Samyuktagama Sutra (291), Part Four

(4) Original text:譬如路侧清凉池水。香味具足。有人以毒著中。阳春之月。诸行路者。风热渴逼。竞来欲饮。有人语言。士夫。此是清凉池。色香味具足。然中有毒。汝等勿饮。若当饮者。或令汝死。或近死苦。而彼渴者。不信而饮。虽得美味。须臾或死。或近死苦。如是沙门婆罗门。见世间可念端正之色。作常见恒见。安稳见无病见。我我所见。乃至不得解脱生老病死忧悲恼苦。

Explanation: The Buddha gave a simile: Suppose there is a cool pond of water by the roadside, its water perfect in fragrance and flavor. If someone puts poison into the pond water, then in the warm days of spring, travelers passing by, tormented by heat and thirst, would rush over wanting to drink. As they are about to drink, someone nearby tells them: "Good sirs, this is a cool pond, perfect in color, fragrance, and flavor, but there is poison in it. Do not drink it. If you drink it, it may kill you or bring you near the suffering of death." But those who are thirsty, not believing, drink it anyway; though they taste the delicious flavor, in a moment they either die or come near the suffering of death. It is the same with śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas: when they see the lovely and handsome forms of the world, they regard them as permanent and everlasting, as stable and secure, as free of illness, as "me" and "mine"—and thus they cannot gain liberation from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress.

Original text:若诸沙门婆罗门。于世间可念端正之色。观察如病如痈。如刺如杀。无常苦空非我。彼爱则离。爱离故亿波提离。亿波提离故则苦离。苦离故则生老病死忧悲恼苦离。譬如路侧清凉池水。香味具足。有人以毒著中。阳春之月。诸行路者风热渴逼。竞来欲饮。有人语言此水有毒。汝等勿饮。若当饮者。或令汝死。或近死苦。彼则念言。此水有毒。若当饮者。或令我死。或近死苦。我且忍渴。食干麨饭。不取水饮。

Explanation: If śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas, seeing the lovely and handsome forms of the world, contemplate them as if they were an illness, an abscess, a thorn, a slaughter—impermanent, suffering, empty, and not-self—then craving departs; because craving departs, grasping (upādāna) departs; because grasping departs, suffering departs; because suffering departs, birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress depart. It is like a cool pond of water by the roadside, perfect in fragrance and flavor. Someone puts poison into the water, and when travelers, tormented by heat and thirst, rush over wanting to drink, someone tells them: "This water is poisonous. Do not drink it. If you drink it, it may kill you at once or bring you near the suffering of death." They then think: "This water is poisonous. If I drink it, it may kill me or bring me near the suffering of death. I will endure my thirst for now and eat dry roasted grain, without taking any water." So these travelers depart; not drinking the poisoned water, they will not be poisoned to death.

From now on, we must keep this warning in mind: never drink the poisoned water again. The moment a thought of craving arises, say to yourself: "I must not crave anymore; I must not drink the poisoned water again." The moment you become fond of something, say to yourself: "I must not become fond of it anymore—to become fond of it is like drinking poisoned water." The moment you find it hard to let go, say to yourself: "I must not refuse to let go anymore—to refuse to let go is to drink poisoned water." Gradually this craving will fade, and then it will cease, and finally suffering will be gone. By awakening ourselves bit by bit in this way, we can ultimately walk the path of liberation.