..續本文上一頁d by nothing earthly. Lose sight of it to an inch, or miss it for a moment, and we are away from it forever more."

　　19. The Buddha said, "Look up to heaven and down on earth, and they will remind you of their impermanency. Look about the world, and it will remind you of its impermanency. But when you gain spiritual enlightenment, you shall then find wisdom. The knowledge thus attained leads you quickly to the Way."

　　20. The Buddha said, "You should think of the four elements of which the body is exposed. Each of them has its own name, and there is no such thing there known as ego. As there is really no ego, it is like unto a mirage."

　　21. The Buddha said, "Moved by their selfish desires, people seek after fame and glory. But when they have acquired it, they are already strikened in years. If you hanker after wordly fame and practise not the Way, your labours are wrongfully applied and your energy is wasted. It is like unto burning an incense stick."

　　22. The Buddha said, "People cleave to their worldly possessions and selfish passions so blindly as to sacrifice their own lives for them. They are like a child who tries to eat a little honey smeared on the edge of a knife. The amount is by no means sufficient to appease his appetite, but he runs the risk of wounding the tongue."

　　23. The Buddha said, "Men are tied up to their famililes and possessions more helplessly than in a prison. There is an occassion for the prisoner to be released, but the housholders entertain no desire to be relieved from the ties of family. Even into the paws of a tiger, he will jump. Those who are thus drowned in the filth of passion are called the ignorant. Those who are able to overcome it are saintly Arhats."

　　24. The Buddha said, "There is nothing like lust. Lust may be said to be the most powerful passion. Fortunately, we have but one thing which is more powerful. If the thirst for truth were weaker than passion, how many of us in the world will be able to follow the way of righteousness

　　"

　　25. The Buddha said, "Men who are addicted to the passions are like the torch-carrier running against the wind; his hands are sure to be burned."

　　26. The Lord of Heaven offered a beautiful fairy to the Buddha, desiring to tempt him to the evil path. But the Buddha said, "Be gone. What use have I for the leather bag filled with filth which you brought to me

　　" Then, the god reverently bowed and asked the Buddha about the essence of the Way, in which having been instructed by the buddha, it is said he attained the fruit of Srotaapanna."

　　27. The Buddha said, "Those who are following the Way should behave like a piece of timber which is drifting along a stream. If the log is neither held by the banks, nor seized by men, nor obstructed by the gods, nor kept in the whirlpool, nor itself goes to decay, I assure you that this log will finally reach the ocean. If monks waling on the Way are neither tempted by the passions, nor led astray by some evil influences; but steadily pursue their course of Nirvana, I assure you that these monks will finally attain enlightenment."

　　28. The Buddha said, "Rely not upon your own will. It is not trustworthy. Guard yourself against sensualism, for it surely leads to the path of evil. Your own will becoomes trustworthy only when you have attained Arhatship."

　　29. The Buddha said, "O monks, you should not see women. (If you have to see them), refrain from talking to them. (If you have to talk to them), you should reflect in a right spirit: ”I am now a homeless mendicant. In the world of sin, I must behave myself like unto the lotus flower whose purity is not defiled by the mud. Old ones I will treat as my mother; elderly ones as elder sisters; younger ones as younger sisters; and little ones as daughters.” And in all this you s…

《四十二章經 The Sayings of the Buddha in Forty-Two Sections by Kasyapa Matanga and》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…