有一次，佛陀在拘睒彌城東南的瞿師羅園，告訴比丘們說：

「比丘們！如果有比丘、比丘尼，在眼睛看、耳朵聽、鼻子聞、舌頭嚐、身體觸、意念識時，心中生起慾念、貪愛、憤恨、瞋恚、愚癡、執著，就應當好好地調伏這樣的心念。怎麼調伏呢？要這樣想：若放任這樣的心念繼續發展下去，將會是一條充滿恐怖、荊棘、障礙、危險的邪路，那是惡人走的路，不是善人當走的路。

比丘們！就好比一處即將收成的稻田，如果看守該田的人疏懶，不認真看守，就會讓牛隻闖入，如此一來，即將收成的稻子，就會被蹧蹋一空。

如果守田人戰戰兢兢，隨時提高警覺守護，一發現牛隻闖入，馬上扣住牛鼻，鞭打一番，再趕牠離開。如果這頭牛一而再、再而三地闖入，每一次都被守田人捉打驅離，久了以後，這頭牛就不敢再靠近該稻田，更不會再闖入田裡蹧蹋農作了。

比丘們！調伏我們的心，其道理就像制伏那頭牛一樣，要隨時警覺守護，一而再、再而三地告訴自己：那是一條充滿恐怖、荊棘、障礙、危險的邪路，應當厭離，用這樣的方法來馴服。心被馴服了以後，當六根接觸六境，產生認識時，心念就會變得沈穩而專注。

再如，比丘們！有一位從沒見過琵琶樂器的國王，當他第一次聽見琵琶彈奏時，對那美妙的聲音大為著迷，就問大臣說：

『這麼美妙的聲音是什麼？』

『大王！這是彈奏琵琶的聲音。』

『將這美妙的聲音拿來！』

大臣將剛才彈奏的那把琵琶琴拿來了，稟報大王說：

『大王！那美妙的聲音，就是這把琴彈奏出來的。』

『我要這把琴做什麼？我是要剛才那美妙的聲音！』

『大王！剛才那美妙的聲音，是由這琴的柄、槽、弦、皮，還要有會彈奏的人等，種種因緣和合而成的，剛才您所聽到的美妙聲音，已經消失而過去了，沒辦法拿來給您。』

『嗟！這樣虛偽不實的東西，竟能讓大家著迷，留著作什麼，拿出去劈了！』

大臣聽命，將琴拿出去，劈成了幾百個碎片，撒了一地。

像這樣，當比丘有能力觀色、受、想、行、識的各種不同粗細層次時，他知道這都是因緣所生，是有為、無常的，則過去所以為的『我』、『我所』、『我是』，都將止息、寂滅了。

比丘們，應當作這樣的思惟觀照！」

On one occasion, the Buddha was dwelling in Ghosira Park, located in Southeast of Kauambi and told the bhikkhus:

“Bhikkhus! If a bhikkhu or a bhikkhuni sees a form with the eye, hearing a sound with his ear, smelling odor with the nose, tasting a flavor with the tongue, touching an object with the body and cognizing a mind-object with the mind, there arises in mind desire, craving, hatred, anger, ignorance and attachment, one should carefully soothe such thinking. How should one soothe? One should contemplate: If allowing such thinking continues develop, it will be an evil path full of terror, thorns, obstruction, and danger; it is the path for the unwholesome person, not for the wholesome person.

Bhikkhus! Just like a rice field that is about to be harvested, if the watchman of the rice field is careless and lazy, fails to watch carefully, the ox will intrude; as such, all of the rice to be harvested will be ruined.

If the rice field watcher watches gingerly, always heightens vigilance while watching, upon discovering intrusion of ox, he would immediately hold on to the nose of the ox, whip it and then chase it away. If the ox repeatedly intrudes, and each time is caught and whipped before being chasing away, after a prolonged period of time, this ox will not dare to get near the rice field, much less get into the rice field, ruining the crops.

Bhikkhus! The principle for soothing our mind is just like taming the ox, one should always be on alert and be on guard, repeatedly telling oneself over and over again: That is an evil path full of terror, thorns, obstruction, and danger, and should disengage and keep a distance from it. This is the way to tame our mind. Upon being tamed, when the six faculties discern the six realms, the thoughts would become calm and concentrate.

As another example, bhikkhus! A King who had never seen an musical instrument of Pipa, when he heard of the pluck of the stringed instrument, he was fascinated by the wonderful sound, and asked the senior official:

“What is such wonderful sound?”

“Great King! This is the sound of Pipa plucking.”

“Bring over such wonderful sound!” The King ordered.

The senior official brought over the Pipa that was being played a while ago, and reported to the Great King:

“Great King! The wonderful sound was from plucking of this Pipa.”

“What would I do with this Pipa? What I want was the wonderful sound that I heard a while ago!”

“Great King! The wonderful sound you heard a while ago was the result of the right causes and conditions from the handle, groove, strings, and skin of the stringed musical instrument and a skillful player, what you heard a while ago has dissipated and passing away, there is no way to bring it back for you.”

“Alas! Such false and unreal thing could fascinate everybody, it is useless to keep, take it out and capped it into pieces!” Said the King.

Obeying the order, the senior official took the Pipa out and cut into hundreds of pieces and scattered all over.

As such, when a bhikkhu is able to observe the different gross and subtle layers of form, sensation, perception, volition and consciousness, he knows that they arise though causes and conditions, it is conditioned, impermanent; then what he believed in the “I” “mine” and “me” in the past will cease and become tranquil.

Bhikkhus! One should contemplate and observe as such!”

一、本則故事取材自《雜阿含第一一六九經》、《相應部第三五相應第二○五經》。

二、一頭牛，需要一而再、再而三耐心地調伏，才能馴服，心念也一樣。這個方法，大家或許比較熟悉在禪修中的專注訓練時用：妄念起來了，察覺了，拉回到原來專注的地方；又起來了，察覺了、再拉回……，然，從這個故事知道，這個方法並不限用於專注訓練用，就是對過去貪、瞋、癡積習衝動的調伏，佛陀也以這個方法教導我們。

三、故事後半段的琴聲譬喻，從琴聲到琴的分析，瞭解到因緣和合中，沒有任何實在的、永恆不變的「我」，當然也就沒有「我所」可以執著。這樣的觀法，也可以獲得破除「我見」、「我執」的成果。後來某些學派，或許也借用這種分析方法，成為觀空的一種方法。

1. This story was derived from Samyuktagama 1169th Sutra and Samyuktta-nikaya 35th, Nikaya 205th Sutra.

2. To become tamed, an ox needs to be patiently soothed over and over again; so does the mind. The following method perhaps everyone is familiar with during meditation training: upon aware of arising of wandering thought, pulling it back to the original point of concentration; wandering thought arises again, attentive to it, pull it back again . . . In this way, we learn from this story that this method was not limited to the application of concentration training, the Buddha also taught us that the method could also be employed to soothe the impulsive habits of greed, anger and ignorance.

3. The simile of the sound of the stringed musical instrument in the latter half paragraph of the story analyzed the sound as well as the stringed musical instrument, one would realize that at the precise causes and conditions, there is no real, permanent “I”, naturally there is no “mine” to be attached. Such observation can achieve eradication of “self-view” and “self-attachment”. Afterward, certain schools possibly also make use of such analytical technique for emptiness observation.