Commentary on the Sutra of the Compendium of Father and Son (99)

The Ten Kinds of Evil Karmic Retributions All Manifest at the Time of Death

Original Text: The Buddha said: "Great King, it is so, it is indeed so. When foolish ordinary beings see a form with their eyes, they become confused and fail to comprehend. They create actions of delusion: three kinds of bodily karma, four kinds of verbal karma, and three kinds of mental karma. The initial creation of karma perishes in an instant. Once this karma perishes, it does not reside in the east, south, west, or north, nor in the four intermediate directions, above, below, or in the middle. At the final moment, when the life faculty ceases, the karmic retribution belonging to oneself all manifests before one. It is like awakening from a dream and recalling the events of the dream."

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, it is indeed so, you are correct. When foolish ordinary beings see an unpleasant form with their eyes, their minds immediately become annoyed, giving rise to aversion and a mind seeking to abandon it. They wish to destroy the unpleasant form and criticize its various faults. In this way, they create actions of hatred: three kinds of bodily karma, four kinds of verbal karma, and three kinds of mental karma. The initial creation of karma perishes instantaneously moment by moment. This karma does not reside in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or in the middle. When approaching the end of life, as the physical body is about to perish, the karmic retribution from one's own created karma all manifests. It is just like awakening from a dream and still recalling the events of the dream.

The initial creation of karma perishes moment by moment. After this karma perishes, it does not reside in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, below, or in the middle. Karma has no place to reside. For example, the verbal karma of my speech had no place to reside before it arose, and after it vanishes, there is no location for it to go. Yet, when my life faculty finally ceases, this verbal karma manifests. I then become aware of it and follow the karma to receive its retribution.

At the time of death, one's own and others' karmic retributions manifest. It is like recalling the events of a dream after awakening. When approaching death, the undertakings of a lifetime flash through one's mind, just like recalling a dream. Afterward, one only follows the karma to receive retribution, falsely undergoing the suffering of the six realms of rebirth.