The Teaching on the Body
Chapter 22
Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should have no attachment to their life or body. Why is that? Because, young man, beings accomplish bad actions due to attachment to their lives and bodies.782
22.2 “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who have no attachment to their life and body will not even find it difficult to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, not to mention this samādhi. Therefore, young man, have no attachment to your life and body. That is how you should practice.”
It was said concerning this:
22.3
“Foolish beings always unceasingly
Have strong attachment to the putrid body.
Grasping at life, and for the sake of happiness,
The unwise always commit bad actions. {i}
22.4
Those who do not know attachment
To body and life, which have no essence,
Will defeat the armies of Māra
And realize enlightenment at the foot of the Bodhi tree. {ii}
22.5
Those who have attachment to these two things—
The body that is empty and selfless,
And life, which is like a dream or a fleeting dewdrop—
Those people will go to hell when they die. {iii}
22.6
Conclusion of the twenty-second chapter, “The Teaching on the Body.”783
