心無常主。類商賈而處處奔馳。身無定形。似房屋而頻頻遷徙。大千塵點。難窮往返之身。四海波濤。孰計別離之淚。峨峨積骨。過彼崇山。莽莽橫屍。多於大地。向使不聞佛語。此事誰見誰聞。未睹佛經。此理焉知焉覺。其或依前貪戀。仍舊癡迷。祇恐萬劫千生。一錯百錯。人身難得而易失。良時易往而難追。道路冥冥。別離長久。三途惡報。還自受之。痛不可言。誰當相代。興言及此。能不寒心。是故宜應斷生死流。出愛欲海。自他兼濟。彼岸同登。曠劫殊勳。在此一舉。是為發菩提心第六因緣也。
「心無常主」：我們這個人心，自己作不得主。你要是眞能作得主了，就有定了，就不會打妄想了。因為你沒有常主，所以就「類商賈而處處奔馳」：就像做生意的人似的，行商作賈。各處走的這叫商人；坐那兒賣東西的那叫賈人。這個「賈」字本來念「假」音，可是這裏念「古」音，就是賣東西的。處處奔馳，這個做商賈的，他今天在這兒，明天又跑到那個地方去，各處去推銷貨品，買貨品，處處跑。
「身無定形」：我們這個身體，沒有一定的樣子，今生高一點，來生或者就矮一點。「似房屋而頻頻遷徙」：這個身體不是我們自己的，這個身體就像一個房子似的，所以說：
「人身好比一間房，口為門戶眼為窗。」眼睛、鼻子、耳朵就像窗戶似的，透空氣。口是吃東西的，鼻子就像氣孔似的，你把嘴閉上鼻子可以呼吸氣，就像氣窗似的。
「四肢好比房四柱」，四肢，胳臂、腿，手腳這四肢，就像房子四個柱子似的。
「頭髮好像山房草」，人長的頭髮就像山房草似的。那麼趁著房子好的時候，你要勤修，有的時候要給它做點功夫，就是修理修理它。
「莫待壞時著了忙」，你不要等得這個房子壞了，著急沒有地方住，那就沒有用了。
由這個看來我們身體就像房子一樣的。那麼既然是房子，裏邊本來主人是誰呢？就是心。可是這個心又懦弱無能，作不得主，不能當家作主，盡聽這個邪魔鬼怪的話，盡打妄想。這個妄想一想出來，就被外物所遷動了，所以這個心就處處奔馳，這個身體就時時要換。
這個身體覺得這個房子住得夠了，老了，就不要這個房子了，扔了，所以遷流，常常搬家，由這個房子搬到那個房子去。所以有的時候，從小馬架子、小茅篷，搬到高樓大廈去，所以才說「而頻頻遷徙」，像房屋似的，今生住這個房
屋，來生又住那個房屋。
「大千塵點，難窮往返之身」：大千世界這微塵的數目，不知道來又去，去了又來，來回來回不知有多少次了，數不盡那麼多！
「四海波濤孰計別離之淚」：四海波濤那麼多，可是我們在悲歡離合所哭的那個眼淚，恐怕比那還多，計算不出來。
「峨峨積骨，過彼崇山」：峨峨，就是很多很多的，積累到一起的骨頭比山都高的。
「莽莽橫屍多於大地」：莽莽也是多的意思，就像草像樹木那麼多。若計算起來，我們每一個人所換的那個屍首，比大地的塵土都多。
待續
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Essay:
The mind has no fixed purpose. It flits hurriedly from place to place like a traveling peddler. Our bodies have no fixed shape. We continually exchange them as if we were moving from room to room in a house. We have had, and lost, more bodies than there are particles of dust in a billion worlds. We have cried more tears at parting than all the water in the billows of the four seas. The stacks of bones rise higher than mountain peaks. The heaps of corpses are vaster than the earth.
If the Buddha did not speak of this, who would have recognized or even imagined these things? If we had not read the Buddha's Sutras, how would we know and be aware of these truths? If we continue our hankering for love and pleasure, we will forever remain stupid and confused.
It is only to be feared that one mistake has led to another for ten thousand kalpas, through thousands of lives. A human body is hard to obtain and easy to lose. Good times soon pass and cannot be brought back. The road is dark and gloomy and separations last a long time. I must endure evil retribution in the Three Paths by myself. The pain is unspeakable; who would stand in for me? Even discussing this subject chills my heart.
We, therefore, must halt the flow of birth and death, get out of the ocean of love and desire, save ourselves and save others, and reach the other shore together. Of all things throughout distant kalpas past, this is the most extraordinary achievement, yet one only needs to begin.
This is the sixth cause and condition for resolving the mind upon Bodhi.
Commentary:
The mind has no fixed purpose: We can't make up our own mind, if we can make up our mind and be still, then we will not have false thinking; therefore, it flits hurriedly from place to place like a traveling peddler. It goes everywhere trying to drum up some business, today in this place, tomorrow in another place, selling his goods all over the place.
Our bodies have no fixed shape. Our bodies have no fixed appearance. This life we are a bit taller; next life we are shorter. We continually exchange them as if we were moving from room to room in a house. This body is not our own; it is like a house. So it is said:
The human body is much like a house,
The mouth is the door; the eyes are its windows.
The mouth is like the door of the house, it breathes in air. The eyes, nose, and ears are like windows, allowing fresh air to go through. Therefore the nose has two nostrils that breathe in air when the mouth is closed.
The four limbs are like the four corner-posts.
So the four limbs, the two arms and the two legs, are like the four pillars of the house.
The hair is like thatch on the house.
Don't wait until it falls to run about in haste! Take care of your health while it is still good. Do not wait until sickness overcomes you. Then it may be too late and you won't have a house to stay.
Our body is like a house, but although it is a house, it has a "host" and the "host" is the mind. But the mind cannot make decisions; it listens to deviant ideas and continually engages in false thoughts. When a false thought arises, the mind flits hurriedly from place to place. We keep on changing as if moving from house to house. This life we stay in run-down hut; next life we stay in a high-rise apartment. So the text says: "We continually exchange them as if we were moving from room to room in a house." We have had, and lost, more bodies than there are particles of dust in a billion worlds. You have come and gone countless times; therefore it is not easy to count all the bodies in which one has been born and which afterward died.
We have cried more tears at parting than all the water in the billows of the four seas: No one can count all the tears people have shed in sorrow and suffering when they are separated from those they love.
The stacks of bones rise higher than mountain peaks: Mountains are tall, but the piles of discarded bones surpass their height. The heaps of corpses are vaster than the earth, more numerous than the blades of grass and the trees on earth. The bodies we have had are more than the particles of dust in the earth.
To be continued
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