法苑珠林 79.7

79.7

As the Large Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra states: If a person lacks faith and slanders the Mahāyāna Prajñā Sūtra, he falls straight into the Avīci Hell, enduring extreme suffering and pain for immeasurable hundreds of thousands of ten millions of koṭis of years, going from one hell to another hell. When this kalpa ends, he is born into a great hell in another direction; when that other direction's kalpa ends, he is reborn in a great hell in this world; in this manner, he cycles throughout the realms of the ten directions. When the kalpas in other directions end, he is reborn back in a great hell here. When his hell-karma is exhausted, he is born among beasts, also cycling throughout the realms of the ten directions. When his animal karma is exhausted, he is reborn among humans in a place devoid of the Buddha-Dharma—impoverished, lowly, incomplete in his sense-faculties, constantly foolish, mad, and dull-witted, without any discernment. Even if someone is not a foolish beast but rather an intelligent human, if he falsely gives rise to deviant attachments, this is also called wrong view. Therefore, the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra states: 'There are distinctions in delusion. Why is that? Not all delusion is entirely unwholesome. If delusion increases and turns into wrong view, it is then called an unwholesome path of action.' For this reason, when wrong view grows from delusion, it constitutes a grave offense and one will surely fall into the Avīci Hell. Taking wrong view directly, it has its own degrees of lightness and gravity: the light can be redirected; the grave cannot be redirected. Thus the Bodhisattvabhūmi-śāstra states: 'There are two kinds of wrong views: the first is redirectable, and the second is non-redirectable. Slandering cause and effect and declaring that there are no noble persons is called non-redirectable; seeing what is not a cause as a cause, and seeing what is not a fruit as a fruit, is called redirectable.' For this reason, unwholesome karma is called wrong view, while wholesome karma is called right view. Those who do not slander the Four Truths but are deluded about the noble path do not know that the principle and the path arise from one's own mind, and only constantly torment their bodies in search of liberation, like a dog chasing a clod of dirt without knowing to seek its source. Thus the Mahālaṅkāra-śāstra says: 'For example, when a lion is struck or shot, that lion pursues the person. But like a foolish dog, when someone throws something at it, it chases after the tile or stone without knowing to seek the source.' The lion symbolizes a wise person who understands how to seek the source and extinguish defilements. The foolish dog symbolizes the non-Buddhists who scorch their bodies with the five heats, not recognizing the source of the mind (surrounding themselves with fires on four sides, with the sun scorching them from above, placing their bodies in the midst thereof, seeking the path through suffering). It is just that common fools are mostly deluded about the true path; they do not know how to contemplate that body and mind are without self, and merely learn ascetic practices, taking them to be the path. They are identical to non-Buddhists who falsely practice deviant teachings and errantly cling to what contradicts truth, resulting only in unwholesome phenomena. Therefore the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: 'Because the offense of wrong view is grave, even if one upholds the precepts and possesses good bodily and vocal karma, they all follow the unwholesome mind of wrong view. As the Buddha himself said in a parable: like planting a bitter seed, although it is brought to fruition by the four great elements, it all turns into a bitter taste. The person of wrong view is also like this: although he upholds precepts and makes energetic progress, it all becomes unwholesome phenomena. It is not as good as having no attachments and practicing a little of the giving of wisdom. One without attachments is easy to convert; one with attachments is difficult to deliver. It does not merely ruin oneself, but also harms others.' Therefore the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra states: 'It is better to halt and not act than to walk a deviant path, for when the body breaks up at the end of life, one falls into the evil destinies.' Furthermore, the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra says, in a verse spoken by King Yama reproaching the sinners: