Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Forty-three

People in this world do not follow laws and rules. They are extravagant, indulge excessively in desires, and are arrogant—they willfully do whatever they want. Those who hold high positions are corrupted; they are not upright in their duties. They falsely incriminate others and harm loyal and upright people. What they think is contrary to what they say; they are scheming and deceitful. They will try to deceive all—regardless of whether others have high or low positions, regardless of whether they are related or not. They get angry and are ignorant—they want to gain the riches of others. They desire more, and compete for advantage and profit. Grudges form and turn into enmities, causing families to be ruined and members to separate or die. They do not care about before and after. Some rich people are stingy and unwilling to give. Imprisoned by their desires, their greed runs deep. Their minds labor and their bodies suffer. They continue like this until the very end, yet nothing will accompany them. What will follow them into their next life will be their good karmas, bad karmas, good fortune, and misfortune. They may go to happy places or to extremely miserable places. When seeing the virtuousness of others, they become hateful and slanderous, instead of having respect and admiration. They constantly harbor the intent to steal, hoping to appropriate the wealth of others for their own. After they use it up, they try to take more again. Spiritual beings of heaven and earth will record their deeds and eventually they will fall into the evil paths.

“People in this world do not follow laws and rules.” “Rules” are regulations, etiquette, customs, and moral values. When people do not obey laws or follow etiquette, society will be in chaos. The following describes the chaotic phenomena of society.

“They are extravagant, indulge excessively in desires, and are arrogant—they willfully do whatever they want.” “Willfully doing whatever they want” means that they do whatever they like without restraint.

“Those who hold high positions are corrupted; they are not upright in their duties.” “Those who hold high positions” refers to people who have leadership roles in society. “Corrupted” means not understanding the principles. “Not upright” refers to improper thoughts and behavior—for selfish gains, the public is harmed. This refers to the government officials who take bribes and abuse the law. Their intentions are not upright. They do not work for the benefit of the people. Instead, they benefit themselves by thinking of all kinds of ways to cheat people of their hard work and possessions. Such stealing is very grave.

The following are examples.

“They falsely incriminate others and harm loyal and upright people.” This is to forcibly take the power, position, or wealth of others. This is having the mind of stealing.

“What they think is contrary to what they say; they are scheming and deceitful.” This is saying that what these people say and do are different. They scheme to defraud others. Things like this have happened throughout history and around the world. No matter how wise and able a leader is, it is unavoidable for him or her to wrong a few innocent people or to make mistakes that are bad for citizens. Throughout history, in this world, we cannot find a person who is perfect, one who has never made a mistake in his or her lifetime.

“They will try to deceive all—regardless of high or low position, regardless of whether they are related or not.” “High” refers to one’s elders. “Low” refers to one’s juniors. “Related or not” refers to relatives and non-relatives. To benefit themselves, they deceive all: elders, juniors, family, and outsiders. Families are in discord—with parents, children, siblings, relatives, and friends all trying to deceive one another.

“They get angry and are ignorant—they want to gain the riches of others. They desire more, and compete for advantage and profit.” This is brought about by greed for wealth and benefit. Always wanting to get more for ourselves and not wanting to yield, we quarrel with others and others with us, and we become foes.

“Grudges form and turn into enmity, causing families to be ruined and members to separate or die. They do not care about before and after.” “Before” refers to cause and “after” refers to retribution. People do not know about cause and effect, which is why they are not afraid to do as they please. When retributions appear, it is too late for regret. The result is their families are destroyed and they lose their own lives.

“Some rich people are stingy and unwilling to give.” This is describing the rich and prestigious people who are greedy and stingy, and who are unwilling to help others.

People in this world do not understand the truth of life and the universe. They are ignorant and selfish. The Buddha told us the truth of life and the universe—the entire Dharma Realm is one entity, and the true nature of Buddhas and bodhisattvas and that of all beings are one. From this, we realize that we and all the other beings in the entire Dharma Realm are closely knit—when we love ourselves, we will love all beings; when we help others, we are helping ourselves.

Buddhist practitioners must broaden their minds and care about all beings. The broader the mind, the greater the good fortune. In this world and beyond, the Buddha’s good fortune is the greatest good fortune because his mind “embraces the expanse of space and encompasses the vastness of the universe.”

Wealth is good fortune, and it will be used up some day. It is stated in the sutras that one’s wealth belongs to five families. The first is water, which can flood one’s properties. The second is fire, which can burn one’s properties. The third is the government. In the past, the government would confiscate all the properties of a criminal. The fourth is robbers and thieves. The fifth is spendthrift children, who are hard to guard against.

How does one protect one’s wealth? By giving. One should try to do more charitable acts that benefit society and all beings.

During the Spring and Autumn period in China, Mr. Fan Li was a senior official of King Gou Jian of the Yue state. After the Yue state was conquered by the Wu state, he helped Gou Jian restore the Yue state. When he completed his mission, he changed his name and started to do business. Within a few years, he amassed a great fortune. After he became wealthy, he gave away all his wealth and again started a small business. Within a few years, he amassed another great fortune. He then gave away all his wealth a second time. In his lifetime, he amassed great wealth three times and gave everything away three times. He was truly wise and able. What he did was very correct.

When we have enough food and clothing, we should take care of the poor and work for the benefit of society and the local community. We must know to practice virtuous conduct, cultivate good fortune, and accumulate merit. The more wealth we give away, the more we will receive. When we give, we will gain. When we do not give, we will not gain.

“Imprisoned by their desires, their greed runs deep. Their minds labor and their bodies suffer.” When one has a lot of money, one worries about gains and losses. One will not be at ease. Therefore, one suffers physically and mentally.

“They continue like this until the very end, yet nothing will accompany them.” An ancient eminent master said, “[When we die,] we cannot take anything with us; only karmas will accompany us.” Fame and honor, wealth and rank, and money and possessions—we cannot take these with us. All the good karmas and bad karmas created in our lifetime will stay with us. Those who are truly awakened know that they should cultivate what they can take with them. What they cannot take along, they should just ignore and waste no energy on.

“What will follow them into their next life will be their good karmas, bad karmas, good fortune, and misfortune.” Good karmas will bring about good fortune. Bad karmas will bring about misfortune.

“They may go to happy places or go into extremely miserable places.” “Happy places” refers to the human and heavenly paths. “Extremely miserable places” refers to the Three Evil Paths (of hells, hungry ghosts, and animals). It is our own good and bad karmas that dictate and pull us into the path that we are reborn in. This is retribution, not the work of Lord Yama, God, Buddhas, or bodhisattvas.

“When seeing the virtuousness of others, they become hateful and slanderous, instead of wanting to emulate them.” Such thinking and behavior is not virtuous. Jealousy and hatred are indeed thoughts of stealing. Why? Because one does not like to see others doing better. This mindset is not normal. Wishing that others be worse off or becoming displeased, critical or slanderous when seeing virtuous people or good deeds being done—these are all thoughts of stealing.

A virtuous person delights upon seeing other virtuous people or good deeds and will wholeheartedly assist these people and help them accomplish their good deeds. A virtuous person sets a good example for whatever community he is in, and his good deeds will definitely benefit the general public.

When we help others achieve their goals, we will succeed in our cultivation of virtues. When we obstruct others, we are committing tremendously grave offenses.

“They constantly harbor the intent to steal, hoping to appropriate the wealth of others for their own. After they use it up, they try to take more again.” These people use various illegal means to take the gains of others and use them for their own enjoyment. When they use up the ill-gotten gains, they will again think of other ways to get more. This is stealing—having both the intent and the action.

“Spiritual beings of heaven and earth will record their deeds and eventually they will fall into the evil paths.” “Spiritual beings” refers to heavenly and earthly spirits. When one gives rise to an evil mind and commits evil deeds, one may fool others but not the spiritual beings. They keep a record of what one does. This is the first sense of this sentence.

“Spiritual beings” also refers to one’s consciousness, which the Chinese call conscience. Others may not know the evil deeds that one commits, but one clearly knows it in one’s heart. The seeds of these deeds will be embedded in the Alaya Consciousness and will not vanish. When the conditions mature, one will suffer retributions. This is the second sense of the sentence.

Our every thought and every action are recorded, like the data in a computer. Our Alaya Consciousness records all our good and evil thoughts and actions, similar to what a computer does. This is our database, containing not only data in this lifetime but also data from all past lifetimes. Spiritual beings and people who have the ability can read our data.

Therefore, we should be cautious with our thoughts. We should not allow any evil thought to arise. Every thought should be of benefiting all beings and not be of harming them. This way, we will truly succeed in attaining great virtue.

“Eventually they will fall into the evil paths.” This talks about retribution. Ultimately, these people will fall into the evil paths.

If the Buddha does not tell us these truths, there is no one else who can clearly explain them to us. This is how the Buddha helps and protects us: he teaches us to be constantly alert to our thoughts, words, and actions, so that we will not have any evil thought or commit any evil deed. This is leaving suffering behind and attaining happiness.

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung 

Created by Amitabha Gallery

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra Excerpt Forty-two

All kinds of beings in this world want to do evil. The strong overpower the weak, with both of them overwhelming and killing one another in turn. They cruelly harm and slaughter, and alternately devour one another. They do not know to do good deeds and thus will suffer misfortunes and punishments later. . . . [Karmic foes will] in turn take revenge on one another. . . . The suffering is beyond description.

This excerpt describes the saying “the weak are the prey of the strong.” Is this statement true? No. What is true is that reprisal breeds reprisal. It would seem that the weak are to be eaten or dominated by the strong, but it is not so. The Buddha, who had perfectly realized the five kinds of eyes,[1] clearly saw the truth of transmigration within the Six Paths. He said that the beings in the Six Paths alternately take revenge on one another, lifetime after lifetime.

It is said, “A human dies and is reborn a sheep; a sheep dies and is reborn a human.” In this life you are the human and you are stronger than the sheep; you kill and eat it. In the next life, the sheep becomes the human and you become the sheep; he will kill and eat you. Each one, in turn, pays back. This is “in turn take revenge on one another.” Such agony!

The weak being the prey of the strong is an abnormal phenomenon. It is a malicious relationship—one of continual reprisals. In addition, when one takes revenge, one will not do it in the exact amount—one will overdo it a little. Therefore, the enmity will continue lifetime after lifetime without end and will never be resolved. The retributions will become more and more terrible.

The first part of The Complete Works of Zhou Anshi is Lord Superior Wen Chang Tract of the Quiet Way. In the first section, Lord Superior Wen Chang talked about seventeen of his lifetimes of karmic causes and effects. The retributions were terrible—truly horrifying. It is worthy of our vigilance.

We understand the truth, so we should feel empathy for all beings—we should love them, not harm them. What is the cause of wars in this world? The Buddha told us that it is killing. Therefore, if wars are to end forever, beings should not eat meat.

Years ago when I was lecturing in Taipei, there was an elderly lay practitioner, a Mr. Wu from Ningbo. He used to do business in Shanghai and started to learn Buddhism in his old age. He told me a true story that happened in Shanghai.

A friend of his, who was also a businessman, worked for a German before World War II. This friend was very honest, trustworthy, and hardworking. Therefore, the German businessman was very fond of him.

When the war broke out, the German businessman returned to his country and entrusted the company to Mr. Wu’s friend, who ran it well. After the war ended, the German did not come back. It was said that he had died. Mr. Wu’s friend ended up owning the company. Of course, he did not take it by force. It naturally became his because the owner died.

Mr. Wu’s friend had a child. When the child was eleven or twelve, he dropped ten dollars (at that time, ten dollars was a lot of money) on the ground. An acquaintance of his father picked up the money and said, “Call me ‘Uncle’ and I’ll give you back the ten dollars.” The child retorted, “You call me ‘Uncle’ and I’ll give you ten dollars.”

That year, the father, Mr. Wu’s friend, was fifty years old. At his birthday party, he suddenly saw that his child looked like his late German employer (the father alone saw this). Having started learning Buddhism, the father realized that his late employer probably was reborn in his family and became his son. There and then, he announced the transfer of all his property to his son. This was a very smart thing to do.

This story illustrates that a child is born into a family to collect debt, repay debt, repay kindness, or exact revenge. This is definitely true. The Buddha talks about the four kinds of karmic links that exist between parents and children. Those who come to repay kindness are filial children. Those who come to exact revenge hold grudges from past lifetimes and will cause families to break up and family members to die. Some come to collect debt. The son of Mr. Wu’s friend is a good example. Some come to repay debt. These are the causes for those who are in the same family.

When a child is born into one’s family, one needs to know to change—to transform bad relationships into Dharma relationships.

“They do not know to do good deeds and will thus suffer misfortunes and punishments later.” “Misfortunes and punishments” are the Five Sufferings and the Five Burnings. People in general know only to kill animals to satisfy their desire for food—they do not know the disastrous consequences of such actions.

Before Venerable Guanghua became a monk, he handled military supplies in the military. At that time, he was eating one chicken a day. That’s three hundred and sixty chickens a year—a thousand chickens after three years!

After he became a monk, he was diligent in cultivation and strictly abided by the precepts. He was well versed in the precepts and also wrote books. One day when he was taking a shower, he suddenly saw that the bathroom was full of chickens, and they were all trying to jump on him. When he tried to dodge them, he fell down, breaking his leg. He told me that as a result of learning Buddhism and observing the precepts, this was a light retribution for the grave offenses he had committed. From this we see how horrifying retributions can be. Had he not learned Buddhism, his retribution would have been even more terrible.

Therefore, we should make a vow that when we attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land and attain Buddhahood, we will first help those beings we have killed. “When I attain Buddhahood, you will be the first ones I help. Please do not cause trouble or obstruct me. If you obstruct me, I will not be able to succeed in cultivation, and you will continue to suffer in the Six Paths.”

The Dedication of Merit says “Repay the Four Kinds of Kindness above, and relieve the suffering of those in the Three Paths below.” In the Three Paths, the first ones to be helped are those who hold grudges against us.

When we encounter animals, we should mindfully chant the Buddha-name and dedicate the merit to them. It is quite usual to chant “Amituofo.” It is even better if we chant the Three Refuges. “Return and rely upon the Buddha so as not to be reborn into the hells. Return and rely upon the Dharma so as not to be reborn as a hungry ghost. Return and rely upon the Sangha so as not to be reborn as an animal.” We chant this to the beings in the Three Evil Paths. When we encounter animals, we can chant the Buddha-name and dedicate the merit to them, as well as chant the Three Refuges.

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[1] The five kinds of eyes are human eye, heavenly eye, wisdom eye, Dharma eye, and Buddha eye.—Trans.

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung  

Created by Amitabha Gallery

Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra, Excerpt Forty-one

Buddha teach . . . all beings to . . . discard the Five Evils, leave the Five Sufferings, stay away from the Five Burnings, subdue and transform their thoughts and observe the Five Goodnesses so as to obtain the good fortune from this.

The Buddha taught all beings to end wrongdoings and practice goodness so that they can receive true good fortune.

In “discard the Five Evils,” the “Five Evils” are killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants. These are causes.

The first evil is killing, which will bring about the retributions of illness and a short life span. No killing and a vegetarian diet will bring about the rewards of good health and a long life.

The second evil is stealing. Its retribution is poverty. If we want to be wealthy and keep our wealth forever and not lose it, we need to know how to cultivate the cause. Those who constantly think of stealing from others will not keep their wealth for long. Those who are happy to give will most certainly obtain great wealth.

The third evil is sexual misconduct. Everyone wants to have a prosperous and happy family. To achieve this, one must definitely not commit sexual misconduct.

The fourth evil is lying. In the world at large, when one does not lie and keeps one’s word, one will win the trust, respect, and support of others. One’s career will be smooth.

The fifth evil is taking intoxicants, which will confuse one’s mind. When one is intoxicated, one cannot control one’s speech or behavior and thus will very often commit offenses that result in grave mistakes.

The Buddha taught us to end these Five Evils and cultivate the Five Goodnesses, which are the Five Precepts of no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no taking intoxicants. These five precepts should be adhered to from the time we begin to generate the mind to learn Buddhism until the time we attain the level of bodhisattva. When we seek rebirth into the Pure Land by Buddha-name chanting, if we cannot fulfill these five precepts, then no matter how many times we chant the Buddha-name we will not be able to attain rebirth.

The Western Pure Land is a place where the beings of superior goodness gather. If we cannot end the Five Evils and cultivate the Five Goodnesses, we will be incompatible with the Pure Land. We must accord with virtuousness so as to have Amitabha Buddha come to escort us to his land.

In “leave the Five Sufferings, stay away from the Five Burnings,” “Five Sufferings” are flower retributions[1] and “Five Burnings” are fruit retributions.[2] When there are causes, there will surely be effects. Committing the [above] five evil causes will bring about the retributions of suffering. “Sufferings” refers to the sufferings in life. “Burnings” refers to the future sufferings in the Three Evil Paths.

From this we can see that when one commits evil karmas, one will suffer not only now but also in the future, where the retributions will be even more terrible.

“Thoughts” in “subdue and transform thoughts” refers to wandering thoughts, greed, anger, ignorance, and arrogance. “Transform” means transforming afflictions into Bodhi and transforming killing into compassion. This is the goal of the Buddha in teaching people.

How does one subdue and transform one’s thoughts? When an evil thought arises, one should instantly have the wisdom to be aware of it and stop the wandering thought. For many kalpas, for which there is no beginning, ordinary beings have been immersed in affliction and habits, so they naturally have many wandering thoughts. But as it is said, “Do not fear a thought arising; fear realizing it too late.” When an evil thought arises, one should immediately detect it and transform it into “Amituofo.” This is cultivation. In the Zen school, this is the practice of enlightening illumination. Here is where we practice: transforming an evil thought into a virtuous thought, transforming an evil thought into “Amituofo.” The thought of “Amituofo” is the most virtuous. There is no thought more virtuous than this.

“Observe the Five Goodnesses so as to obtain the good fortune from this.” The Five Goodnesses are the Five Precepts. We should abide by the Five Precepts. In addition to not killing, we should maintain a vegetarian diet because it is healthy.

There are many strange illnesses nowadays. How do they come about? Medical and scientific studies have come up with some theories that seem correct but are actually wrong. The true cause is eating meat.

A proverb says, “Illness enters through the mouth; trouble exits from it.” Meat is undoubtedly poisonous. Great Master Yinguang once told a story. A woman breastfed her children. The first one died, so did the second one. Subsequently, the milk was sent to a lab for testing. It was found that she had fed the children when she was angry. Her anger generated a poisonous substance that made the milk poisonous. She thus poisoned her own children.

From this we can deduce that when any living being is being killed, it is not everyday anger that the being feels but something more intense—hatred. Therefore, all meat is poisonous and eating meat is the same as taking poison. One may not get ill immediately, but over a long time this will bring about strange illnesses. A vegetarian diet will surely bring about good health and longevity.

“No killing” will bring about longevity. “No stealing” will bring about great wealth. “No sexual misconduct” will bring about a dignified appearance. “No lying” will bring about people’s respect. “No intoxicants” is a wise thing as one will maintain a clear head.

Cultivating the Five Goodnesses will naturally bring about good fortune, longevity, good health, and wealth. Everything will go well in one’s family and in one’s career. This is what one will get now. Future rewards will be even more wondrous.

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[This paragraph in the sutra begins with “Now I become a Buddha here to teach and transform all beings to discard the Five Evils, leave the Five Sufferings . . .”—Trans.]

[1] Retributions received in the present lifetime.—Trans.

[2] Retributions to be received in future lifetimes.—Trans.

~ Essence of the Infinite Life Sutra by Venerable Master Chin Kung