The Reason Why Slandering the True Dharma Prevents Rebirth and Liberation

The Eighteenth Vow of the Infinite Life Sūtra (the conditions for rebirth in the Land of Bliss): 设我得佛，十方众生，至心信乐，欲生我国，乃至十念，若不生者，不取正觉。唯除五逆，诽谤正法。

The five acts of grave transgression are: shedding the Buddha's blood, killing an arhat, destroying the harmonious Saṅgha, killing one's father, and killing one's mother. The true Dharma refers to the correct dharma teachings that can liberate sentient beings, including both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna teachings.

Why is it that those who commit the five grave transgressions cannot be reborn in the Land of Bliss, and cannot even attain the fruits of realization, awaken to the true mind, or achieve liberation? Why is it that those who slander the true Dharma cannot attain the fruits of realization, cannot awaken to the true mind, and cannot achieve liberation?

First, let us discuss shedding the Buddha's blood. Because the Buddha's karmic seeds have been completely purified, He can no longer attract any unwholesome karma or adverse conditions, and there is no unwholesome retribution whatsoever. Therefore no sentient being can kill the Buddha, nor can anyone harm the Buddha and cause blood to flow from His physical body. So why is there still the notion of shedding the Buddha's blood? The Buddha's bloodline is the Dharma lineage, the transmission of the Buddha's teachings. Shedding the Buddha's blood means causing the Dharma lineage to be lost and cut off, unable to spread normally. The Buddha's teachings can enable sentient beings to escape birth and death and attain liberation; thus shedding the Buddha's blood is an extremely grave matter. The retribution for this unwholesome karma is the karma of the Avīci hell. Those who commit such unwholesome karma cannot attain liberation and cannot escape the suffering of birth and death.

An arhat is a liberated sage who has severed all afflictions. Because of his virtue of liberation, humans and devas should all make offerings to him; this is called "one worthy of offerings" (arhat). The liberation realization of bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above is equivalent to that of a great arhat of the fourth fruit; the liberation realization of bodhisattvas from the first to the seventh bhūmi is equivalent to that of a sage of the third fruit—they retain a trace of afflictive karma, do not take up the fruit of liberation, and do not enter the definitive stage of liberation, so as to ensure they do not enter nirvāṇa without remainder. The karmic retribution of respecting and making offerings to an arhat is the severing of afflictions, attaining liberation, and being freed from birth and death. Conversely, killing an arhat means one cannot be liberated from afflictions, cannot attain liberation, and cannot escape birth and death; all paths of liberation that could lead one out of the suffering of birth and death are completely blocked. Therefore such a person cannot be reborn in the Land of Bliss, cannot attain the fruits of realization, and cannot awaken to the true mind and see one's nature.

As for the harmonious Saṅgha: "Saṅgha" is the Sanskrit word Saṃgha, fully called "saṅgha," referring to male Buddhist practitioners who have left home to cultivate. It means "assembly," "community," or "fellowship"; in a broad sense it also includes female practitioners, and the male and female monastics are collectively called bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs. A saṅgha is a religious organization formed by a group of four or more monastics who rely on the Buddha's Dharma. Without the status and qualification of monastics, one does not belong to the bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs; no matter how many such people there are, they do not constitute such an assembly. As for the noble saṅgha (ārya-saṅgha), it must consist of monastics who have genuinely attained the fruits of realization and genuinely awakened to the true mind and seen their nature. Those who falsely claim realization and falsely claim awakening through their mind consciousness are still ordinary monastics; when the mind consciousness is not in operation, what is fully revealed is the inherent nature of the manas, which has neither attained realization nor awakened to the true mind, and they will inevitably undergo the cycle of birth and death according to the views and afflictions of the manas.

"Harmony" means dwelling together in accordance with the principle of the six principles of harmony and respect: harmony in views through shared understanding, harmony in precepts through shared cultivation, harmony in body through shared dwelling, harmony in speech through absence of contention, harmony in mind through shared joy, and harmony in benefits through equal sharing. If opinions and viewpoints are not in accord, there is no harmony. If none observe the three refuges and five precepts, the eight precepts, the bhikṣu precepts, the bhikṣuṇī precepts, and the bodhisattva precepts, and the precepts they cultivate are inconsistent and do not conform to what the Buddha established, there is no harmony. If their physical bodies cannot dwell in a common place but are scattered in all directions—east, west, south, and north—there is no harmony. If they quarrel with one another internally, revile each other, attack and undermine one another, with endless disputes and conflicts, there is even less harmony. If they feel uncomfortable whenever they meet, feeling inwardly angry and displeased, with many barriers between them, there is no harmony. If benefits among the members are unequally distributed—no matter what kind of benefits—with one side only making sacrifices and giving without return, and the other side only taking and possessing, there is likewise no harmony. If any one of these is violated, it cannot constitute a harmonious Saṅgha.

A truly harmonious Saṅgha can, on behalf of the Buddha, transmit the true Dharma throughout the ages and rescue sentient beings from the fiery sea of birth and death. To destroy it is to destroy the raft that ferries sentient beings across birth and death; the retribution is that one cannot attain liberation and escape the suffering of birth and death, and therefore cannot be reborn in the Land of Bliss, cannot attain the fruits of realization, and cannot awaken to the true mind. A discordant Saṅgha does not carry this fault; a discordant Saṅgha brings afflictions and bitter fruits to sentient beings, adding afflictions upon afflictions, adding bondage and shackles, making the suffering of birth and death even greater.

Parents give us this physical body; with this body we can encounter the true Dharma and study and cultivate it, and we have the opportunity to attain liberation and permanently escape birth and death. Therefore the kindness of parents is as heavy as a mountain; even being ground to powder and bones could hardly repay the kindness of parents for giving birth to and raising us. If sentient beings not only fail to make offerings to them but instead kill them, the sin of killing one's father and mother is of incomparable weight; after death one falls into the Avīci hell without liberation. Therefore those who kill their father or mother cannot be reborn in the Land of Bliss, cannot attain the fruits of realization, and cannot awaken to the true mind.

The correct Buddha-Dharma, when sentient beings rely on it to study and cultivate, is the cause of liberation, enabling one to attain liberation and end birth and death. If one slanders these dharma teachings, it means one does not have faith in the true Dharma. If faith is insufficient, how can one study and cultivate? Without study and cultivation, how can there be liberation? The Dharma is like a raft for crossing the sea of birth and death; if the raft is destroyed, by what can sentient beings cross the sea of birth and death? Slandering the true Dharma means not only that one does not believe oneself, but also that one prevents others from believing and accepting it. The sin is extremely great; one will certainly not be able to escape birth and death and attain liberation. Therefore such a person cannot be reborn in the Land of Bliss, cannot attain the fruits of realization, and cannot awaken to the true mind.

The teachings that can liberate sentient beings include the Hīnayāna Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination, as well as the Mahāyāna series of tathāgatagarbha teachings, such as prajñā, the Vaipulya teachings, and Yogācāra—the theories of the five, six, seven, and eight consciousnesses—and include the three untainted studies of precepts, meditation (samādhi), and wisdom. The Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination enable sentient beings to attain small liberation, but not permanent and ultimate liberation; the Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha teachings can enable sentient beings to attain permanent, true, and ultimate liberation. The teaching of the seventh consciousness, the manas, can guarantee sentient beings small liberation as well as great liberation, even ultimate liberation. All liberation, regardless of degree, lies in the liberation of the manas. If the manas is not liberated, it is all false liberation: afflictions cannot be severed, birth and death cannot be ended, the sea of suffering cannot be escaped, and one cannot attain the cool tranquility and stillness of nirvāṇa.

Those who commit the five grave transgressions are exceedingly few, while those who slander the true Dharma are increasing in number, visible everywhere, and this is now the common situation. Therefore I exhort everyone: since your meditative concentration and wisdom are insufficient and your realization is not enough, you should be cautious in speech and conduct at all times and in all places. When you are not qualified to act as a judge, quietly cultivate yourself. Even if for now you cannot attain the fruits of realization or awaken to the true mind, and lack the seed-wisdom of Yogācāra, you should still be a wise person in the world, not inviting disaster and calamity upon yourself, and not setting up roadblocks on your own path to liberation.