ON CONDUCT TOWARD WOMEN

  THE bhikkhus came to the Blessed One and asked him: "O Tathagata,

our Lord and Master, what conduct toward women dost thou prescribe

to the samanas who have left the world?"

  The Blessed One said: "Guard against looking on a woman. If ye see a

woman, let it be as though ye saw her not, and have no conversation

with her. If, after all, ye must speak with her, let it be with a pure

heart, and think to yourself, 'I as a samana will live in this

sinful world as the spotless leaf of the lotus, unsoiled by the mud in

which it grows.'

  "If the woman be old, regard her as your mother, if young, as your

sister, if very young, as your child. The samana who looks on a

woman as a woman, or touches her as a woman, has broken his vow and is

no longer a disciple of the Tathagata. The power of lust is great with

men, and is to be feared withal; take then the bow of earnest

perseverance, and the sharp arrow-points of wisdom. Cover your heads

with the helmet of right thought, and fight with fixed resolve against

the five desires. Lust beclouds a man's heart, when it is confused

with woman's beauty, and the mind is dazed.

  "Better far with red-hot irons bore out both your eyes, than

encourage in yourself sensual thoughts, or look upon a woman's form

with lustful desires. Better fall into the fierce tiger's mouth, or

under the sharp knife of the executioner, than dwell with a woman

and excite in yourself lustful thoughts.

  "A woman of the world is anxious to exhibit her form and shape,

whether walking, standing, sitting, or sleeping. Even when represented

as a picture, she desires to captivate with the charms of her

beauty, and thus to rob men of their steadfast heart. How then ought

ye to guard yourselves? By regarding her tears and her smiles as

enemies, her stooping form, her hanging arms, and her disentangled

hair as toils designed to entrap man's heart. Therefore, I say,

restrain the heart, give it no unbridled license."