Indulging in Troubles Is No True Act of Sages and Saints

Killing people with mantras and corpse-raisers is a very secretive method. Others won't know you had a motive to kill, won't know you killed, won't know you killed without shedding blood. Indulging such afflictions makes one an evil person; acting on them creates the karmic offense of killing. Indulging such afflictions not only makes one morally deficient but utterly devoid of great virtue. Such a person cannot be a great virtuous one, cannot be a Bodhisattva. The ranks of Bodhisattvas will not harbor such evil criminals.

Some people, while not killing humans and unwilling to see others kill, still kill animals, which is also the karmic offense of killing. For instance, craving meat and wanting it fresh, they avoid killing themselves but hint for others to kill on their behalf. By muttering about wanting meat, others procure live creatures, slaughter and prepare them for consumption. Their hands remain clean, untainted by blood, yet their mouths are unclean, and their minds are even filthier. Can such afflictions be indulged? Indulging them constitutes killing, committing an unrepentable sin. Instigating others to kill carries even heavier guilt. Such an offender cannot be a sage or Bodhisattva.

Some make excuses, saying: "We Bodhisattvas know all animals are manifestations of the Tathagatagarbha. Eating meat is also a phenomenon arising from the Tathagatagarbha. Therefore, it’s all illusory and false. Just be clearly aware, and thus eating equals not eating, killing equals not killing." Their implication is that knowing all phenomena arise from the Tathagatagarbha, one can do anything or do nothing. Then I ask: What is the purpose of studying the Tathagatagarbha Mahayana Dharma? Is it to cover up evil karma and one’s own greed, hatred, and delusion? Is the Tathagatagarbha a tool for committing evil? Does studying the Tathagatagarbha Dharma longer and deeper make one more reckless in committing evil? Is this the ultimate state achieved through Buddhist practice?

Some talk about the Tathagatagarbha daily yet commit evil deeds incessantly, plagued by boundless afflictions without restraint. Even ordinary people aren’t like this. Isn’t it better not to study Buddhism or the Tathagatagarbha, to peacefully remain a good ordinary person, a refined gentleman of superior virtue? I’ve met many infused with wrong views who say: "Don’t look at these superficial phenomena; these are just matters of appearance. Look at our Dharma; our Dharma is the supreme and most precious Mahayana Tathagatagarbha Dharma, rare and hard to encounter." I find it strange: having studied such a rare and precious Mahayana Tathagatagarbha Dharma, yet unable to resolve matters of appearance, with phenomena becoming increasingly chaotic and defiled, running counter to the Path—then what is this Dharma for? Is it for self-aggrandizement and putting on a facade, or for dispelling ignorance and attaining liberation?

Speaking of liberation, some have more to say: "We Mahayana Bodhisattvas do not pursue liberation; it’s the Arhats who seek liberation. Bodhisattvas do not seek liberation." What is implied here? It means Bodhisattvas are bound by the worldly phenomena of the five aggregates, bound by afflictions, bound by ignorance. Due to these bonds at life’s end, they are bound to the three evil realms, bound in the six paths of rebirth, no different from ordinary beings. Is this so? If so, then such Bodhisattvas are no different from ordinary beings; better not to be one at all.