Miscellaneous Discourses on the Dharma (Part II)
Chapter Five: Karmic Causes, Conditions, and Retribution
I. Cause and Effect Are Both Empty and Not Empty
Cause and effect have a dual nature of being both empty and not empty, depending on the angle from which one views them. "Not empty" means that, from the perspective of conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya), where there is a cause there must be a result; cause and effect are both conventional phenomena. For example, a wholesome karma is a cause; with this cause, there will certainly be a wholesome result. The same applies to unwholesome karma: unwholesome karma is a cause, and with this cause there will certainly be an unwholesome result. Neutral karma—neither wholesome nor unwholesome—is a cause, and with this cause possessing conventional dharmic characteristics, there will certainly be a neutral result with conventional dharmic characteristics. Where there is a cause there must be a result; conventional dharmic characteristics exist distinctly and clearly—this is the meaning of cause and effect not being empty.
However, from the perspective of ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya)—the true reality of all dharmas and the empty nature of all dharmas—wholesome and unwholesome karmic causes, as well as neutral karmic causes, are all manifested and held by the tathāgatagarbha; they are subject to arising, ceasing, and change, and their essence is empty. Wholesome and unwholesome karmic retribution, as well as neutral karmic retribution, are likewise manifested and held by the tathāgatagarbha; they are subject to arising, ceasing, and change, and their essence is also empty. If karmic causes were not empty, then karmic causes would exist forever—when would sentient beings ever attain liberation? If karmic results were not empty, sentient beings would forever undergo karmic retribution—when would retribution ever end? If sentient beings' retribution never ends, when would they attain liberation and become Buddhas? That which arises, ceases, and changes is empty; that which does not arise, cease, or change is not empty. All conventional dharmic characteristics are subject to arising, ceasing, and change, and therefore all are empty.
If one says that what does not arise, cease, or change is not empty, and that this is the reason cause and effect are not empty, then this dharma that does not arise, cease, or change is the fundamental mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Apart from the tathāgatagarbha, if there were any dharma that does not arise, cease, or change—no matter what it is—it would be not empty. But apart from the tathāgatagarbha, one truly cannot find any dharma that does not arise, cease, or change. Whatever can be found are all tathāgatagarbha's intrinsic characteristics related to the tathāgatagarbha's own substance. The tathāgatagarbha, which does not arise, cease, or change, can manifest the causes of conventional truth and can also manifest the results of conventional truth. Since the tathāgatagarbha is not empty, cause and effect will certainly exist. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha is the cause of cause and effect: when the tathāgatagarbha is not empty, cause and effect are not empty; when the tathāgatagarbha is empty, cause and effect are empty.
From the profound perspective of Yogācāra, the causes of conventional truth are manifested from the seeds of the seven great elements of the tathāgatagarbha; their essence is still an attribute of the tathāgatagarbha. The results of conventional truth are likewise manifested from the seeds of the seven great elements of the tathāgatagarbha; their essence is still an attribute of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore the entirety of conventional truth consists of attributes of the tathāgatagarbha, belonging to the tathāgatagarbha; from within conventional truth, one should be able to see the shadow of the tathāgatagarbha.
II. Karmic Causes, Conditions, and Retribution Are Also Illusory and Unreal
Where do sentient beings' karmic causes, conditions, and retribution manifest? They manifest in the body of the five aggregates, in form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, and in the eighteen realms (dhātus). The body of the five aggregates is illusory; the eighteen realms are illusory; the universe and the material world are illusory; all human affairs, events, and phenomena are entirely illusory. Since the bases upon which karmic causes, conditions, and retribution depend are all illusory, they themselves are also illusory and unreal—conditions arise and conditions cease. Seeds are deposited by the actions of the body of the five aggregates; since the body of the five aggregates is false and impermanent, karmic causes, conditions, and retribution are also false and impermanent.
Therefore all causes and effects are also illusory. Apart from the tathāgatagarbha, everything else is an illusion, conjured by the tathāgatagarbha in accordance with karmic seeds and various conditions, and none of it is real dharma. For example, the wholesome and unwholesome karma that sentient beings create and the wholesome and unwholesome retribution they receive are all created and received upon these worldly false dharmas. Since the world of the five aggregates is false, these karmic actions and their retribution are of course also false.
For example, in this life one becomes a king in this world, or ascends to heaven and becomes a heavenly lord (deva-putra). The five-aggregate bodies of the king and the heavenly lord are illusory; the palaces and thrones are illusory; the universe and material world in which they live are illusory; the fine clothes and exquisite food are illusory; all the officials and ministers, and the attendants at their side, are illusory—everything of the king and the heavenly lord is illusory. Take another example: the retribution of killing or being killed is all created and borne by the five aggregates. Where do these unwholesome retributions come from? They are all conjured by the tathāgatagarbha according to karmic seeds and conditions, and all manifest in the body of the five aggregates. Having received the retribution of wholesome or unwholesome karma, feelings of suffering and happiness arise; these feelings are also conjured by the tathāgatagarbha, all subject to arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence. Since this is so, all karmic causes, conditions, and retribution are not the self, nor are they possessed by the self—this is called "no self and no dharmas."
Knowing that all dharmas are illusory and unreal, one should reduce clinging to external objects, reduce fabrication, reduce mental engagement, and keep the mind as empty as possible, because no matter how you fabricate, it is all empty and meaningless—it is all conditioned dharma subject to arising and ceasing, with nothing gained and nothing lost. Why not rest the mind and spare oneself the trouble? Some people say: since everything is empty, why not fabricate more? "The unwholesome karma I create is also empty, so I need not fear creating unwholesome karma." But if one creates unwholesome karma, the mind can no longer be empty; when the mind is not empty and one receives unwholesome retribution, the suffering is extremely agonizing—at that time even the feeling of suffering cannot be emptied, and one suffers in a state where death seems better than life. No one wants that. Therefore, when the mind is empty, one will not create unwholesome karma; reducing all operations gradually purifies the mind, and it gradually becomes empty—only then can suffering be ended and liberation attained.
III. The Reason Those Who Slander the Buddha-Dharma Cannot Attain Liberation
In a certain forum within the Buddhist community, people exclusively believe in the Hīnayāna teachings and exclusively cultivate the path of liberation, but do not believe in the Mahāyāna teachings, do not believe in the tathāgatagarbha, and do not believe in the manas. In fact, they are proponents of the "six consciousnesses only" doctrine, recognizing only the six consciousnesses; they slander the Mahāyāna teachings as not spoken by the Buddha and deny the Mahāyāna patriarchs and bodhisattvas. In doing so, they not only slander the Buddha and the Dharma but also slander the Saṅgha—slandering all Three Jewels. Those who slander the Three Jewels are offenders within the Buddha-Dharma; offenders have karmic retribution for their offenses. Cause and effect are manifest and clear, failing not by the slightest. If they do not repent and eliminate their sinful karma, they will not obtain the supreme benefits of the Buddha-Dharma, that is, they will not attain liberation. If slandering the Three Jewels could enable one to eradicate the view of self and attain liberation, then it would show that the world has no cause and no effect, or cause without effect. Yet cause and effect have never been absent; wholesome and unwholesome karmic retribution has never failed to operate.
If one does not acknowledge the existence of the tathāgatagarbha, then when an arhat enters nirvāṇa it becomes annihilatory emptiness (uccheda-śūnyatā), no different from the non-Buddhist paths. Those arhats who turn from the Hīnayāna toward the Mahāyāna, who in nirvāṇa without remainder will take rebirth in the human world to continue studying and cultivating the Mahāyāna when their Mahāyāna conditions ripen—how would they obtain a body of the five aggregates? If they cannot obtain a body of the five aggregates, then all arhats become fixed-nature arhats; there would be no unfixed-nature arhats, and no arhats who turn from the Hīnayāna toward the Mahāyāna. Then would not the Mahāyāna teachings that the World-Honored One specially expounded to arhats before they entered nirvāṇa have been effort in vain? Yet the World-Honored One's immeasurable great wisdom has never been expended in vain; whatever He spoke and whatever He aspired to would surely come to fruition.
If one does not acknowledge the existence of the manas, claiming that the manas is just the mind consciousness and that there is no manas, then when contemplating the five aggregates and eighteen realms, among the six faculties one would not be able to contemplate the manas but only the five faculties; the twelve bases (āyatanas) could not be contemplated in full, only eleven; the eighteen realms could not be contemplated in full, only seventeen. Such an incomplete contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) cannot eradicate the view that the manas is the self. How then could one eradicate the view of self? The manas is one of the six faculties; it has the function of a faculty and also the function of a consciousness. Not acknowledging the existence of the manas, the contemplative practice is abandoned halfway, and liberation cannot be attained.
As for those who readily claim to have attained the fourth dhyāna, or readily claim to have realized the fourth fruit—how great must their misunderstanding be? Because sentient beings' arrogance (māna) is too heavy, they always like to exalt themselves and elevate themselves, never willing to honestly examine themselves or honestly assess themselves. As a result, the world is full of so-called sages, leaving Buddhism fragmented and in disarray, leaving sentient beings with nothing to rely on and unable to truly discern what is right and wrong in the Buddha-Dharma! In the Dharma-ending age, sentient beings' karmic obstructions are so heavy—how could there be so many sages dwelling in the world? May the wise reflect carefully, think carefully, choose well, and not drift with the current!
IV. Most Sentient Beings Are Habituated to Creating Unwholesome Karma
Many people diligently study the Dharma teachings every day—diligent and conscientious, one might say—yet occasionally, when encountering speech that slanders the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, they give it a word of praise. That single word of praise destroys most of the merit and virtue of their cultivation, so that no matter how diligent they are, their progress is slight. Ignorance (avidyā) can severely obstruct cultivation of the path. If one does not find a way to repent of one's ignorance, in the end whether one's wholesome karma outweighs one's unwholesome karma is hard to say. Why do so many people not know that their own ignorance is heavy? Why do they not know that they lack wisdom, yet insist on voicing their ignorant, wisdom-lacking opinions on crucial aspects of the Buddha-Dharma? What will be the final result of such cultivation—why do they not think about it? What is called unwholesome karma? Slandering the Three Jewels is evil among evils—is there anything more evil than this? It would be better to create the unwholesome karma of killing; the retribution would be smaller.
Creating unwholesome karma is very easy: a single sentence completes it, even a single character can complete a great unwholesome karma, even an emoji or a symbol can create unwholesome karma. Few people feel there is anything improper about this or any unwholesome result. When the time comes to receive the unwholesome retribution, they will not connect it to what caused it; they will not think about or analyze the source of the unwholesome result, much less repent of the unwholesome bodily, verbal, and mental actions they have committed. Many people do not even know which bodily, verbal, and mental actions are wholesome and which are unwholesome. Generally, they simply follow the ignorance and afflictions in their own minds, never going against their own unwholesome mental factors, letting their afflictive habits be revealed and spread freely.
Most people's capacity for awakening is very poor; they are unaware of their own mental conduct, lack the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala), and do not wish to introspect—they only blindly comply and shield their own faults. What is the result of such compliance? The result is that everyone has afflictions and suffering, everyone has obstructions, nothing goes as they wish, and at death they will go to the three evil destinies to undergo immense suffering. After emerging from the three evil destinies, they remain unawakened, so the vicious cycle continues endlessly, and the wheel of rebirth in the six destinies never stops.
Creating wholesome karma is actually also very easy: a single sentence completes a wholesome karma, even a single character can complete a wholesome karma, even an emoji or a symbol can complete a wholesome karma. Yet many people disdain to do such wholesome deeds, because they lack such habits. Every day, unwholesome mental factors manifest more and more than wholesome mental factors, so everyone's unwholesome karma is greater and more than their wholesome karma. Therefore, even though many people have faith in the Buddha and study Buddhism, at death they will still go to the three evil destinies to suffer and cannot secure a human rebirth; the proportion going to the three evil destinies is over ninety percent, or even more.
V. The Fundamental Cause of Becoming a Being in the Ghost Destiny
The hallmark of ghosts is greed and stinginess. Therefore, people with greedy and stingy minds will, at death, certainly be reborn in the ghost destiny, regardless of what they are greedy or stingy about. The scope of greed is extremely broad: sentient beings are greedy not only regarding money and possessions; within the world of the five aggregates, greed for any dharma whatsoever is greed—including bodily, verbal, and mental actions that the general public considers perfectly normal—all of it is greed, all of it is a cause for becoming a ghost.
Hungry ghosts and malicious ghosts both belong to the ghost destiny. The mental nature of hungry ghosts is extremely greedy and stingy, so they have nothing at all, are extremely impoverished, cannot get food or drink; when they approach water, the water turns into fire—extremely agonizing. The mental nature of malicious ghosts is evil; they often come out to harm other beings, including humans. Most beings in the ghost destiny are simply called ghosts—ordinary ghosts, distinct from hungry ghosts and malicious ghosts.
There was an old woman who, while alive, often played mahjong with three old men in the courtyard. The three old men died one after another, and finally the old woman also died. After being reborn in the ghost destiny for a while, she appeared in her daughter's dream asking for a mahjong set. Her daughter burned a paper mahjong set for her, and later she appeared in a dream telling her daughter that she was still playing mahjong with the three deceased old men. They were relatively fortunate ghosts; during their lives they had not committed any great unwholesome karma, they were just rather fond of play, and after death they continued playing in the ghost destiny. This also includes people who engaged in music, fine arts, and other arts while alive: after death they become ghosts, and then, believing in the Buddha, they possess the bodies of Buddhist believers and go to temples to cultivate merit and perform virtuous deeds. These artists are also greedy—they are attached to art with emotional fondness, greedily clinging and unwilling to let go; after death they become ghosts. Being fond of the qin, chess, calligraphy, painting, and so forth all counts as greed. The literati, poets, writers, essayists, and the like of the past mostly became ghosts after death as well; they all had greedy habits. Whatever you like will bind you, and you cannot attain liberation.
There is also a serious kind of greed: greed for sensual desire, romantic love, and emotional attachment. After death, one becomes a ghost of passion or a ghost of lust. Many people regard emotional attachment as something everyone naturally should have, and feel proud of developing feelings for others; they even praise passionate people and praise things like romantic love and affection. In fact, emotional attachment is the most serious form of greed and the primary cause of birth-and-death saṃsāra. The Buddha told us in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra that those heavy with emotion will certainly fall into the three evil destinies: with nine parts emotion and one part thought, one sinks beneath the wheel of water—that is the hells; with seven parts emotion and three parts thought, one is born in the ghost destiny; with emotion and thought in equal measure, one is born among humans; with little emotion and much thought, the mind can soar upward, and one is born in the heavens. "Thought" represents rationality; when the mind is light, one soars upward and is born in wholesome destinies. Emotion is heavy and turbid; when the mind is heavy, one will certainly fall into the three evil destinies.
Emotional attachment, from the perspective of human law and morality—whether reasonable or not—from the perspective of consequences and cause and effect, is unreasonable and should not exist. Emotion is greedy craving; where there is craving there is water, and where there is water it must flow downward. As soon as many people develop feelings, they compose poems and paint pictures to express their sentiments and convey their emotions, considering it beautiful, sincere, and romantic, believing that being passionate is wholesome. In reality, being passionate is unwholesome: it harms others and oneself, and both fall into the three lower destinies, suffering the misery of saṃsāra and the suffering of excessive passion. Many feelings of suffering are summoned because of emotional attachment; without attachment there is no grasping, and there would be no feelings of suffering.
Even proper feelings carry unwholesome retribution and bitter retribution; then improper feelings—feelings that should not arise, feelings that harm others' interests, immoral feelings, feelings that others find repugnant—carry even more unwholesome retribution and bitter retribution. "Proper" means permitted and protected by law and allowed by moral norms; "improper" is the opposite—permitted and protected by neither law nor moral norms, but condemned and disallowed by both.
After we study Buddhism, we should watch over our own minds more, subduing greedy craving and emotional attachment as much as we can, restraining what we can restrain. After all, greedy craving is not wholesome dharma but unwholesome dharma, belonging to the afflictions. Quite a few people believe that by forming many connections with others, they will be able to liberate them in future lives, so they recklessly interact frequently with the opposite sex, and when improper feelings arise they do not restrain them, letting them develop, thinking this forms wholesome karmic connections through which they can liberate each other. Little do they know that within a single great kalpa, they may not have the ability to liberate that person of the opposite sex; emotional entanglements will cause both self and other to fall into evil destinies and undergo feelings of suffering for many kalpas. Even after emerging from the evil destinies after so many kalpas, they still lack the ability to liberate that person, because they have not eradicated the affliction of greedy craving and will certainly fall into evil destinies because of it. Having the intention to liberate sentient beings is wholesome, but one must also understand the principles and know the Dharma; otherwise the wholesome turns into the unwholesome—not only failing to liberate sentient beings, but being "liberated" by them instead, with the loss outweighing the gain. Those who use this as an excuse should rein in at the brink of the precipice all the more—cause and effect has never spared anyone.
To summarize: in the Sahā world, as long as one develops greedy craving toward any dharma or any state—delighting in it, rejoicing in it, clinging to it, unwilling to let go—it all counts as greed. Because of this greed, one generally falls into the ghost destiny to repay karmic results. Cause and effect are not false: where there is a cause, there must be a result.
VI. Do the Hell Wardens and King Yama Receive Karmic Retribution?
Question: All things have causes, conditions, and karmic retribution. What retribution do the ghost wardens who carry out punishments daily in the hells receive? And what retribution does King Yama, who judges and administers punishments in the Hall of the King of Death, receive?
Answer: The hell wardens, King Yama, and so forth in the hells are all summoned forth by sentient beings' unwholesome karma; they are all illusory images manifested by beings' own evil minds. A person without the karma of the hells, upon arriving in hell, cannot see the wardens and will not be punished by them; a person without unwholesome karma will also never encounter King Yama's judgment. That some sentient beings become hell wardens, King Yama, and the like is also due to their own karmic power. This is not a proper occupation; although it upholds cause and effect and justice and has a certain meaning, beings who do evil do not welcome it, so the karmic connections are not wholesome. Only when it can make beings repent of their sinful karma and vow to reform themselves does it form some wholesome connections with them. Therefore, much of what appears on the surface to be good or evil is actually uncertain.
Take another example: do prison guards in human prisons who manage inmates commit offenses? The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that being a prison guard is not a proper occupation. Such questions cannot be explained clearly in a few words; the question of cause and effect is very complex. What kind of work a person does is also determined by karmic power. In any work involving interaction with sentient beings, there exists both wholesome and unwholesome karma; it depends entirely on how the person involved handles it correctly. The teaching profession is very good and also liberates sentient beings, yet many people in it create unwholesome karma. Expounding the sūtras and teaching the Dharma is the work of liberating sentient beings, yet many Dharma teachers have created karma leading to the hells.
Being a doctor who treats illness and saves people—is this profession good or not? It is uncertain. Why do patients have illnesses? The vast majority are simply the repayment of karmic results—retribution. This retribution should be undergone, and indeed there are also beings whom one harmed in the past coming to collect their debts. But the doctor cuts off the repayment of cause and effect, preventing the creditors from obtaining what they are due; the doctor then bears a certain karmic burden.
It is the same when monastics perform deliverance rites (超拔超度) for laypeople—the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness is uncertain. For example, in a past life, A beat B to death; in this life B comes to collect the debt and wants to beat A to death. Then you rescue and deliver A, and B neither collects the debt nor takes revenge. This is unfair to B, and B may turn around and take revenge on you. If, during the deliverance rite, you could also deliver B along the way—but B does not wish to be delivered and wants A to receive unwholesome retribution—then the deliverance rite has interfered with cause and effect. For example, if A owes B ten million yuan and B comes to collect the debt, and you intervene so that B does not collect it, what about B's ten million plus interest? Will B come to demand it from you? If you perform deliverance rites for your own parents and family, that is your duty, an act of repaying kindness; bearing karmic obstructions for your own parents and family is what is proper, and bearing karmic obstructions for those who have been kind to you is also proper.
Whether apparent goodness is actually goodness, and whether it has wholesome results, ordinary people cannot witness with opened eyes. In the Buddhist sūtras, there is only one recorded instance of a deliverance rite: the Buddha, uniting the power of all the monastics, delivered his own birth mother, Mahāmaudgalyāyana's mother, from the hells. There is no second instance. The Buddhist sūtras have never recorded Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, or pratyekabuddhas performing deliverance rites for sentient beings, nor have they recorded monastics performing deliverance rites for sentient beings; in the Saṅgha of the past, such things never occurred. In the temples of the past, where monastics were numerous, they never gathered together to strike instruments, chant, and sing to perform deliverance rites for laypeople; the Buddha's precepts also did not permit it. In those days, the monastics focused on individual cultivation; those capable of spreading the Dharma could teach, but nothing else was to be done—especially matters involving money and other worldly benefits, which were even more strictly forbidden.
VII. How Does Natural Talent Arise?
In the world, every profession and every field values natural talent. What is talent? In plain language, talent seems to be bestowed by heaven, but in fact it is brought from past lives at birth—being a skilled hand, already somewhat practiced from birth; after coming into contact with it, as conditions ripen, one becomes ever more proficient. It grows forth from karmic seeds left from past lives. If no karmic seeds were left from past lives and one only encounters it in this life, no matter how hard one tries, one remains a novice. Therefore, people with talent are those who, over long kalpas of birth-and-death saṃsāra, spent relatively more time in the human destiny, were conditioned more by human affairs, and are relatively familiar with human matters. Having been conditioned more in certain areas and planted seeds there, in later lives they will have talent in those areas. Therefore, if sentient beings accumulate virtue and do good deeds in the human destiny, cultivate much merit, they will be born more often in the human destiny, accumulating more seeds of human karmic actions, and will have the opportunity to become people with talent.
The field of studying Buddhism is even more subject to this notion of talent. In a single lifetime, in just a few short kalpas, one cannot learn much; no matter how one studies, one remains like a kindergartner, unable to find the gateway to cultivation. But as long as one does not lose heart, in some lifetime one will become a skilled hand, an experienced practitioner, born with talent, becoming an expert, a long-cultivating bodhisattva. Almost everyone is like this: the opportunities encountered in the wheel of rebirth through the six destinies differ, the seeds planted differ, so faith in the Buddha and study of Buddhism come early for some and late for others—the difference is merely one of time. Therefore, so that other sentient beings may encounter the conditions of the Buddha-Dharma sooner, those of us who have already come to faith and study should dedicate more merit (pariṇāma) to all sentient beings not yet awakened, planting wholesome causes for them; they will then have the opportunity to encounter the Buddha-Dharma in the future and begin to have faith in the Buddha, and after believing for a long time, they will study Buddhism. Those with such breadth of mind also grow quickly themselves; by caring for others more, they come to understand more, mature quickly, and before they know it, they become great bodhisattvas.
VIII. The Experience at the Time of Death
The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: all worldly beings continue in birth and death; in birth they follow their habitual tendencies, and in death they follow the flow of transformation. At the time of death, before relinquishing the sensation of warmth, all the wholesome and unwholesome deeds of one's life suddenly appear at once; death is adverse and birth is favorable, and the two habitual tendencies intersect. Here, "at the time of death, before relinquishing the sensation of warmth"—"lin" (临) means approaching but not yet past, that is, not yet dead. Since one has not yet died, at least the mind consciousness and the manas still exist. And since the Buddha said "before relinquishing the sensation of warmth," there is still the sensation of warmth, and thus the feeling of warmth exists, meaning the body consciousness also exists. At this time the four great elements have not yet disintegrated, or have only just begun to disintegrate; all sensations of the physical body still exist and can be perceived; the six consciousnesses are all still present, not yet extinguished. What is the experience at this time? The Buddha compared the disintegration of the four great elements to a live turtle having its shell stripped off—how painful and agonizing must that be?
Since there is perception at this time and the mind consciousness has not ceased, the solitary consciousness (mano-vijñāna-eka-citta) can also manifest. What does the solitary consciousness do at this time? It exclusively receives the information emitted by the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha broadcasts all the wholesome and unwholesome karmic actions one has created in this life, like playing a movie—and at high speed, an extremely fast reel that finishes playing in an instant, for the tathāgatagarbha exports it extremely quickly. To the mind consciousness it is like rapid recollection; there is no time for the solitary consciousness to think anything—just receiving is enough. Then the mind consciousness immediately understands and knows where it must go in accordance with these karmic actions, but it can no longer inform the people nearby.
At the time of death, although the mind consciousness is somewhat drowsy, it can still very clearly discern the video content that the tathāgatagarbha forcibly delivers to it—crystal clear—and it can even discern which destiny it will go to receive retribution in. No one needs to explain the principles of karmic retribution to it; it is entirely unnecessary.
At the time of death, the mind consciousness and the manas have no choice but to accept the retribution of the future life. This is karmic power—the force of a lifetime's karmic actions. It brooks no resistance from the mind consciousness, nor from the manas; both must submit to the arrangement and summons of karmic power, without complaint. Even if, in the antarābhava (intermediate state), one is judged by King Yama, one will not argue, complain, or cry out injustice. Why? Because the facts are laid out there, plainly visible to all; King Yama need not investigate and gather evidence. Faced with the facts, what is there to say? One obediently submits to King Yama's arrangement, submits to the arrangement of fate. How is fate formed? Fate is created by oneself; the karma one created must of course be borne by oneself—what else could be done? Who will bear it in your place? Even one's own father, mother, or son cannot bear it for you. Each person's karma is received by that person; no one can bear it in another's place.
"If you want others not to know, the only way is not to do it yourself." All the deeds, great and small, done throughout one's life are recorded in full detail by the tathāgatagarbha; other tathāgatagarbhas also know of them, and the manas, relying on the tathāgatagarbha, also knows. When others' mind consciousnesses attain superknowledge, they can know completely what one has done, thought, and considered—no one can be deceived; committing evil absolutely cannot be concealed from heaven. Matters of karmic retribution occur naturally, and no one can be blamed. The hells and the three evil destinies are also conjured by one's own tathāgatagarbha according to one's own unwholesome karma; it has nothing to do with others—others cannot conjure a hell for you. Therefore, one's own fate is entirely one's own responsibility; no one bears it in one's place. If a person is going to be selfish, then let them be responsible for themselves and treat themselves as well as possible, never creating even the slightest unwholesome karma for themselves. Such selfishness even the Buddha approves of—this is the selfishness of the wise.
To avoid suffering unwholesome retribution, one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions should be strictly guarded. In bodily action, do not harm or violate anyone. In verbal action, do not speak unpleasant words, inappropriate words, hurtful words, words that violate others' interests—and especially do not speak words that slander the Three Jewels. Spoken, they appear to hurt others but actually hurt oneself, with retribution thousands upon thousands of times greater, which will be extremely hard to bear when it comes. A single sentence can send one entirely into the hells to suffer for immeasurable kalpas—such is the retribution. In mental action, do not harbor greed, hatred, or delusion; keep one's thoughts pure and simple. These laws of cause and effect were not established or created by the Buddha, nor by bodhisattvas and Dharma-protecting deities, nor even by one's karmic creditors and enemies—they are all the doing of one's own tathāgatagarbha. If you want to complain, go complain to the tathāgatagarbha—see whether the tathāgatagarbha listens to your complaints!
Those who dare to create unwholesome karma, who do not care about creating it, who create it casually—all are foolish people lacking wisdom; the more foolish, the bolder. The foolish disregard consequences, do not know the consequences, do not fear retribution, and cannot consider so much; only by following their own ignorance and afflictions do they feel comfortable. Creating unwholesome karma is for a moment's comfort and pleasure, regardless of how uncomfortable and unpleasant it will be afterward. With insufficient intelligence and insufficient meditative concentration, they cannot control these things—as long as it feels good to vent, that is enough. When cause and effect is mentioned, people with heavy afflictions refuse to listen, saying it is fabricated, just scare tactics; they are unwilling to believe any of the true accounts of cause and effect recorded in the Buddhist sūtras. But disbelief aside, the retribution will still appear, whether you believe it or not.
IX. The Principle of Heavy Karmic Offenses Being Lightly Retributed
When offenses of future lives are undergone in this life, this all belongs to heavy offenses being lightly retributed. The better one's cultivation, the earlier the sinful karma is undergone, with less accrued interest—extremely worthwhile. If you get into a car accident this life, you should think: "Excellent! In future lives I won't have to fall into the hells to receive retribution, or die suddenly, or have a shortened lifespan." If someone gives you a hard time, or wrongs and aggrieves you, or hits you or scolds you, you should think: "This person is truly good to me—now I won't have to get cancer or other serious illnesses, won't have car accidents and the like; those sinful karma are being consumed this way—what a bargain."
Small setbacks summoned by cultivation will avert great setbacks in future lives; great setbacks summoned by cultivation in this life will avert even greater setbacks in future lives—dangers, illness and suffering, death, retribution in the three evil destinies, and so forth—extremely worthwhile. So no matter what, please continue to diligently apply effort to the path.
X. Flowering Retribution and Karmic Retribution
The flower is the unripe fruit, the state before the result forms; of course it has less nutritional value than the fruit. The fruit is the sublimation and crystallization of the flower, with nutritional value higher than the flower. Buddhism often uses flowers and fruits as metaphors to classify wholesome and unwholesome karmic retribution. Wholesome and unwholesome karmic retribution is divided into flowering retribution (puṣpa-phala) and karmic retribution (fruit retribution). Flowering retribution refers to the repayment received in this very life; karmic retribution refers to the repayment received in future lives when karmic conditions ripen. A karmic action, if it has flowering retribution, also has karmic retribution; even without flowering retribution there is still karmic retribution. The greater the flowering retribution, the smaller the karmic retribution; if there is no flowering retribution, the karmic retribution is greatest.
Repayment is like brewing wine—the longer, the mellower; it is also like a bank deposit—the longer, the higher the interest and the richer the repayment. For wholesome karma: if the person who creates wholesome karma is poor, they will hope to receive the flowering retribution as soon as possible, the sooner the better, to enjoy it right away, because their merit is insufficient and they urgently need the repayment. Some people, out of ignorance, or because they do wholesome deeds with an expectant attitude, wanting immediate benefits, seek only the flowering retribution. After receiving the flowering retribution, there may still be karmic retribution in future lives, but it may be very slight.
For those who create unwholesome karma: the faster and greater the flowering retribution, the slower and smaller the karmic retribution. If such a person has a conscience and understands the principles, they will willingly undergo the flowering retribution to eliminate the influence of the unwholesome karma as quickly as possible, thereby avoiding the suffering of karmic retribution in future lives. Only the ignorant who do not believe in cause and effect will try by every means to dodge the flowering retribution, hiding their unwholesome karma with a gambler's mentality. Of course, if the wholesome karma is very great, it will naturally summon the flowering retribution to appear without anyone asking, and the karmic retribution in future lives will also be great; if the unwholesome karma is very great, it will likewise summon the flowering retribution to appear, and dodging is useless. Both wholesome and unwholesome karma will naturally have their retribution, as long as the season and conditions are complete.
XI. What Karmic Retribution Comes from Making Money Through Deliverance Rites?
First it must be clarified whether this way of making money is a fair and legitimate transaction. If not, its nature is deception or fraud, and the offense and retribution should be judged according to the behavior and nature of deception. What is a fair and legitimate transaction? It is one in which both buyer and seller each obtain the benefit or advantage they expect; if only one party gains benefit while the other gains nothing, it is an unfair transaction.
Next, let us discuss whether this transaction is legitimate. Whether this matter is proper or improper is measured by several aspects: 1. Does this person have the qualification to perform deliverance rites? 2. Does this person have the ability to perform deliverance rites? 3. Should delivering sentient beings from the sea of suffering be done for a fee, and what is the standard for such fees?
To clarify the above questions, one must sort out the concept and connotation of the term "deliverance" (超度). What is deliverance? Deliverance is when a high-ranking bodhisattva, being, or Jewel of the Saṅgha with high energy, high virtue, and high quality, through reciting Buddhist sūtras, mantras, and the words of the Buddha, prays to obtain the blessing power of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, blessing the beings of the three evil destinies to lighten their karmic obstructions, gain a certain amount of merit, and take faith in the Three Jewels, thereby enabling them to escape the three evil destinies. Therefore, the matter of deliverance relies on the combined power of merit and virtue of all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the Three Jewels, together with the deliverer's own power of merit, virtue, and compassion, to lift the beings of the evil destinies out of the sea of suffering and lighten their sinful retribution.
If the deliverer performs deliverance rites for money, then first of all his virtue is lacking, his merit is lacking, and his compassion is lacking. Such a person cannot evoke the protection and blessing of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Three Jewels; all the recitations have no merit, and beings with sinful karma gain no benefit. Deliverance is not something that can be accomplished by one's own strength alone; it is accomplished jointly by one's personal virtue and cultivation plus the majestic power of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Three Jewels. If an individual lacks majestic power, that is one thing—but by what right does one use the majestic power of the Three Jewels to make money for oneself? What person has the audacity and the qualification to rely on the Three Jewels to get rich? Is this not making money off the Three Jewels? The money of the Three Jewels—who can afford to earn it? Not only risking one's life, but throwing away everything?
How could those who truly understand cause and effect, comprehend principles, and are deeply grateful to the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Three Jewels dare, or have the heart, to make money off the Three Jewels? Bodhisattvas liberate sentient beings for the sake of bodhicitta, for suffering sentient beings, and to repay the kindness of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Three Jewels—never for personal gain. Bodhisattvas never charge fees for teaching and transforming sentient beings, never make money; no matter how much energy they expend writing teachings and books, they provide them free of charge for sentient beings to study.
Because this is a great undertaking that cannot be accomplished by one's own strength alone—all of a bodhisattva's wisdom comes from the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Three Jewels; there is not even enough time to repay that kindness, so how could one use the majestic virtue of the Three Jewels to pursue personal profit? If one does so, one is no bodhisattva. Those who make money off the Three Jewels, who profit from selling books and other items of the Three Jewels, are not true bodhisattvas, not true good teachers (kalyāṇamitra). This ungrateful trafficking is called "peddling the Tathāgata" (裨贩如来). Peddling the Tathāgata is Māra's karma, receiving Māra's retribution. Using the Three Jewels to make money is making money off the Three Jewels; the more of this money one earns, the poorer one becomes, until in the end one falls into the evil destinies to suffer the bitter retribution of poverty.
XII. Can Dharma Teachings and Sūtras Written by Oneself on Paper Be Burned?
Personal writings that are not Buddhist sūtras or mantras can be burned directly. As for Buddhist sūtras, mantras, and the names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas that truly cannot be repaired and preserved, and cannot be given away to form connections, one should recite the mantra for extinguishing offenses and then burn them. If they can be repaired intact, preserved, or given away to form connections, they must not be burned. Some people, seeing monastics in temples burning damaged Buddha statues and sūtras, think they too may burn sūtras. Watching how others do things is only watching surface phenomena; in reality, others' methods and intentions are not easy to discern. Sometimes, when others do something, they commit no offense and violate no precepts—nothing happens at all. Yet when you do the same thing, it is an offense and a violation of the precepts. People's intentions differ, their merit differs, their spiritual attainment differs, their precepts and responsibilities differ, and so their results and retribution differ. One must not casually imitate what others do.
XIII. What Is the Most Advantageous Way to Receive Karmic Retribution?
Question: Person A does a good deed for Person B, and B receives A's help. A wants to receive B's reciprocation and repayment. Is it more advantageous for A to receive B's repayment now, or to receive B's repayment in a future life, or to receive the natural repayment of cause and effect?
Answer: With a mind seeking nothing, waiting for cause and effect to repay naturally is the most advantageous. A did a good deed but never thought of repayment—acting with a mind of no expectation of return. Although A does not seek repayment, the law of cause and effect will still naturally produce repayment, and at that point the karmic retribution is greatest. Doing wholesome deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest wholesome retribution; doing unwholesome deeds with a conditioned mind yields the greatest unwholesome retribution.
Doing wholesome deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest wholesome retribution—when the mind is great, the retribution is great. No one knows why the tathāgatagarbha has such a rule. Those who wish to maximize the karmic retribution of wholesome deeds may exploit this loophole. But having the mind to exploit a loophole is still having a mind; with a mind, the mind is small; without a mind, the mind is greatest. Wanting repayment and doing wholesome deeds with a purpose means having a mind, and with a mind, the mind is small; not wanting repayment, doing wholesome deeds without personal purpose or selfish intent, the mind is great—and when the mind is great, the retribution is great. Doing wholesome deeds for the Three Jewels yields the greatest retribution. If there is selfish intent within—for money, fame, status, power, and so forth—the retribution will be greatly discounted. If one does wholesome deeds with intense selfish intent, treating the Three Jewels as a business and scheming for the benefits the Three Jewels bring, it may turn into an unwholesome deed, with unwholesome retribution.
If one's afflictions are too heavy and one schemes for the benefits the Three Jewels bring, and the scheme fails, giving rise to anger and resentment, the result may be retribution in the hells. All sinful karma arises from afflictions, and all afflictions arise from that "self." Only after eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) can afflictions become light, and one may even eradicate afflictions, letting them be extinguished forever and attaining liberation. Everywhere in the world—among nations on the large scale, among groups on the middle scale, among individuals on the small scale—one can see sentient beings' afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; it may be said that afflictions blaze and run rampant, and are very hard to save beings from. The Dharma-ending age is, after all, the Dharma-ending age: sentient beings' karma is heavy, obstructions deep, and merit thin; sinful karma far exceeds wholesome karma, and unwholesome retribution far exceeds wholesome retribution. Therefore, in future lives, extremely many people will go to the three evil destinies to receive retribution—this is unavoidable; death and illness are minor matters by comparison.
XIV. Bearing Others' Karma Also Has Cause and Effect
Question: An elderly family member had leg pain. I massaged and treated him every day, and after more than three months his legs healed, but I found that the same symptoms as in his legs appeared on my own arm. Sometimes when I treat a colleague and the colleague recovers, similar symptoms appear in my own body. Why does this happen?
Answer: This is because you have taken on others' karmic obstructions. Karmic obstructions do not disappear without cause; they disappear only after the retribution is undergone. If he does not undergo it, then you must undergo it. If a Buddhist practitioner always goes about bearing others' karmic obstructions, they will be unable to cultivate; in the end no one achieves anything, and all remain within the wheel of birth and death.
Doctors, in treating illness, certainly also bear a certain karmic burden, but that is their profession—they do not specifically intend to eliminate others' karma or bear their karmic obstructions; doctors must do what they do. But deliberately eliminating others' karma will of course leave the karmic creditors unable to collect their debts, giving rise to their hatred and resentment. For example, if your family member owes a debt and the creditor comes to collect, and you shield your family member so the creditor cannot collect—what will happen then?
The law of cause and effect requires karmic seeds to ripen before retribution is received. Some karmic creditors attach themselves to the body and take revenge immediately; some take revenge at the time of death. If the karmic obstruction borne is great, even without karmic creditors attached to the body, cause and effect arrives quickly. There are many different situations here, very complex, impossible to explain clearly in a few words. Some patients' illnesses are not due to karmic obstructions—if there are no karmic seeds, the illness is caused by the environment or by carelessness; treating such a person incurs no revenge, for there is no karmic obstruction, no unwholesome retribution, but rather wholesome retribution.
