4．舌根的懺悔
《普賢觀經》對於舌根的懺悔說：「舌根貪諸美味，損害眾生，破諸淨戒，也使我們放逸；也使我們造口業、妄言、綺語、惡口、兩舌、誹謗三寶、讚說邪見、說無益語、鬥爭壞亂、說非法，諸惡業刺蒺從舌根生起，它斷正法輪，也斷功德種。」對舌根造罪的剖析入微，讀來不寒而慄，怎不心生慚愧呢？
奧古斯丁的《懺悔錄》中並沒有鼻根、舌根的個別懺悔，但有一項對口腹之欲的懺悔，可供參考。
「本來為維持生命而飲食，但危險的樂趣追隨不離，而且往往爭先，以致我聲明或願意為了維持生命而做的，轉而為它做了。二者的方式並不一樣，為維持生命本已足夠，為口腹之樂卻嫌不夠，往往很難確定是為了身體的需要而進食，還是受饕餮的引誘而大嚼。……
我被圍於誘惑之中，每天和口腹之欲交戰；食欲和淫欲不同，不能拿定主意和
它毅然決絕，如我對於絕欲的辦法。」
它一語道破人類對食欲誘惑的難以抗拒。因為積習太深，無量劫以來每天都必須果腹充腸，所以口腹之欲難以制衡。這裡有很大的差別，基督教允許食肉；天主容許諾亞吃一切禽獸的肉；約翰驚人的苦行，靠吃蝗蟲為食，而佛教的慈悲普及一切眾生。《普賢觀經》中明言舌根貪諸美味，損害眾生。現代文明社會，素食方便普遍，但相對的食物的美味也更甚於古代
，眾生多因口腹之樂而飲食，損害眾生更
甚於前，我們要引為借鏡。
舌根所造語業的罪惡，也是無量無邊的，而它的業報終究會回到本身身上。有一則關於口業的故事，可做警惕。
在佛陀時代，弗加沙王入王舍城乞食，被一隻剛生了小牛的母牛觸死，牛主害怕就把母牛賣了。新買主牽著母牛去喝水，母牛又從背後一頭觸死新主人。新牛主的兒子一氣之下，把母牛殺了拿肉去市場賣。有個農夫買了牛頭，路上停在一棵樹下休息時，把牛頭掛在樹枝上，沒想到樹枝太脆弱就折斷了，牛頭掉下來打在農夫身上，牛角刺中農夫要害，當場斃命。
為什麼一隻牛會觸死三個人？當時有人請教佛陀，佛陀說了他們過去世的因緣：以前有三個商人到別國做生意，向一位 孤苦的老婦租房住，看老婦可欺，就偷偷搬走抵賴房租。老婦發現後死追活追追上三個商家人，三人不僅不付錢，還惡口相向。老婦無可奈何，含恨發誓，未來生如相遇，定要殺他們才甘心。那老婦就是今生的母牛，三個商人就是被觸死的人。「夫士之生，斧在口中；所以斬身，由其惡言。」《法句譬喻經•言語品第九》
5．身根的懺悔
《普賢觀經》中詳述道：「我們身根貪著種種觸感，比如男女身體柔軟細滑的觸感，使人生煩惱，欲望熾然便造作身業，做出殺盜淫種種顛倒的事，與眾生結冤，破淨戒造五逆十惡，乃至焚燒塔寺、盜用三寶物，因為種種罪垢因緣而墮三惡道，嘗受苦報。」奧古斯丁的《懺悔錄》則剖析說：
我十六歲這一年，由於家中經濟拮据而輟學，閒在家中和父母一起生活，情欲的荊棘便長得高出我頭頂，沒有一人來拔掉它。
相反的，父親在浴室中看見我發育成熟，已經穿上青春的苦悶，便高興地告訴我母親，好像從此可以含飴弄孫了；他帶著一種醉後的狂喜，就是這種狂喜使世界忘卻自己的創造者……這是喝了一種無形的毒酒，使意志傾向卑鄙下流。……我的罪惡恰就從我的肉體中長起來」
身體是犯罪的工具，從懺悔身根中，可以深刻體會這個身體並不屬於我所有。天冷叫它不感冒它不聽；肚餓叫它不餓也做不到。人死後，一把火這個身體就燒成灰了，但它所造作的無量罪業，卻連累我們受無量苦報。怎能不警醒慚愧呢？那麼是誰起惑造業呢？
待續 |
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4. The Repentance of the Tongue
The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation articulates the tongue's repentance this way: "The sense organ of the tongue is gluttonous for all good flavors. It makes living beings break every pure precept and become indulgent. This organ is also the source of speech karma, including lies, lewd speech, evil words, divisive words, slander of the Triple Jewel, praise of wrong views, frivolous speech, contentious and destructive speech, and teachings of non-Dharma. Various evil deeds resembling thorns are born from the tongue. It stops the wheel of the proper Dharma and exterminates the seeds of merit and virtue."
Reading this detailed analysis of offenses committed by the tongue, one can't help but feel a chill. How could one not be ashamed and remorseful?
St. Augustine's Confessions did not include individual repentances for the nose or tongue, but, for your reference, there is a repentance directed at the desire to satisfy hunger:
"Food is meant to sustain life. I may declare that I am eating and am willing to eat for sustenance only, and yet I am turned by this dangerous joy that often supercedes and becomes the first priority in what I do. The means to these two ends are different. What is sufficient to sustain life isn't enough for the pleasures of the appetite. I am often unsure as to whether I continue to eat because of my physical needs or whether I gulp down food because I have succumbed to its temptation...
I am surrounded by temptation. I battle daily with my desire for food. The desire for food is different from the desire for sex; I cannot decisively renounce food the way I can be celibate."
This cuts to the core of the difficulty to resist food. This is a habit that has developed over endless eons. One must fill one's stomach every day, so the desire for food is difficult to balance. There's a major difference here in that Christianity allows meat-eating. God permitted Noah to eat any animal that he wanted. John had a shocking ascetic practice of eating a diet of locusts. In contrast, Buddhist compassion extends to all beings. The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation discusses explicitly how the tongue's greed for good flavors harms all beings. In modern society, it is easier to be a vegetarian because it is now a more widespread custom. On the other hand, the flavors of food have been dramatically enhanced compared to ancient times. Living beings often eat for the pleasure of it, thereby harming living beings even more. We must avoid such examples.
The tongue's offenses in speech are also limitless and boundless. In the end, one must undergo the retribution for the tongue's karma. One story regarding the karma of speech serves as a warning for us.
During the Buddha's time, King Vatsa went to the City of Rajagrha to beg for food but was gored to death by a cow that had just given birth to a calf. The owner of the cow was afraid and sold the cow. When the new owner took the cow to drink some water, the cow butted into the new owner from behind, killing him. Enraged, the son of the new owner killed the cow and sold its meat at the market. One farmer who bought the head of the cow was resting beneath a tree on the way home. He hung the cow's head on a branch of the tree, but the tree branch was too weak and broke. The head of the cow dropped and hit the farmer, the horns of the cow stabbed the farmer at a vulnerable spot and he died instantly.
Why did one cow gore three people to death? Someone asked the Buddha at the time. The Buddha then explained their past causes and conditions. Previously, there were three merchants who went to a certain country to do business. They rented their lodging from an elderly woman who was solitary and impoverished. Seeing that they could take advantage of the old woman, the merchants left without paying the rent. When the old woman found out, she chased after the three merchants. When she caught up with them, they not only refused to pay, but scolded her roundly. There was nothing the elderly woman could do, but she vowed that if they met again in the future, she would not rest until she killed them. That old woman became a cow in this lifetime. The three merchants were the people who were gored to death. "Man is born with an ax in his mouth; he hacks up his body with his harsh words." (From Chapter Nine, On Speech, in the Sutra of Parables, Dharmapada)
5. The Repentance of the Body
The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation describes that, "Our body is greedy for and attached to various sensations of touch. For instance, the soft, smooth feel of the male or female body afflicts people and stimulates burning desire, leading them to create physical karma, such as murder, theft, lustful acts, and other deluded deeds. They develop enmity toward living beings, violate pure precepts, and commit the five rebellious acts and ten evil deeds. They even burn down stupas and monasteries and steal the property of the Triple Jewel. They fall into the three evil paths and undergo bitter retribution due to the various causes and conditions of their defiled offenses. St. Augustine's Confessions further state that:
"When I was sixteen, I dropped out of school because of financial hardship at home. I didn't have much to do at home but be with my parents. The thorns of desire grew far taller than me, yet no one came to pull them out.
Conversely, while in the bath, my father saw how I had matured and was wearing the frustrations of adolescence; therefore he happily told my mother that it appears that they are about to enjoy some grandchildren. He assumed a drunken ecstasy. It is precisely this ecstasy that makes us forget our Creator. It must be an invisible wine of poison that pulls one toward what is vile and disgusting. That is when evil grew from within my body.
The body is an instrument for committing offenses. From repenting of the body's deeds, we come to have a profound sense that this body doesn't belong to us. It doesn't listen to us when we tell it not to catch a cold on chilly days. It doesn't listen when we tell it not to be hungry when it becomes hungry. This physical body turns into ash when cremated. The limitless karma it has created drags us down to endure infinite retributions that are miserable. How could we not be cautious and alert, remorseful and ashamed? And, who is it that is deluded and creates karma?
To be continued |
