The Sutra on the Meditative Concentration of Sitting Meditation (III)

于四供养中    知量知止足

大怖俱未免    当宜勤精进

一切苦至时    悔恨无所及

衲衣树下坐    如所应得食

勿为贪味故    而自致毁败

食过知味处    美恶都无异

爱好生忧苦    是以莫造爱

行业世界中    美恶无不更

一切已具受    当以是自抑

Explanation: You should know moderation and contentment with regard to the four kinds of offerings—food, clothing, bedding, and medicine—and not make excessive demands. When the great fears and worries of birth and death have not yet been escaped, you should diligently and courageously practice with vigor. Do not wait until all suffering arrives, when you will be filled with regret and unable to escape. You should wear monastic robes and sit upright beneath trees, contemplating the Dharma, eating only the food you ought to receive, and not, out of craving for delicious flavors, ruin your cultivation of the Path. After eating, you will know that all flavors, whether fine or coarse, make no difference whatsoever—do not be picky about the taste of food. Where there is fondness, there is sorrow and suffering; therefore do not create the karma of craving. Living in this great trichiliocosm, there is nothing—good or bad—that one has not experienced; having fully undergone all things, you should therefore subdue and control your own mind, and crave no more.

若在畜兽中    唌草为具味

地狱吞铁丸    燃热剧迸铁

若在薜荔中    脓吐火粪屎

涕唾诸不净    以此为上味

若在天宫殿    七宝宫观中

天食苏陀味    天女以娱心

人中务贵处    七馔备众味

一切曾所更    今复何以爱

往返世界中    厌更苦乐事

虽未得涅槃    当勤求此利

Explanation: In your past lives, when you were reborn among animals and wild beasts, you ate wild grasses as your finest food; when you were reborn in the hells, you swallowed iron pellets as food—those iron pellets burned fiercely and scorching hot, with sparks bursting forth—yet due to evil karma you had no choice but to eat them; when you were reborn among hungry ghosts, you took the pus and phlegm spat out by humans, raging fire, feces, urine, mucus, and other such impurities as your finest food and ate them.

When you were reborn in the celestial palaces of the seven treasures, you ate heavenly food of supreme sudhā flavor, such as celestial nectar and ambrosia, and had celestial maidens to delight with you. When you were reborn among wealthy and noble families in the human realm, you ate seven kinds of delicacies possessing all manner of color, fragrance, and flavor. All of these things you have already experienced—so why now, out of craving and attachment, should you continue to transmigrate through the six realms, undergoing again all manner of things painful and pleasant? You have not yet realized the bliss of nirvāṇa; you should strive diligently and energetically to attain this supreme benefit and merit.