This is an excerpt from the content of "Pure Heart Commandments and Contemplation". The classical Chinese text is of course difficult to understand.
This treatise is included in the Taisho Canon. It was written by the monk Shi Daoxuanli of Zhongnan Mountain when he was living in peace in summer. The monk Shi Yuanzhao of Yuhang County also wrote the preface to it. The creation place was approximately Xingtang Temple in Suizhou, Hubei Province, and the time is unknown.
The purpose of the text you quoted is to introduce 10 faults of women. I'll try to explain it from several angles:
First, these views are said by Buddhist practitioners, not by Sakyamuni Buddha, so you agree, disagree, or have other opinions , I think it is all okay and normal, and belongs to the internal debate among classmates;
Second, preach on the spot, and one medicine can cure one disease. The choice of words and sentences in this essay is relatively subjective. I think the description of women's various shortcomings is a bit excessive.
Third, the so-called woman does not exclusively refer to women. Anyone with jealousy, greed, stinginess and other habits are all "women". This is the same as X/Y in "algebra" referring to a certain quantity. So don’t use your feminist perspective to contradict it. This is my learning point of view, and criticism is welcome.
Fourth, explain the meaning of the sentence respectively:
The first fault of women is that they have endless and never-tired desires. Some scriptures say this: In the worlds of the ten directions, wherever there are women, there is hell. Among all the things that hinder the liberation of life and death, "women" are outstanding. A woman's desire for a man is like the sea absorbing the endless rivers. It will never stop and will never be satisfied. When you get one (man), you will look forward to the next one, and your mind will be as impetuous and crazy as a wild lion or an elephant. Every time I see a man I fall in love with, I think of having sex with him, just like a blazing bonfire. The more wood is added, the more blazing it becomes. Walking, sitting, and lying down day and night, this desire never stops. In the torrent of reincarnation, the reason why one is reborn in the human realm, asura realm, animal realm, hungry ghost realm, and hell realm is because (the body of reincarnation) is restrained or charmed by the spirit and body of a woman②. As for those who have been reincarnated, if women’s faults are not eradicated and transformed, they will continue to endure the pain that reincarnation brings to the female body forever.
Explanation:
① When I think of Mr. Lu Xun’s words about the bad nature of Chinese people, when I see a woman’s white arms, I think of arms and legs, and of men and women, this is what it means;
< p>② To understand this meaning in depth, you also need to dabble in some basic knowledge about the afterlife, or the bardo stage. I don’t agree with this sentence. I think there should be one word, “the body of the six paths is taken by the female form.” Because after being reborn in heaven, the reason why he failed to transcend birth and death is because the roots of sexual misconduct have not been eradicated. It is the fault of "women" in a broad sense.If you encounter some specific problems that need to be solved, don’t blindly look for answers on your own, or ask a great monk nearby, or chant the holy names of Guanyin, Ksitigarbha, and Manjusri and pray for their blessings. Get through it. If lay people do not commit sexual immorality, they should not exercise too much force in abstinence. Practicing Buddhism does not mean that they are binding themselves to death.
Hope this is not misleading!
Namo Medicine Master Glazed Light Tathagata!