阿難問事佛吉凶經

Venerable Ānanda said to the Buddha: "There are people who worship the Buddha and study the Buddha's teachings and gain wealth, rank, and prosperity, with all their affairs turning out as they wish; yet there are also people who [likewise study the Buddha and worship the Buddha] but meet with the retribution of loss and decline, with all their affairs not turning out as they wish. Why is there such a difference? May the Deva among Devas explain this fully for us."

The Buddha said to Venerable Ānanda: "There are people who worship the Buddha and study under a clear-sighted, wise teacher, who believe and follow with all their heart without going against the teaching, who diligently practice what they have undertaken and do not forget what they have learned. Before noble and beautiful sacred images they pay homage morning and evening, reverently lighting lamps and incense; their giving is pure and brings peace and security; they do not transgress the principles of the Way or the prohibitive precepts; they uphold the fasting precepts persistently without weariness, and their hearts are constantly joyful.

Such people are always protected and aided by the devas and the various good spirits; whatever they wish for is fulfilled as they desire, and in all matters they advance manyfold. Moreover they are revered by devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, and by all people, and afterward they will surely attain the Way. Such good men and good women are the true disciples of the Buddha.

"There are people who study the Buddha's teaching but do not meet a good teacher, 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 lacking faith, they constantly transgress the precepts and disciplines; at times they believe and at times they doubt, their minds wavering and undecided. Furthermore they have no reverence toward the scriptures and sacred images; not only do they fail to light lamps, burn incense, and pay homage, but they constantly harbor doubt, give way to anger and abuse, speak malicious words, and envy the worthy.

Moreover they do not observe the six fasting days, and they kill living beings with their own hands. They do not revere the Buddha's scriptures, placing them in chests with dirty clothing, or leaving them on the defiled bed of wife and children, or hanging them on a wall, with no reverent mind to set them in a place of dignity and esteem, regarding them as no different from the ordinary books of the world.

"If such a person falls sick, and within harbors doubt and does not believe [in the Buddha-Dharma], he straightway implores mediums and shamans, casts divinations, presents petitions to dispel misfortune, and offers sacrifices to heretical spirits, causing the devas and good spirits all to keep their distance and no longer protect or aid him. Evil demons and malevolent sprites grow more numerous by the day; wicked ghosts gather before the door of his house, causing loss and decline, so that the things he seeks are all unfulfilled. This may be because in former times he created the karma to be born in the evil destinies, and now as a human being he commits offenses; such a one is not a disciple of the Buddha.

"After death he is certain to fall into the hells, to be beaten and tortured under interrogation. Because of the offenses he has committed, in this present life he suffers loss and decline, and afterward he must undergo calamity; once dead he falls into the evil destinies, undergoing in turn pains and sufferings that cannot be fully described. All of this comes from the accumulation of evil deeds and the doing of what is not good.

"The foolish and blind do not reflect upon the causes and conditions made in former lives that lead to the retribution of this present life, but instead say that it is because of worshiping the Buddha and studying the Buddha that they have suffered loss and decline. Not only did they lack the least good fortune in their former lives, but now they even resent Heaven and hate Earth, blame the worthies and sages, and lay the fault upon high Heaven. People of the world are deluded, and it is only because they do not fully comprehend that they are like this.

"One who does not fully comprehend is forever undecided and unsteady in mind, going forward and back without conforming to right principle, betraying the Buddha's grace, deludedly clinging without self-examination; thus he is bound fast by the mistaken views of the three evil destinies, creating for himself misfortune and fortune alike. Through the causes and conditions of the karmic offenses he has made, he receives the retribution—one cannot but be careful.

"The ten evil deeds are one's enemies; the ten good deeds are one's good friends. To make body and mind peaceful and to attain liberation depends entirely upon goodness. Goodness is the thick armor that protects us so that we need not fear weapons of war; goodness is the great ship that carries us across the waves of the waters. One who keeps faith [in cause and effect] dwells in a household that is peaceful and harmonious, and naturally obtains blessed reward; by doing good deeds one obtains good fruits—it is not bestowed by any god or spirit. If now one disbelieves [in cause and effect] all the more, then surely in days to come one will all the more have to undergo bitter retribution."

The Buddha said: "Ānanda, the deeds, whether good or evil, [that one has done] follow a person as the shadow follows the form, never parting from it. The fruits of offense or of blessing are likewise so. Do not harbor doubt, lest you cause yourself to fall into the evil destinies. Distinguish clearly between offense and blessing, and believe firmly without delusion—then wherever you are you will be at peace. What the Buddha says is utterly true and real, and never deceives anyone."

The Buddha again said to Venerable Ānanda: "The Buddha does not speak with two tongues. A Buddha's appearance in the world is hard to encounter, and the scriptures and Dharma teachings are hard to get to hear. In former lives you sowed the causes that create blessings, and so in this life you are able to attend at the Buddha's side.

"You must constantly think of repaying this grace, transmitting and expounding the Dharma teaching, being a field of merit for all people; the one who has faith is given the seed planted, and in lives to come need not be anxious."

Venerable Ānanda accepted the Buddha's instruction, undertook to practice it, and transmitted it widely.

Venerable Ānanda again inquired of the Buddha: "If there be a person who does not kill with his own hands, is it that one who does not kill by himself has no offense?"

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

"Why is this so? Perhaps it is a servant or slave, foolish and lowly, who does not understand the matter of offense and blessing, or perhaps one who is forced to act under coercion by the magistrate, and not of his own will. Such people, though they still bear offense, yet their deed and their intention are not the same, and the heaviness or lightness differs.

"To order another to kill is to transgress knowingly and deliberately, harboring within foolishness and malice, delighting in the killing of living beings, lacking the mind of compassion, despising and deceiving the Three Jewels, deceiving one's own conscience, harming the lives of living beings and making others insecure—there is no offense heavier than this.

"Enmity and revenge are repaid back and forth, and life after life one undergoes calamity without any time of cease. In this present life one finds no peace and security, meeting with many fierce and perilous disasters.

"After death one enters the hells; having lost the human body, one then falls to become an animal, slaughtered, cut up, and carved by people. Drifting and rolling through the three evil destinies, constantly meeting with the eight hindering conditions throughout thousands upon thousands of myriads of kalpas, giving up the body and offering one's flesh to people with no day of ending, living a life of misery, eating grass and drinking spring water.

"The animal kinds one sees in the present age are all those who in former lives, when they were human, were violent and rebellious, without morality, secretly killing the lives of the myriad beings, lacking faith, and so coming to this. Life after life they undergo enmity and revenge, repaying retribution. Though the consciousness is no different, they must bear the differing bodies of animals—offenses as deep and grave as this."

Venerable Ānanda again inquired: "World-Honored One! If a person of the world or a disciple harbors evil intent toward his teacher, or toward one who is virtuous, what is the offense of this?"

The Buddha said to Ānanda: "As a human being, one must take delight in the goodness of others and must not be envious. One who harbors evil intent toward a virtuous person or toward a wise and good teacher is no different from one who harbors evil intent toward the Buddha.

"It would be better to take an extremely powerful crossbow and shoot oneself in the body than to give rise to evil intent toward a teacher or a virtuous person."

The Buddha asked: "Ānanda, does shooting oneself in the body hurt or not?"

Ānanda replied: "World-Honored One! It is very painful, very painful."

The Buddha said: "One who harbors evil intent toward a virtuous person or a kindly, good teacher must undergo pain even greater than using a crossbow to shoot himself in the body.

"As a disciple, one must not slight or despise one's teacher, nor give rise to evil intent toward a virtuous person; one must regard them as the Buddha, and must not slight them or be envious; seeing goodness, one should rejoice on another's behalf. A person of precepts, conduct, and virtue moves the very devas; the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits all revere such a one. It would be better to leap into a raging fire or to let sword and blade cut up one's flesh than to be envious of another's goodness—that offense is not small, and one must be utterly careful."

Venerable Ānanda again said to the Buddha: "May a teacher scold and rebuke a disciple not in accordance with right principle, taking a minor fault to be a great one—being thus, can he yet be without offense?"

The Buddha said: "It cannot be, it cannot be. The bond of teacher and disciple is one of natural shared feeling; they must constantly inquire after and care for each other deeply, regarding each other as one.

"Reproof and punishment must follow reason, and instruction must follow the Way; what is not good for oneself, do not do to others; honor and widely transmit the rites and disciplines, and do not give rise to enmity or to disputes and litigation.

"The student likewise must be so. The feeling and duty on both sides must be sincere; let the teacher be a true teacher and the student a true student; do not disparage and slander one another, holding poison and creating enmity, turning the small into the great, which in the end is only to set oneself aflame.

"As a student, one must be filial and obedient to one's teacher, and be careful not to give rise to evil intent toward the teacher. To give rise to evil intent toward one's teacher is to give rise to evil intent toward the Buddha, toward the Dharma, toward the bhikṣu-saṅgha, and toward one's father and mother—it is no different. This is an offense that Heaven and Earth will not forgive.

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

"The bhikṣus of the age when Māra flourishes, dwelling among the fourfold assembly, think only of the evil deeds of others and do not restrain the evil within themselves. They envy the worthy and hate goodness, seeking ways to obstruct and ruin one another. They do not think to do good, but fiercely envy the worthy. Unable to do anything themselves, they yet obstruct and ruin others. They cut off the aspiration toward the Way, causing it to be impossible to practice.

"With much craving and desire they chase after worldly customs, greedily seeking gain and support. Hoarding wealth, they kill themselves; they value money and treasure and despise the Way and the Dharma. Dying, they fall into the evil destinies, into the great hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of animals.

"Since one ought not to transgress in the ways described above, then toward what should one direct oneself in this life? One must always remember to repay the grace of the Buddha. One should recite the scriptural texts, strictly uphold the precepts and disciplines, and urge one another on to follow them in practice. The Way and the Dharma must by all means be studied; the scriptures must by all means be read; good deeds must by all means be done. Practice goodness widely and bestow virtuous kindness, so that the nature and consciousness depart far from suffering and affliction, transcending beyond the round of birth and death.

"Seeing a worthy and good person, do not slight him; seeing a fine and good deed, do not slander it. Do not take a minor fault to be a great offense, going against the Way and the Dharma and losing all reason—there is no offense greater than this. Offenses and blessings alike have clear retribution; how then can one not be careful and guard oneself?"

Venerable Ānanda again said to the Buddha: "Deva among Devas! The disciples of the Buddha in the age of decline, with causes and conditions arising mutually among them, find that affairs within the household bind their words and deeds. What should they do?"

The Buddha said: "Ānanda, one who has undertaken and upholds the prohibitive precepts established by the Buddha must believe sincerely and undertake to practice them, be filial and obedient to father and mother, ever cautious and reverent in keeping watch, respectfully take refuge in the Three Jewels, support father and mother, be utterly loyal in one's duties, be careful in body and mind to keep to goodness, and let what is thought within the heart be just what is spoken with the mouth. One may carry out the affairs of the world, but one must not follow the intent of the world."

Venerable Ānanda inquired: "Deva among Devas! 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 to make profit, but one must weigh and measure accurately and must not deceive others. One's deeds must accord with reason and must not go against the natural principle of the conscious nature and conscience. Such affairs as funerals, memorial 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 talismans, charms, and curses, perform sacrificial offerings, or present petitions to dispel misfortune, nor may he select auspicious days and auspicious hours.

"To be able to receive the five precepts of the Buddha is to be a person of blessed virtue; whenever one undertakes any matter, one should make declaration before the Three Jewels. The wondrous penetrating insight of the Buddha leaves not the least and smallest thing unknown.

"A person of precepts, conduct, and virtue is strongly protected, can command the devas, and the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits all revere and submit. The precepts are precious and worthy of reverence; there is nothing in them that is not auspicious. How could there be in them anything to be avoided as inauspicious?

"The all-embracing scope of the Way extends throughout Heaven and Earth. It is one who does not fully comprehend who creates obstructions for himself.

"The deeds, good or evil, are created by a person's mind, and so misfortune and blessing are both from the person, like the shadow that pursues the form, like the echo that resounds to the sound.

"The virtue of a person of precepts accords with what is natural; the devas all protect and aid him, all his heart's aspirations are fulfilled as he wishes, he moves the ten directions everywhere, his great virtue is on a level with Heaven, his cultivation accomplishes a majestic and dazzling power, and the sages all praise and extol him—it can hardly be measured.

"A person of wisdom penetrates to the principle of the Way, and to the end of his life does not fall into the crooked and false; skillfully following the Buddha's teaching, he can accomplish the Way of liberation."

When Venerable Ānanda had heard the Buddha's teaching, he straightened his kāṣāya robe, bowed his head to the ground in prostration, [and said:] "Reverently I address the World-Honored One! We have the blessed fortune to encounter the Tathāgata and to enjoy the favor of his great compassion; [the Tathāgata] holds all living beings in loving thought and is a field of merit for living beings to escape suffering.

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

"After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, though the scriptures and Dharma teachings still remain, there will be no one to believe and accept them, and gradually they will decline and vanish! Oh, how painful! Hereafter, upon what will [living beings] rely? Reverently I beseech the World-Honored One, for the sake of all living beings, to remain in the world and not yet enter Nirvāṇa."

Venerable Ānanda thereupon spoke a verse, saying:

"The three realms rely on the Buddha's sheltering care,
His grace and virtue, compassion vast and great.
We pray that, in loving thought for living beings,
The World-Honored One enter not into Cessation.

Few are they who encounter the Right Dharma,
Blind and benighted, unable to tell right from false.
How painful that there are those who do not know,
Whose offense-obstructions are so deep and grave.

This turbid age is full of evil;
Deluded and upside-down, beings sink of themselves.
Flattering and fawning, they revile the sages,
Heretical and deceiving, they destroy the true and right.

The lustful and lewd, embracing the bronze pillar,
Are constantly burned by the raging fire.
Those who slander the noble and exalted ones
Have their tongues clamped and drawn out with iron pincers.

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

Constantly meeting with every kind of disaster,
Their pain and suffering cannot be told in full.
If they are reborn again as human beings,
They must endure poverty, hardship, and lowly meanness.

Not being lustful is the pure fragrance;
The body is sweet-scented, fresh, and fair.
The spirit and complexion are ever bright and radiant,
And in the next life one dwells in the rank of a king.

Obstructing the sages, destroying the Right Path,
Dying, they fall into the great Iron City.
Their consciousness imprisoned within it,
Upon their heads they bear hoops of scalding iron.

Why are the people of the world like this!
Going against the Right Path, believing in heretical spirits,
Seeking to dispel their offenses, fond of divination and lots,
Sacrificing the lives of beings, devoid of benevolence.

Turning round and round forever in a single track,
They bear the bodies of beasts and animals,
Slaughtered and cut and carved by people,
Skinned, the knife laid to their throats to cut,
Constantly repaying the enmities of former lives,
Their bodies split and flesh sliced to repay others.

How pitiable! Having attained wisdom,
All the more he pities the deluded living beings,
Opening forth and pointing out the path of practice,
So that those with sufficient roots of goodness escape suffering.

The one of blessing lives directed upward,
Encounters the truth, and learns the unborn,
Takes refuge of himself in the great field of merit,
And sows the seed that cuts off death and birth.

The ship of wisdom reaching the shore of awakening,
The chime of the Dharma guiding the myriad kinds.
Self and others no longer distinguished,
We make the vow to realize the Way of Bodhi."

When Venerable Ānanda had finished reciting the verse, the entire great assembly in the Dharma-gathering all together believed and accepted it, understood it clearly, and all gave rise to the mind of Supreme, Right [Awakening], arousing the great vow to accomplish the fruit of Bodhi; the fragrance [of the fivefold Dharma-body] perfumed throughout the whole world, and thereby they were delivered, the path of the Way was opened, and for [living beings] a bridge was made to cross over [the river of delusion].

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