The Golden Lotus (The Golden Lotus)

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The Golden Lotus
The Golden Lotus
When wealth has taken wing, the streets seem desolate.
The strains of flute and stringed zither are heard no more.
The brave long sword has lost its terror; its splendor is tarnished.
The precious lute is broken, faded its golden star.
The marble stairs are deserted; only the autumn dew visits them now.
The moon shines lonely where once were dancing feet and merry songs.
The dancers are departed: the singers have gone elsewhere.
They return no more.
Today they are but ashes in the Western Tombs.
Beautiful is this maiden; her tender form gives promise of sweet womanhood,
But a two-edged sword lurks between her thighs, whereby destruction comes to foolish men.
No head falls to that sword: its work is done in secret,
Yet it drains the very marrow from men’s bones.

This poem was written by one Lū Yan [Lū Dongbin], an immortal whose name in religion was Master Chunyang. He lived in the dynasty of Tang and spent his days in the pursuit of virtue and the mortification of the flesh. So he attained to paradise, leaving this mortal world, and there was given to him a seat in the Purple Palace. The gift of immortality was bestowed upon him, and he was made the Governor of the Eight Caverns that are above, whence he brings succor to them in trouble and adversity.
It seems, unfortunately, too true that they who live in this world can never wholly free themselves from their bondage to the Seven Feelings and the Six Desires. There is no escape from the fatal circle of Wine and Women, Wealth and Rage. Sooner or later the end comes to every man, and he must give up his hold upon all of these, for, after death, they will avail him nothing. Experience would seem to show that of these four evils, women and wealth most surely bring disaster. Let us for a moment consider the case of one who falls upon evil times, so that he finds himself in sore need, suffering misfortunes whereof he never dreamed. At night he searches diligently for a grain of rice, and finds the morrow must be foodless. In the morning he rises and looks around the kitchen, but cannot discover even the makings of a fire. His family is hungry and cold; his wife and children are starving, and he knows not where to turn for food. Where shall he find the money to buy wine? Worse even than this, his relatives and friends turn aside their eyes, and show him nothing but coldness and contempt.
There may have been a time when the poor wretch had ambitions; now they must perish, for he is in no position to enter into rivalry with others.
Then there is the man who squanders his wealth to purchase the delights of love. It matters not how great that wealth may be, in one adventure he may cast away ten thousand golden pieces. Should he crave for wine, he will find it precious indeed, precious as molten jade, for to the outpouring of amber cups there is no end. Should it be rank he seeks, his wealth may conjure up spirits; a gesture may bring servants running to serve him, and a nod may summon his attendants. Men will flock to his presence and press forward to curry favor with him. They will hasten to abase themselves before his majesty, even to lick his sores and set their tongues where tongue should not be set. Only so long as he maintains his power will this continue: when once his influence is gone, they will shrug their shoulders and wait on him no more. No trial is more hard to bear than this change from hot to cold. Are not both the upstart and they who fawn upon him sufferers from the plague of wealth?
Then there is the danger that is to be had from women. Look around the world, I pray you. Liuxia Hui, though a fair lady seated herself upon his knee, remained unmoved. Where in these days shall we find conduct such as his? And he of Lu, who when a maid would have come to him, made fast his door and would not let her enter; where shall we find one like him? Or to Guan Yunchang who, with a lighted candle, kept chaste watch until the dawn? How many such heroes can history make known to us? What shall we say of those who, though they have four wives already, daily go forth to spend their substance on unlawful loves, unceasingly craving amorous delights? For the moment we will leave them, for there is that kind of lustful beast who cannot see a woman of even ordinary comeliness, without devising a hundred or a thousand plots to seduce her. He ensnares the woman, craving the pleasure of a moment, and for this neglects the affection of his friends, and takes no heed for the governance of his own household. To attain this paltry end, he pours forth countless wealth and casts immeasurable treasure to the dogs. His wantonness exceeds all bounds, and then come disputes, bloodshed, and all manner of evil. He is doomed. His wife and children are forever ruined and his business brought to the dust.
Such a man was Shi Jilun who, for love of his mistress Lu Zhu, died wretchedly in prison, though, at one time, the masses of his wealth were high enough to touch the skies.
Another was Bawang [Xiang Yu] of Chu, whose heroism might have uprooted mountains. Because of his madness for Yu Ji [Concubine Yu], his head hung in Gaixia. The gate of Love may be the gate of Life, but just as surely is it the gate of Death. Time and time again our common sense reminds us of this fact; and yet our hearts still carry us away. So do men fall victims to the plague of love.
It is easy to talk thus of women and of wealth, yet there is none who is forever free of these plagues. If, in all the world, there be one who appreciates the truth, he will tell us that all our piles of gold and silver, all the jade we treasure, can never follow us beyond the grave. They are but refuse, no more worth than dust and slime. Our wealth may be so great that nothing can contain it, our rice so plentiful that it may rot because we cannot consume it: to our dead bodies it will be of no avail; all will become corruption and decay. Our lofty palaces and spacious halls will bring no joy to us when we are in the grave. Our silken gowns and our embroidered skirts, our robes of fur and wraps of sable, what are they but worthless rags, for all the pride our bones will take in them?
Those charming dainty maidens who serve our lusts so well, whose skill in self-adornment is so exquisite: when once the veil is torn aside, what shall we find in them but falseness? Are they not like a general who, when the signal is given for battle, can only manifest his valor by the noise he makes? Those scarlet lips, those white and glistening teeth, that flashing of eyes and dallying with the sleeve: if true understanding were vouchsafed us, we should know them for the loathsome grimaces of the powers of Hell within the palace of the Prince of Hades.
The silken hose, the tiny feet are like the pick and shovel that dig our graves. Soft dalliance upon the pillow, the sport of love upon the bed, are but the forerunners of an eternity wherein, within the Fifth Abode of Hades, we shall be boiled in boiling oil.
Well does the Diamond Sutra speak of this foolish life “as dream and as illusion; as lightning and as dew.” For though at the end of life all things are vain, during life men cannot bear the loss even of a trifle. We may be so strong that, unaided, we can lift a cauldron or tow a ship, but, when the end draws near, our bones will lose their strength and our sinews their power. Though our wealth may give us mountains of bronze and valleys of gold, they will melt like snow when the last moment comes. Though our beauty outshine the moon, and the flowers dare not raise their heads to look on us, the day will come when we shall be nothing but corruption, and men will hold their noses as they pass us by. Though we have the cunning of Lu Jia and Sui He, it will avail us nothing when our lips are cold, and no word may issue from our mouths.
Let us then purify our senses, and put upon us the garment of repentance, that so, contemplating the emptiness and illusion of this world, we may free ourselves from the gate of birth and death, and, falling not into the straits of adversity, advance towards perfection. Thus only may we enjoy leisure and good living and still escape the fires of Hell.
I am brought to these reflections upon the true significance of wine and women, wealth and rage, remembering a family that, once flourishing, sank at length into a state of deepest misery. Then neither worldly wisdom nor ingenuity could save it, and not a single relative or friend would put forth a hand to help.
For a few brief years the master of this household enjoyed his wealth, and then he died, leaving behind a reputation that none would envy.
There were many in that household who always sought to flatter, to do well for themselves, to join in amorous pleasures, to stir up strife, and to turn their influence to their own profit. At first it seemed that all was well with them, yet it was not long before their corpses lay in the shadow, and their blood stained the deserted chamber.

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詩曰：
　　豪華去後行人絕，簫箏不響歌喉咽。雄劍無威光彩沉，寶琴零落金星滅。 　　玉階寂寞墜秋露，月照當時歌舞處。當時歌舞人不回，化為今日西陵灰。
又詩曰：
　　二八佳人體似酥，腰間仗劍斬愚夫。雖然不見人頭落，暗裡教君骨髓枯。
這一首詩，是昔年大唐國時，一個修真煉性的英雄，入聖超凡的豪傑，到後來位居紫府，名列仙班，率領上八洞群仙，救拔四部洲沉苦一位仙長，姓呂名岩，道號純陽子祖師所作。單道世上人，營營逐逐，急急巴巴，跳不出七情六欲關頭，打不破酒色財氣圈子。到頭來同歸於盡，著甚要緊！雖是如此說，只這酒色財氣四件中，惟有財色二者更為利害。怎見得他的利害？假如一個人到了那窮苦的田地，受盡無限凄涼，耐盡無端懊惱，晚來摸一摸米瓮，苦無隔宿之炊，早起看一看廚前，愧無半星煙火，妻子饑寒，一身凍餒，就是那粥飯尚且艱難，那討餘錢沽酒！更有一種可恨處，親朋白眼，面目寒酸，便是凌雲志氣，分外消磨，怎能夠與人爭氣！正是：
　　一朝馬死黃金盡，親者如同陌路人。
到得那有錢時節，揮金買笑，一擲巨萬。思飲酒真個瓊漿玉液，不數那琥珀杯流；要鬥氣錢可通神，果然是頤指氣使。趨炎的壓脊挨肩，附勢的吮癰舐痔，真所謂得勢疊肩而來，失勢掉臂而去。古今炎冷惡態，莫有甚於此者。這兩等人，豈不是受那財的利害處！如今再說那色的利害。請看如今世界，你說那坐懷不亂的柳下惠，閉門不納的魯男子，與那秉燭達旦的關雲長，古今能有幾人？至如三妻四妾，買笑追歡的，又當別論。還有那一種好色的人，見了個婦女略有幾分顏色，便百計千方偷寒送暖，一到了著手時節，只圖那一瞬歡娛，也全不顧親戚的名分，也不想朋友的交情。起初時不知用了多少濫錢，費了幾遭酒食。正是：
　　三杯花作合，兩盞色媒人。
到後來情濃事露，甚而鬥狠殺傷，性命不保，妻孥難顧，事業成灰。就如那石季倫潑天豪富，為綠珠命喪囹圄；楚霸王氣概拔山，因虞姬頭懸垓下。真所謂：「生我之門死我戶，看得破時忍不過」。這樣人豈不是受那色的利害處！
說便如此說，這財色二字，從來只沒有看得破的。若有那看得破的，便見得堆金積玉，是棺材內帶不去的瓦礫泥沙；貫朽粟紅，是皮囊內裝不盡的臭淤糞土。高堂廣廈，玉宇瓊樓，是墳山上起不得的享堂；錦衣繡襖，狐服貂裘，是骷髏上裹不了的敗絮。即如那妖姬艷女，獻媚工妍，看得破的，卻如交鋒陣上將軍叱吒獻威風；硃唇皓齒，掩袖回眸，懂得來時，便是閻羅殿前鬼判夜叉增惡態。羅襪一彎，金蓮三寸，是砌墳時破土的鍬鋤；枕上綢繆，被中恩愛，是五殿下油鍋中生活。只有那金剛經上兩句說得好，他說道：「如夢幻泡影，如電復如露。」見得人生在世，一件也少不得，到了那結束時，一件也用不著。隨著你舉鼎蕩舟的神力，到頭來少不得骨軟筋麻；由著你銅山金谷的奢華，正好時卻又要冰消雪散。假饒你閉月羞花的容貌，一到了垂眉落眼，人皆掩鼻而過之；比如你陸賈隋何的機鋒，若遇著齒冷唇寒，吾未如之何也已。到不如削去六根清凈，披上一領袈裟，參透了空色世界，打磨穿生滅機關，直超無上乘，不落是非窠，倒得個清閒自在，不向火坑中翻筋斗也。正是：
　　三寸氣在千般用，一日無常萬事休。
說話的為何說此一段酒色財氣的緣故？只為當時有一個人家，先前恁地富貴，到後來煞甚凄涼，權謀術智，一毫也用不著，親友兄弟，一個也靠不著，享不過幾年的榮華，倒做了許多的話靶。內中又有幾個鬥寵爭強，迎姦賣俏的，起先好不妖嬈嫵媚，到後來也免不得屍橫燈影，血染空房。正是：
　　善有善報，惡有惡報；天網恢恢，疏而不漏。