Miscellaneous Discourses on the Dharma (Part II)
Chapter 5: Causes, Conditions, and Karmic Retribution (2)
8. Karmic Flower and Karmic Fruit
A flower is an unripe fruit, the state before fruition, and naturally lacks the nutritional value of a fruit. A fruit is the sublimation and crystallization of the flower, possessing higher nutritional value than the flower. Buddhism often uses flowers and fruits as metaphors to classify good and evil karmic retribution. Karmic retribution is divided into karmic flower and karmic fruit. Karmic flower refers to the retribution received in the present life, while karmic fruit is the retribution received in future lives when karmic conditions mature. For any karmic action, if there is a karmic flower, there will also be a karmic fruit. Even if there is no karmic flower, there is still karmic fruit. The larger the karmic flower, the smaller the karmic fruit; if there is no karmic flower, the karmic fruit is the largest.
Karmic retribution is like brewing wine; the longer it ages, the more mellow it becomes. It is also like a bank deposit; the longer the time, the higher the interest, and the more abundant the return. For good karma, if the person who performs a good deed is poor, they will hope to receive the karmic flower as quickly as possible, wanting to enjoy it immediately because their virtue and blessings are insufficient, hence they urgently need the return. Some people, due to ignorance or performing good deeds with an attitude of seeking something, desire immediate benefits, so they only seek the karmic flower. After obtaining the karmic flower, there might still be karmic fruit in a future life, but it may be extremely small.
For those who commit evil deeds, the faster and larger the karmic flower appears, the slower and smaller the karmic fruit will be. If such a person has a conscience and understands the principle, they will willingly endure the karmic flower to eliminate the influence of the evil karma as soon as possible and avoid the suffering of the karmic fruit in future lives. Only ignorant people who do not believe in cause and effect will try every means to avoid the karmic flower, hiding their evil karma with a fluke mentality. Of course, if the good karma is extremely great, it will naturally induce the appearance of the karmic flower without anyone seeking it, and the karmic fruit in future lives will also be great. If the evil karma is extremely great, it will similarly induce the appearance of the karmic flower, and avoiding it will be useless. Both good and evil will naturally have their retribution, as long as the time, season, causes, and conditions are sufficient.
9. How to Obtain Karmic Fruit Most Advantageously
Q: Person A did a good deed for person B, and person B received help from person A. Person A wants to receive feedback and repayment from person B. Is it more advantageous for person A to receive repayment from person B now, or in a future life, or to receive the natural karmic retribution?
A: Acting with a mind free from seeking and waiting for cause and effect to naturally repay is the most advantageous. Person A did a good deed without thinking of repayment; this is performing an action with a mind free from seeking repayment. Although person A does not seek repayment, the law of cause and effect will still naturally produce retribution, and at this time, the karmic fruit is the greatest. Performing good deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest good retribution; performing evil deeds with a conditioned mind yields the greatest evil retribution.
Performing good deeds with an unconditioned mind yields the greatest good retribution; the mind is vast, the retribution is great. It is unknown why the Tathāgatagarbha has such a rule. Those who want to maximize the karmic fruit of good deeds can exploit this loophole. However, the mind that wants to exploit a loophole is still a conditioned mind; having a conditioned mind makes the mind small, while having an unconditioned mind makes the mind the greatest. Wanting repayment, doing good deeds with a purpose, means having a conditioned mind; a conditioned mind is small. Not wanting repayment, doing good deeds without personal purpose or selfishness, means the mind is vast; a vast mind yields great karmic fruit. Doing good deeds for the Triple Gem (Buddha, Dharma, Saṅgha) yields the greatest karmic fruit. If there is selfishness involved—for money, fame, status, power, etc.—it will greatly diminish the merit. If good deeds are done with strong selfishness, treating the Triple Gem as a transaction, scheming for the benefits brought by the Triple Gem, it might turn into an evil deed and bring evil retribution.
If afflictions are too heavy, scheming for benefits from the Triple Gem, and failing to obtain them leads to resentment and anger, it could result in hellish karmic fruit. All sinful karma arises from afflictions; all afflictions come from that "self" (ātman). Therefore, only after severing the view of self can afflictions become slight, or even be extinguished, allowing afflictions to be permanently ended and liberation attained. Everywhere in the world, from the macro level between nations, to the medium level between groups, down to the micro level between individuals, one can see the greed, hatred, and delusion of sentient beings. It can be said that afflictions are rampant and blazing, very difficult to rescue. After all, it is the Dharma-ending Age; sentient beings have heavy karma, deep obstructions, and thin blessings. Sinful karma far outweighs good karma; evil retribution far outweighs good retribution. Therefore, in future times, an extremely large number of people will go to the three evil destinies (hells, hungry ghosts, animals) to receive retribution; this is unavoidable. Death and the suffering of illness are minor matters by comparison.
10. Bearing Others' Karma Also Has Cause and Effect
Q: An elderly person in my family had leg pain. I massaged and treated them every day. After more than three months, the elderly person's legs got better, but I discovered that my own arms developed the same symptoms as the elderly person's legs. Sometimes when I treat colleagues, after they recover, similar symptoms appear on my own body. Why is this?
A: This is because you have borne over the karmic obstacles of others. Karmic obstacles do not disappear without reason; they need to be endured as retribution before they can vanish. If they do not endure it, you need to endure it. If Buddhists always go around bearing others' karmic obstacles, they cannot cultivate the path. In the end, no one achieves realization; all remain trapped in the cycle of birth and death.
Doctors treating illnesses also bear certain karmic consequences, but that is their profession; they are not intentionally trying to eliminate others' karma or bear their karmic obstacles—doctors must act that way. However, intentionally eliminating karma for others will certainly cause the karmic creditors (who are owed debts) to become unable to collect, leading to resentment and dissatisfaction in their minds. For example, if your family member owes a debt and the creditor comes to collect, but you protect your family member so the creditor cannot collect, what will happen?
The law of cause and effect requires karmic seeds to mature before retribution can be received. Some karmic creditors attach to the body and seek immediate revenge. Some seek revenge at the time of death. If the karmic obstacle borne is great, even if no karmic creditor is attached to the body, the karmic retribution comes quickly. There are many different situations here; it's very complex and cannot be clearly explained in a few sentences. Some illnesses are not due to karmic obstacles; if there is no karmic seed, it is caused by the environment or carelessness. Treating such illnesses does not incur revenge; there is no karmic obstacle, no evil retribution, but rather good retribution.
11. The Karmic Retribution of Delusion and Affliction
The karmic retribution of greed, hatred, and delusion is: Greed gives rise to the hungry ghost realm, hatred gives rise to the hell realm, and delusion gives rise to the animal realm. When the evil karmic manifestations of greed, hatred, and delusion appear at the time of death, one will inevitably go to the three evil destinies to receive retribution; there is no avoiding it. To eliminate afflictions and karma, one should often introspect one's mental activities during ordinary times, diligently use the principles of the Dharma to subdue them, uphold precepts, and cultivate concentration; then afflictions can be subdued relatively quickly. After committing sinful karma, to eliminate it requires repentance. For relatively grave sins, repentance before the Buddha is needed until auspicious signs seem to appear, such as lotuses appearing in dreams or meditative states, the Buddha coming to touch one's head to offer comfort, etc. For generally less serious sins, sincere repentance before the assembly can eliminate them.
Those with very strong greed will suffer for a very long time in the hungry ghost realm. If one harbors severe greed towards the Triple Gem, that sin is extremely heavy. Those with relatively severe hatred will receive retribution for a very long time in the hell realm. If one harbors hatred towards the Triple Gem, that karmic sin is even more serious. Those with severe delusion will commit great evil karma; then it's not just a matter of the animal realm—they will first go to hell to receive retribution, then the hungry ghost realm, and only afterwards the animal realm. All afflictions are entirely caused by delusion. Delusion is the root of afflictions; without delusion, greed and hatred would not arise, and afflictive karma would not be created. In the future, when severing afflictions, greed and hatred are severed first; delusion is severed last because delusion is very difficult to deal with, so the affliction of delusion is severed last.
Once, a layperson slandered an Arhat. The Arhat told the layperson, "I have attained the fruition of Arhatship. You must repent before the assembly with me, otherwise you will definitely fall into hell." Then the Arhat rang the bell to gather the assembly. The layperson apologized and repented to the Arhat before the assembly. However, that layperson still fell into hell upon death. Why? Because the sin of slandering an Arhat is too great and heavy; repentance could not completely eliminate it. If he had not repented, the sin would have been heavier, and the time of retribution in hell would have been even longer. Being able to come out of hell even one minute early is fortunate and worthy of joy. The severity of the sin determines the specific hell and the intensity of suffering. Slandering a Stream-enterer (Sotāpanna), Once-returner (Sakadāgāmin), or Non-returner (Anāgāmin) is also very heavy. People in this world generally have heavy afflictions; regardless of the other person's status or level of realization, once afflictions arise, they slander indiscriminately, without considering the consequences; venting their own feelings is the most important thing.
If a Buddhist practitioner does not wish to subdue their own afflictions, even if they have studied the theories of an Eighth Ground Bodhisattva, after creating afflictive karma and falling into the three evil destinies, the Dharma of the Eighth Ground Bodhisattva cannot save them. Usually, they just follow their own afflictive temperament, not considering the consequences, indulging their feelings, acting on their own whims, letting others do as they please, just going along with whatever makes their own heart comfortable. But when the karmic fruit arrives, the discomfort will be a million times worse. Is the proportion between comfort and discomfort maintained? Completely disproportionate. At that time, they will regret why they acted that way originally; it was utterly not worth it, gaining only evil retribution and nothing else.
12. Is the Killing Karma of Animals Heavier than that of Humans?
Creating evil killing karma is governed by the manas (mind faculty) and performed by the six consciousnesses. However, the mental activity of the manas alone is also karmic action, called mental karma. It also stores seeds, has karmic fruit, which is the suffering of birth, death, and rebirth.
Among the three types of karmic actions—body, speech, and mind—mental karma is primary and heaviest, because bodily and verbal actions are directly commanded and controlled by the volitional activity of the manas. Bodily and verbal actions arising from greed, hatred, or delusion instigated by the manas are called intentional actions. Actions not arising from greed, hatred, or delusion instigated by the manas are called unintentional actions. Intentionally creating evil karma results in heavy and profound sin, with inherent sin and karma. Unintentionally created evil karma results in slight sin, without inherent sin or karma.
Animals eating each other falls between intentional and unintentional; it is simply for hunger, without killing intent or hatred. The karma created is relatively small, the evil karma is relatively slight, without inherent sin or karma; they just owe a debt to be repaid in the future. When an animal's period of evil karma ends, it can be reborn as a human. If humans then create evil karma, they will go to the three evil destinies to receive retribution. Sentient beings revolve in the six destinies in this way. The karmic actions performed in the human body are the primary determining factor. No karmic action is without karmic fruit. Therefore, everyone must be extremely careful and cautious in speech and action, not acting recklessly or speaking nonsense arbitrarily, especially regarding the Buddha Dharma. One cannot assume things are however one thinks they are. The Buddha said not to trust one's own ideas until one attains Arhatship; one's own ideas are not trustworthy. Once one creates evil karma regarding the Buddha Dharma, the suffering of the Avīci Hell is immeasurable times greater than that of the human world and cannot be endured.
13. Cause and Effect Are Not Subject to the Mind
If there is a strong sense of "self" in the mind, what the mind thinks may not necessarily come true, and what it does not wish for may not necessarily be avoided. What humans do often contradicts what they hope for. For example, people hope for longevity, health, and happiness, yet they create actions that make themselves not long-lived, not healthy, and not happy, such as killing and eating meat. How could the result possibly be health, longevity, and happiness? People want to be free and attain liberation, yet they cling tightly to a "self" and refuse to let go. How can they be free and attain liberation?
People hope to be wealthy and prosperous, yet they always intentionally or unintentionally do things like stealing and robbing. How can they become wealthy and prosperous? People always hope to be respected and valued by others, yet they are always arrogant, looking down on others, not respecting others. How can they gain the respect of others? People always want supreme power, yet they always deprive others of their rights. How can they themselves possess rights?
14. The Karmic Retribution of the Erroneous View of Emptiness
There are two types of nihilistic emptiness (uccheda-dṛṣṭi) or erroneous view of emptiness (mithyā-śūnyatā) in the world, which harm people deeply, directly causing sentient beings to fall into the three evil destinies and revolve in the six paths. One is the nihilistic emptiness of non-Buddhist paths, which holds that there is no past or future life, that everything ends with death, that there is no cause and effect, no retribution for good or evil karma, and that one can do anything as long as one is free, unrestrained, and enjoys oneself to the fullest.
The other erroneous view of emptiness is held by those who study the Mahāyāna Tathāgatagarbha Dharma. Although they acknowledge karmic cause and effect, acknowledge past and future lives, and acknowledge the indestructible Tathāgataggarbha within the body, they crave the enjoyments of the five desires, are unwilling to cultivate arduously and genuinely, and unwilling to uphold precepts and cultivate concentration. Therefore, they deny all the false functions of the five aggregates (skandhas) and eighteen elements (dhātus), pushing everything onto the Tathāgatagarbha, using the Tathāgatagarbha to replace all functions of the five aggregates, rendering the five aggregates inactive, and claiming there is no need to study Buddhism or become a Buddha since the Tathāgatagarbha is originally Buddha. Or, they indulge the five aggregates in reckless actions, saying that whatever the five aggregates do is done by the Tathāgatagarbha. If it is done by the Tathāgatagarbha, the five-aggregate body has no cause and effect, no karmic retribution, so the five-aggregate body can act freely according to conditions, without needing to uphold precepts or cultivate concentration, since the Tathāgatagarbha originally does not violate precepts and originally has concentration. These two types of nihilistic emptiness and erroneous view of emptiness, though different in nature, have similar results: denying cause and effect, indulging recklessly, and being unable to cease evil and cultivate good.
Because they grasp the Tathāgatagarbha as "self," they also grasp a "signless" state, rejecting all that has signs, as if they have already transcended the realm of signs and reached the signless. In reality, what is signless is the Tathāgatagarbha; the five-aggregate body still entirely resides within signs and fundamentally cannot transcend them at present because, without upholding precepts and without meditative concentration, the Prajñā wisdom is severely insufficient. Their thoughts and mental activities are entirely within signs. If they insist on covering up these signs, they can only resort to the erroneous view of emptiness. When the karmic fruit arrives, they must face it directly; the signs of evil retribution can no longer be avoided.
But those who claim to have transcended signs and reached the signless—why do they still choose to eat meat, claiming not to attach to the sign of eating meat, rather than choosing to be vegetarian or eating leftover food according to conditions? Since there are no signs, everything should be done according to conditions, simply to survive and cultivate. Why are they still so picky and particular about protecting their health and nurturing their body? They do not uphold the precepts with signs, only upholding the signless precepts. Isn't choosing food, clothing, shelter, and transportation all about signs? Why choose the signs of enjoyment instead of the signs of hardship? Clearly, the signless is false; the signs are real. Studying Mahāyāna is excellent, but not studying it properly, the Mahāyāna Dharma can also become poison; ingesting it without letting go will inevitably lead to death. Good medicine turning into poison—whose fault is it?
15. What Are the Karmic Conditions of Sentient Beings?
Karmic conditions, as the name implies, are the conditions produced by bodily, verbal, and mental karmic actions. They are also the conditions for the five-aggregate body to receive the retribution of good and evil karma. With these karmic conditions, the five-aggregate body can live, create karma, and receive retribution within all dharmas. All dharmas include everything in the surrounding environment—people, events, physical phenomena—including other five-aggregate bodies, the living environment, and all natural phenomena of the universe (the vessel world). Sentient beings rely on this to create karma and receive retribution. Their way of life, living conditions, and means of subsistence are karmic conditions. Family, relatives, friends, and colleagues are karmic conditions. With these conditions, they can receive the retribution of good and evil karma.
Among these, the physical body is the principal karmic fruit, but it can also be the karmic cause and condition for the physical body before death and the physical body in future lives. The environment is the dependent karmic fruit, but it can also be a karmic cause and condition. A single dharma can be a cause, a condition, or a fruit. The dharma is not fixed, and the fruit is also not fixed.
16. The Secret of Physiognomy
A person's voice can reflect their character, temperament, disposition, and cultivation. It can also reflect whether a person's mind is simple and straightforward or hypocritical and cunning, whether it is bright or dark. A person's facial features can also reflect their cultivation, character, temperament, disposition, knowledge, demeanor, etc. Even bones, jaw, muscles, body shape, skin, etc., can reflect a person's character, temperament, and disposition—whether they are diligent or lazy, strict and serious or lax, slack, and undisciplined, sunny or gloomy, etc.
Everyone should be responsible for their own appearance. External appearance and karma are all part of cause and effect; they are the principal karmic fruit, cultivated by oneself over countless lifetimes, reflecting the good and evil qualities within. When one's appearance is unsatisfactory, one should not blame parents or heaven; one should condemn oneself. Being extremely arrogant in a past life results in short stature in this life. If a person's muscles are very slack, that person is likely very lazy and lax, with undisciplined thinking, muddling along. People with crooked, uneven bodies often have crooked minds. Upright people have upright minds and bodies; their facial features are aligned, their skin is firm, and their countenance is serious. Even their gaze is upright, not looking askance, with a bright and honest heart. From the facial appearance, one can also discern from which realm (destiny) a person came in their past life—this is more accurate when they are younger. One can also discern to which realm they will be born in the future—this becomes more accurate as they get older.
17. Why Did Chan Master Danxia Burn the Wooden Buddha?
After Chan Master Danxia awakened and realized the true Buddha within (self-nature Buddha), he not only shattered the four marks—the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of lifespan—in his mind, but he also shattered the mark of Buddha. He recognized only the true Buddha, not the false Buddha. Those wooden and stone carved Buddha images were certainly not the true Buddha, so what harm was there in burning them? However, those who have not realized the true Buddha absolutely must not imitate this. Because without realizing the truth, the false marks still exist; burning the false mark is equivalent to burning the true mark. This incurs great sin; the karmic retribution for slandering and insulting the Buddha is very bad. In ancient times, there was an ordinary monk who imitated an enlightened monk by writing the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on his underwear. As a result, within a day or two, he vomited blood (I don't remember if he died). Also, a modern person threw a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva into a river. For many years after returning home, his body was constantly cold and damp. Only after feeling remorse for his sin and taking some remedial measures did his serious illness improve.
Chan Master Danxia had profound good roots from past lives. After his awakening, his spiritual attainment was deep. His mind was empty and without marks; he often lay leisurely on a bridge, carefree and doing nothing, which people often found strange. For someone who has attained the Way, what else is there to do? The world of the five aggregates is empty—signless, wishless, desireless. Life is just eating and sleeping; stretching out both feet and lying down is perfectly normal. What is there to scheme about, rushing around east and west, busy inside and out? Only when the mind is utterly empty do all dharmas function naturally and spontaneously; then the Buddha will naturally come to predict one's future Buddhahood. If even one dharma is not empty, if there is still one thing to seek, if one still wants to become a Buddha or patriarch—forget about the Buddha coming to predict it. Those who, in the name of liberating sentient beings, scheme for personal gain, making Buddhism murky and chaotic, will probably not only fail to receive the Buddha's prediction but will also receive the "repair" of cause and effect. Karmic retribution is truly fearsome.
Some might say, "I also think wooden and stone Buddha statues are not the true Buddha; I could burn one and nothing would happen." Then go ahead and try burning one, and see if you experience your internal organs burning, suffering unbearable pain. What you *think* is useless; what the conscious mind *feels* is useless. If the manas does not acknowledge it, cause and effect will not be mistaken. Those who think they have attained fruition, who think they have realized the mind and awakened—go try writing the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas on your underwear. Go try burning a wooden Buddha or destroying a stone Buddha. If nothing happens, you can be considered truly awakened, having shattered the marks. Is there anyone who dares to do this, like Chan Master Danxia?
Some might say, "The person who verified me is quite accomplished; I just believe it." But I say the Buddha is the most accomplished. If the Buddha's verification did not accord with the facts, the Tathāgatagarbha would not acknowledge it, and cause and effect certainly would not acknowledge it either. Of course, this is just a hypothesis; the Buddha's verification absolutely accords with the facts and the Tathāgatagarbha. Some people are very stubborn, unwilling to listen to anything, trusting only their own feelings. But the Tathāgatagarbha is even more stubborn, concerned only with facts. Cause and effect is especially stubborn, daring to oppose everyone. Those who refuse to bow to facts will find cause and effect opposing them.
