should benefit others at the same time. We need not debate this with them. This was in the previous section. He told us to keep our distance and not start arguments with them.
In the next passage, the Buddha again calls out, “Manjusri, furthermore, Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas must not be attached to the idea of women’s bodies as objects of desire and for that reason teach them the Dharma”.
Be attached to the idea of objects of desires and for that reason teach them the Dharma: If their minds form attachments and views them as objects of desire, inwardly their hearts turn rotten and defiled while outwardly they present a dignified demeanor and they teach them the Dharma for that reason.
We should not give rise to improper thoughts when it comes to women’s bodies, indulging in thoughts of lust. This will not do, so we should keep a distance. Because if our “minds form attachments”, if the mind grasps at women’s appearances and the way they go about their lives, we keep these appearances in mind, become fixated on these appearances and we see them objects of desire. In that case, we give rise to improper thoughts; lustful thoughts arise. “Inwardly their hearts turn rotten and defiled while they outwardly present a dignified demeanor.” If we give rise to improper thoughts about women’s bodies, then our minds become impure. Then how can we teach them the Dharma? If we have already given rise to lustful thoughts about a woman’s body, then how can we teach her the Dharma? We must not do this. We must not draw near to such a woman.
If you already have thoughts of desire for her body, then we must keep a distance. As for desire, why must we be so cautious about desires?
Thoughts of desire damage our Bodhicitta. We must deeply guard against the menace of desire. We must discipline ourselves to not even give rise to the thought of it, let alone engage in physical interactions. If we become defiled by physical forms, we must use the Nine Contemplations to cure ourselves.
“Desire” can harm our Bodhicitta. Our spiritual aspirations can be tempted by these desires, so we must thoroughly and carefully guard against the menace of this desire. Having desirous thoughts for a woman’s body is a great menace. So, “We must discipline ourselves.” Because we cannot react to women’s bodies by giving rise to improper thoughts, we should discipline ourselves. “We must discipline ourselves to not even give rise to the thought of it.” We should be disciplined so that in our mind, we do not give rise to improper thoughts, let alone physically associate with a woman. We claim that we want to teach her the Dharma and that we want to counsel her. But in counseling, we give rise to affection. We often hear about how sympathy grows into affection, which leads to troubles for families. Nowadays, there are numerous such examples too. So, this association between them may begin out of sympathy, but later, improper or impure actions may arise. So, “If we become defiled by physical forms, we must use the Nine Kinds of Contemplation to cure ourselves.” The Nine Contemplations also have another name. Contemplation of the Nine Appearances.
Nine Contemplations: They are also called Contemplation of the Nine Appearances. This refers to contemplating the human corpse in nine different ways so as to eradicate from our minds our attachment to the illusory body and realize the impurity of the human body. This is the contemplation of impurity in contemplative meditation.
We all should mindfully understand the Nine Appearances. When it comes to the body, we should earnestly contemplate it. We need to practice the Fourfold Mindfulness. We should earnestly contemplate, “contemplate the body as unclean.” We should contemplate our bodies as unclean. As for our body, when we die, what happens to our corpse? Actually, even before we die, when the body’s four elements go out of balance, whenever a wound is not treated properly, [the flesh] begins to rot. For people with diabetes or so on where their peripheral nerves are damaged, if there is a wound that becomes infected, it will start to fester. The stench of a festering [wound] is really bad. This happens even before death. When happens to this body after death is something we should earnestly contemplate. Actually, after death, all the blood stops [flowing] in the veins. When the circulation in the body stops entirely, what changes does the body go through? There are nine stages. We should earnestly contemplate these nine kinds of changes. [We spend] a few decades in the world, going through birth, aging, illness and death; this is not a long time. This body is illusory. From infancy until old age, there is never a moment when this body is not undergoing change. How then can we remain attached to it? If we remain attached to this body, we have desires in our minds. To satisfy the desires of our bodies, discursive thoughts arise and we do much evil which crates afflictions and ignorance. So, being attached to this body is terrifying. So, if we realize that our bodies are unclean, we must earnestly observe the Nine Appearances. We should not remain attached to the body.
Moreover, we must understand how the human body is truly unclean. How many kinds of impurities are there? We just said there are nine kinds.
Nine Contemplations: 1. Contemplate the newly dead. 2. Contemplate their livor mortis. 3. Contemplate their blood and other fluids. 4. Contemplate their discharges. 5. Contemplate them being devoured by maggots. 6. Contemplate their entangled tendons. 7. Contemplate their bones being scattered. 8. Contemplate their bleached bones. 9. Contemplate their cremated ashes.
This is what happens to the corpse. This is the process it undergoes. So, we must earnestly “contemplate the body as unclean.” This first is “contemplating the newly dead.” When someone dies, we must quickly make funeral arrangements and put the corpse in the coffin. After putting it in, the coffin must be sealed. Why is it that after a person dies, we must quickly seal the coffin? It is because of the changes the corpse undergoes. Actually, everyone should observe and contemplate the human body after death. We ourselves are no exception. After they put us into the coffin, while we are in the coffin, our bodies will change, they will keep bloating. So, when it comes to the “newly dead,” we should earnestly contemplate them. Because the blood no longer circulates and all circulation in the body stops, the blood begins to congeal. Gradually, blood accumulates throughout the body and the body continually changes its color. It turns purple and then black. Slowly, the body continues to swell. Some people say, “It will burst if we do not quickly deal with it.” The blood and other fluids inside the body have already begun to come out. Because all circulation has stopped, all of the fluids inside the body begin to come out. The body becomes bloated and the flesh cracks, so these impurities begin to leak out. So, we “contemplate their discharges.” What is inside the body is very dirty. There is blood, other fluids and impurities. In the intestines, the spleen and the stomach, impurities remain. All the excrement and so on still remains inside the body. This is all extremely impure. The body’s blood flow has stopped; there are fluids. The blood begins to change. The body’s flesh and skin begins to swell. So, these are the “discharges”. This is how the body’s blood and other fluids, these impurities, begin to leak out of it. Its stench is incomparable. As the body rots and blood and other fluids continually leak from it, during this time, maggots will appear. The maggots burrow into the corpse and begin feeding on it. “Contemplate them being devoured by maggots.” These maggots burrow throughout the body; they spread throughout [the body] until the whole body is filled with maggots. So, we continue to contemplate the body. Besides these organs of flesh and blood, there are also the tendons. The tendons string the whole body together. The tendons and bones are connected. The tendons connect the bones. Ligaments, tendons and so on are all intertwined. With the structure around the internal organs, our bodies can move around. As the organs rots internally, these tendons which are inside the body no longer serve their function, so the bones scatter. Think of a pile of bleached bones. When people go to collect bones, as they open the coffin, they do not see tendons or flesh. All that can be seen are bones. The bones are no longer connected. The entire skeleton is there, but the bones are all scattered. No longer are they connected with one another. They are just lying next to each other, scattered like this. The eighth is “contemplating their bleached bones.” When people collect bones, in the opened coffin, there is only bones. When we imagine that sight, it is truly filthy.
Actually, in the past, I experienced this. When I went to collect my father’s bones, as we opened the coffin, the clothing was still stuck to the bones. After the bones were extracted, that pile of clothing was very dirty. [The fabric] had hardened. From this we can understand that when life comes to an end, even though we dressed him in his best clothes, in the end, [the clothes] were mixed up with the dirty body and turned into garbage. Even after nearly ten years, when we collected the bones, [the clothes] had turned into a pile of garbage. It was truly very terrifying. So, after picking out the white bones, some people will cremate them and then put them in an urn.
These are the Nine [Contemplations]. When someone dies, this is what happens to the body. Actually, it is the same for both men and women. When a man and a woman is in love, they are entangled in that place. Actually, in the sutras, it singles out women, so it is rather one-sided. In fact, it is men that “give rise to thoughts of desire,” but women’s bodies are attractive to men; their appearances tempt people. So, the sutras warn us not to give rise to [desires] due to physical appearances. This is something we should earnestly prevent. “They must not delight in looking at them either.”
They must not delight in looking at them either: They must not desire to look at women’s bodies. Not delight in looking: By not seeing anything as desirable, they keep their minds from becoming disturbed. This means they must distance themselves from defiled conditions that can lead to thoughts of desire. This is what causes them to give rise to thoughts of lust and desire. It says Bodhisattvas must not have this mindset while they teach the Dharma to women. However, this does not mean that they must not teach the Dharma to women.
When it comes to women’s bodies, we should not draw near to them or constantly wish to look at them. These are very bad thoughts. We must distance ourselves from this. So, once, when the Buddha was in Deer Park, He told a story of causes and conditions to 500 bhiksus. He warned the bhiksus to elevate their vigilance, so when it came to women’s bodies, between men and women, [they would not] give rise to lustful desires. Lust leads people astray; not only do women lead men astray, men also lead women astray. We must be very careful about the sexual desire between men and women. The Buddha brought up an example from the past, from an era long before the Buddha’s lifetime. He told them of a Pratyekabuddha called Virtuous Eye. Through spiritual practice, he attained the level of Pratyekabuddha. This Pratyekabuddha, Virtuous Eye, was magnificent in appearance. He was extremely dignified. He must also go among people begging for alms. His appearance was such that his eyes sparkled, and he was very dignified. Moreover, when he opened his mouth, his breath was very fragrant. His appearance was always so magnificent as he went about begging for alms.
At one time, he came to a village. There was a family where the elder had a daughter. The daughter was at home when she saw the magnificent spiritual practitioner as he came before their door. He stood there silently. It was as if she had suddenly seen a ray of light. Her gaze was locked upon his body as it appeared there. So, she stood there admiring him. This Pratyekabuddha became an object of her admiration. She just stood there admiring him. After that, this elder’s daughter, over the course of the next few days, kept thinking about whether she would see Virtuous Eye Pratyekabuddha again. Her father told her, “Daughter, he is a spiritual practitioner. When he comes begging for alms, we give to him. We must not let our heart give rise to improper thoughts of desire about him.” This is what the father told his daughter. Nevertheless, the daughter of the elder kept thinking about him day and night. Every time he went by, she would begin to follow him. She was constantly entangled in this.
One day, this Pratyekabuddha, Virtuous Eye Pratyekabuddha, stopped in his steps and asked her, “Why do you always follow me?” She replied, “You are magnificent! When I see you, I feel great joy in my heart! You always go around begging for alms. Isn’t it very tiresome? You are so magnificent and dignified, and I am not so bad either. So, I hope that we can [convince] you to remain here in my house, where we will have a wonderful life and you and I will enjoy the happiness of a family.” She used all kinds of speech to entice Virtuous Eye Pratyekabuddha.
Virtuous Eye Pratyekabuddha Virtuous Eye was very steadfast. He asked her, “What part of me is it that you think you love the most?” She replied, “I love all of you, especially your eyes and the breath from your mouth. I really love these!” Virtuous Eye then lifted his right hand, plucked out his eye, placed it in his left hand and gave it to the elder’s daughter. He said, “Here, you love my eye I have taken out my eye. Look at it, is this what you love so much?” When the girl saw this, she was shocked. “How can this be? With your eye taken out, everything looks different now! The eye is so dirty. It is just like a bubble. It is terrifying! What am I supposed to do with it?” Then the Pratyekabuddha told her, “That’s right! The eye is an impure thing. The human body and organs are all impure. You should understand this. You love that my breath is fragrant, when actually all impurities enter thorough the mouth and everything that comes out of it is dirty. Why would you love my breath? Why would you love my eyes?” The daughter of the elder suddenly realized that the human body is very impure. She quickly knelt and repented. “I should never have wished to tempt a practitioner of the path. I should never have allowed craving and desire to arise for your body!” So, the Pratyekabuddha told her, “This is not your fault. It is my karmic forces. This is my karma, to have such a body that when people see it, it incites desire within them. This is due to my own karmic forces. From now no, you should earnestly engage in contemplating the body as impure. You must put effort into understanding that everything in life is impermanent.” This elder’s daughter suddenly awakened and made a vow, “I will begin my spiritual practice.” She began to “contemplate the body as impure.” She realized just how impure the human body is. She then made the Four Great Vows and became willing to give of herself in the future for the sake of the world’s sentient beings. This was how, during the Buddha’s lifetime, He taught the bhiksus by telling this story of causes and conditions.
So, everyone should be very mindful. A woman’s form can attract men, and a man’s appearance can be attractive to women. In this way, they attract one another. This is all due to their appearances. Our mind can become deluded and attached to these appearances, which then give rise to much ignorance and defiled discursive thoughts. So, we should put effort into being mindful. So, “If they enter others’ homes, they must not converse with young girls, virgins, windows and the like.” They should not converse alone with windows and virgins like this, nor arouse blame and suspicion from other people [ by being alone with these women].
If we have the affinity to enter someone’s home and converse with them, we expose ourselves to criticism and suspicion, not to mention that temptation may result in severe transgressions.
Young girls are girls of young age. Virgins are those who are still chaste, women who are not yet married. Windows have lost their husbands. In summary, when it comes to women’s bodies, we must never give rise to improper thoughts. When it comes to men’s bodies, we must also contemplate them as being impure. The body and mind are impure. We should earnestly safeguard our discipline and boundaries. So, in regard to these precepts and boundaries, whether we are lay people or monastics, we must be disciplined in maintaining precepts, so we do not transgress or overstep the boundaries, and thus disturb people’s minds. Therefore, we must always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
首頁 
