Reflection on the Ruin of Humankind

They asked, “Tell us: how did your very first insight, born of contemplation, come about?”
He answered, “I reflected on the destruction that overtakes the world and found that it issues from four sources in which pleasure has been lodged. These sources are like gateways built into the body—three in the head and one in the belly.

The head’s gateways are the two eyes, the two nostrils, and the palate; the belly’s gateway is the private parts. So I set out to lighten the burden these gates impose upon me, for through them affliction made its way into the world. I discovered that the least burdensome of them is the gate of the nostrils: its pleasure is slight and easily obtained from blossoms, flowers, and fragrant herbs. Then I sought to reduce the burden of the palate, only to realize that it is the pathway of the body and its very nourishment