法苑珠林 97

English (machine translation) 97

Language: English

97.1

Compiled by the śramaṇa Shi Daoshi of Ximing Temple.

97.2

Chapter 97: Funerals (This contains four sections)

97.3

Section on Stating Intent
Section on Renouncing Life
Section on Dispatching and Sending Off
Section on Receiving Rebirth

Consider that the four great elements are a vessel of poison, brimming with defilements. The six thieves are wild masters, clinging to every sense object. There is no longer any hope of going against the stream; there is only the momentum of revolving [in saṃsāra]. When it comes to plucking a single hair to benefit all under heaven, one is stingy and will not do it; when it comes to giving up a single meal to supplement someone else's rations, one begrudges it and will not bestow it. Sunk and stagnating in birth and death, tenaciously clinging to conditioned phenomena, the Buddhas knit their brows over them, and the bodhisattvas weep blood for them. We quietly observe that among worldly folks, when the parents of the noble and eminent pass away, they mostly prepare funeral rituals and broadly slaughter living beings, gathering kinsmen and entertaining guests. Seeking merely present glory, they do not evade karmic causes; or fearing external ridicule, they do not cultivate the internal scriptures. Thus, when the father dies, he suffers double agony here; when the mother passes away, her [torment in the cauldron of] boiling water and burning coals is especially multiplied. Consequently, they revolve through the tridhātu and wander across the ṣaḍgati; the four miserable destinies are easy to enter, but liberation is difficult to attain in myriad kalpas. We grieve for the departed spirit of the affectionate mother and lament the unfilial son's repaying her with poison. Yet just as prolonged drought makes one long for the blessing of sweet rain, and frequent pestilence makes one eagerly await the medicine of a skilled physician, so too are these deceased parents ordinary mortals: how could they be free of evil karma? If the causes of sin are not extinguished, the bitter retribution will be difficult to avert. If one does not rely on various superior merits, how could the fruit of bliss ever be realized? May it be that at the verge of death they make vows to be brought into a śītavana, using funeral implements to support the body and jointly cultivating merits, in the hope of relieving the hunger of flying and crawling creatures and avoiding debts in lives to come.

97.6

As the Twelve Categories of Birth and Death Sūtra states: The Buddha said, 'Human death has twelve categories. What are the twelve? The first is death without residue, which refers to arhats who are free from attachment. The second is crossing beyond death, which refers to anāgāmins who do not return. The third is death with residue, which refers to sakṛdāgāmins who depart and return. The fourth is death of learning to cross over, which refers to srotāpannas who see the path. The fifth is death without deceit, which refers to people of the eight stages. The sixth is death with joyful mind, which refers to those who practice one-pointedness of mind. The seventh is frequent death, which refers to people of evil morality. The eighth is death with regret, which refers to ordinary worldlings. The ninth is untimely death, which refers to the lonely and destitute. The tenth is death of bound attachment, which refers to animals. The eleventh is death of burning and scorching, which refers to the hells. The twelfth is death of hunger and thirst, which refers to hungry ghosts. Monks should clearly understand this and not be negligent.'

97.7

Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Samādhi of Pure Deliverance says: When people perform good or evil karma and are reborn in heaven or fall into hell, they each have beings who come to welcome them at the time of their death. When sick and about to die, their own eyes see them coming to welcome them. Those who are to be reborn in heaven see heavenly beings coming to welcome them with heavenly garments, music, and dance. Those who are to be reborn in another direction see venerable persons speaking wondrous words to them. If, having done evil, they are to fall into hell, their eyes see soldiers bearing swords, shields, spears, halberds, and cords surrounding them. What they see is different, and their mouths cannot speak; each receives retribution according to what they have done. Heaven is free of wrongful injustice and is level, upright, and without partiality; according to what has been done, the heavenly net regulates them.

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Furthermore, the Avataṃsaka-sūtra says: When a person is about to die, they see the signs of the intermediate existence (antarābhava). If they have performed evil karma, they see the suffering endured in the three evil destinies, or they see Yama holding weapons to bind and arrest them and take them away, or they hear sounds of agony. If they have performed good deeds, they see the palaces of the heavens, adorned with maidens making music, disporting themselves, and enjoying happiness, and such superior wonders.

97.9

Furthermore, the Sūtra of Avadānas of the Dharmapada says: In the past, the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana monastery preaching the Dharma for devas and humans. There was an elder living beside the road with boundless wealth. He had only one son, aged twenty, who had newly taken a wife. Less than seven days had passed, and husband and wife respected each other. Desiring to go to the rear garden, during the third month of early spring, they went to stroll and play in the garden. There was a crabapple tree, tall and large with lovely flowers. The wife wished to have the flowers, but there was no one to fetch and give them to her. The husband climbed the tree for her, going even out onto the slender branches; the branch snapped, and he fell to his death. The entire household, old and young, ran to the son's place, crying out to heaven and wailing loudly, fainting and reviving again. None who heard it failed to be heartbroken. Encoffining him, they escorted him back to the house, weeping incessantly. The World-Honoured One, pitying their folly, went to inquire after them. When the elder's household, old and young, saw the Buddha, they bowed down with sorrow and emotion, fully narrating their bitter pain. The Buddha said to the elder: "Cease, and listen to the Dharma. All things are impermanent and cannot be preserved for long. Where there is birth, there is death; offenses and blessings follow upon one another. For this boy, people in three places are weeping, broken by sorrow and anguish beyond endurance. Whose son is he after all? Who are his real kin?" Thereupon the World-Honoured One spoke a gāthā:

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"Life is like flowers and fruit ripening, / Ever fearing they will fall. / All that has been born has suffering; / Who can attain immortality? / From the initial delight in lustful desires, / One may be expected to enter into the shadow of the womb. / Receiving form, life is like lightning, / Flowing day and night, hard to halt. / This body is a dead thing; / The conscious spirit is a formless phenomenon. / Creating life, it dies and is born again; / Offenses and blessings do not perish. / The end and beginning are not of one lifetime; / Following ignorance and craving for a long time, / One creates deeds oneself and suffers pain or pleasure; / When the body dies, the spirit is not lost."

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When the elder heard this, his mind found understanding and he forgot his sorrow. Kneeling long, he said to the Buddha: "What offense and transgression did this boy commit in a past life that, having a flourishing and beautiful life, he met with a premature death? We pray that you explain the offenses he originally committed." The Buddha said to the elder: "In the distant past, there was a young boy who, carrying a bow and arrows, entered into a grove of sacred trees to play. Beside him, three men were also watching from within. On a tree there was a sparrow, and the boy wished to shoot it. The three men encouraged him, saying, 'If you can hit the sparrow, you are a brave lad in this world.' Feeling pleased, the boy drew his bow and shot it; hitting the sparrow, it died immediately. The three men laughed together, joined in his delight, and then departed on their own ways. Passing through rounds of birth and death over several kalpas, they met together wherever they were to undergo punishment. Among the three men, one who possessed merit is now in heaven; one was born in the sea as a miraculously born dragon king; and one is your present elder self. The young boy had previously been born in heaven as the son of a deva; when his lifespan ended, he became the elder's son; falling from the tree and ending his life, he was immediately born in the sea as the son of the dragon king; and on the very day of his birth, the Garuḍa king seized and devoured him. Today, in three places, people are grieving and weeping—how can it even be expressed! Because in their past lives they had aided his delight, these three men received retribution like this." Thereupon the World-Honoured One spoke a gāthā:

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"The conscious spirit creates the three realms; / The good and non-good [lead to] three places. / Secretly acting, it silently arrives; / Where it goes is like the responding of an echo. / Existence in the form, desire, and formless [realms], / All arises from past actions. / Just as a seed accords with its original image, / Spontaneous retribution is like a shadow."

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When the Buddha had spoken this gāthā, the elder's mind understood. Old and young rejoiced, and all attained the stage of stream-enterer (srotāpanna).

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Furthermore, the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya says: At that time, for the benefit of sentient beings, upon a king's life ending, the World-Honoured One spoke a gāthā:

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"All must eventually come to an end; / That which is high must fall. / None who are born do not die; / All that has life is impermanent. / Sentient beings fall into conditioned numbers; / Everything is conditioned. / In all the worlds, / There is none that does not age and die. / This is the constant principle of sentient beings: / Birth after birth, all return to death. / In accordance with the karma they create, / Offenses and blessings bring retribution: / Evil karma leads to falling into hell; / Good karma leads to birth in heaven. / Exalted practice leads to birth in good destinies, / Attaining untainted nirvāṇa."

97.16

Section Three: Funerary Escort

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The commentary says: The linked cycle of birth and death does not depart from conventional truth. Although one may leave the household to aspire to the supreme path, if the segmented [birth and death] have not yet been abandoned and the changeful [birth and death] have not yet been removed, one still relies upon the three realms and drifts along with worldly customs. As for living and dying, all relies on internal and external [teachings]. On the day of one's death, being properly situated, and the decorum of funerary escorts are fully presented below. As for the deceased corpse being situated to the north or south, and the differences between the hun-soul and po-soul, these are now briefly narrated here.

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The "Liyun" [chapter] of the Classic of Rites says: "The bodily po-soul descends, while the knowing qi remains above. The deceased has their head to the north; the living face the south."

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The "Jiaotesheng" [chapter] says: "The hun-qi returns to heaven; the bodily po-soul returns to earth. Therefore, sacrificial offerings seek them in the principles of yin and yang." The "Jiyi" [chapter] says: "Qi is the abundance of the spirit (shen); hun is the abundance of the ghost (gui)."

97.20

In the Zuo Zhuan, in the second year of Duke Zhao, Zichan replied to Zhao Jingzi, saying: "When a human being is born, the transformation [into form] is called po; once the po is born, its yang aspect is called hun. If one uses material essences in great abundance, then hun and po become strong. Hence one possesses refinement and brilliance reaching even to spiritual radiance. If an ordinary man or woman dies a violent death, their hun and po are still able to possess people and cause wicked scourges; how much more so with Liangxiao!"

97.21

The Huainanzi says: "Heavenly qi becomes hun; earthly qi becomes po." The po asked the hun, saying, "What does the Dao take as its substance?" The hun said, "Does it take the formless as its substance?" The po said, "It has form. If it were non-existent, why would you ask?" The hun said, "I have merely encountered it: looking at it, it has no form; listening to it, it has no sound. What is termed 'dim and obscure' is that by which the Dao is illustrated, but it is not the Dao itself." A question asks: "Since we know that hun and po are distinct, why do contemporary customs call back the hun with clothing upon a death, and do not say calling back the po?" Answer: "The hun is the spirit, while the po is the corpse. Therefore, according to the rites, at the initial moment of death, one takes the clothes that the deceased wore and brings them over the corpse-po. Because the hun has gone outside, one takes the clothes to summon the hun. The hun recognizes its own clothes, follows the clothes, and returns to the po. If the hun returns to the po, the silk wisp at the corpse's mouth moves. If the hun does not return to the po, the silk wisp at the mouth does not move. Speaking from principle, this is why it is called 'summoning the hun' and not called 'calling back the po.' Thus Xiao's Summary Records of Mourning Garments says: 'When Duke Ai of Lu buried his father, Confucius asked him, "Would you rather set up the soul-garment (hunyi)?" Duke Ai said: "The soul-garment originated with Botao. When Botao encountered the cold on the road beneath Mount Jing and died, his friend Yang Jiao'ai went to receive his corpse; pitying the coldness of his hun-spirit, he therefore fashioned a soul-garment. My father wore brocades and embroideries in life, and in death he rests in garments and coverlets; what use would a soul-garment be?"'"

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Question: "Why must one write their surname and personal name on the banner?" Answer: "The banner summons the hun and is placed on the dry ground (qian position), so that the hun recognizes its name, follows the name, and enters the dark room, and also entrusts itself to the po, or enters the zhong chamber (chong, pronounced zhi-long fan; zhong [ancestral tablet / food pavilion] is chong [layered], pronounced tu-yong fan). Within the zhong, the sacrificial offerings of food are fully arranged. Because life and death are distinct and light and darkness are different, ghosts and spirits eat in darkness, while living people eat in light. Therefore, the zhong uses coarse bamboo mats to wrap the food vessels, so as to place them inside the zhong, situating it in the earth (kun position)."

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According to the Western Regions, there are four methods of burial: first, floating in water; second, burning with fire; third, burying in the earth; fourth, offering to the forest. The Mahīśāsaka-vinaya says: "When burning with fire, place it upon a stone; it must not be on grass or soil, for fear of harming insects." The Dharmaguptaka-vinaya says: "The Tathāgata and the cakravartin are both cremated with fire; for other people, all four methods are applicable, and among them many are buried." The Mahīśāsaka-vinaya says: "The corpse should be buried" (this refers to when royal law does not permit casting away the body, and moreover in summer one fears burning will kill insects; hence it orders burying it. Apart from this, where there are no difficulties, water and forest are also permissible). Furthermore, according to the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya and the Five Hundred Inquiries, it says: "If one sees a stupa or temple of the Tathāgata, or sees the burial stupas of ordained monastics of the five assemblies who are senior to oneself, one must successively pay homage to them according to the years since their ordination in life. If any laypeople see the burial stupas of ordained monastics, regardless of seniority, they must all pay respectful homage."

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The commentary says: Knowing that it is thus, when monastics and laypeople see the deceased coffins of masters, saṃgha members, or parents, an outside visitor offering condolences who is junior to the deceased should proceed to the place of the corpse and perform the rites as usual. Having first taken the hands of the filial children to silently comfort and console them, they then proceed to the Venerable Ones to fully express their feelings of sorrow, paying condolence and bowing. One also sees foolish laypeople falsely practicing Dharma instructions and successively teaching others not to allow bowing to the deceased spirits of parents, uncles, and venerable kin, saying: 'Since I have received the precepts and they are ghosts and spirits, it is not fitting to bow to them, for fear of breaking the precepts.' This does not accord with the teachings; on the contrary, it incurs the fault of ignorance. I humbly consider that masters and monks nourish our Dharma-body, while parents and uncles nourish our physical body. Relying on their nursing, we grow up to become adults; contemplating this kindness and virtue, even the vast heavens are hard to repay. Compensating their kindness across kalpas, how could a single lifetime suffice to repay it? Failing to preserve reverence and gratitude, but instead giving rise to indolence and arrogance, treading in the footsteps of base fellows, how can one be a filial child? Therefore, even the World-Honoured One, the ultimate sage, personally supported the corpse of his deceased father in the funeral procession; how much less should low and ordinary fools rashly give rise to neglect! Hence the Nirvāṇa-sūtra says: 'One who knows kindness is the root of great compassion; one who does not know kindness is worse than a beast.'

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Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Nirvāṇa of King Śuddhodana says: King Śuddhodana was in the state of Kapilavastu. Critically ill and nearing his end, he longed to see the World-Honoured One, Nanda, and the others. The World-Honoured One was on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain in Rājagṛha, fifty yojanas distant from there. The World-Honoured One, being on Vulture Peak, heard his father's pining voice from afar with his divine ear. Thereupon, together with Ānanda and the others, he arrived through the air. Stroking the king's brow with his hand, after comforting the king, he preached the Mahāpāla Jātaka for him. Hearing it, the king attained the fruit of an anāgāmin. The king took the Buddha's hand and placed it upon his heart. The Buddha again preached the Dharma, and he attained the fruit of an arhat. Confronted by impermanence, his life ended and his breath ceased; suddenly he passed to the afterlife. When the time for cremation (jhāpita) arrived, the Buddha and Nanda stood respectfully before the head of the deceased; Ānanda and Rāhula stood behind the feet of the deceased. Ānandada knelt on both knees and addressed the Buddha, saying: "I pray only that you permit me to carry my paternal uncle's coffin." Rāhula also said: "I pray only that you permit me to carry my royal grandfather's coffin." The World-Honoured One consoled them, saying: "People of future generations will all be violent and cruel, and will not repay the kindness of their parents' nurturing. In order to establish a teaching to transform such unfilial sentient beings, the Tathāgata wishes to carry the coffin of his royal father with his own body." Immediately the trichiliocosm underwent six kinds of quaking; all the mountains pitched and surged, like boats on the water. At that time, all the devas, nāgas, and spirits came to the funeral and raised their voices in weeping. The Four Heavenly Kings, leading hundreds of millions of spirits, all joined in lifting the bier. They addressed the Buddha, saying: "For the sake of those in future ages who are unfilial to parents, the Buddha with great compassion wishes personally to carry his royal father's coffin. The four kings together addressed the Buddha, saying: "We are disciples of the Buddha; hearing the Dharma from the Buddha, we have attained srotaāpanna. For this reason, we ought to carry the royal father's coffin." The Buddha permitted the four kings to carry his royal father's coffin. They immediately transformed into men. None of the people failed to weep. The World-Honoured One personally held an incense burner in his hands and went before, proceeding to the gravesite. He commanded a thousand arhats to go to an isle in the great ocean to take ox-head candana and various fragrant woods to burn him with fire. The Buddha said: "Suffering, empty, and impermanent, like an illusion, the moon in water, or an image in a mirror." When the cremation of the body was completed, the kings each took five hundred vessels of milk to extinguish the fire. After the fire was extinguished, they vied with one another to collect the bones and place them in a vajra casket. Right upon that spot, they built a stūpa together, hanging silk banners and canopies to make offerings to the stūpa. The Buddha addressed the great assembly: "My royal father Śuddhodana was a pure man; he has been born into the Śuddhāvāsa Heaven."

97.26

Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha's Mother says: The nun Mahāprajāpatī, who was the Buddha's maternal aunt, could not bear to see the Buddha enter extinction later on and wished to enter extinction first, together with five hundred hunger-dispelling women (that is, nuns; Kang Senghui's Dharma Mirror Sūtra states: "Ordinary beings are greedily tainted by the six dusts, like starving men greedy for food without knowing satisfaction. Now the noble ones sever greed and eliminate the hunger of the six sense-faculties, hence the nuns who leave household life are called 'hunger-dispellers'"). With her hands she caressed the Buddha's feet, circumambulated the Buddha three times, bowed her head, and departed. Manifesting the power of psychic abilities, she disappeared from her seat, arrived from the eastern direction, and performed eighteen transformations in the sky. It was likewise in the eight directions, above, and below. She emitted a great radiance to illuminate all darkness and shone brightly above the heavens. The five hundred hunger-dispellers likewise displayed transformations, and all entered nirvāṇa at the same time. The Buddha urged the householders to make five hundred bier-couches, with sesame oil, fragrant flowers, and timber of camphor, phoebe, and catalpa, five hundred of each item, and to make offerings with authentic dances and proper music. All beings, both ordinary and noble, seeing this, none failed to weep in grief. When the cremation was finished, they carried the relics and went to the Buddha's place. Thereupon, from the four quarters, two hundred and fifty arhats from each quarter flew there through psychic abilities, bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet, and reached the place of the relics. The thousand monks all took their seats. The Buddha told Ānanda: "Take the relics, put them in a bowl, and place them in my hands." Ānanda obeyed the command. He told the monks: "This collection of relics was originally an impure body—fierce, foolish, impetuous, and violent, full of jealousy and insidious schemes, corrupting the Way and ruining virtue. Now my aunt has been able to extricate herself and cultivate the conduct of a noble man, attaining the path of an arhat and swiftly having her spirit pass into the unconditioned. How vigorous she was!" He decreed that a temple be erected to make offerings.

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Furthermore, the Ekottarika-āgama says: The Buddha told Ānanda and Rāhula, "Lift the body of Mahāprajāpatī; I shall personally make offerings." At that time, Śakra Devānām Indra, the Four Heavenly Kings, and others came forward and addressed the Buddha, saying: "We pray only that you do not exhaust your spirit; we ourselves will naturally make offerings." The Buddha said: "Cease, cease! Why is that? Parents give birth to children and benefit them greatly; the kindness of raising them is profound, suckling them and holding them in their bosoms. One definitely must repay this kindness; it cannot be left unpaid. The mothers of all the buddhas of the past and future took extinction first, and all buddhas personally made offerings and cremated their relics." At that time, Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa sent various spirits to go to the candana forest to take candana firewood and bring it to the wilderness. The Buddha personally carried one leg of the bier-couch and Ānanda carried one leg, flying through the sky and proceeding to the graveyard. At that time, the Buddha personally took the candana wood and placed it upon Mahāprajāpatī's body. The Buddha said: "There are four persons for whom a stūpa should be erected and offerings made: first, a buddha; second, a pratyekabuddha; third, an arhat whose outflows are exhausted; fourth, a wheel-turning sage king; all because they transform sentient beings through the ten virtues." At that time, the people took the relics and each erected a stūpa to make offerings. According to the Saṃyuktāgama, the maternal aunt Prajāpatī was the biological mother of Nanda.

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Furthermore, the Ekottarika-āgama says: Briefly taking the first and last among the disciples of the four assemblies, eight persons are listed. Among the monks, the one who first attained the Way was like the monk Kauṇḍinya, who was skilled at exhorting and converting and did not lose decorum; the last to attain the Way was like Subhadra, who entered parinirvāṇa on the very day he attained the Way. Among the nuns, the one who first attained the Way was like the nun Mahāprajāpatī; the last to attain the Way was like the nun from the state of Dārakura. Among the upāsakas, the one who first attained the Way was like the merchant man; the last to attain the Way was like Kuranamalla. Among the upāsikās, the one who first attained the Way was like the woman Nandā; the last to attain the Way was like the upāsikā Nīlā.

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Section 4: Rebirth

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Now, life is maintained by the eight consciousnesses, while death is the dispersal of the four great elements. Swift is a hundred years of age, ultimately returning to annihilation, cycling through the three realms and turning around without ceasing. Therefore the sūtra says: "Whatever has a beginning must have an end; once born, it must be destroyed." The noble teachings are not in vain, and one sees this plainly before one's eyes. Therefore, regarding this circumstance, I will briefly set forth six chapters.

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In the first chapter, at the time of approaching the end of life, one inspects the cold and heat of the body to verify its good or evil, and thereby fully knows the coming retribution. Thus the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra states: "This sentient being is neither form nor mind, but is conventionally designated as a living being; great and small are alike in this, and death may be gradual or sudden." Masters have traditionally transmitted: For a person who performs good deeds, cold touches them from below up to above the navel, and warmth is extinguished last [at the top]; they are then born among humans. If the heat is extinguished last at the head and face, they are born into the heavenly realms. For those who perform evil deeds, it is the reverse of this: if the heat is extinguished last from above down to the waist, they are born in the realm of hungry ghosts; if the heat is extinguished from the waist to the knees, they are born among animals; if it is extinguished from the knees down to the feet, they are born in hell. When a person beyond training enters nirvāṇa, it is either warmth at the heart, or at the crown. However, the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says: "The initial place of lodgement of the kalala is called the physical heart. In this manner, consciousness initially lodges at this place, and is finally relinquished from this place." An explanation says: According to the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, because performing good leads to birth above, it is gradually relinquished from below up to the physical heart, and only afterwards is it said to be relinquished above. Because performing evil leads to birth below, it is first relinquished from above down to the physical heart, and only afterwards is it relinquished from below.

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The Abhidharmakośa-śāstra states: When a person is dying, in which part of the body does the mental consciousness cease? If one dies all at once, the physical faculties and the mental consciousness are extinguished together at the same time. If a person dies gradually, the verse here says:

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"Dying gradually, [reaching] the feet or navel, / consciousness ceases at the heart; / going below, as human, as deva, or not being reborn."

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The commentary in the treatise explains: If a person is bound to go to an evil realm for rebirth, or to the human realm, for such persons, [or] gradually for an arhat, this person's mental consciousness ceases at the heart. Other schools say it ceases at the head. Why is this? Because the body faculty is extinguished together with the mental consciousness at these places. When a person is dying, this body faculty is like hot stone and water gradually contracting and extinguishing, extinguishing in succession at places such as the feet. The explanation says: The Abhidharmakośa-śāstra expounds the Hīnayāna meaning, and therefore says that the body is extinguished together with the mental consciousness at these places. If according to the Mahāyāna, the body faculty is extinguished together with the fundamental consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) at these places.

97.35

Second, concerning the method of taking rebirth: according to the Kośa-śāstra, in order to proceed to the destination realm where rebirth is due, this intermediate-existence sentient being arises. Through the eye faculty produced by the force of past karma, even while abiding at the farthest distance, it can see the place where it is to be born. Therein it sees the copulation of its parents. If it is to become male, it produces a man's lustful desire toward the mother; if it is to become female, it produces a woman's lustful desire toward the father. Inverting this mind, it gives rise to anger. Because this intermediate-existence sentient being generates an inverted mind from these two [factors], seeking desirous sport it goes to the place of birth, which is to rejoice at obtaining what belongs to oneself. At this time, when the impure fluids have reached the womb, it gives rise to joy and thereupon relies on that to take birth. From that moment, when the five aggregates of that sentient being unite and solidify, the five aggregates of the intermediate existence immediately cease; only in this manner is taking rebirth spoken of. If the fetus is male, relying on the mother's left flank, it squats facing the mother's back. If the fetus is female, relying on the mother's right flank, it dwells facing the mother's belly. If the fetus is neither male nor female, according to the kind of its desire it relies upon it to take birth, and its dwelling is also like this. There is no intermediate existence that differs from male or female, because they are all fully endowed with faculties. Therefore, whether male or female, they rely on that to take birth and dwell; later, increasing and growing in the womb, [some] may become eunuchs. For those relying on womb-birth and egg-birth, the principle is like this. If a sentient being is to take moisture-birth, because it cherishes fragrances it goes to the place of birth; this fragrance may be pure or impure, according to past karma. If it is apparitional birth, because it cherishes the place, it goes to the place of birth. If so, how can hell beings take delight in their place? Because of an inverted mind, this sentient being sees cold winds and icy rains tormenting its body, and sees the raging, blazing fire of hell as lovely; desiring to obtain warm contact, it goes and enters therein. Again, seeing its body scorched by hot winds, blazing light, flames, and the like, suffering unbearable pain, it sees the cold hells as cool, and cherishing cold contact, it goes and enters therein. Those of womb-birth and egg-birth generate love toward the copulation of the parents; those of moisture-birth and apparitional birth do not rely on red and white [fluids] to form a body, and hence lack this copulation. Those of moisture-birth merely crave fragrances, and thus go to the place where they are to be born; according to the goodness or badness of their karma, the cherished fragrances naturally have purity or impurity. Those of apparitional birth merely crave the place of reliance. Although hell is a place of suffering, yet the sinner also takes delight in obtaining a cherished place, and takes rebirth therein. Why is this? Because without craving, rebirth is not taken. The śāstra says: As in the past one performed actions capable of inducing such a birth, one is pleased to see one's body in such a state, and sees those sentient beings as likewise; therefore one goes thither. The former teachers of old made this explanation: If a sentient being at the age of thirty committed the karma of killing living beings by netting and trapping creatures, when engaging in this matter he certainly had companions. This karma is capable of inducing rebirth in hell. Later, in the intermediate existence, he sees his own body just as in the past at the age of thirty when engaging in netting and trapping; hence it says 'state'. He also sees his past companions without difference from before. When he sees the hell, it is like seeing the rivers and lakes in the past, with all the companions drawing each other in to enter together; based on this, transformation arises and he thereupon takes rebirth therein. Later it was explained: Although the karma created in the past was manifold, it must be a single karma that draws one to rebirth in hell. Whether one performed this karma at the age of twenty or at thirty, later in the intermediate existence one sees one's own body as young or old just as when creating the karma in the past. Seeing the hell beings, they are all like his own age; the ages being alike, a transformation arises toward these sentient beings, and he immediately goes to approach them. Due to this craving, he takes rebirth. According to the Sautrāntika masters, such an explanation is given.

97.36

Furthermore, the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says: If one is of slight merit, one will be born into a lowly family. At the time of death and upon entering the womb, one will hear various chaotic and confused sounds, and will falsely see oneself entering into thickets, bamboo groves, reeds, rushes, and the like. If one has abundant merit, one will be born into an honorable and noble family. At that time, one will naturally hear serene, wondrous, and pleasing sounds, and will falsely see oneself ascending to palaces and the appearance of other pleasing sights.

97.37

Furthermore, the Kośa-śāstra says: If a person gives rise to a mind of wrong view when on the brink of death, using past unwholesomeness as the cause and wrong view as the condition, this person falls into hell. A śāstra master says: All unwholesome deeds are causes of hell; the remainder of these unwholesome deeds leads to rebirth among animals and hungry ghosts. Furthermore, because of the preponderance of dharmic karma, one falls among animals: if lust is preponderant, one is born among doves, sparrows, and mandarin ducks; if anger is preponderant, one is born among vipers, adders, snakes, and scorpions; if delusion is preponderant, one is born among pigs, sheep, clams, and oysters; if arrogance is preponderant, one is born among lions, tigers, and wolves; if restlessness and frivolity are preponderant, one is born among monkeys; if stinginess and jealousy are preponderant, one is born among hungry dogs. If one has a small portion of the remaining merit from practicing giving, though born among animals, one will experience slight pleasure therein. Although the two karmas of body and speech are governed by the mind, yet those who receive retribution for their verbal karma are numerous. For instance, if one curses someone as frivolous and rash like a monkey, one is born among monkeys; if one says that someone is greedy and perverse like a crow, talks like a barking dog, is stupid like a pig or sheep, has a voice like a braying donkey, walks like a dromedary camel, is self-exalting like an elephant, is fierce like an untamed ox, is lustful like a bird or sparrow, is timid like a cat or wildcat, or is flattering like a wild fox—for such evil deeds, one receives retribution according to speech. Yet these have the three poisons as their root. Among the three poisons, greedy craving is the weightiest, just as grasping one end of a cloth causes the rest to follow entirely. Therefore the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra says: If craving is not severed, craving will moisten rebirth; therefore the four modes of birth all arise from craving. For example, it is said that having much lust leads to rebirth among birds and sparrows, and having much greed for flavours leads to taking rebirth in a latrine. Again, due to desirous craving there is egg-birth; due to greed for fragrances there is moisture-birth. According to whatever is craved, giving rise to earnest karma results in apparitional birth. If with an earnest mind one delights in committing sinful karma, at the time of death one falsely sees hell and takes apparitional birth therein. If one earnestly cherishes merit, one takes apparitional birth in the higher realms. Therefore the Satyasiddhi-śāstra says: Just as when the root of a tree is not uprooted, the tree still grows, so when the root of greed is not uprooted, the tree of suffering ever remains.

97.38

Furthermore, the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says: How does self-love arise? Because [self-love] has arisen uninterruptedly; because the cause of beginningless delight in and attachment to conceptual proliferation has been habituated; and because the cause of pure and impure karma has been habituated. Due to the predominant power of those two kinds of causes, from the seeds of that bodily support, right at that place the intermediate-existence ripening immediately arises without interruption, at the time of death like the rising and falling of the two ends of a balance scale. And this intermediate existence must possess all faculties. For those who perform evil karma, the intermediate existence obtained is like the light of black fleece or a dark, overcast night. For those who perform good karma, it is like the light of white cloth or a clear, bright night. The Kośa-śāstra says: This intermediate existence is fully endowed with the five faculties; diamond and the like cannot obstruct it. Under Mount Sumeru, in the midst of diamond, there are toads that take rebirth therein; the intermediate existence has subtle form, which diamond cannot obstruct. Those with the divine eye can see this matter. To re-cite an event heard as evidence: I once heard someone say that when iron was heated until red-hot and broken open, an insect was seen inside.

97.39

Third, concerning the length of lifespan: the Kośa-śāstra says that if the place of rebirth is not fixed in another place, one may take birth anywhere within this destiny. For instance, cattle have particularly frequent sexual activity in summer, dogs in autumn, bears in winter, horses in spring, while jackals and the like have sexual activity at no fixed time. If at that time this sentient being is to be born among cattle, but it is not summer, it is then born among jackals. If it is to be born among dogs, but it is not the season, it is then born among jackals.

97.40

Furthermore, the Hīnayāna masters of the Kośa have four different explanations: One says that for an extremely brief time, having died one immediately receives the aggregates of birth. The second says that it can remain for seven days; when the seven days are completed, its stay in intermediate existence has no limit of time. The third says that it can remain for forty-nine days; if the conditions for rebirth are not yet complete, having died it receives it again, also without a limit of time. The fourth says that according to the conditions for taking rebirth, it remains even throughout a kalpa without ending its life. Fifth, according to the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: If it has not obtained the conditions for birth, it stays for at most seven days; dying and being reborn again, it undergoes death and birth for up to seven times seven days; after this, it definitely obtains the conditions for birth. This differs from all four preceding views.

97.41

Fourth, concerning the speed of supernormal powers: the Kośa-śāstra says that this intermediate existence travels through the sky; as when a person relinquishes life and is due to take rebirth beyond immeasurable world systems, in an instant it arrives. Before the supernormal power of the two vehicles has traversed a single world system, the intermediate existence has already reached beyond immeasurable world systems. Even the divine power of the Buddha cannot prevent it from going to be born or cause it to abide in another destiny, because the power of karma is fixed. The śāstra's statement that karmic supernormal power is superior is based on its surpassing the supernormal power of ordinary persons and the One Vehicle. The Vibhāṣā-śāstra says: The statement that the base of supernormal power is superior is based on the Buddha's supernormal power being swift.

97.42

Fifth, concerning the differences in mutual visibility: according to the Kośa-śāstra, intermediate existences of the same destiny of rebirth certainly see one another. If a person has the divine eye that is purest, being of the class of path wisdom, this person is also able to see that birth; if it is a karmically-acquired divine eye, one cannot see it, because [the intermediate existence] is most subtle. The Sarvāstivāda school says: If they are equally taking rebirth in the human destiny and are equally intermediate existences of the human destiny, they can mutually see one another; this principle is fixed. They cannot see the intermediate existences of other destinies. If a person has acquired the divine eye through cultivation, this divine eye is of the path class and can see the form of the intermediate existence; if it is a karmically-acquired divine eye, one cannot see the form of the intermediate existence, because the form of the intermediate existence is subtler than other forms. According to the Sammatīya school, an intermediate existence of the heavenly destiny is fully capable of seeing the form of the intermediate existences of the five destinies; an intermediate existence of the human destiny can see four destinies, excluding the intermediate existence of the heavenly destiny, which is not what it can see. In this gradual order, excluding the preceding ones, down to an intermediate existence of the hell destiny, excluding the intermediate existences of the four preceding destinies which are not what it sees, it sees only the intermediate existence of the hell destiny.

97.43

Sixth, concerning the size of the body: the Kośa-śāstra says that the body size is like that of a child of six or seven years, yet its cognitive understanding is acute and sharp. If a bodhisattva is in the intermediate existence, he is like a fully developed youth free of sickness, endowed with the major and minor marks. Therefore, although in the intermediate existence and just about to enter the womb, he can illuminate ten thousand koṭis of Jambudvīpas everywhere.

97.44

The verse says:

97.45

The lofty hall is truly an inn; / Destroying karma ever drags one along by principle. / The jade casing is just cast aside to be seen, / And the golden terrace no longer extends its welcome. / The mourning songs trail away into the distance; / The shadows of creepers hang intertwined with the pines. / How could one retain ten mindfulnesses? / One must simply follow the four conditions. / The illusionist creates sameness and difference, / Performing transformations into many bodies. / Fools dispute over self and other— / Who among them does not call it real? / The deluded suspect it to be permanent and solid; / The discerning know it as an illusory guest. / Since relatives and strangers are never fixed, / Why labour to grieve before the azure sky?

97.46

Circumstances of Sympathetic Resonance (briefly citing sixteen proofs)

97.47

Under Emperor Ai of the Han, a woman was pregnant, and two months before giving birth, the child cried in the womb. / In the time of Emperor Ping of the Han, there was a shepherdess who died in spring; six days after being coffined, she came out of the coffin. / In the Jian'an reign period of the Han, Li Yao died, and after fourteen days revived. / In Chenliu under the Han, Shi Xu's deathbed instructions had confirmation. / When Lady Feng of the Han died, after nearly a hundred years robbers broke open the tomb, and her complexion was as before. / In the time of Emperor Ling of the Han, a man of Liaoxi saw a floating coffin in the Liao River, inside which a man spoke, saying: / 'I am Guzhu Jun, the younger brother of Boyi.' / At Yingling in Beihai under the Han, there was a man of the Way who could cause people to meet with deceased persons. / In the time of Emperor Wu of the Han, he favoured Lady Li; after she died, Emperor Ai saw her within the curtains. / In the Han dynasty, when the family of Du Gu held a burial, a maidservant was mistakenly trapped and could not get out; after ten years they opened the tomb, / and the maidservant was still alive. / In Luoyang under the Han, the śramaṇa Da-duo opened a tomb and found a living person who had been dead for twelve years. / In the Jin dynasty, Tang Zun died suddenly; after a night, spiritual signs were seen that could be verified. / In the Jin dynasty, for the śramaṇa Heluojie, both his life and death had spiritual signs and divine anomalies difficult to fathom. / In the Jin dynasty, for the śramaṇa Zhu Fahui, both his life and death also had spiritual, divine transformations difficult to fathom. / In the Song dynasty, the śramaṇa Huiyuan had a disciple named Huang Qian; his life and death had verification. / In the Sui dynasty, for the śramaṇa Shi Xuanjing, his life and death also had auspicious omens that could be verified. / In the Tang dynasty, the layman Pei Zenan died suddenly and revived, speaking of the dark path with verifiable proof.

97.48

In the fourth month of the fourth year of the Jianping reign period of Emperor Ai of the Han, in Shanyang there was a woman named Tian Wuyi who was pregnant and had not yet given birth; two months prior, the child cried inside the womb. When it was born, she did not raise it and buried it by the roadside. Three days later, someone passed by and heard the sound of the child crying. The mother dug it up and raised it.

97.49

In the Han dynasty, in the second month of the first year of the Yuanshi reign period of Emperor Ping, a woman of Guangmu in Shuofang named Zhao Bingchun died. Six days after being placed in her coffin and enshrouded, she appeared outside the coffin. She said of herself that she had seen her dead husband, who then said: 'You are only twenty-seven; you ought not to die.' The commandery governor Tan reported this to the court, commenting: 'Extreme yin becomes yang; those below become those above.' Thereafter, Wang Mang usurped the throne.

97.50

In the Han dynasty, during the Jian'an reign period, Li Yao died. After fourteen days, he revived. His words were entirely those of ghosts and spirits. During the Chuping reign period of Emperor Xian, a woman of the Huan family of Changsha died. After more than a month, her mother heard sounds inside the coffin. Upon opening it, she had indeed come back to life.

97.51

In the Han dynasty, Shi Xu, styled Weiming, of Kaocheng in Chenliu, fell ill when he was young. As he lay dying, he said to his mother: 'When I die, I shall revive. When you bury me, set a bamboo staff upright atop my grave. If the staff is pulled out, dig me up.' When he died, she buried him and set up the staff according to his words. On the seventh day, she went to look, and the staff had indeed been pulled out. She immediately dug out his body, and he revived. He ran to the well, and after bathing, he was fully restored as before. Later, he took a boat with a neighbor to Xiapi to sell hoes, but found no buyers. Wanting to return home, he said to the man: 'I shall make a brief trip home.' The man did not believe him, saying: 'How could you make a brief trip over a thousand li?' He answered: 'I shall return after a single night. If you do not believe me, write a letter, and I will bring back a reply as proof.' He returned after just one night, and indeed brought back a reply letter, fully knowing the news. When Jia He, the magistrate of Kaocheng and native of Jiangxia […] heard of this, his elder sister was ill in their hometown; wanting urgent news, he asked [Shi Xu] to go and inquire after her. The road was three thousand li away, yet after two nights he returned with a reply letter, knowing every detail.

97.52

In the Han dynasty, Lady Feng had been dead for nearly a hundred years. When bandits opened her tomb, her facial complexion was as it had been in life, only her flesh was slightly cold. The bandits violated her, which led to mutual jealousy among them, and only after that was the matter discovered.

97.53

In the Han dynasty, Lingzhi county had the city of Guzhu, the ancient state of Guzhu. In the first year of the Guanghe reign period of Emperor Ling, a person from Liaoxi saw a floating coffin in the Liao River and wanted to hack it open. A person inside the coffin spoke, saying: 'I am the Lord of Guzhu, the younger brother of Boyi. The seawater damaged my coffin, and so I have drifted here. Why would you hack at me?' Terrified, the people dared not hack it. Consequently, they built a shrine to sacrifice to him. When officials or commoners wished to open and look upon it, they all died without apparent cause.

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法苑珠林 — 道世, Classical Chinese