《大愛道經》云，女人身體惡露不淨，淫慢心重，貪求、嫉妒、虛偽、情障、瞋恚種種惡習，難以修道。為女人身者，坦誠認知女身的陋劣，生慚愧心；為男人身者，以女身劣點為戒，思惟過去世曾為女人，陋劣惡習皆曾染著，當以為戒；又可思惟，今生男身來自女人孕育，以感恩心當度其出離。如此作觀，就不會落入膚淺的男女相諍論，而生懺悔之情。
在古基督文學中，奧古斯丁（S．Aureli Augustin 354－430 A．D）的《懺悔錄》中，詳述他對天主懺悔雙目的享受，略述如下：
「我的眼睛喜歡看美麗的形象、鮮豔的色彩。……每天，只要我醒著，它們便挑逗我，不讓我有片刻的安寧，不似悅耳的聲音有時入於萬籟俱寂之中，使我能享受暫時的恬靜。白天，不論我在哪裡，彩色之王，光華燦爛浸潤我們所睹的一切，即使我另有所思，也不斷用各種形色向我傾注而撫摩著我。它具有極大的滲透力，如果突然消失，我便渴望追求；如果長期絕跡，我的心靈便感到悒悒不樂。
為那些醉心於世俗的瞎子，我所說的物質的光明給生活灑上了逗人的危險的甜味。
人對衣、履、器物以及圖像等類，用各種技巧修飾得百般工妙，只求悅目，卻遠遠越出了樸素實用的範圍，更違反了虔肅的意義，他們勞神外物，鑽研自己的製作，靈中卻拋棄了自身的創造者，摧毀了創造者在自己身上的工程。」
奧古斯丁還詳細剖析人追求知識的玄虛好奇，使用的工具也是眼睛這個器官；「去看看什麼在響」、「看看什麼在發出香味」、「看看這有什麼滋味」，也是通過眼睛這器官。因此《聖經》上稱之為「目欲」。從這裡我們看出人類弱點的共通性，對宗教需求的相似性，這是很好的參考，幫助我們認清眼根的作用，以及它所沾染的習氣。
除了以上所提之外，男女的色欲也源自眼根的欲望；男人愛看美女，女人愛看俊男，色欲就是使眾生輪迴六道的根源，若經剖析，怎不心生恐怖，決心厭離呢？
2．耳根的懺悔
《普賢觀經》中對於耳根的懺悔：「耳根因緣，總是隨逐外聲，聽妙聲，心起戀著；聽惡聲，心不歡喜，起百八種的煩惱，傷害自性清淨。由於這個邪惡的耳根，招感惡的業報，常聞惡聲邪見，聽聞不到正法，十方諸佛常在說法，我們濁惡的耳朵，聽聞不到那清淨的法音。」
同樣的，在奧古斯丁的《懺悔錄》中，也對聲音之娛懺悔，但他的大意是戀著於歌曲音樂，不聽聖樂而懺悔。《普賢觀經》對於耳根的懺悔是比較廣義的，包括對語言的善惡分別，因為意識的分別生起煩惱、戀著，使我們不得清淨、自在。
3．鼻根的懺侮
《普賢觀經》中對於鼻根的懺悔詳述道：「鼻根聞到香氣，如男女身體的香氣，佳餚的美味，以及種種香味，受到迷惑不能克制，攪動了種種欲望，被欲望綁住了，種種煩惱也就翻動了 ，由此而造無量無邊的罪，由於貪著香味，起分別意識，而有種種染著，才會墮落受苦報。十方諸佛的功德妙香遍滿法界，我們被濁惡鼻根障住 ，嗅聞不到」
待續
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The Mahaprajapati Sutra states, "The female body is evil and impure, laden with lust, pride, greed, jealousy, phoniness, emotions, anger, and other evil habits, making it difficult to cultivate the Way. As a female, one should acknowledge the base qualities of the female body and be remorseful and ashamed. Males should avoid having the flaws of females and contemplate that they themselves have been women and possessed those base and evil habits in the past. Consider those flaws as warnings. One could further contemplate, 'I am a man today because a woman bore and nurtured me. I should save women out of gratitude. By contemplating in this way, one will not be pulled into any petty contests between men and women. Rather, one has a repentant attitude. In the Confessions, a classic of Catholic literature, St. Augustine repents to God of the transgressions of his eyes:
"My eyes enjoy beautiful form and bright colors. During all my waking hours, they tease and seduce me so that I have not a moment's peace. Unlike the sound of silence that allows me to enjoy momentary peace, royal colors shine and saturate everything that I see, no matter where I am during the day. Although I have other thoughts on my mind, they continue to pour into me and caress me with a wide range of forms and colors. Their power to penetrate is tremendous. If they disappear suddenly, I will eagerly pursue them. If they disappear for a long time, I will be sorely unhappy.
For blind men who are drunk with the mundane, the brilliance of material objects is sprinkled with seductive and dangerous sweetness.
People craft and decorate clothing, shoes, goods, pictures, etc. with various wonders just so that they please the eye. They exceed the simple and practical needs by far. They further defy the idea behind solemnity. They spend their energies on external objects and specialize in such productions. Their spirits have abandoned their Creator, however, destroying what the Creator has fashioned in them."
St. Augustine further analyzed that people's thirst for knowledge derives from curiosity. They use the sense organ of the eyes as a tool, "Let's see what's ringing." "Let's see what smells so good." "Let's see how this tastes." Therefore, the Bible refers to "the eyes' desire." Here, we see a common weakness among human beings. This is a good reference for religions that have similar needs. This helps us recognize the function of the eye organ and the habits that it has contracted.
Besides the aforementioned, sexual desire between men and women also germinates from the eyes' desires. Men love to look at beautiful women; women love to look at handsome men. Sexual desire is the reason why beings transmigrate in the wheel of the six paths. How could one not be frightened and be determined to leave it behind?
2. The Repentance of the Ears
The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation contains the following repentance on behalf of the ears. "The causes and conditions of the ears are that they always follow sounds outside. Upon hearing beautiful sounds, they become infatuated and attached. They are unhappy when they hear unpleasant sounds, producing 108 kinds of afflictions and harming the purity of one's inherent nature. Due to the evil ear organ that attracts evil retribution, we often hear evil sounds and evil views, and therefore cannot hear the Proper Dharma. Although all the Buddhas throughout the ten directions are speaking Dharma, our polluted ears prevent us from hearing the clean sounds of Dharma."
Similarly, in his Confessions, St. Augustine also repents of how he entertained sounds. In general, he was attached to songs and music. He repented for not listening to holy music. The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation contains a repentance that's broader in scope as far as the ear organ is concerned. It includes discrimination of good and bad language. When consciousness differentiates, it gives rise to afflictions and attachments, so that we cannot be pure and at ease.
3. The Repentance of the Nose
The Sutra of Universal Worthy's Contemplation describes the repentance of the nose thus: "Beings are confused when their nose smells fragrances such as the bodily scents of men or women, or the sweet aroma of savory foods. Consequently, they cannot control themselves. Having aroused various desires, they are tied down by those desires. In turn, various afflictions arise, creating innumerable offenses. Due to one's greed for fragrance, one's consciousness discriminates and falls to a lower and miserable realm because of various defilements and attachments. Obstructed by our defiled nose, we cannot smell the wondrous fragrance of the merit of all Buddhas in the ten directions."
To be continued |
