Buddhahood is Unachievable with Human Desires
 
Du Jingxing from Fujian Province lived during the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1912 AD). He was a Buddhist devotee and appeared to be quite pious. He ate a simple vegetarian meal every day and did not drink alcohol. He often bragged about having attained the Dao and ascending to heaven very soon. He urged his family to purify their minds and bodies to await the moment of departure. His family members hid their bemusement in front of him and agreed.
 
One day when Du Jingxing fell asleep for a nap, he immediately had a very vivid dream. In the dream, he came to a place where deities appeared to live. There were several people, and upon seeing Du, they got up and welcomed him. They invited him to sit down and asked him to read a book.
 
When Du Jingxing realized that the book criticized Buddhism, he became upset and wanted to leave. The people who welcomed him said, "The person who has deep knowledge of the book should be here soon to explain it to you, so please stay." At that moment, a beautiful woman arrived and said with a smile, "I came here to explain the book to you. Why don't you stay a little longer?"
 
She then sat down next to Du Jingxing, leaned her body against his, held his wrist and read the book with him. At this point Du Jingxing was completely smitten by the woman and could only think of her. He did not want to offend her. Therefore, no matter what she said, even if it was negative criticism of Buddhism as in the book, Du remained quiet. Suddenly he heard people laughing. They said, "How can you achieve Buddhahood with those human desires?" Du Jinxing woke up instantly and realized that it was a dream.
 
From that time forward, he understood that he was far from attaining the Righteous Fruit Status and felt very ashamed. He never boasted about attaining the Dao again.
 
This is a story from the series of novels called Ying Chuang Yi Cao.
 
凡心不去，哪能成佛？
 
清朝时，在福建有一个叫作杜景行的人，他是佛教中的居士，表现的对佛教很虔诚：每天只吃一碗淡饭，不沾酒肉。他常常夸口讲大话宣称：自己将要得道，不久后就要升天了，还郑重其事的叮嘱家人要他们洁净身体静心等待，家人都忍著笑答应了下来。


一天杜景行打了一个盹儿，顷刻之间就做了一个非常清晰的梦。在梦中，杜景行来到了一处好像神仙居所似的地方，那儿有几个人一见杜景行来了就起身迎接他，请他坐下，并给他一卷书让其阅读。杜景行一看书中的内容尽是一些责难佛教的言论，就很生气，当即甩手就要走。那几个人说：深知其中道理的人就要来为你解说了，何必走呢？他们一说完，就有一位佳丽美人走了过来，笑著说道：我是来为你解说这本书的，为何不再逗留片刻。
 
说完她径直挨著杜景行坐下，身体紧贴著他，又握住了他的手腕，一同翻看那本书。杜景行当时只觉的俩人在一起，令他骨头都要酥了。此刻杜景行早已神魂颠倒，心思全在那女子身上，唯恐冒犯了她，不管女子说什么，哪怕说的是那本责难佛教的书中的言论，他都唯唯诺诺的不敢说什么。这时，忽然听到众人大笑道：你凡心不死，哪能成佛？顷刻之间，杜景行就惊醒了过来，才意识到刚才在做梦。
 
从此他意识到：自己离得道成正果还有一段极大的差距，便非常的羞愧，再也不说就要修成的大话了。
 

（资料来源：《萤窗异草》）