Forgoing Desires to Reach the Great Way佛言。人懷愛欲不見道者。譬如澄水。致手攬之。眾人共臨。無有覩其影者。The Buddha said: "Those who have passions are never able to perceive the Way; for it is like stirring up clear water with hands; people may come there wishing to find a reflection of their faces, which, however, they will never see.
人以愛欲交錯。心中濁興。故不見道。
A mind troubled and vexed with the passions is impure, and on that account it never sees the Way.
汝等沙門。當捨愛欲。愛欲垢盡。道可見矣。
O monks, do away with passions. When the dirt of passion is removed the Way will manifest itself."
English version sourced from Bodhi Fansubs, translated by D.T. Suzuki △ 英文 | 释宏添 中文 | 德焱 03 : 01开始
法师讲解：舍爱得道
Commentary: Forgoing desires to reach the great way
While other religions always call for love, the word love is seldom used positively in Buddhism. Instead, Buddhism advocates more about loving kindness and compassion because in a secular context love often comprises attachment, desire and possession, and love can easily turn sour to become hatred. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment mentioned that since the time without beginning, sentient beings had been engaging in all kinds of lust and desire, which had made samsara come into being. Also the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination tells us that karma is caused by upadana (or chase) , which is in turn originated from desires. Therefore lust is the cause of karma, which leads us into endless cyclic rebirth.
Does it mean Buddhism is against sexual love? Let’s take a look at the five precepts for lay Buddhists; in general the major objective of lay Buddhists’ cultivation is the avoidance of falling into of the three evil paths, so no killing comes as the number one precept. As for the precept of no sexual misconduct which is one of the five precepts, it only restricts improper sexual conducts other than those between husband and wife. That means proper sexual relationship between couples is allowed. As for monastics, since the primary goal of cultivation is liberation, the precept of no sexual conduct becomes the most important because sexual desire is the origin of samsara.
In fact Buddhism is not silent in the matter of love; instead it talks about the great love which includes the four elements of loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and impartiality. Loving kindness is the capacity to offer happiness and the causes of happiness to others, and compassion is the ability to relieve suffering and the causes of suffering of others. As for sympathetic joy, it means when others have reached happiness and freedom, you also feel the joy sympathetically. Lastly, impartiality means we give up all kinds of discrimination and exclusiveness against others, irrespective of enemies or close ones. To love and to be loved then become no difference. In the course of cultivating such great love, our capacity will grow continually, and the population of our loved ones will become broadened too. This is the great love that Buddhism refers to.
