Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (153)

The Retribution of Craving Delicious Food in a Dream

Original text: 佛言大王。如是如是。愚夫异生。见美食已。心生爱着。起于贪行。身三语四。意三种业。最初造作。刹那灭谢。是业灭已。不依东方。南西北方。四维上下。中间而住。最后边际。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, it is indeed so. When foolish ordinary beings and prthagjanas encounter delicious food, craving and attachment arise in their minds, and they engage in greedy actions—three kinds of bodily karma, four kinds of verbal karma, and three kinds of mental karma. From the moment these are first created, the karmic actions cease moment by moment as they are being performed. After these karmic actions have ceased, they do not abide in the east, west, south, or north, the four intermediate directions, up or down. However, when the final limit is reached and the life faculty is about to perish, the karmic retributions created in this very life all manifest in full, just like waking from a dream and still recalling the events of the dream.