慈悲道場懺法

CHAPTER SEVEN

CLARIFYING KARMIC RETRIBUTION

(continued)

Today, all members of the assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly should again bow with utmost sincerity and listen single-mindedly.

At that time, the Buddha was staying in the city of Rajagriha, in the Karanda Bamboo Grove. Venerable Maudgalyayana arose from meditative concentration and walked along the bank of the Ganges River, where he saw hungry ghosts undergoing various forms of punishment.

The hungry ghosts then all gave rise to reverence and approached Venerable Maudgalyayana to ask about the causes and conditions of their former lives. One hungry ghost asked: “Throughout this life, I have constantly suffered from hunger and thirst. When I wish to enter a latrine and take excrement to eat, a great ghost stationed above the latrine strikes me with a staff, preventing me from approaching it. For what reason have I incurred this punishment?”

Venerable Maudgalyayana replied: In your former life, when you were a human being, you were the steward of a monastery. When visiting bhiksus came seeking food, you were miserly and would not serve them a meal. Only after the guests had departed did you give food to the monks permanently residing in the monastery.

Because you lacked the Way and greedily withheld the property of the Sangha, through those causes and conditions you have incurred this punishment.

This is the retribution that blossoms in the present; its full fruition will be in hell.

– Another hungry ghost asked Venerable Maudgalyayana: “Throughout this life, I have carried upon my shoulders a great bronze vessel filled with boiling water. I myself must take a ladle and pour it down over my head, suffering pain beyond endurance. For what offense must I undergo this?”

Venerable Maudgalyayana replied:

When you were a human being, you served as the karmadana in a monastery and supervised the affairs of the assembly. There was a vessel of milk that you concealed in a secret place. At the proper time, you did not bring it out to distribute among the assembly; you waited until the visiting monks had departed and only then distributed it among the monastery residents. The milk was property dedicated to the permanent establishment ([1]); it belonged to the Sangha of the ten directions, and everyone was entitled to a share. Because you lacked the Way and greedily withheld the property of the Sangha, through those causes and conditions you have incurred this punishment. This is the retribution that blossoms in the present. Its full fruition will be in hell.

– Another ghost asked Venerable Maudgalyayana: “Throughout this life, I have constantly had to swallow red-hot iron pellets. For what offenses must I undergo this?”

Venerable Maudgalyayana replied:

When you were a human being, you were a young sramanera who prepared pure water mixed with rock sugar for the assembly. Because the rock sugar was hard, you gave rise to the thought of stealing, broke it into small pieces, and took a little. Before the assembly had drunk, you secretly drank a mouthful first. Through those causes and conditions, you have incurred this punishment. This is the retribution that blossoms in the present. Its full fruition will be in hell.

Today, all members of the assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly, having heard of what Venerable Maudgalyayana heard and saw, should be deeply fearful.

We ourselves may have committed such offenses. Because ignorance obscures us, we do not remember or recognize them. If we have indeed created immeasurable such evil karma, in future lives we will certainly have to undergo those painful retributions. Therefore, we should now be earnest and sincere, bow our heads in reverence, and, filled with shame and remorse, beseech repentance. We vow to eradicate all such offenses completely, and we further repent on behalf of all hungry ghosts throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space.

We also vow to repent on behalf of our parents and teachers, and on behalf of the venerable witnesses assembled at this altar, those seated in the upper, middle, and lower places.

We vow to repent on behalf of all good and evil spiritual friends, extending even throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space, for all infinite and endless beings among the four modes of birth and the six paths.

May the offenses already committed be eradicated through this repentance. As for offenses not yet committed, we vow never to dare commit them.

May all Buddhas of the ten directions bear witness for us.

Namo Maitreya Buddha

Namo Sakyamuni Buddha

Namo Krakucchanda Buddha

Namo Kanakamuni Buddha

Namo Kasyapa Buddha

Namo Lion Buddha

Namo Radiant Flame Buddha

Namo Muni Buddha

Namo Wondrous Flower Buddha

Namo Flower Vision Buddha

Namo Excellent Constellation Buddha

Namo Guiding Teacher Buddha

Namo Great Compassion Buddha

Namo Great Power Buddha

Namo Constellation King Buddha

Namo Sumeru Medicine Buddha

Namo Renowned Characteristics Buddha

Namo Great Radiance Buddha

Namo Blazing Shoulders Buddha

Namo Shining Splendor Buddha

Namo Sun Treasury Buddha

Namo Moon Vision Buddha

Namo Multitude of Flames Buddha

Namo Excellent Radiance Buddha

Namo Sorrowless Buddha

Namo Lion’s Play Buddha

Namo Lion’s Vigor Buddha

Namo Infinite-Body Bodhisattva

Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

Namo Buddha

Namo Dharma

Namo Sangha

Again, we take refuge in all Three Jewels throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space. May they, with great loving-kindness and compassion, rescue all beings throughout the ten directions who are presently suffering in the realm of hungry ghosts.

We further pray that they rescue all beings throughout the ten directions who are presently undergoing immeasurable suffering in the hell realm, the animal realm, and the human realm, so that those beings may immediately attain liberation, sever the three karmic obstructions ([2]), eliminate the five fears ([3]), realize the eight liberations ([4]), and employ the four great vows ([5]) to liberate sentient beings; may they bow to the World-Honored One and request the sublime teaching; without departing from their present place, may they completely exhaust all outflows, freely follow their minds, journey throughout the Buddha lands, fulfill their practices and vows, and swiftly attain perfect enlightenment.

Today, all members of the assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly should again listen with utmost sincerity and a collected mind.

At that time, the Buddha was staying in the city of Rajagriha. To the southeast was a pond into which all urine and filth were discharged, making it so foul-smelling that no one could approach it. A great worm lived in that pond. Its body was several zhang long; it had neither hands nor feet and writhed and rolled about. Thousands of people came to look at it. When Venerable Ananda saw this, he returned and reported it to the Buddha. The Buddha and the assembly went together to the pond to see it. The assembly thought:

“Now the Tathagata will explain to everyone the full story of this worm.”

The Buddha told the assembly: “After Vipasyin Buddha entered nirvana, five hundred bhiksus passed by a monastery. When they stopped there, the monastery steward was delighted and joyfully invited the assembly to remain so that he could make offerings to them. He served them wholeheartedly and withheld nothing.

“Later, five hundred merchants who had sailed out to sea in search of jewels also stopped at the monastery on their return. When these people saw the five hundred bhiksus diligently cultivating, they rejoiced and resolved to make offerings. They thought together: ‘A field of merit is difficult to encounter; we should make a modest offering.’

“Each person offered one jewel, making a total of five hundred mani jewels, which they entrusted to the monastery steward. Afterward, the monastery steward gave rise to an unwholesome thought and schemed to seize them all for himself, refusing to bring them forth as an offering to the Sangha.

“The assembly then asked: ‘Should not the jewels donated by the merchants be brought forth as an offering to the assembly?’

“The monastery steward replied: ‘Those jewels were offered to me. If you wish to seize them, there is excrement and filth for you. If you do not leave at once, I will cut off your hands and feet and cast you into a cesspit.’

“The assembly pitied him for being so deluded, and so they departed in silence.

“Because of that evil deed, the monastery steward has now taken birth in the body of this worm. Later, he will enter hell and undergo immeasurable suffering.”

– On another occasion, when the Buddha was staying in the city of Rajagriha, he saw a being with an immensely long and large tongue. Iron nails were driven through the tongue, and flames blazed fiercely from it, causing the being to suffer day and night.

Venerable Maudgalyayana then asked the Buddha: “For what offense does this being undergo such suffering?”

The Buddha replied:

“In the past, this person served as the steward of a monastery. He frequently reviled and drove away bhiksus, whether they were long-term residents of the monastery or newly arrived visiting monks. He also refused to provide them with food and drink and did not make offerings impartially. Through those causes and conditions, he has now incurred this punishment.”

– There was also a sentient being whose body was immense. Upon his head was a cauldron of boiling molten copper, from which flames blazed fiercely. The boiling copper overflowed in all directions and streamed over his entire body. That sentient being moved through empty space without ever resting.

Venerable Maudgalyayana asked the Buddha: “For what offense must this sentient being undergo such suffering?”

The Buddha replied:

“In a former life, this person served as the administrator of a monastery. When donors offered oil for lamps, the administrator did not distribute it to the visiting Sangha members. Only after the visiting monks had departed did he distribute it among the monks permanently residing at the monastery.

Because of those causes and conditions, he now suffers this retribution.”

– There was also a sentient being pierced by blazing red-hot iron rings that entered through the crown of his head and emerged through the soles of his feet. As he moved through empty space, his suffering was so extreme that it was unbearable.

Venerable Maudgalyayana asked the Buddha: “For what offense must this sentient being undergo such suffering?”

The Buddha replied:

“In a former life, this person was a novice monk who stole seven tamarind fruits ([6]) from the Sangha’s garden. After his death, that novice monk underwent immeasurable suffering in hell. His karmic retribution has still not been exhausted, and residual consequences remain; therefore, he must now suffer in this way.”

– There was also a great fish with one body and one hundred heads, each head different from the others, that had been caught in a fisherman’s net.

Seeing this, the Blessed One entered the samadhi of the compassionate mind and called to the fish. The fish immediately answered him.

The Blessed One asked the fish:

– Where is your mother?

– My mother is a worm burrowing in a latrine!

The Buddha told the bhikshus: “When Kasyapa Buddha appeared in the world, this great fish was a Tripitaka Master bhikshu. Because of his malicious speech, he has received the retribution of having many heads. At that time, his mother enjoyed the offerings and support he received, and therefore she fell into rebirth as a worm burrowing in a latrine.”

The Buddha continued teaching: “Such retribution is incurred because sentient beings engage in malicious speech, utter harsh and abrasive words, and spread tales about one party and another, causing the two sides to contend and create turmoil between themselves. After death, they enter hell, where the wardens heat an iron implement (?) until it glows red, its inside and outside as hot as boiling molten copper, and use it to sear the tongues of the offenders. The demons also heat iron hooks until they glow red. Each hook has three iron blades, sharp as spearpoints, with which they sever the offenders’ tongues. They also stretch out their tongues as oxen draw a plow.

“They further heat iron pestles until red-hot and ram them into the offenders’ throats. This continues for thousands upon tens of thousands of kalpas. Only after their offenses have been exhausted do they leave hell and become birds or beasts.

The Buddha taught: “If sentient beings discuss the affairs of kings and rulers, politics, their parents, or their teachers and elders, their offenses are even graver.”

Today, we of the Great Assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly have heard these words taught by the Buddha, and they are truly fearsome. We have now seen clearly that the two paths of good and evil are unerring, and that offenses, merits, and their retributions are certain and real. There can decidedly be no further doubt.

Therefore, we must be utterly ashamed and remorseful, diligently cultivate, and seek repentance. We of the Great Assembly have read the sutras together and have all witnessed the matters described above. If we do not exert ourselves, but instead grow indolent and wish to retreat, our cultivation will have no means of bearing fruit.

It is like a poor and destitute person who craves exquisite delicacies but in reality possesses not even one of them; ultimately, this brings no relief whatsoever from the suffering of that craving.

Thus, we should understand that anyone who wishes to seek the wondrous and supreme Dharma gate and to liberate all sentient beings cannot attain this merely by saying, “I cultivate only the mind.” That person must possess the right mind and must also put it into practice through concrete deeds. Both phenomena and principle are necessary. Only when phenomena and principle proceed together can the work bear complete fruit and reach perfect fulfillment.

Therefore, we of the Great Assembly must strive vigorously in cultivation and seek repentance. Together, with the utmost sincerity and earnestness, we bow our heads in homage to the Three Jewels. We vow to seek repentance on behalf of all sentient beings in the realms of hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, and humans.

We further vow to seek repentance on behalf of our parents, teachers and elders, wholesome and unwholesome spiritual friends, and all our relatives. May the offenses already committed be eradicated. As for offenses not yet committed, we vow never to dare commit them.

With one mind, we bow in homage and take refuge in the Greatly Compassionate Father of the World:

Namo Maitreya Buddha

Namo Sakyamuni Buddha

Namo Tisya Buddha

Namo Luminous Wonder Buddha

Namo Garland-Bearing Buddha

Namo Radiance of Merit Buddha

Namo Revealer of Meaning Buddha

Namo Wondrous Lamp Buddha

Namo Flourishing Buddha

Namo Medicine Master Buddha

Namo Gently Virtuous Buddha

Namo White Urna Buddha

Namo Steadfast Buddha

Namo Majestic Virtue of Merit Buddha

Namo Indestructible Buddha

Namo Virtuous Marks Buddha

Namo Rahu Buddha

Namo Lord of the Assembly Buddha

Namo Brahma Voice Buddha

Namo Firm Deliverance Buddha

Namo Unexalted Buddha

Namo Maker of Light Buddha

Namo Great Mountain Buddha

Namo Vajra Buddha

Namo Leader of the Assembly Buddha

Namo Fearless Buddha

Namo Precious Treasure Buddha

Namo Lion Banner Bodhisattva

Namo Lion’s Roar Bodhisattva

Namo Boundless Body Bodhisattva

Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva

In this same manner, we again take refuge in all the Three Jewels throughout the ten directions, extending to the limits of empty space. We pray that the Three Jewels, through the power of great loving-kindness and compassion, the power of great wisdom, their immeasurable and inconceivable sovereign spiritual powers, and their power to liberate all sentient beings, will eradicate every suffering of sentient beings within the six realms; cause those sentient beings to eliminate all karmic offenses leading to the three lower realms; ensure that they never commit the five rebellious offenses and no longer commit the ten evil deeds.

From this day forward, may those sentient beings never be reborn in places of painful retribution but instead be reborn in a Pure Land; relinquish lives of painful retribution and attain lives of wisdom; relinquish bodies of painful retribution and attain vajra bodies; relinquish the suffering of the lower realms and attain the bliss of nirvana; recall the suffering within the lower realms and give rise to the bodhi mind.

May the four immeasurable minds and the six paramitas always manifest before them. May they freely attain, according to their wishes, the four unobstructed eloquences and the six spiritual powers. May they advance with courageous vigor, never ceasing and never resting, and continue progressing in cultivation until they fulfill the practices of the ten bhumis, whereupon they will return to liberate all sentient beings.

CHAPTER EIGHT

LEAVING HELL

Today, we of the Great Assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly should understand that the myriad dharmas are not alike, and their functions are not identical, just as light and darkness stand in opposition to one another. Nevertheless, good and evil alone encompass them all.

Those who do good receive excellent retributions in the heavenly and human realms. Those who do evil receive vile retributions and undergo the most extreme suffering in the three lower realms.

These are two clearly evident truths in the world and are not false. Yet foolish and deluded people often give rise to doubts. Some claim that the heavenly realms are fabrications and that hell is a lie and does not exist.

Such people do not know how to infer effects from causes, nor how to examine effects and seek their causes. Those who cannot distinguish cause and effect cling to the world’s mistaken understanding. Not only do they cling to views of nonexistence and existence, but they also compose poems and essays to ridicule and denounce these truths.

Their minds oppose what is wholesome and beneficial, yet they never realize their error. Even if someone instructs them, they cling still more tightly to their one-sided views, and their errors become even more firmly entrenched. Such people cast themselves headlong into the lower realms.

In the blink of an eye, they descend directly into hell, where even devoted children cannot save them. Before anyone else, they enter pits of fire and cauldrons of oil. They burn their bodies amid raging flames and boiling oil without understanding what is happening.

Their bodies and minds are shattered, and their spirits undergo torment; by then, regret comes too late.

Today, we of the Great Assembly in this Dharma assembly clearly see that good and evil accompany one another as a shadow follows a form and an echo follows a sound.

Although the two paths of transgression and merit differ, both must await the appointed time when their karmic retribution is strictly rendered. May everyone hereafter clearly understand and believe this, without giving rise to doubt.

What is called hell?

The sutra teaches:

Within the trichiliocosm, in the darkest place between two Iron-Ring Mountains, is what is called Hell. Its iron city is sixteen million miles in length and breadth. Within the city are eighty-four thousand compartments. Below, iron forms the ground; above, iron forms a net. Fire burns throughout the city; inside and outside, it glows red and flows like water. The fire above burns all the way downward, while the fire below blazes all the way upward.

The individual names of the hells are:

Hell of Assemblage

Hell of Darkness

Hell of Knife Carts

Hell of the Sword Forest

Hell of Iron Mechanisms

Hell of the Thorn Forest

Hell of the Iron Net

Hell of the Iron Cavern

Hell of Iron Pellets

Hell of Sharp Stones

Hell of the Charcoal Pit

Hell of the Burning Forest.

Hell of Tigers and Wolves

Hell of Screaming.

Hell of Boiling Water

Hell of Hot Coals

Hell of the Knife Mountain

Hell of the Sword Forest

Hell of Fire-Grinding Stones

Hell of the City of Fire.

Hell of Copper Pillars

Hell of the Iron Bed

Hell of Fire Carts.

Hell of the Wheel of Fire

Hell of Drinking Boiling Copper

Hell of Spitting Forth Fire

Hell of Extreme Heat

Hell of Extreme Cold,

Hell of Tongue Extraction,

Hell of Nails Driven into the Body

Hell of Oxen Plowing

Hell of Hacking and Severing

Hell of Blades and Weapons

Hell of Dissection

Hell of the Ash River.

Hell of Surging Excrement and Urine

Hell of Freezing Cold

Hell of the Mire

Hell of Delusion

Hell of Weeping

Hell of Blindness and Deafness

Hell of Muteness and Stammering

Hell of Iron Hooks through the Tongue

Hell of Sharp Iron Beaks.

There are also the great and lesser excrement-and-urine nirayas and the Avici hell.

The Buddha told the Venerable Ananda:

What is called the Avici hell?

– A means without.

– Vici means obstruction.

– A means without.

– Vici means rescue.

Thus, taken together, Avici means without obstruction and without rescue: its torments cannot be stopped, and those within cannot be saved.

Furthermore:

– A means uninterrupted.

– Vici means immovable.

– A means extremely scorching.

– Vici means utterly tormenting.

– A means without ease.

– Vici means without peaceful abiding.

In summary, Avici means extreme torment without even a moment's respite, uninterrupted and unchanging; utterly agonizing, as though being smelted and boiled; without ease and without end, its punishments continuing forever. Therefore it is called Avici.

Furthermore:

– A represents fierce fire.

– Vici means violent and fiercely hot.

When fierce fire penetrates the heart, it is called the Avici hell.

The Buddha taught Ananda: The Avici hell is three hundred and twenty thousand miles in both length and breadth. Seven layers of iron walls and seven layers of iron nets enclose the Avici hell. Below are eighteen compartments, and around them are seven layers of walls, all furnished with forests of knives.

Within the seven layers of walls there are also forests of swords. Beneath them are eighteen compartments, each having eighty-four thousand layers. At the four corners are four great copper dogs, each sixteen thousand (16,000) miles long. Their eyes are like flashes of lightning, their teeth like swords, their fangs like mountains of knives, and their tongues like sharp iron spikes. Every pore of their bodies emits fierce fire; their breath rises like smoke, and their stench is unbearable—nothing in the world is more foul-smelling.

There are also eighteen wardens of hell, with heads like rakshasas and mouths like yakshas. Each dog has sixty-four eyes, and from those eyes it casts forth hot iron pellets that travel ten miles like speeding carts. Its upper teeth rise one hundred and sixty miles high. From the tips of those teeth fierce fire pours forth, burning the iron carts before them and causing every round opening in their wheels to transform into a hundred million fiery knives, swords, and sharp halberds. All these keen blades issue from within that fierce fire. The fire streams forth like a spring, burning the city of Avici hell. The city glows red like boiling molten copper.

Those wardens of hell each have eight ox heads, and each head has eighteen horns. From the tip of every horn pours forth a great mass of fire. Each great mass of fire then transforms into an enormous bladed wheel. All these wheels, one after another, race through the dreadful raging fire, filling the entire Avici hell.

Upon the ground are great copper dogs with gaping mouths and protruding tongues. Their tongues are like sharp-pointed carrying poles; when extended, they transform into innumerable tongues that fill the entire Avici hell.

Within the seven layers of walls are seven rows of banners. From the top of each banner, fire pours forth like a surging fountain, while molten iron flows throughout the entire Avici hell.

At each of the four gates of the city of Avici hell, upon the threshold, are eighteen cauldrons from which boiling molten copper surges forth and flows until it fills the entire city of Avici.

Within each compartment of the hell are also eighty-four thousand iron manya serpents, spewing venom and fire. Their enormous bodies fill the city. Their cries resound like thunder, and they rain down great hot iron pellets that fill the entire city of Avici.

The torments within the city number eighty thousand kotis of thousands. Every agony among all forms of agony is accumulated within this city.

There are also fifty billion worms within the city, each having eighty-four thousand sharp beaks. From the tip of every sharp beak, fire pours down like driving rain, filling the entire city of Avici.

Whenever these worms descend, the fierce fire in the city of Avici leaps up violently, blazing and shining brilliantly. That mighty fire casts its light as far as 3,360,000 miles. From the Avici hell it rises to the great ocean beneath Scorching Conch Mountain. Drops of water then fall from the great ocean, each as large as the axle of a great wheel, and become enormous iron spikes that fill the entire city of Avici.

The Buddha told Ananda: If any sentient being kills his father, harms his mother, or brings disgrace upon his six lines of kin, then when that person reaches the end of his life, an iron dog opens its mouth and transforms into eighteen wheels resembling golden carriages with jeweled canopies above them. All those sharp tongues of flame transform into jeweled maidens. Seeing them from afar, the offender becomes delighted and thinks: “I wish to go there and amuse myself.

I wish to go there and amuse myself.” When he arrives, winds like blades cut his body apart, and the cold becomes unbearable. The offender then thinks: “If only I could obtain a fine fire, sit upon the carriage, kindle it, and warm myself!” As soon as he has this thought, he dies. In an instant, he again sees himself seated upon a golden carriage, gazing at the jeweled maidens.

But the jeweled maidens take up iron axes and hack his body. Beneath him, fire blazes furiously, and as swiftly as a flash of lightning, in the blink of an eye, he falls into the Avici hell.

From the upper compartment, in the blink of an eye, he falls into the lower compartment. His body becomes so immense that it fills the compartment. The great copper dogs bark loudly, gnaw his bones, and swallow his marrow.

Rakshasa wardens take up great iron tridents, pierce his head, and force him to stand. Fire burns throughout his body and also consumes the city of Avici. The iron nets rain down knives.

The knives enter his body through every pore and transform into King Yama. The King loudly declares: “Foolish one, kindred to these wardens of hell! While living in the human world, you were unfilial toward your parents and sustained yourself through wrong livelihood, devoid of virtue.

Therefore you have fallen into this place, called the Avici hell. You are an ungrateful and shameless person. Is it pleasant to undergo such torment?” Having spoken, he disappears.

The wardens of hell then drive the offender from the lower compartment to the upper one. He must pass through the eighty-four thousand intervening compartments before crossing the final layer of iron net. One day and one night are required to traverse the whole of the Avici hell. One day and one night in hell are equal to sixty minor kalpas ([7]) in the human world. The offender remains alive in that hell for one great kalpa ([8]).

Those who commit the five heinous transgressions are without shame and therefore create such karma. Because of the five heinous transgressions, when they approach death, eighteen kinds of blade-like winds, like iron fire carts, cut their bodies apart. Tormented by the heat, the offender says: “If only I had those beautiful flowers of every hue and that great, cool, shady tree, would it not be delightful to wander and amuse myself there!”

Once he has thought thus, eighty-four thousand forests of evil swords transform into jeweled trees, luxuriant with flowers and fruit, arrayed before his eyes, while the fiercely blazing fires transform into lotus flowers at the foot of those trees. Seeing this, the sinner thinks to himself, “My wish has been fulfilled.”

In the blink of an eye, the sinner is seated upon a lotus flower. In an instant, sharp-beaked insects are born from the fiery flowers and bore into his bones and marrow, piercing through his heart and liver. The sinner must grasp a tree to stand up. Its branches turn into sword blades that flay his flesh and split his bones, while innumerable forests of knives rain down from the sky. The eighteen kinds of suffering—fiery furnaces and blazing chariots—come upon him all at once.

When these scenes appear, the sinner is driven down into the lower tiers of the hell and then from the lower tiers up to the higher ones. His entire body is flayed open like a blossoming flower. After being dragged throughout the lower tier, he ascends to the upper tier, where raging flames burn him fiercely.

Upon reaching the upper tier, his body fills it entirely, and he is tormented and seared beyond measure. The sinner’s eyes bulge and his tongue protrudes. Because he committed the five heinous offenses, myriad kotis of cauldrons of boiling copper and hundreds of thousands of bladed wheels descend from the sky, entering through the crown of his head and emerging from the soles of his feet. His suffering is a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times greater than before. One who has committed all five heinous offenses must undergo punishment for five full kalpas.

Furthermore, if a person violates the Buddha’s precepts, consumes in vain the offerings of the faithful, slanders the Three Jewels, holds wrong views, does not understand cause and effect, does not study the wisdom of prajnaparamita, disparages the Buddhas of the ten directions, steals property belonging to the Dharma, engages in defiled and impure conduct, feels no shame, brings disgrace upon relatives, and commits various evils, then when that person is about to die, the karmic retribution of his offenses causes wind blades to cut apart his body. He lies unconscious on his back as though being beaten.

His thoughts become confused, deluded, and disordered. He sees his house, his sons and daughters, adults and children, and all his possessions as impure. Foul-smelling urine and excrement cover his entire body. At that time he thinks:

“Why are there no fine cities, mountains, or forests here in which I might roam? Why must I remain amid this filthy mass of impurities?”

Once he has thought thus, the dark hell and its rakshasa wardens—with their great iron tridents—the Avici hell, and its forests of knives transform into jeweled trees and cool ponds. The raging fires transform into lotus flowers with golden leaves; the sharp-beaked iron insects transform into fuyan birds. The agonized cries within the hell sound like singing and chanting.

Seeing such beauty, the sinner thinks, “I shall quickly go there and roam.” As soon as he has thought this, he finds himself seated upon a fiery lotus. Sharp-beaked iron insects bore out through every pore of his body, biting and tearing his flesh. Hundreds of thousands of iron wheels strike his body from above; iron tridents as numerous as the sands of the Ganges hook out his eyeballs.

The bronze dogs in the hell transform into hundreds of kotis of iron dogs that fight among themselves to claw and tear apart the sinner’s body, ripping out his heart and devouring it. In the blink of an eye, his body becomes the petals of an iron flower that fills all eighteen tiers of the hell. Each flower has eighty-four thousand petals, and within every petal his head, torso, hands, feet, limbs, and joints occupy one tier.

The hell is not enlarged, nor is this body made smaller, yet it pervades the entire hell.

These sinners fall into that hell for eighty-four thousand great kalpas. When that hell is destroyed, they enter the other eighteen tiers of hell and undergo the same suffering described above. To the south of this Avici hell there are also eighteen tiers; to the west there are also eighteen tiers; and to the north there are also eighteen tiers.

Those who slander the Vaipulya Mahayana sutras, commit all five heinous offenses, destroy and defile the sages, and sever roots of goodness undergo the full retribution of their offenses. Their bodies extend throughout the Avici hell, and their four limbs spread throughout all eighteen tiers. This Avici hell burns only those beings who have created the causes for hell as described above.

When the kalpa of the hell is about to end, they see the eastern gate of the hell open. Beyond that gate, the sinners see a stream of clear, cool water flowing and forests luxuriant with flowers and fruit appearing. When the sinners in the lower tier behold this, the flames issuing from their eyes briefly subside.

They stretch upward from the lower tier, writhing and crawling along, their entire bodies flayed as they flee toward the upper tier, their hands clutching the bladed wheels. At that time, red-hot iron pellets rain down from the sky. The sinners run toward the eastern gate.

Just as they reach it, the rakshasa hell wardens, holding iron tridents in their hands, thrust them backward into the sinners’ eyeballs.

Bronze dogs chew their hearts to pulp, and the sinners lose consciousness and die. After dying, they revive and see the southern gate open, no different from the gate they saw before.

The western and northern gates are likewise the same. Over the course of half a kalpa, the sinners repeatedly die within the Avici hell.

After dying, they revive and are born in a freezing hell, where they die amid rows of ice. After dying, they come to life again; having revived, they are born in a hell of darkness. For hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of years, their eyes see nothing.

Their bodies become those of enormous worms, writhing as they crawl away. Their faculties ([9]) are dim and dull, and they understand neither right nor wrong. Then hundreds of thousands of tigers and wolves drag them away and fight to devour them.

After dying, they are reborn among animals and for fifty thousand years assume the bodies of birds and beasts. They suffer in this way until their offenses are exhausted and they are able to be reborn as human beings. Yet they are blind, deaf, mute, stammering, leprous, afflicted with tumors, poor, and lowly.

They themselves must undergo all these forms of decline and suffering. In such wretched bodies, they pass through birth and death five hundred times. They are then reborn among hungry ghosts.

While among the hungry ghosts, they encounter good spiritual friends, great bodhisattvas, who admonish them, saying:

“Throughout immeasurable past lives, you committed immeasurable offenses, slandered the Three Jewels, and disbelieved cause and effect. Therefore, you fell into the Avici hell and underwent sufferings beyond description. You should now bring forth a mind of loving-kindness and compassion.”

When the hungry ghosts hear these words, they immediately proclaim, “Namo Buddha.”

Through the mighty grace of the Buddhas, their lives as hungry ghosts immediately end, and they are reborn in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. After being born there, they repent, reproach themselves, and bring forth the mind of bodhi.

The light of the Buddhas’ minds never forsakes those who bring forth this resolve. The Buddhas gather in those who have thus resolved and cherish them as they cherish Rahula. They instruct them to remain far from the hells and protect them from falling away, treasuring them like the pupils of their own eyes.

The Buddha told the Great King: “If you wish to know where the radiance of the Buddhas constantly shines, observe that it shines without interruption upon places where suffering beings such as these have no one to rescue them. What does the Buddha-mind constantly know? It constantly knows those places where beings undergo such utterly cruel and terrible punishments. Therefore, refine your own mind through the Buddha-mind over the course of many kalpas, causing those evildoers to bring forth the mind of bodhi.”

Today, we of the great assembly who share common karma in this Dharma assembly have heard the Buddha, the World-Honored One, describe the sufferings above. We must therefore redouble our vigilance and guard our thoughts, never giving rise to negligence. If we do not diligently establish skillful means and cultivate the bodhisattva path, there will be no hell in which we do not have a share of guilt.

Today, for the sake of all beings presently undergoing suffering in the Avici hell, for the sake of all beings who will undergo suffering in the Avici hell, and, more broadly, for the sake of all beings presently undergoing and destined to undergo endless and inexhaustible suffering throughout all the hells of the ten directions, we bow our heads in reverence and take refuge in the Great Compassionate Father of the World:

Namo Maitreya Buddha

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha

Namo the Seven Buddhas of the Past

Namo the Ten Buddhas of the Ten Directions

Namo the Thirty-Five Buddhas

Namo the Fifty-Three Buddhas

Namo the One Hundred and Seventy Buddhas

Homage to the Thousand Buddhas of the Adornment Kalpa.

Homage to the Thousand Buddhas of the Auspicious Kalpa.

Homage to the Thousand Buddhas of the Constellation Kalpa.

Homage to the bodhisattva-mahasattvas of the ten directions.

Homage to the Twelve Bodhisattvas.

Homage to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Homage to Boundless-Body Bodhisattva.

Homage to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

Again, we take refuge in the immeasurable images throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space:

The golden image and the sandalwood image commissioned by King Udayana.

The bronze image commissioned by King Asoka.

The stone image of Wu Zhong.

The jade image of the Lion.

The images made of gold, silver, vaidurya, coral, amber, mother-of-pearl, agate, pearl, mani jewels, and Jambunada gold of the color of ma-shang, found throughout all lands.

Again, we take refuge in all the stupas enshrining the hair of the Buddhas of the ten directions:

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their jawbones and teeth.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their teeth.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their fingernails.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining the bones from the crowns of their heads.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining the sariras from their bodies.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their kasayas.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their spoons and alms bowls.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their bathing vessels.

We take refuge in all stupas enshrining their khakkharas.

We take refuge in all such places where the work of the Buddha is performed. (1 prostration)

Again, we take refuge in the stupa where the Buddha descended to be born, and we take refuge in the stupa where the Buddha attained the Way:

We take refuge in the stupa where the Buddha turned the Dharma wheel.

We take refuge in the stupa where the Buddha entered nirvana.

We take refuge in the stupas in the heavens, the stupas in the human realm, and all the jeweled stupas in the palaces of the Dragon Kings. (1 prostration)

Again, in this manner, we take refuge in all Buddhas throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space:

We take refuge in all the revered Dharma throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space.

We take refuge in the entire Sangha of sages and saints throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space. (1 prostration)

May the Three Jewels, through their power of compassion, their power to comfort sentient beings, their immeasurable power of great sovereignty, and their immeasurable great spiritual power, gather in and accept us as we today repent on behalf of all sentient beings suffering in the great Avici hell; may this repentance extend universally to all the innumerable sentient beings in all the hells of the ten directions; and may we repent on behalf of our parents, teachers, and all relatives and kin. We pray that the Three Jewels will use the water of great compassion to wash away the offenses of all sentient beings now suffering in the Avici hell and in the other hells, causing them to become pure.

May the Three Jewels wash away the offenses of the sentient beings who are repenting together in this Dharma assembly today; may they wash away the offenses of all our parents and teachers and of all our relatives and kin, causing their offenses to be purified.

Again, may they wash away the offenses of all sentient beings in the six paths, causing them to proceed directly to the place of awakening in complete purity. From this time onward until the day they attain Buddhahood, may all sentient beings put an end to every torment in the Avici hell. Moreover, may they put an end to all the innumerable, ineffable sufferings in the hells throughout the ten directions to the limits of empty space.

May these sentient beings never again fall into the three evil paths and never again descend into any hell. May they never again commit the ten evil karmas and never again commit the five rebellious offenses and thereby undergo suffering. May all their offenses be extinguished.

Renouncing life in hell, may they attain life in the Pure Land; renouncing the lifespan of hell, may they attain the life of wisdom; renouncing the body of hell, may they attain a vajra body; renouncing the suffering of hell, may they attain the bliss of nirvana. Remembering the sufferings of hell, may they arouse the bodhi-mind. May the Four Immeasurables and Six Paramitas always be present before them; may they freely exercise the Four Unobstructed Eloquences and Six Superknowledges according to their wishes.

May they be endowed with wisdom, cultivate the bodhisattva path, and advance with courageous vigor, neither ceasing nor resting, continually progressing in cultivation until they perfect the practices of the ten bhumis, enter the vajra mind, and attain complete, unsurpassed awakening. May they then return to this world and liberate all sentient beings throughout the ten directions.

Today, we of the great assembly, sharing common karma in this Dharma assembly, know that there are still other hells whose sufferings are so manifold and complex that they cannot all be recorded. Their names are as stated, and their torments are boundless. If the great assembly opens the sutras and reads them, these matters will become clear.

In the sutras, the Buddha taught: “A single evil thought of King Yama gives rise to all the manifold affairs of the hells. The sufferings endured by Yama himself are likewise beyond reckoning.”

In the past, Great King Yama was the king of the land of Tisya. Because he was defeated in battle against the lord of the waters, Vida, he made this vow: “May I in a future life become the lord of the prisons and punish offenders.”

His eighteen great ministers and one million attendants all made the same vow.

That King Tisya is now King Yama, and those eighteen great ministers are now the eighteen kings of the hells.

The one million attendants are now the ox-headed wardens of hell.

All these officials and subordinates are under the authority of Vaisravana, Heavenly King of the North.

The Dirgha Agama records:

“The dwelling place of Great King Yama lies within the Vajra Mountains of Jambudvipa. To the south, his royal palace measures six thousand yojanas in length and breadth” ([10]). The Sutra of the Great Hells teaches: “The walled city and palace of King Yama lie within hell, extending thirty thousand miles in length and breadth, and are constructed of iron and copper.”

Three times each day and night, a great copper cauldron filled with boiling molten copper naturally appears before the king. A huge warden of hell lays the king upon a scorching iron bed, strikes his mouth with an iron hook, and pours the boiling molten copper into it. Everything from his throat downward burns and dissolves. Those great ministers must endure the same punishment.

The names of those eighteen kings of the hells are:

1.- Ca Dien, who guards the Ne-li Hell.

2.- Khuat Ton, who guards the Mountain of Blades Hell.

3.- Phi Tho, who guards the Boiling Sand Hell.

4.- Phi Khuc, who guards the Phat-si Hell.

5.- Ca The, who guards the Black-Ear Hell.

6.- Hap Sai, who guards the Fire-Cart Hell.

7.- Than Vi, who guards the Cauldron of Coals Hell.

8.- Thich Ca Nhien, who guards the Iron-Bed Hell.

9.- Ac Sanh, who guards the Crushing-Mountains Hell.

10.- Than Ngam, who guards the Freezing Hell.

11.- Ty Ca, who guards the Flaying Hell.

12.- Dieu Dau, who guards the Animal Hell.

13.- De Bat, who guards the Blades and Weapons Hell.

14.- Di Dai, who guards the Iron Millstone Hell.

15.- Duyet Dau, who guards the Ash-River Hell.

16.- Xuyen Cot, who guards the Iron-Cables Hell.

17.- Danh Than, who guards the Maggot Hell.

18.- Quan Than, who guards the Molten-Copper Hell.

Each of these hells has immeasurable other hells as its retinue, and every hell has its own lord. The ox-headed wardens of hell are violent and cruel by nature, without the slightest trace of compassion. When they see sentient beings undergoing such evil retribution, their only fear is that the beings are not suffering enough. If someone asks the wardens:

“These sentient beings undergoing such suffering are truly pitiable. Why do you constantly harbor such venomous cruelty and show not the least compassion?”

The wardens immediately reply:

“The evils committed by those who undergo suffering are these: They were unfilial toward their parents; slandered the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; disparaged sages and saints; insulted their six kinds of close relatives; treated their teachers with contempt; destroyed everything; spoke malicious words; engaged in divisive and flattering speech; were jealous; severed the bonds between other people's flesh-and-blood kin; indulged in anger and rage, killing and lust; deceived and scorned others; pursued wrong livelihood and improper aims; and, because of wrong views, indolence, and heedlessness, formed many enmities and grudges.”

“When such people come here and have undergone their suffering, whenever they are released, we always admonish them: ‘The suffering here is extreme and unbearable. Now that you have been released, do not commit offenses and thereby return here again.’”

Yet those offenders refuse to desist and repent. Today they emerge, only to enter again soon afterward. Wandering repeatedly through samsara, they do not recognize suffering and pain, causing us to grow weary on account of these beings. Life after life, we continually encounter one another. For this reason, we have not the slightest compassion for the offenders, but deliberately make their suffering still greater.

We hope that they will recognize suffering, know remorse and shame, and never return here again.

As we see it, these beings simply endure suffering yet refuse to avoid it, and lack the firm resolve to cultivate goodness and enter nirvana.

They have become as though insentient, knowing neither to avoid suffering nor to seek happiness. Since they must endure suffering more severe than that in the human realm, how could we pardon them and give rise to compassion?

Today, let the assembly sharing common karma in this Dharma assembly compare this with the prisons of the human world, and they will understand at once; they may be certain that this matter is not false.

Suppose a person comes to the prison gates three times. Although his relatives and kin may be close to him, when they see him continually entering and leaving the prison gates, even they become disheartened and no longer feel sorrow or compassion for him. How much less would the ox-headed wardens and prison guards feel compassion when they see beings emerge only to enter again and endure suffering endlessly?

Therefore, once one has escaped from hell, one should cultivate the mind, nurture one’s nature, and reform one’s habitual tendencies. If one does not desist, one will sink in the sea of suffering for many kalpas. Once one has entered there, one passes successively from one torment to another, with no respite whatsoever.

Thus, enmities from the three periods of time and their causes and effects follow one another, while the twin courses of good and evil never cease even for a moment. Retribution is plainly displayed and readily seen. Those who do evil encounter suffering; evil is repaid with evil. They remain in hell for years and kalpas, enduring every kind of torment. When their offenses in hell are exhausted, they are reborn as animals. When their offenses as animals are exhausted, they become hungry ghosts, passing through immeasurable births and deaths and immeasurable suffering.

How, then, could the assembly fail to cultivate the bodhisattva path in good time?

Today, we wholeheartedly and reverently bow before the Three Jewels. For all beings in the hell realm throughout the ten directions—the kings of hell, their great ministers, the ox-headed wardens, the prison guards, and all their retinues; for all beings in the realm of hungry ghosts throughout the ten directions—the kings of hungry ghosts, the spirits of hungry ghosts, and so forth, together with all their retinues; for all beings in the animal realm throughout the ten directions—the spirits of animals and so forth, together with all their retinues; and, more broadly, for all the infinite and inexhaustible beings throughout the ten directions, we beseech repentance on their behalf, that they may reform the past, cultivate for the future, and commit evil no more.

May the offenses already committed be eradicated; may the offenses already committed be eradicated; and as for offenses not yet committed, we vow never to dare commit them.

May all Buddhas throughout the ten directions employ their inconceivable, sovereign spiritual powers to bless, rescue, compassionately regard, and embrace all beings, enabling them to attain liberation immediately.

We take refuge in the Great Compassionate Father of the world:

Namo Maitreya Buddha

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha

Namo Flower-Sun Buddha

Namo Army-Might Buddha

Namo Flower-Light Buddha

Namo Benevolent Buddha

Namo Great Majestic Virtue Buddha

Namo Brahma-King Buddha

Namo Immeasurable Radiance Buddha

Namo Dragon-Virtue Buddha

Namo Firm-Step Buddha

Namo Unfailing Vision Buddha

Namo Vigor-Virtue Buddha

Namo Skillful Guardian Buddha

Namo Joyful Buddha

Namo Non-Retrogression Buddha

Namo Lion-Form Buddha

Namo Supreme Wisdom Buddha

Namo Dharma-Revealing Buddha

Namo King of Joy Buddha

Namo Sand-Taming Buddha

Namo Loving-Deeds Buddha

Namo Virtuous Arm Buddha

Namo Fragrant Elephant Buddha

Namo Contemplative Vision Buddha

Namo Cloud-Voice Buddha

Namo Skillful Reflection Buddha

Namo Lion-Banner Bodhisattva

Namo Lion-Action Bodhisattva

Namo Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva

Namo Boundless-Body Bodhisattva

Namo Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.

In the same manner, we again take refuge in all the Three Jewels throughout the realm of empty space. May the Three Jewels, out of compassion and through their sovereign spiritual powers, rescue the beings of the hell realm, the kings of hell, their great ministers, and all their retinues, together with the eighteen hells.

Each of these eighteen divisions of hell has many other hells as its retinue.

May the Three Jewels rescue all ox-headed wardens, prison guards, and all beings suffering in the hell realm, enabling every one of them to attain liberation. May the offenses and their painful fruits be extinguished simultaneously. From this day forward, may they ultimately and forever sever all karma leading to hell and never again fall into the three evil realms.

Renouncing life in hell, may they attain life in the Pure Land; renouncing the lifespan of hell, may they attain the life of wisdom; renouncing the body of hell, may they attain the vajra body; renouncing the suffering of hell, may they attain the bliss of nirvana. Recalling the sufferings of hell, may they awaken the bodhi mind. May the Four Immeasurables and the Six Paramitas always be present before them.

May they freely and sovereignly exercise the Four Unhindered Eloquences and the Six Superknowledges according to their wishes.

May they advance with courageous vigor, never ceasing and never resting, until they have perfected the practices of the ten bhumis; then return to liberate all beings, enter the vajra state together with them, and attain complete and perfect enlightenment.

THE COMPASSIONATE DHARMA ASSEMBLY RITUAL OF REPENTANCE

VOLUME FOUR

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