Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (78)

The karmic retribution of the ten unwholesome actions all manifests at the time of death

Original text: 佛言大王。如是如是。愚痴众生。眼见色已。心生爱乐。复起贪着。为彼所牵。造贪业行。身业三种。语业四种。意业三种。最初造作。刹那灭谢。是业不依。东西南北。四维上下。中间而住。于死边际。命根灭时。自分业报。皆悉现前。犹如梦觉。念梦中事。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, so it is, so it is — it is indeed like this. When ignorant sentient beings see forms with their eyes, their minds give rise to delight and craving, and then they develop attachment and grasping toward the object of form. Their minds are drawn along by the object of form, and they create karmic actions of craving and attachment. Bodily karma consists of three: killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; verbal karma consists of four: false speech, frivolous speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech; mental karma consists of three: greed, hatred, and delusion.

After bodily, verbal, and mental actions have been carried out, the karmic formations cease as soon as they are created, and finally the karmic formations all cease and are no longer created. These karmic formations do not abide depending on east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, up, down, or the middle; they do not go to the east, west, south, or north, nor to the four directions and eight quarters. However, when the time of death arrives and the six faculties are about to perish, the karmic retribution one has created will all manifest in full — just like when one awakens from a dream and still recollects the events within the dream.