The Retribution of the Karma of Ignorance and Afflictions

Those who have committed relatively serious karmic offenses need to repent before the Buddha and see signs of response, such as lotus flowers appearing or the Buddha coming to touch one's head in consolation. Offenses that are generally not too serious can be eliminated by sincerely repenting in front of the assembly. Remember: greed leads to rebirth in the realm of hungry ghosts, anger leads to the hell realm, and ignorance leads to the animal realm. When evil karma manifests at the time of death, one will inevitably fall into the three evil realms—there is no escape. In ordinary times, examine your own mind-nature frequently and strive to subdue it with the principles of the Buddha's Dharma; holding precepts and cultivating meditative concentration subdues afflictions relatively quickly. For those with extremely heavy greed, the time spent suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts will be extremely long; if one develops serious greed toward the Three Jewels, the offense is simply too grave. For those with relatively severe anger and hatred, the time spent receiving retribution in the hell realm will be extremely long; if one harbors anger and hatred toward the Three Jewels, that karmic offense is even more inconceivably serious. Those with severe ignorance will commit great evil karma, and then it is no longer just a matter of the animal realm—they will first fall into hell to receive retribution, then into the realm of hungry ghosts, and only afterward into the animal realm.

All afflictions arise entirely from ignorance; ignorance is the root of afflictions. Without ignorance, greed and anger would not arise, and afflictive karma would not be created. In the future, when afflictions are eradicated, greed and anger are eradicated first, and ignorance is eradicated last. In this world, everywhere there are swarms of ignorant sentient beings—far too many, and far too severe.

Long ago, there was a lay Buddhist who slandered an arhat. The arhat told that layperson: "I have already attained the fruit of arhatship. You must repent before the assembly, otherwise you will certainly fall into hell." The arhat then rang the bell to gather the assembly and ascended the hall, and the layperson apologized and repented before the assembly. Nevertheless, when that layperson died, he still fell into hell. Why? Because the karmic offense of slandering an arhat is too great and too heavy—even after repentance it cannot be completely eliminated. If he had not repented, the offense would have been even heavier, and the time spent receiving retribution in hell would have been even longer. To come out of hell one minute earlier is already a great fortune worth rejoicing over. Depending on whether the offense is light or heavy, one falls into different hells and suffers different pain. The offenses of slandering a person of the first fruit, the second fruit, or the third fruit are also all very heavy. People in this world pay no attention to what status or what realization the other person has—once afflictions arise, they slander indiscriminately, heedless of the consequences, because venting is what matters most. How ignorant!

If, in studying Buddhism, one does not wish to subdue afflictions, then even if one has studied the doctrine of the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas, after creating afflictive karma and falling into the three evil realms, even the Dharma of the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas cannot save oneself. At all times one simply follows along with one's own afflictive dispositions, never considering the consequences, indulging one's own feelings and gratifying one's own will—letting others do whatever they like, as long as one's own mind feels comfortable. But when the karmic retribution arrives, the discomfort will be a millionfold. Is there any proportion between comfort and discomfort? There is no proportion whatsoever. At that time, one will think: why did I put myself through that back then? It was utterly not worth it—all I gained was evil retribution, and I gained nothing at all.