阿難問事佛吉凶經

The Venerable Ānanda addressed the Buddha, saying: "There are those who worship the Buddha and learn the Buddha's teaching, and they become wealthy, noble, and prosperous, with everything going as they wish; yet there are others who [likewise learn the Buddha's teaching and worship the Buddha] but meet with the retribution of decline and loss, with nothing going as they wish. Why is there such a difference? May the Heaven among Heavens expound this fully for us."

The Buddha said to the Venerable Ānanda: "There are those who worship the Buddha, follow and study under a wise and illumined master, believe and follow wholeheartedly without going against [the teaching], practice diligently in accordance with it, and never forget what they have learned. Before the dignified and excellent images they bow in reverence morning and evening, reverently light lamps and incense, give alms purely and gain peace and security, do not transgress the principles of the Way or the precepts and prohibitions, uphold the fast and the precepts with persistence and without weariness, and their hearts are constantly joyful.

Such a person is constantly followed, protected, and aided by the devas and the good spirits, so that whatever they wish for is fulfilled, and in a hundred matters they advance manifold; moreover they are revered by devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits, and all people, and in the end they will surely attain the Way. Such good men and good women are the true disciples of the Buddha.

"There are those who learn the Buddha's teaching but do not encounter an excellent master, who have not read through the scriptures and the Dharma teachings, and who have done nothing but receive the precepts.

"Outwardly they bear the name of having received the precepts, but being deluded, obstructed, and without faith, they constantly transgress the precepts and disciplines; at times believing and at times doubting, their minds wavering without resolve. Moreover they have no heart of reverence toward the scriptures and the images; they neither light lamps, burn incense, nor bow in reverence, and they constantly harbor doubt, anger, abuse, speak harsh and venomous words, and envy the worthy.

Furthermore they do not keep the fast on the six days, and with their own hands they kill living beings. They do not honor the Buddha's scriptures, but place them in chests holding soiled garments, or set them upon the defiled beds of their wives and children, or hang them upon the walls, having no heart of reverence to place them in a dignified and cherished place, regarding them as no different from the ordinary, common books of the world.

"If such a person falls ill, harboring doubt in their heart and not believing [the Buddha-Dharma], they straightaway seek out sorcerers and mediums, divination, the presenting of petitions and memorials to avert calamity, and the offering of sacrifices to perverse spirits, thereby causing the devas and spirits all to withdraw and keep their distance, so that they are no longer protected and aided. Evil demons and malign sprites grow daily more numerous, and wicked ghosts gather before the gate of their house, bringing about decline and loss, so that nothing they seek is satisfied to their wishes — whether because they have in the past created the karma to be born in evil destinies, or because in the present they have become persons who commit offenses, they are not disciples of the Buddha.

"After death they will surely fall into the hells, to be beaten and interrogated under torture. Because of the offenses they have committed, in this present life they suffer decline and loss, and hereafter they must undergo calamity; once dead they fall into the evil destinies, undergoing in succession sufferings and torments that cannot be told in full. All of this comes from the accumulation of evil deeds and the doing of what is unwholesome.

"The foolish and blindly deluded do not reflect upon the causes and conditions they created in former lives that lead to the retribution of this present life, but say instead that it is because of worshipping the Buddha and learning the Buddha's teaching that they suffer decline and loss; not only did they cultivate not the least blessing in former lives, but now they even resent Heaven and hate Earth, blame the sages and worthies, and lay the fault upon high Heaven. People of the world are deluded; because they do not penetrate [the truth], they become like this.

"One who does not penetrate [the truth] is, in their heart, at all times without resolve and without firmness; in coming and going they accord not with principle; they betray the kindness of the Buddha, cling deludedly to error, and do not turn back to reflect upon themselves, and so they are bound fast by the mistaken views of the three evil destinies, themselves bringing about their own calamity or blessing. Through the causes and conditions of the karma of offense they have created, they receive their retribution; in this one cannot but be cautious.

"The ten evils are enemies and foes; the ten good deeds are good friends. To desire that body and mind be at peace and gain liberation depends entirely upon the good. The good is a thick suit of armor that protects us so that we need not fear weapons of war; the good is a great vessel that helps us cross over the waves and waters. One who can keep faith [in cause and effect] dwells in a household at peace and in harmony, and naturally obtains the reward of blessings; through doing good deeds one obtains good fruits — it is not that any god or spirit bestows them. If now one believes ever less [in cause and effect], then surely in days to come one must undergo ever more suffering as retribution."

The Buddha said: "Ānanda, the good and evil deeds [one has done] follow after a person like the shadow follows the form, never to be parted from each other. The results of offense and of blessing are likewise; one must not harbor doubt and so cause oneself to fall into the evil destinies. Distinguish clearly offense from blessing, believe firmly and be not deluded, and then wherever one is, one will be at peace. The Buddha's words are utterly true and real, and never deceive anyone."

The Buddha further said to the Venerable Ānanda: "The Buddha does not speak two kinds of words. A Buddha's appearing in the world is hard to encounter; the scriptures and the Dharma teachings are hard to get to hear. In a former life you sowed the causes that created blessings, and so in this life you have come to attend at the Buddha's side.

"You must always think of repaying kindness, of transmitting and expounding the Dharma teaching, of being a field of blessings for all people; those who have faith are thereby planted [with good roots], and in lives to come they need not be anxious."

The Venerable Ānanda received the Buddha's teaching, undertook to practice it, and transmitted it widely.

The Venerable Ānanda again inquired of the Buddha: "Suppose there is a person who does not kill with their own hands — is it the case that, if one does not kill oneself, there is no offense?"

The Buddha said: "Ānanda! To order another to kill living beings is an offense graver than killing with one's own hands.

"Why is this so? It may be that the one ordered is of the servant class, foolish and lowly, not knowing the matter of offense and blessing, or is compelled by the magistrate to do it, not acting of their own intent. Such persons, though they still bear offense, yet their deed and their intent are not the same, and there is a difference in gravity and lightness.

"To order another to kill is to know yet deliberately to transgress; in the heart one harbors foolishness and cruelty, delights in the killing of living beings, has no heart of compassion, slights and deceives the Three Jewels, deceives one's own conscience, harms the lives of beings, and makes others unsafe — no offense is graver than this.

"Enmity and revenge are repaid back and forth, and life after life one undergoes calamity, never at any time coming to an end. In the present life one obtains no peace, meeting with many fierce and perilous disasters.

"After death one enters the hells, and having lost the human body one then falls to become an animal, to be slaughtered, cut, and carved up by people. Drifting and tumbling through the three evil destinies, one constantly meets with the eight hindering conditions throughout countless thousands and myriads of kalpas, casting away the body and offering up flesh to people without a day's end, living a life of misery, eating grass and drinking spring water.

"Those animals that one sees in this present age are all such because in their former lives, when they were able to be human, they were violent and rebellious, without morality, secretly killing the lives of the myriad kinds, and having no faith — and so they came to this. Life after life they undergo enmity and repay the retribution. Their conscious spirit is no different, yet they must bear the differing bodies of animals; so deep and grave are their offenses."

The Venerable Ānanda again inquired: "World-Honored One! If people of the world, or any disciples, harbor evil intent toward their master, or toward a person of virtue, what is such an offense like?"

The Buddha said to Ānanda: "As a person, one must know to love and delight in the good of others, and must not be envious. One who harbors evil intent toward a person of virtue or toward a wise and good master is no different from one who harbors evil intent toward the Buddha.

"It would be better to take an exceedingly powerful crossbow and shoot it into one's own body than to give rise to evil intent toward a master or a person of virtue."

The Buddha asked: "Ānanda, when one shoots into one's own body, is it painful or not?"

Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Very painful, very painful."

The Buddha said: "One who harbors evil intent toward a person of virtue or a wise and good master must undergo pain even greater than shooting a crossbow into one's own body.

"As a disciple, one must not slight or hold cheap one's master, nor give rise to evil intent toward a person of virtue; one must regard such persons as the Buddha, and must not slight them or envy them; seeing good, one should rejoice on behalf of others. A person of precept-conduct and virtue moves even the devas to feeling, and the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits all revere them. It would be better to leap into a fierce fire, or to let sword and blade cut and carve one's flesh, than to envy the good of others; that offense is not small, and one must be exceedingly cautious."

The Venerable Ānanda again addressed the Buddha: "May a master scold and reprove a disciple not in accordance with reason, treating a trifling fault as a great one — and yet in this incur no offense?"

The Buddha said: "It cannot be, it cannot be. The bond of master and disciple is a natural mutual sympathy; they must constantly inquire after and care deeply for one another, regarding each other as one.

"Reproof and punishment must accord with reason, instruction must accord with the Way; what is not good for oneself, do not do to others; honor and broadly transmit the rules of propriety, and give rise to no enmity, resentment, or dispute.

"The disciple too must be thus. Let the kindness and bond on both sides be sincere; let the master be a true master and the disciple a true disciple; let them not slander and revile one another, harboring venom and breeding enmity, turning the small into the great, which in the end is but to set fire to oneself.

"As a disciple, one must be filial and obedient toward one's master, and be careful not to give rise to evil intent toward the master. To give rise to evil intent toward the master is to give rise to evil intent toward the Buddha, toward the Dharma, toward the bhikṣu Saṅgha, and toward one's parents — no different. This is an offense that Heaven and Earth will not pardon.

"Observing the people of the latter age, the evil ones are disloyal and unfilial, without benevolence or righteousness, going against the Way of being human.

"Bhikṣus in the flourishing age of Māra, dwelling among the four assemblies, think only of the evil of others and do not themselves restrain their own evil. They envy the worthy, hate the good, and seek ways to obstruct and ruin one another. They do not think of doing good, but are fierce and envious of the worthy. Having themselves accomplished nothing, they further obstruct and ruin others. They cut off the intention toward the Way, causing others to be unable to practice.

"With much craving and desire they chase after the worldly, greedily seeking gain and support. Hoarding wealth, they kill themselves thereby; they weight wealth as heavy and slight the Dharma of the Way. At death they fall into the evil destinies, into the great hells, into the hungry ghosts and the animals.

"Since one ought not to transgress in matters such as the above, what then should one turn toward in this present life? One must always think to repay the kindness of the Buddha. One should recite and chant the scriptural texts, strictly uphold the precepts and disciplines, and urge one another to follow them in practice. The Dharma of the Way must certainly be studied; the scriptures must certainly be read; good deeds must certainly be done. Broadly do good, bestow virtue and goodness, so that one's nature and consciousness depart far from suffering and affliction, and transcend beyond the round of birth and death.

"Seeing one who is worthy and good, do not slight them; seeing a good deed, do not revile it. Do not treat a trifling fault as a great offense, going against the Dharma of the Way and losing all reason — no offense is greater than this. Offense and blessing alike have clear and manifest retribution; how then can one not be cautious and guard oneself?"

The Venerable Ānanda again addressed the Buddha: "Heaven among Heavens! When a disciple of the Buddha in the latter age finds that causes and conditions arise one from another, so that the affairs of the household cause both their words and their deeds to be bound and fettered — what is one to do?"

The Buddha said: "Ānanda, one who has received and upholds the precepts and prohibitions established by the Buddha must believe and follow them sincerely, be filial and obedient toward father and mother, constantly be cautious and reverently fearful in keeping them, reverently take refuge in the Three Jewels, support and care for father and mother, be utterly loyal to one's duties, keep body and mind cautiously to the good, speak with the mouth as one thinks in the heart, and may do the affairs of the world, but must not follow the intent of the world."

The Venerable Ānanda inquired: "Heaven among Heavens! What are the affairs of the world and the intent of the world?"

The Buddha said: "As a disciple of the Buddha, one may buy and sell and conduct business for profit, but must weigh and measure accurately, and must not deceive others. One's deeds must accord with reason, and not go against the natural principle of the consciousness, the nature, and the conscience. Matters of funerals and mourning, ancestral offerings, moving house, and marriage are all affairs of the world.

"The intent of the world means that a disciple of the Buddha must not practice divination, summon ghosts and spirits, make charms and incantations, perform exorcisms of the bizarre, offer sacrifices, present memorials and petitions to avert calamity; nor may one select auspicious days and favorable hours.

"To have received the five precepts of the Buddha is to be a person of blessings and virtue; whenever one undertakes any matter, one should make declaration before the Three Jewels. The marvelous and penetrating wisdom of the Buddha leaves not the least trifling thing unknown.

"A person of precept-conduct and virtue is strongly protected and guarded, can command the devas, and the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits all revere and submit to them. The precepts are precious and worthy of reverence; there is nothing about them that is not auspicious — how then could there be any place in them that must be shunned as unwholesome?

"The embrace and encompassment of the Way is vast, covering Heaven and Earth. It is the one who does not penetrate [the truth] who creates obstruction for himself.

"Good and evil deeds are created by the human mind, and so calamity or blessing alike is the doing of the person — like the shadow chasing the form, like the echo answering back the sound.

"The virtue of one of precept-conduct accords with the natural, and the devas all protect and aid them, so that every aspiration of the mind is fulfilled as wished; it moves the ten directions throughout, the great virtue is level with Heaven, and the merit accomplished is awe-inspiring and dazzling; the sages all praise and extol it, and it can scarcely be reckoned.

"One of wisdom comprehends the principle of the Way, all their life does not fall into perversity, skillfully practices according to the Buddha's teaching, and is able to accomplish the Way of liberation."

When the Venerable Ānanda had heard the Buddha's teaching, he straightaway arranged his kāṣāya robe properly, bowed his head to touch the ground, [and said:] "Reverently, World-Honored One! We have the good fortune to encounter the Tathāgata, to be favored with the benefit of [his] great kindness; [the Tathāgata] cares with compassion for all sentient beings, and is a field of blessings by which sentient beings escape suffering.

"The Buddha's teaching is utterly true and real, yet few people believe and follow it. This present world is full of evil; sentient beings curse one another — how pitiable indeed! Even if there be those of faith, they are but one or two persons; what can be done within an age so evil, that it has come to be as wretched as this?

"After the Buddha passes into extinction, though the scriptures and the Dharma teachings still remain, there will be no one to believe and receive them, and gradually they will decline and be lost! Alas, how painful! Upon what then will [sentient beings] rely? Reverently I beseech the World-Honored One, for the sake of all sentient beings, to abide in the world and not yet enter Nirvāṇa."

The Venerable Ānanda thereupon spoke a verse, saying:

Of those with the blessed conditions to meet the Dharma,
Among thousands and myriads there is but one or two.
The scriptures and the Dharma teachings fade away —
Upon what then is there left to rely?

The Buddha's kindness is great, covering all,
Held back only by the offenses of sentient beings.
The drum of the Dharma resounds throughout the realms —
Why is it that they still cannot get to hear?

Those given to lust embrace the pillar of bronze,
Constantly scorched and burned by the fierce flames.
Those who slander the noble and exalted ones
Have their tongues drawn out, gripped by iron pincers.

Drunk on wine, they lose all propriety and decorum;
Foolish and deluded, they lose the Way of being human;
At death they must fall into the hells,
Where molten bronze is poured into their mouths.

They constantly meet with disasters of every kind,
With pain that can in no way be told in full.
Should they be born again as human,
They must suffer poverty, hardship, and lowliness.

To be without lust is a fragrance pure and clean;
The body is sweet-scented, fresh, and fair.
The spirit and complexion are ever bright and radiant,
And in lives to come one dwells in the rank of a king.

The evil ones of the latter age
Lack faith and constantly harbor doubt;
Foolish and deluded, they tell not the Way clearly,
And their grave offenses grow ever more benighted.

They seek death, yet they cannot die;
In an instant they change form again,
And spears and halberds in turn pierce into them,
So that their bodies are constantly cut to shreds.

People of the world, why are you thus!
Going against the True Way, you believe in perverse spirits.
Seeking to dissolve your offenses, you delight in divination and lots,
Offering up sacrifices of living creatures — devoid of humanity.

The World-Honored One, for the sake of all sentient beings —
The three realms all are favored by his kindness.
The Dharma of sweet dew he bestows everywhere,
Causing all people to follow it in practice.

How pitiable! Having attained wisdom,
He pities all the more the deluded sentient beings,
Opening up and pointing out clearly the path of cultivation,
So that those with sufficient good roots escape suffering.

One who has blessings lives turned toward the higher,
Meets the truth, and learns the non-arising;
Taking refuge of oneself in the great field of blessings,
One sows the seed that cuts off birth and death.

What kindness is there greater than the Buddha's kindness?
For the sake of the world he turns the wheel of the Dharma.
We pray that all sentient beings
Be drenched in the rain of the Dharma of sweet dew.

The vessel of wisdom reaches the shore of awakening,
The sounding-stone of the Dharma leads the myriad kinds.
With self and other no longer distinguished,
We make the vow to realize the Way of Bodhi."

When the Venerable Ānanda had finished reciting the verse, the whole great assembly in the Dharma assembly all together believed and received it, understood it clearly, all gave rise to the Unsurpassed, Right, and True mind, and roused the great vow to accomplish the fruit of Bodhi; the fragrance [of the five-part Dharma body] perfumed throughout the entire world, and thereby [beings] were saved and delivered, the path of the Way was opened, and [for sentient beings] there was made a bridge to cross over [the river of delusion].

The kings of the lands, the great ministers, and the people, together with the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits, all rejoiced upon hearing the sūtra. What the Venerable Ānanda had just spoken was both pitiable and fearsome. [The great assembly] bowed their heads in reverence at the Buddha's feet, paid homage to the Venerable Ānanda, received the teaching, and withdrew.