How Can One Attain the Supreme Worldly Dharma?

The Buddha said that those who fully observe the five precepts attain a human body, and those who perfect the ten good deeds are reborn in the heavens. In the present era, how many people can fully keep the five precepts? Heavenly beings can fully observe the five precepts and create no evil karma, so for them to be reborn as humans after death is no problem; however, if at the time of a heavenly being's death the evil karma from past lives ripens, they will fall directly into hell—what human body could they obtain? For those among humans who fully observe the five precepts, if at the time of death the evil karma from past lives ripens, they will fall directly into the three evil paths—what human body could they obtain? If you wish to attain a human body in future lives, first, you must fully observe the five precepts, and second, you must eliminate the evil karma from past lives—how many people can accomplish this? Unless one is a person who has eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), or one who has awakened to the true mind and seen one's nature.

There is a method for eliminating self-view, yet one does not put in the effort to actually cultivate it, instead spending one's energy grasping at worldly dharmas, and the result is grasping the retribution of the three evil paths—is it worth it? In the three evil paths, what is there left to grasp? Many people have never calmly sat down and calculated this account. How many people in this world are truly wise and intelligent? Having learned Buddhism yet still committing great evil karma, and even being incited by others to commit the great evil karma of slandering the Three Jewels—are such people not the most foolish of all? This is no different from eating a meal while throwing sand into the pot, or drinking water while throwing filth into the well—it is essentially smashing one's own rice bowl.

Since one is grasping at worldly dharmas, what is the most reliable and secure way to grasp them? How can one obtain more, greater, and more extraordinary worldly dharmas? That is to cultivate the bodhisattva's six perfections and attain realization to become a bodhisattva and become a Buddha. The noble ones who have achieved cultivation are not only at ease in transcendental dharmas, but also at ease in worldly dharmas. In this world, noble ones can not only be kings, but can also be the four great wheel-turning sage kings—the golden, silver, copper, and iron wheel-turning kings. They can not only govern one nation, but also govern one continent, and even govern the four great continents; they can also ascend to the heavens to become the lords of the various heavenly layers, governing the desire-realm heavens and the form-realm heavens. How could sentient beings in the human world compare to such merit and distinction? Moreover, noble ones with great supernatural powers, and bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above, can transform the entire earth, the entire Sahā world, and even entire other Buddha-lands into manifestation in the blink of an eye—let alone the various jewels and treasures within each world.

Why does no one calculate this account? Because poverty limits the imagination and blocks one's vision; those of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) cannot consider so much—they cannot even manage the trivial matters right before their eyes. Furthermore, investigate where the emperors and monarchs of past dynasties and eons have gone—what are they doing now? I am afraid most of them are still in the three evil paths. Who could possess the merit, distinction, and nobility of those emperors? They are all suffering poverty and misery in the three evil paths, so what is there in this world worth grasping for ordinary people? Many people have a mind of arrogance. Just think: what do you have that is worth arrogance, worth pride? Being some kind of official, or possessing so much paper money and silver coins—what is there worth being arrogant about or showing off?