Murder Using Wight

Section One of the Upasaka Five Precepts Sutra Original Text:

Vidyaraja Killing. If an upasaka, on the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, seeks a complete corpse of a dead person, summons spirits by incantation to raise the corpse, washes it with water, clothes it, and makes it grasp a knife in its hand; and if he mentally wills and orally declares: "For the sake of so-and-so, I perform this Vidyaraja," then recites the incantation; if the person he intends to harm dies, he commits an unpardonable offense. If the intended victim enters into various samadhis, or is protected by celestial gods, or is rescued by a great master of incantations, so that the harm is not accomplished, he commits a medium offense that is pardonable. This is called Vidyaraja Killing.

Explanation:

Regarding killing using a corpse-raising spirit: If an upasaka, on the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, finds a complete corpse of a dead person, recites an incantation to summon spirits to empower the corpse, makes the corpse stand up, washes it with water, clothes it, and makes it grasp a knife in its hand; and if the upasaka mentally wills and orally declares: "It is for the sake of so-and-so that I have created this corpse-raising spirit," then recites the incantation to harm a person; if the person he intends to harm dies, the upasaka commits the unpardonable offense of killing. If that person enters into samadhi and thus avoids the evil incantation, or is protected by celestial gods, or is rescued by a great master of incantations, so that the killing is not accomplished, the upasaka commits a medium pardonable offense. This is the method of killing using a corpse-raising spirit.

Why can a corpse-raising spirit kill? A corpse itself cannot kill, because it lacks a conscious mind and cannot be driven to act. However, if a spirit possesses the corpse, the conscious mind merges with the body, and the spirit’s conscious mind can then drive the corpse to act, enabling it to grasp a knife and kill. As long as a person offers the spirit some benefit, such as food and drink, the spirit will obey the person’s commands and summons, serving the person. Some spirits may also be driven by the power of incantations, meaning they are controlled by the incantation reciter. There is also a method of killing using incantations alone, without a corpse or spirit, where the incantation directly causes death. What is the principle behind this? Incantations represent the mind. If a person’s mental power is strong, whatever the mind wills for a person will happen to that person. If the mental power is not strong, the power of the incantation will be weak.

Section One of the Upasaka Five Precepts Sutra Original Text:

Semi-Vidyaraja Killing. If an upasaka, on the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, constructs an iron chariot. After constructing the iron chariot, he makes an iron man. He summons spirits by incantation to raise the iron man, washes it with water, clothes it, and makes the iron man grasp a knife in its hand. If he mentally wills and orally declares: "I recite this incantation for the sake of so-and-so," and if that person dies, he commits an unpardonable offense. If the intended victim enters into various samadhis, is protected by celestial gods, or is rescued by a master of incantations, so that death does not occur, he commits a medium pardonable offense. This is called Semi-Vidyaraja Killing.

Explanation:

Regarding killing using a semi-corpse-raising spirit: If an upasaka, on the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, constructs an iron chariot. After constructing it, he then makes an iron man. He recites an incantation to summon spirits, makes the iron man stand up, washes the iron man with water, clothes it, and makes the iron man grasp a knife in its hand. If the upasaka mentally wills and orally declares: "I am reciting this incantation for the sake of so-and-so," and after reciting it, if that person dies from the incantation, the upasaka commits the unpardonable offense of killing. If that person enters into samadhi and avoids the incantation, or is protected by celestial gods, or is rescued by a master of incantations, and thus does not die, the upasaka commits a medium pardonable offense of killing. This is called killing using a semi-corpse-raising spirit.

Why can entering samadhi avoid the affliction of an evil incantation? Because when a person is in samadhi, their own energy field is extremely powerful, capable of blocking all external disturbances and harms. Therefore, evil and poisonous incantations cannot penetrate.