365bet娱乐

199 5.2. Aharas of man and the problems of health, disease, beauty and hunger 5.2.1. Aharas of man The Pali of the Digha Nikaya³7 has a story that might be termed "Genesis According to Buddhism." According to this story, there comes a time, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long period, when this world passes away, beings (sattva) have mostly been reborn in the world of radiance (Abhassara Brahma world.) There they dwell, made of mind, feeding on joy, self-luminous, traversing the air, glory. When this world began to expand again, beings who had deceased from the world of radiance were mostly reborn in this world (come to life as humans.) Here they remain for a long time made of mind, feeding on joy, self-luminous, moving through the sky and staying in glory. The story showed out beings at that time fed on joy or nourished by joy or delight therefore joy is understood as ahara for them to sustain their lives. This means that a human food at the time of a new evolution of the world is very subtle or fine; hence, their deeds are wholesome and noble. Therigatha the sweet taste of earth, of fungus, of creeper, and of rice attracted them and made desire for things arise and grow up in them. Their bodies, which could not move through the air and be self-luminous as before, become roughness. After that, sex organs appeared together with desire for sexuality. From this story, the various versions agree that by eating foods of increasing coarseness, the bodies of these beings became more and more coarse, and these beings lost their original 368 attributes, and thus, evil things and unwholesome actions arose. 367 368 D. III, Agganna sutta. Alex Wayman, Untying The Knots In Buddhism, Buddhist tradition series, Vol. 28, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1997, p. 336.

200 From the story, according to Buddhism, human beings are consuming four kinds of coarse aharas (foods): edible food or morsel food, food of contact, food of volition, and food of consciousness as said. It is called the coarse foods because of the present of craving (tamha) or desire in their operation, from craving is their uprising, craving produces them, make them become coarse. 369 In the Tibetan native sub-commentary by Rgyal Tshab Rje, the first or morsel food involves the three "sense bases" (ayatana) of smell, taste, and the tangible. The second or contactual food is the contact attended with "flux" (sasrava) that enhances the 'senses' (indriya) and the "great factor elements" (mahabhuta.) The third, or volitional, food is the 'volition' (cetana) possessed of 'intention' (asaya) toward desired things. The fourth or perceptual food implies the set of six consciousnesses (vijnnana.) 370 The sixth consciousness think of objects, is attached to the satisfaction in pleasures of senses, then will of mind wishes that the senses are constantly fed, this is the very maintenance of life by means of volition food from the past till the present. Cankerous consciousness that is grown by means of the power of edible food, contact, and volition food; it sustains the body of sentient beings (satta-sacetano) without being destroyed, for example living beings who live in "the immaterial world" and in the hell utilize 'consciousness' as their food. 371 In the four foods, edible food has only in the "the world of desire or desire realm" - human world, the other two are both in the triple world (Triloka.) However, depending on difference of species of Womb-born (jarayuja,) egg-born (andaja,) moist and wet conditions born (samsvedaja,) born by transformation (anpapaduka,) the realm of human, 369 S. II, 11. 370 Untying The Knots In Buddhism, ibid., pp. 337-338. 371 Tu Dien Phat Hoc Hue Quang, vol. 5, Vietnam: NXB Tong Hop Tp. HCM, 2003, p. 4885. Knowledon javakar

201 the realm of devas, etc. in four forms of birth and the six modes of 372 existence, they are different. Therefore, in the Mahavibhasa 130 has recorded "the world of desire" contains the four types of food but edible food (kabalinkarahara) is crucial, "the world of bodily form" comprises of three but contact food (phassahara) is main, "moist and wet conditions born" has four foods but volition food (manosancetanahara) is vital.373 The information in the Abhidharmakosa that the first two foods nourish the being already born-extend its life-and that the last two foods enable the being not yet born to come into existence. 374 According to Asanga, in his Yogacarabhumi says: "Among those, this is the enjoyment of food: namely, the sentient beings born and originated who range in the three worlds have maintenance of life to whatever extent by means of four foods. Among those, not all the sentient beings who range in the three worlds stay alive by three kinds of foodcontactual, volitional, consciousness: the sentient beings, who only range in the world of desire-stay alive also by morsel food. Among those [latter], the sentient beings born as hell beings have subtle morsel food of wind that blows in their insides; thereby they stay alive. The animals, hungry ghosts (preta,) and men have coarse morsel food, which they render in morsels and eat. Moreover, the sentient beings dwelling in [the embryonic states of] kalala, and so on, and the gods ranging in the realm of desire (kamavacara-deva) have just the subtle kind. For thus, no sooner is their morsel food eaten than extending throughout all the members of the body, it undergoes digestion; and no excrement or urine 372 According to the Sangiti Sutta in the Long Discourses of the Buddha, there are four forms of birth by which the beings of the six modes of existence can be reborn (all births take place in four forms and in each case causing a sentient being to enter one of the six paths of transmigration). Op. cit. 373 374 Untying The Knots In Buddhism, ibid., p. 337.

202 takes shape in those beings. 99375 From the above brief description, an edible food is not enough for man to exist in the world. He needs to have other kinds of food that is foods for nourishing his own mind or spirit and to be fed on joy in eating, contacting, wishing, and in all actions. This is to say, aharas of man must be cultivated and transformed. This will be discussed in the sixth chapter. While mentioning human foods, one cannot ignore kinds of spices; traditional Chinese medicine identifies five categories of taste and recommends a balance of these flavors each day of optimum health. These tastes are sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and spicy/pungent. It is called the spice or taste of life. Without spice, foods become uninteresting. It can be said that primitive man lives in much better physical condition and health than does the usual member of civilized society because they lived under near-isolated conditions and used less spices. Nowadays, modern man has been finical about his food; hence, the spices and taste of life become complex and deformed. Such finicality about food is asked for a form that is named "art of cooking." The more man has a good appetite, the more he desires for food. The more he desires for delicious food, the more he thirsts for the satisfaction of sensual and sexual pleasures. Now his food consumption is to aim at pursuing pleasures or desires. In fact, man does not know that desiring for senses and things is not the solution for his suffering. Therigatha desire becomes so strong that it is understood as the real meaning of life, therefore he sees no way out. In Buddhism, the specific teachings of the Buddha say the same thing: "craving or desire is the cause of food or suffering," and the way out is the way of ceasing men's craving or food. Here, craving is an inherent food that has nourished suffering from the past. 375 Ibid., p. 338. See: The Yogacarabhumi of Acarya Asanga, ed. by Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya, part 1, Calcutta, 1957, 99-100.

203 It is clear that the spices and taste of life that should not be purely understood as sweet, bitter, salty, etc. Here, in the researcher's opinion, craving, sensual pleasures, greed, grasping are regarded as the spices and taste of life, of the fourfold foods for human beings. They seem not to be able to live lacking in these kinds of spice. Therefore, for them, the teaching of the Buddha "the ceasing of craving is that of food or suffering" is too strange, fearful, and difficult to practice. However, there is no way, if one wants to free from the danger of foods, or if he wishes to have safe meals for both body and mind. As mentioned the foods themselves are not harmful. For example, rice or bean is neither good nor bad but when one takes with like or dislike, these feelings become his spices, when these feelings are present at the time of eating he often blames for either by whom the foods are cooked or the food itself. He does not know that the very feelings of his like and dislike that are the disguise of lust and hatred and of ignorance distort the nature of the food and his life. Similarly, all form, sound, flavor the objects or foods of the sense organs they are not sinful and harmful but because lust and hatred are present at the time of touching, then immediately arise the pleasant or unpleasant feelings in him and make him suffer and his life has to face with storms. Also similarity to wish that is a third kind of food, the wishes for one's life and future, the wishes themselves are also not harmful but if they are operated by the control of desire and grasping of a man, surely wars and conflict will happen. Our consciousness daily receives all feelings of like, dislike, of pain and joy like the foods that are taken into the body. From this discussion, we can say that the fourfold food of man is not harmful but because they are added spices such as lust, anger, desire, etc. to them while consuming, therefore they become toxic. Thus, when we deal with

204 the aharas of men (who are living in the worldly life called the Desire Realm tied by pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfilment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, or the aesthetic enjoyment of life,) we have to relate to the kinds of spices that always distort and deform the four types of food and our lives. In short, when one is asked what is the food of man? The right answer can be: the food of man consists of the prominent four types of food in which the later three are the foods of mind. They are the most important. The food for the body is taken from the environment, but the food for mind cannot do like that. It is produced by itself through conditions/causes. Whenever the fourfold food is consumed with craving, greed, hatred, delusion, this world still sinks into suffering, disease, hunger.