佛說阿難問事佛吉凶經

Thus indeed have I heard:

One day, Ānanda inquired of the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! There are people who worship the Buddha and become wealthy and noble, their families harmonious. Yet there are also people who worship the Buddha but whose wealth declines and whose families are in discord. Why is it that although both alike worship the Buddha, the results are not the same? May the Buddha, the God Among Gods, for our sake expound this meaning in full!"

The Buddha said to Ānanda:

"There are those who worship the Buddha, who receive the precepts under an enlightened master, who constantly and diligently uphold the precepts they have received, who pay homage morning and evening, who reverently light lamps, who always observe a vegetarian diet and keep the precepts, whose minds are ever joyful. They are protected by the good and virtuous deities, their families are harmonious, and all their affairs progress smoothly and favorably; they are revered by devas, dragons, ghosts, spirits, and all people, and in the time to come they will surely attain the Way. These good sons and good daughters are truly disciples of the Buddha!

"Yet there are also those who worship the Buddha but who do not meet an enlightened teacher, who do not understand the teachings of the scriptures, whose faith is not firm. They too may receive the precepts and accept a Dharma name, yet they often violate the precepts. They have no image of the Buddha to venerate, nor do they burn incense or light lamps to pay homage; rather, they often harbor anger and hatred, speak harsh words, curse and revile others, do not keep the six days of abstinence, and with their own hands kill living beings.

Such a person does not respect the Buddhist scriptures but regards them as worldly books, stacking them together in a chest with other ordinary objects, or placing them in defiled places upon the bed of wife and children, or hanging them on the wall, rather than setting them properly upon a table or bookstand. When such a person falls ill, he does not recollect the Buddha but instead frequently invites mediums and shamans to perform divination, offer sacrifices, and beseech heretical spirits.

Thereupon the heavenly deities withdraw and no longer protect him; demons, goblins, and malignant spirits draw ever nearer to him, and evil ghosts gather before the door of his house, causing his wealth to decline and his family to fall into discord. In this present life, the person who commits such offenses is not a disciple of the Buddha; after death he will fall into the hells, where he will be beaten and brutally tortured, his very soul experiencing pain beyond description.

This foolish person, moreover, does not reflect upon himself, but holds that his former deeds were performed in vain,

"and so he turns to resent Heaven and Earth, to blame the sages, and to lay charges against Heaven. To be deluded in this way is to be exceedingly foolish indeed, and the result is to be bound within the three evil destinies.[1]

"Those who attain the Way all do so from wholesome karma; through keeping the precepts they themselves discipline body, speech, and mind; they skillfully don the firm armor that fears not weapons of war; they skillfully build the great vessel to cross the vast river. There are those who have faith in the Buddha's Dharma, whose families are harmonious and at peace, who in this present life ever meet with good fortune and merit.

It is because of cultivation that there is the reward of merit—it is not bestowed upon one by any deity. Those who do not have faith in the Buddha's Dharma, who do not recite the scriptures or keep the precepts, will in lives to come fall into ever greater hardship. Good and evil follow a person as the shadow follows the form; do not harbor doubt and thereby fall into the evil destinies, from which escape is very difficult!

Deeply believe in the Buddha's Dharma, keep the precepts without transgression, and then wherever you may be you will ever dwell in peace and joy. The Buddha's teaching is utterly sincere; it in no way deceives anyone. To encounter a Buddha in the world is very difficult, and a human body too is difficult to obtain.

That you now draw near to the Buddha is due to the great merit of your former lives; you should remember to repay this kindness, to bestow the teaching upon others, to plant many fields of merit, for through cultivation you will attain liberation, and wherever you go you will be free of sorrow and grief."

The Venerable Ānanda again inquired:

"World-Honored One! If a person does not kill with his own hand but orders another to kill, what is the gravity of that offense? Is there no offense?"

The Buddha taught:

"Ānanda! If one orders another to kill, that offense is graver than killing with one's own hand. Why is this?

Because a servant or a person of low station who kills does so without the intent to kill; or a person compelled to kill by a king or official does not kill of his own will. But the one who orders another to kill knows full well and yet deliberately transgresses, secretly committing the slaughter while shifting the blame onto another, deceiving the Triple Gem while claiming it happened of its own accord—that offense is very grave!

Enmity is requited back and forth without end; life after life one meets with unceasing calamity; already there is no peace in the present, and at death one falls into the hells to suffer bitter torment and pain. When at last one emerges from the hells, one becomes a beast whose skin is flayed by the butcher, whose flesh is carved from the bones to repay one's debt to others. The one who undergoes all these sufferings does so entirely because in former lives he slaughtered with cruelty and violence, killing living beings, secretly harboring a heart bent on harming creatures, devoid of compassion, rejoicing on another's behalf when he saw a killing.

Because of such a joyful heart, the offense is graver than killing oneself!"

Ānanda again inquired:

"World-Honored One! When people of the world and disciples of the Buddha hold their teacher in contempt, harboring evil intentions toward their teacher and toward virtuous persons, what is the gravity of that offense?"

The Buddha taught:

"Ānanda! Being human, one ought to cherish the virtue of others and to rejoice in the goodness of others, and should not be envious of them. If one harbors evil intent toward one's teacher and toward virtuous persons, it is no different from harboring an evil mind toward the Buddha. Would one take up a crossbow of ten thousand stones and shoot oneself with it? Would that not be painful?"

Ānanda replied:

"Very painful, World-Honored One!"

The Buddha taught:

"One who harbors an evil mind toward virtuous persons and toward one's own teacher suffers a pain greater than being shot in the body by a crossbow. As a disciple, one should not hold one's teacher in contempt nor harbor ill will toward virtuous persons. One should regard virtuous persons as Buddhas, and should not envy or slander them. Those who possess the virtue of the precepts move even devas, dragons, ghosts, and spirits, and are revered and honored by these beings. Would one then hurl one's body into fire, or take a sharp blade and cut one's own flesh? Do not envy or slander the virtuous! That offense is not small—be careful, be careful!"

Ānanda again inquired:

"World-Honored One! As a teacher, may one rebuke and scold one's disciples and make a small fault into a great fault without committing an offense?"

The Buddha taught:

"Ānanda! It is not so! It is not so!

In the bond between teacher and disciple, there must, by its very nature, be a mutual sympathy that arises naturally, and so they should sincerely trust one another, the teacher regarding the disciple as himself; what one would not do oneself, one should not impose upon another. Honor propriety and righteousness, the precepts and the moral code, and use virtue to teach others; live in harmony, loyalty, integrity, and uprightness, without resentment or quarreling with one another.

Both teacher and disciple should be sincere: the teacher must keep to his proper duty as teacher, and the disciple must keep to his proper duty as disciple. They should not slander one another, nor harbor malice in their hearts! If a small resentment is allowed to grow into a great one, it will turn back and burn oneself.

When I observe the evil people and the wicked bhikṣus of this world, I see teachers who do not keep to their proper duty as teachers and disciples who do not keep to their proper duty as disciples; together they only commit evil deeds, give no thought to cultivation, destroy what is good, take delight in worldly pursuits, do not contemplate the law of impermanence, hoard wealth and possessions, lose their very selves, and at death fall into the evil destinies—

"the realm of hungry ghosts and of beasts; never having known what is right, they look upon one another as animals. What is it that you seek in this world? You should think of repaying the kindness of the Buddha; you should uphold the scriptures, keep the precepts, and diligently cultivate the Way.

The Way cannot go unstudied, the scriptures cannot go unrecited, the good cannot go undone. Practice goodness, bestow virtue, rescue the mind from suffering, and depart from birth and death. When you meet the worthy, do not slight them; when you meet the good, do not slander them.

You must not take a small fault and make of it evidence of a great offense, for this is contrary to the True Dharma and a loss of the Way's principle, and this offense is very grave. Offense and merit always have their verifying proof. Truly to be feared!

Truly to be feared!"

Ānanda again inquired:

"World-Honored One! Disciples of the Buddha born into the age of the Dharma's decline—a realm of Māra—face many obstructive conditions, such as seeking a house in which to dwell, and the cares of providing for body and mouth; how then can they cultivate the Buddha's Dharma?"

The Buddha taught:

"As disciples of the Buddha, although they have such conditions, they must uphold the precepts and not transgress them; they must possess a sincere heart, be circumspect and careful, reverently take refuge in the Triple Gem, dutifully and filially support father and mother, and treat well both their own kin and those related by marriage; they must not deceive or flatter; their words and their thoughts must correspond; they must skillfully employ suitable means, advancing and withdrawing at the proper time; they may do the affairs of the world while having no worldly mind."

Ānanda inquired:

"World-Honored One! What are the affairs of the world and the worldly mind?"

The Buddha taught:

"A disciple of the Buddha may engage in commerce and trade for profit, but in weighing, measuring, gauging, and counting he must follow the right principles, and must not be deceitful, overbearing, or encroach upon the property of others. Such matters as burials, changing one's dwelling, marriage, and the giving and taking in marriage—these are all affairs of the world.

"As for the worldly mind: a disciple of the Buddha must not practice divination, request charms and incantations, cast curses upon demons and ghosts, offer sacrifices to spirits, present petitions beseeching the gods to dispel calamity, or dread inauspicious omens. Having received and upheld the Buddha's five precepts, one is a person of merit and virtue, who fears and avoids nothing. If one wishes to perform the practice of making offerings, one should announce it before the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha.

There is no place one may go that is not auspicious. The person who possesses the virtue of the precepts takes the protection of the Way as his strength; devas, dragons, ghosts, and spirits all revere and submit to him. One who cherishes the precepts is revered by others, and wherever he goes he is ever at peace.

One who has not yet attained the Way creates his own obstructions. Good and evil arise from the mind; fortune and misfortune come from the person, as the shadow follows the form, as the echo follows the sound; there is no place Heaven does not cover, and nothing Earth does not bear; the practice of the precepts and the merit of virtue correspond naturally; the heavenly deities lend their support, moving the ten directions; one's virtue equals Heaven's, one's merit towers loftily, and the sages praise it beyond what words can fully tell.

The wise know the workings of destiny, and even at the loss of their lives they give rise to no heterodox mind. Thus one knows that the Buddha's teaching is truly the Way that saves the world."

When Ānanda heard these teachings of the Buddha, he straightway arranged his kāṣāya, bowed his head to the ground in homage to the Buddha, and then said:

"It is truly so, World-Honored One! We are blessed to draw near to the Tathāgata and to receive the savor of the Dharma. The Buddha's grace and compassionate heart are vast and great, taking pity on all living beings, serving as a field of merit for them, causing living beings to be freed from suffering.

The Buddha's words are sincere, yet few believe them. The world is full of evil; living beings curse one another, most placing their faith in ghosts and spirits, forsaking the True Dharma to follow heterodox teachings; thus the heavenly halls stand empty while the hells are packed full with living beings. Truly pitiable!

Even if there are believers, they are but one or two; what then can they do against a world in decline, which has therefore come to be as it is? After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, although the scriptures and the Dharma will remain, few people will be willing to cultivate them; people will grow gradually more deceitful, and so the Buddha's Dharma too will gradually perish.

"Alas! How painful! In whom, then, are living beings to take refuge? I humbly beseech the World-Honored One, for the sake of those who will study the Buddha's Way in ages to come, to remain in the world to teach and transform, and not yet to enter nirvāṇa!"

The Venerable Ānanda thereupon presented these verses:

For the sake of the three realms the Buddha gives aid,
His grace is vast, his compassion truly immense;
I humbly beseech him to take pity on later generations—
World-Honored One, do not hasten to enter nirvāṇa!

How painful! Those who have not yet attained the Way,
Foolish, dim, and dark, they know not the truth;
The drum of the Dharma is sounded, the three-thousandfold worlds quake,
Yet why is it that none of them hear it at all?

In this turbid age there are many evil people,
Of their own folly they fall into utter confusion;
They do not believe and accept that the world has a Buddha,
And so they sow for themselves the root of vexation and offense;

After death they fall into the hells,
Their bodies cut asunder by sword and blade;
Those who killed animals to sacrifice to spirits
Then suffer within the cauldron of boiling water;

For the offense of lust they embrace the red-hot copper pillar,
And its heat burns and scorches their bodies;
Those who slandered the lofty and pure ones of precept-virtue
Have their tongues hooked and pulled out with iron hooks;

Wine breeds frenzy and the loss of all decorum—
Molten copper, seething, is poured into their mouths;
And if at last they are born again as human,
They are foolish and do not follow the principles of the Way.

Those who do not kill obtain a body of long life,
Free of illness, abounding in health.
Those who do not steal afterward become wealthy and noble,
Their riches ever naturally abundant.

Those who do not indulge in lust gain a pure and clean fragrance,
Their bodies ever fresh, bright, and sweetly scented.
The honest, who do not lie or deceive,
Are loved and trusted by all people who follow them.

Those who do not drink wine become clever and wise,
Ever revered, loved, and honored by the people of the world.
These five blessings surpass all other dharmas,
And humans and devas alike come to draw near in fellowship.

When those blessings increase a myriadfold,
One attains the supreme truth, clearly and plainly.
The foolish, who cannot distinguish the Way,
Obstruct the holy path and destroy right enlightenment;[2]

Their wits dark and dull, comprehending nothing,
Evil upon evil they lead one another along,
And so through birth and death they revolve among the destinies,
Receiving the bodies of birds and beasts and the six kinds;[3]

To obtain a human body is already very hard,
And to hear the Buddha's Dharma is harder still!
The World-Honored One is truly the Most Beneficent of the Multitude,
Abiding in the station of the Specially Honored One.[4]

He bestows upon living beings the sweet-dew savor of the Dharma;[5]
May those who study after us vow to uphold and practice it!
Taking pity on us, the Buddha manifests profound wisdom,
Compassionate toward the foolish who lack wisdom.

Awakening living beings, the Buddha teaches the Way;
The practitioner who cultivates and upholds it escapes birth and death;
The person of merit follows the Buddha in this present life,
Attains the vision of the Truth, and delights in the Way of No-Birth.

I take refuge in the compassionate and Noble One,
Sowing seeds in the place of the deathless;
For grace and compassion none surpasses the Buddha,
Who is moreover wondrous, manifesting and radiating majestic light.

I vow that all living beings
May fully taste the sweet-dew savor of the Dharma;
May they row the vessel of wisdom to the shore of enlightenment,
The chime of the Dharma resounding throughout the three-thousandfold worlds;
May I and others no longer hold the notion of self,[6]
And may the Most Beneficent of the Multitude turn the great Dharma-wheel,
So that we may obtain the joy of peace,
Departing from the bondage of the twelve links of conditioned arising.[7]

Bowing my head in joy, I offer homage,
And take refuge in the Supremely Honored One!

When the Venerable Ānanda had bowed his head and presented these verses, the whole assembly in the Dharma gathering attained the stage of Non-Retrogression, their minds and intentions thoroughly penetrating; they donned the armor of the great vow, resolved with all their hearts to seek the unsurpassed Way, suffused the sweet-dew of the Dharma throughout the ten directions, made manifest the right Way, and became a bridge[8] for living beings.

At that time, the king of the realm, the officials, the people, devas, dragons, ghosts, spirits, and the rest, having heard the Buddha expound the Dharma and Ānanda present his verses, were all at once sorrowful and grieved, compassionate, filled with admiration, and joyful; they bowed their heads in homage at the feet of the Buddha and of the Venerable Ānanda, received the teaching, and then withdrew.

Notes:

[1] The three evil destinies 三塗: the hells, hungry ghosts, and beasts.

[2] Right enlightenment 正覺 (Skt. samyak-saṃbodhi; Pāli sammā-sambodhi): refers to true, right enlightenment. Also called Right Understanding, Equal Enlightenment, Equal Right Enlightenment, Right Equal Right Enlightenment, Right Equal Enlightenment, Right Complete Enlightenment. "Equal" speaks of the principle that is realized; "complete/exhausted" speaks of the defilements that are severed. It is the abbreviated term for Unsurpassed Equal Right Enlightenment, Samyak-saṃbodhi. The Sanskrit saṃbodhi is rendered in meaning as "right enlightenment" and in sound as "saṃbodhi." It means the right knowing that truly and correctly realizes all dharmas, the genuine wisdom of the Tathāgata; therefore, the attainment of Buddhahood is also called the attainment of Right Enlightenment.

[3] The six kinds: oxen, horses, goats, dogs, pigs, and chickens.

[4] The Specially Honored One 特尊: the one complete in wisdom and virtue, the most venerable being within the three realms.

[5] The sweet-dew Dharma 甘露法: the teaching of the Tathāgata. That is, the pure savor of the Dharma, which nourishes the body and mind of living beings, likened to the nature of sweet dew (amṛta).

[6] The notion of self: the notion of grasping at a self, holding the self to be truly existent.

[7] The twelve links of conditioned arising 十二因緣 (Skt. dvādaśāṅga-pratītya-samutpāda): refers to the twelve conditions (i.e., the twelve members of existence) that constitute the existence of sentient beings. According to the fundamental doctrine set forth in the Āgama sūtras, the twelve links of dependent origination are: ignorance (Skt. avidyā), formations (Skt. saṃskāra), consciousness (Skt. vijñāna), name-and-form (Skt. nāma-rūpa), the six sense-bases (Skt. ṣaḍ-āyatana), contact (Skt. sparśa), feeling (Skt. vedanā), craving (Skt. tṛṣṇā), grasping (Skt. upādāna), becoming (Skt. bhava), birth (Skt. jāti), and old-age-and-death (Skt. jarā-maraṇa).

According to the Sūtra on the Great Causes and Means in the Dīrgha Āgama, fascicle 10: conditioned by delusion there is formation; conditioned by formation there is consciousness; conditioned by consciousness there is name-and-form; conditioned by name-and-form there is the six entrances (the six sense-bases); conditioned by the six entrances there is contact; conditioned by contact there is feeling; conditioned by feeling there is craving; conditioned by craving there is grasping; conditioned by grasping there is becoming; conditioned by becoming there is birth; and conditioned by birth there arise the great afflictions: old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, and the accumulation of suffering and distress—this is precisely the great mass of suffering conditioned by the aggregates.

Among these twelve members, each preceding member is the arising-cause of the member that follows; if the preceding member is extinguished, the following member is likewise extinguished. If one contemplates the meaning of the twelve links of dependent origination from the standpoint of the value and significance of the survival of sentient beings, then the twelve links of dependent origination reveal how the sufferings of human life come to be formed (the gate of arising and circulation) and how one may eliminate suffering and reach awakening (the gate of return and extinction).

That is, the existence (becoming) of human beings begins from the activity of consciousness; the activities of consciousness become the experience of living (formations); and through the accumulation of these activities the content of consciousness is in turn

formed; yet the activity of consciousness, through the sense-organs of perception (that is, the six entrances: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), makes contact (contact) with the objects of cognition (that is, all mind and matter—name-and-form), and this is feeling (feeling) on the subjective side. The consciousness of the ordinary person takes ignorance as its inner aspect and craving-thirst (craving—greedy love that never wearies) as its outer aspect; craving-thirst is the fundamental aspect of consciousness, and from this it develops so as to grasp and hold all things as a self, becoming self-attachment (grasping);

the consciousness, perfumed by these defiled activities, must then pass through the sufferings of the conditions of life—birth, aging, death, and impermanence—in the world.

On the contrary, the sage, through extinguishing ignorance and craving-thirst, likewise extinguishes the worldly sufferings of birth, aging, and death.

[8] The bridge 橋梁: a bridge is commonly trodden upon by people in order to cross over, and is used to liken the person of virtue who, in humility and forbearance, endures the disdain and contempt of others toward himself. The Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, fascicle 7 (Taishō 38, 391a), records: "Speaking humble words, insulted and trampled by others, enduring without anger, one is like a bridge."