廣弘明集 27.138

27.138

Although the myriad phenomena differ and their functions are not identical, when it comes to contrasting the light and the dark, there are only the two paths of good and evil. Speaking of good, the superior fruits of humans and devas are distinctly verified before our eyes; describing evil, the extreme sufferings of the three paths are manifest and not false. Yet foolish and deluded men are fond of giving rise to doubts and differences, often saying that humans and devas are fabricated fictions and that hells are not factual teachings. Because they do not see them, they do not know how to deduce the effect by inferring the cause; because they do not understand, they also do not know how to search out the cause by examining the effect. Since cause and effect are not distinguished, they vainly fan disputes of right and wrong; with paths of doubt arising in confusion, when will clarity arrive? Leaving aside the future, whose matters are hard to comprehend, taking only the present: good and evil are empirically verified, and the unseen world is not a fabrication. When there is a form, a shadow appears; when there is a sound, an echo responds. One has never seen the shadow vanish while the form remains, nor the echo fail while the sound continues. Thus we know that the mutual support of good and evil is also like this. May everyone clearly believe and harbor no doubtful mind. What is meant by hell? The sūtras explain it extensively: beneath this continent are eight great hells, the lowest being Avīci, forty thousand yojanas down. Iron ramparts enclose it on four sides, thoroughly penetrated by fire within and without. Copper dogs and black snakes roar, gnaw, and bite, exceedingly terrifying. The minor hells are scattered among the Iron Ring Mountains, on ocean islands, in barren wildernesses, and in various places; fully undergoing cold and heat, they are difficult to describe in full. Each hell has its warden, the ox-headed horse-faced minions (ābàng), whose nature is cruel and savage without a single trace of compassionate patience. Seeing those undergoing suffering, they only worry that it is not bitter enough, only worry that it is not venomous enough. Someone once asked a hell-warden: 'The suffering sentient beings undergo is exceedingly pitiable, yet you have no compassion and always harbor venomous malice.' The hell-warden answered: 'All those who undergo suffering are here because they were unfilial to their parents, slandered the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, reviled relatives and strangers, ruined and trapped everyone, broke the harmony [of the Saṅgha], were angry, killed, harmed, greedy, lustful, deceitful, had wrong livelihood, wrong seeking, and wrong views, were arrogant, indolent, unrestrained, resentful, lost and sunken in sounds and sights, indulged in wine and food, violated the precepts they received without knowing shame or remorse, and, endowed fully with evil karma, came here to undergo suffering. After their suffering was completed, we constantly exhorted them: "This is an evil place; you have now attained release, do not come again!" Yet these sentient beings initially have no repentance; today they manage to get out, and in a brief moment they return again, exhausting our physical strength to inflict venom upon them. Now observing this sort of people: since they do not cultivate good, going toward Nirvāṇa would be ignorance on their part; they do not know how to avoid suffering, and for that reason we redouble their pain and injury. How could compassionate patience arise from this?' Furthermore, a sūtra says: 'There are ten evil karmas, such as killing and stealing, that can cause sentient beings to fall into hells, animals, and hungry ghosts. Only after immeasurable kalpas do they attain human form, and again receive retribution such as short life and poverty. They also incur external retribution such as thorns, brambles, sand, gravel, floods, droughts, lack of flavors, and disagreeable conditions.' Moreover, body, speech, and mind—these three are the beginnings of generating karma. Doing it oneself, instructing others, and rejoicing at seeing it done—these three are the causes for completing karma. Retribution in the present life, retribution in the next life, and retribution in subsequent lives—these three are the sites of karmic consequence. Therefore a treatise says: 'The three sets of three combine into nine kinds, generated from the three afflictions.' However, the former nine categories of karma apply to both good and evil; receiving retribution in the three paths relies solely on the three poisons. For this reason, practitioners must first contemplate and break through them, so that in this human body there may be a principle of escape.