The Karmic Condition for the Cycle of Birth and Death Is Craving

At the time of death, if there is a thought of greed—whether craving for family members and relatives, craving for worldly life, craving for wealth or affection—one will take rebirth in the ghost realm. If the final thought at death is one of anger—no matter what the anger is directed at, if it is relatively severe—one may well take rebirth in hell.

Therefore, if you place all your hopes on the final moment, believing that at death you will be able to recollect the Buddha and keep your mind pure, that is extremely unreliable—who has guaranteed it for you? Anything might happen at the moment of death, and you cannot know what thoughts you will have. If you cannot even control your ordinary daily thoughts, then at death, when the four great elements dissolve and karmic obstacles manifest, it is almost one hundred percent certain that, driven by karmic conditions, your mind will stir and you will fall into the three evil destinies—there is no guarantee you will not enter the three evil destinies.

The only way to ensure not falling into the three evil destinies is, as much as possible, to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and attain seeing the mind, or to accomplish the third contemplation of the Contemplation of the Infinite Life Sūtra—the contemplation of the ground. Even recollecting the Buddha with foreknowledge of one's time of death is not dependable; if at that moment the mind is not single-minded in recollecting the Buddha, and sincerity is insufficient, the Buddha will not come to receive you.

Ninety percent or even more of Buddhist practitioners go to the three evil destinies at death to take rebirth, and most of them go to the ghost realm, because one hundred percent of people have greedy minds and have not eradicated craving. The situation of eradicating craving is this: after eradicating the view of self, one attains the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna, and within that concentration eradicates craving and ill will; apart from this, everyone has a mind of craving. However, even if those of the first fruit (srotāpanna) and second fruit (sakṛdāgāmin) still have minds of craving, because they have severed the three fetters, they will no longer take rebirth in the ghost realm; they can only take rebirth in the desire-realm heavens or among humans, continuing to crave, and gradually eradicating craving.

Such is the mercilessness of the six paths of saṃsāra—it shows no favoritism. Without genuine practice and realization, at the end of life one is swept away to transmigrate according to one's karmic obstacles, taking rebirth following thoughts of greed, with no room for choice. Because one has not trained in ordinary times, or has not trained successfully. Only those who have eradicated the view of self are those whose training has succeeded.

But those with false eradication of the view of self and false seeing of the mind still count as not having trained successfully; they still have not severed the three fetters, and they will still follow thoughts of greed to take rebirth in the ghost realm—this is unavoidable.

Countless Buddhist practitioners remain unaware of this, still craving fine food, fine clothing, and fine dwellings every day, fond of enjoyment, fond of so-called freedom and ease, fond of glamour, fond of comfort. These fondnesses are afflictive fetters that bind oneself within the six paths of rebirth; they are diseases of the mind, and they are the karmic conditions of future lives. In each person's lifetime, all that should be enjoyed has been enjoyed—but what about future lives? Which is more important: enjoying things now, or being free from the suffering of the three evil destinies in future lives?

There are also some lofty-sounding cultivation methods that say one should not entertain the thought of eating meat while eating it. As for those who truly do not entertain the thought of eating meat while eating it—those whose minds have already been transformed—Jigong the monk might count as one; how many others can actually do it? Since one is no longer interested in meat, why must one insist on eating it? Would it not be better to let one fewer animal die? At the time of death, when the owner of that meat comes to collect the debt, will you have the ability not to repay it?