佛法双语工作坊经典连载：佛说四十二章经（第24章）

法师讲解：24 色欲障道

Commentary: Lust thwarts the Way

According to the Dharma, lust is the main cause of cyclic rebirth, and that’s why monastics, who are aspired to make renunciation, need to uphold the precept of no sexual conduct as foremost. Let’s briefly go through the process of rebirth here; after dying, one will enter the intermediate state called antara-bhava, which may be commonly referred to as the soul. Such an intermediate state will last for 49 days at most during which the antara-bhava will look for his next parents with whom he has a causal connection. According to the Maharatnakuta Sutra, when such potential parents have sex, the antara-bhava will perceive it as a certain illusion according to his karmic causes and be attracted to it. He will then reincarnate in the embryo. To the antara-bhava, such an attraction arising from karma is as irresistible as a flame to a moth. This is how another round of cyclic rebirth begins.

佛法说色欲是轮回最主要的原因，所以一心出离的出家人要以色戒为第一戒。我们在这里简单解释一下轮回受生的过程，当人命终后会进入中阴身的阶段，大概就是一般人所说的灵魂。这个过渡期最长为四十九天，在此期间中阴身会找寻来生有缘的父母。按《大宝积经》，当有缘的父母进行男女之欢时，中阴身会根据自己的业力看见种种幻象，并如灯蛾扑火般被吸引过去，然后入胎。对中阴身而言，这是一种无法抗拒的业力吸引，就这样新一次的轮回就开始了。

Karmic causes between parents and children are nothing more than these four types：paying a debt of gratitude, taking revenge, claiming karmic debts, and redeeming karmic debts. These explain why some parents have a good tie with their children whereas some people don’t. Also some children may be contracted with a certain sickness which will cost their parents a fortune, etc. All these wouldn’t occur for no reason.

父母与子女无非是四种因缘：报恩、报仇、讨债，及还债，所以为什么有些父母的子女关系特别好，但有些却特别差，有些孩子会因为患病花掉父母大量的金钱等等，这些都不是无缘无故的。

“The Four Clear Instructions on Purity” from the Surangama Sutra has elaborated the four unwholesome deeds, namely lust, killing, stealing, and verbal misconduct. As for lust, it is said that if lust is forgone, one will not suffer from cyclic rebirth anymore. On the other hand, even great meditators will be degraded into demons or demons’ followers in the future if they have not forgone lust. Cultivation without forgoing lust is as meaningless as streaming sand to make rice. Since the length of the scripture “The Four Clear Instructions on Purity” is pretty short, if anyone wants to cease the mentioned four unwholesome deeds, you can chant “The Four Clear Instructions on Purity” daily on a persistent basis.

在《楞严经》中的《四种决定清净明诲》，详述了淫、杀、盗、妄等四种罪过，其中关于淫欲的部分说到，断除淫心，将不再轮回受生。若禅定再好但不断淫心的话，以后只会沦为魔王或其子民。不断淫心而修道就好比蒸砂成饭一样没有意义。《四种决定清净明诲》这段经文很短，如果希望断除以上四种恶习的话，可以每天坚持念诵《四种决定清净明诲》。

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