How to remember the past and the future
One day, when the Buddha and his disciples were resting under a big tree outside the city of Rayue, there was a newly ordained monk named Jianzheng, who was pondering a question in his heart: The Buddha said that people die and have an afterlife, why didn't anyone come back to report? I'm going to ask the Buddha. Before the Buddha could open his mouth, the Buddha already knew, and then the Lord first said: "Disciples, you see, this tree was originally just a seed, but now it has grown into a dense tree, and when it was a seed at first, there were no roots, trunks, leaves, and fruits, but under the action of the four causes of earth, water, fire, and wind, the seed germinated, the bud regenerated the stem, the stem regenerated the leaf, the leaf regenerated the flower, the flower bore fruit, and the transformation was easy, although it was no longer the original seed, but it did not leave the original seed. You say, "Can these roots, stems, flowers and fruits turn back into their original seeds?" The disciples replied, "No."
The Buddha told his disciples: Life and death are the same, ignorance and ignorance are the foundation, just like the seed of a tree, although the seed is small, it can grow into a big tree. Ignorance and foolishness give birth to action, practice gives birth to knowledge, knowledge gives birth to fame, fame and color give birth to six into, six into life and touch, touch and receive, receive and covet, love begets and grasps, grasps and has, has begotten birth, gives birth to old age and death, and combines twelve causes. After death, the knowledge of God follows the good and evil deeds of the previous life, goes to the next life, meets the destined parents, and then receives the body, gives birth to new six roots, imbues with new habits, suffers and suffers, and the change of the environment, all of which are different from the previous life, and can no longer be restored to the original body, habits, and dwelling, just as a tree cannot be restored to a seed.
When the bhikshu saw that he was getting up and kneeling, he asked the Buddha: "In my life, I have seen many people pass away, such as fathers, sons, brothers, husbands, and friends, who have grudges and partings, or love or hate each other. What hinders the knowledge of God? May the World-Honored One explain separately so that we may dispel our doubts.
Here the World-Honored One has made all sorts of parables to answer the question of seeing the bhikkhus. The Buddha said: Knowing God has no image, if the body is blessed, then knowing God will be reborn with good karma, and he can't come back to report to others, why? For example, if a smelter smelts ore into iron, and after forming iron, can the iron be restored to ore? Knowing the mind and living in the bardo body is like an ore that has been smelted into iron, and the transformation from the bardo body to a new body is like casting iron into iron, and the original form disappears and changes, and can no longer be restored to the original consciousness of the god. Those who hold the five precepts in this life will receive a human body in the next life, and they will have new parents, and there will be six obstacles to knowing God: first, they will live in the bardo body and cannot return to it; the second is to enter the twins; the third is that when he was born out of the womb, he was squeezed and severely painful, and he forgot his previous acquaintance; Fourth, after falling to the ground, he forgets his previous acquaintances and gives rise to new things he sees and thinks; Fifth, after birth, they are greedy for food and forget their old knowledge; Sixth, grow up slowly, be influenced by new things, and forget old knowledge. For example, if a merchant travels around the world, if he only thinks about one of them, he will not think about the other three. Because of these six obstacles, the mind cannot return to its original state, just as a seed grows into a tree and ore becomes iron, so it cannot come back and report to others. For example, if the potter burns the clay into tiles with fire, the tiles can no longer be restored to clay. Or if a craftsman cuts down a big tree and carves it into all sorts of delicate utensils, if someone gathers them all together and wants to restore them to a big tree, will this be possible? The disciples replied, "No." The Buddha said: Knowing that God has done good and evil in this world, and when he dies, he receives a new body with karma, and what he sees and does is not the same body as before, and he cannot come back to report to others, just like a big tree that has broken off and cannot gather wooden tools to bring the big tree back to life. For example, the chemist burns the sand and gravel into red pigment, then turns it white, and then turns it into water, and the pigment cannot be changed back into sand and gravel. For example, if the water is in a round bottle, the water body will also become round, and if it is a square bottle, the water body will be square. The same is true of life and death, there is no fixed form of knowing God, and with the good and evil deeds to be reincarnated and reincarnated, some are white, some are black, some are tall, some are short, some are more bitter and less happy, and some are happy and less suffering, all of which follow the good and evil deeds, like water and utensils. If a person's karma is animal karma in his life, of course, he has to follow the appearance of the animal, and in such a situation, he cannot come back and report it to others. For example, the pit breeds in the soil, has no sound, no wings, but as soon as it gets the conditions to generate, it transforms into a cicada. The cicada flew over the tree, chirping incessantly, can it be put into the soil and restored to pit pit breeding? The disciples replied: "No, the pit cultivation has already undergone transformation, it has lost its yin and yang, its body shape is different, and it will soon die, or it will not be able to return to its previous pit cultivation due to the pecking of birds and birds." Buddha said: The same is true of human life and death. Life is dead, the divine consciousness migrates, accepts a new body, is covered by the five yin of wanting to act and know, the habits of seeing and hearing are different, life and death change, and it is difficult to report their respective cause and effect. For example, it is impossible for a cicada on a tree to return to its original pit feeding.
The Buddha told his disciples: For example, if a piece of raw meat is not eaten for a long time, it will stink and rot maggots, but now it can be restored to the original fresh meat, can it be done? The disciples replied, "No way, this meat is rotten, how can it be restored to its original freshness." The Buddha said: Life and death are also like this, people in the world, body, mouth, and mind do evil, and when they die, their divine consciousness moves to the evil path, or they fall into hell, or animals, or fish and insects, and they are thousands of miles away from human beings in terms of life consciousness, because their sinful karma is like Luo Gang, and they have also lost their human intelligence, they do not know themselves anymore, and it is even more difficult to report all the circumstances of their previous lives. Just like this piece of stinky meat, it is impossible to restore its original freshness. The Buddha told his disciples: For example, if the moon is dark and the night is dark, if you put five different colors in the dark and ask thousands of people to come and identify them, can anyone among them be able to distinguish the colors of blue, yellow, red, and white? The disciples replied: Even if you ask hundreds of millions of people to identify them, it is difficult to see anything, let alone the five colors. The Buddha said, "What if someone takes a torch and shines it?" The disciples replied, "Then the situation is different, and with light, people can distinguish the five colors." The Buddha said: If there is a stupid person who carries the light on his back and walks into the unfathomable darkness, and is far away, and sees the colors of the five colors, can he see it? The disciples replied, "Foolish people turn their backs to the light and dark, and the darker they go, and of course they will never see the five colors."
The Buddha told his disciples: Human life and death are the same. All the common people, empty lines, flying and soft movements, and so on, have been ordained to be ordained, and they are all caused by the darkness caused by the upside-down delusions, and they have no good deeds of cultivation, no self-cultivation, and no discernment, and they have thought about the interests of knowing the life and death of the gods, and they want to know the true report of the different ways of yin and yang, of course, just like trying to distinguish the five colors in the dark moon and night, it is ultimately futile in the end. If you follow the teachings, adhere to the precepts, practice the 37 qualities, take the body with righteous thoughts, and purify the Brahman, it is like following the person who holds the torch, you will naturally be able to see the five colors, if you follow the Buddha's teachings and cultivate the Tao according to the teachings, you will be able to live and die, and you will be able to see the good and evil places where the five divine consciousness come and go, like the torch shining brightly in color, and the history is clear. If a person does not cultivate his self-cultivation, violates the scriptures and precepts, goes with the world, cultivates himself with evil life, cuts off the Fa-rectification, tastes the true meaning of the Dharma, does not believe in it, is not happy, and is even more unwilling to follow it, it will be like a stupid person who turns his back on the light and turns his back on the darkness, obstructs the world, and is polluted by robbery, and will not be able to see the truth of life and death after all. The Buddha told his disciples: People are endowed with the form of the body in this life, and the things that they see with the naked eye, their parents and relatives, etc., are clearly and clearly, but they cannot see and know where they came from in their previous lives, and when they are born in the present life, old age, and death in the next life, they will not be able to know the things of this life, why? One life and one death, the knowledge of God is transferred, the twelve karma, ignorance and ignorance are its masters, confused and dull, and once reincarnated, they do not know. For example, boiling white silk, dyed into various colors, green, yellow, red, black, changed the original white, it is difficult to restore the original white, the transformation of life and death, also like white silk changes the color, people's minds are like laws, a thought is made, just imagine in this life, the mind is full of thoughts, reward good and punish evil, each with karma, so the body has been destroyed, the new body is not long, the law of life and death is of course formed by delusion and darkness. If you want to know the origin of all karmic causes and sufferings, you have to study noble qualities, pure Brahmanism, in order to return to the true nature of the Bodhi Path. Naturally, you will understand everything as it is, just as a sleeping man wakes up. The Buddha told his disciples that man's divine consciousness is selective according to the two karma of good and evil, and that the divine consciousness itself is selectively controlled, and death is turned to receiving, following good and good, and evil and evil, and only then does it transform into a shape of ten thousand ends. Just as a fire is born from the burning of firewood, if the firewood is wet or removed, the flame will be disillusioned. If you have not attained the bodhi path fruit, you will sink in the sea of suffering of birth and death because your consciousness has not been turned around. For example, a dusty mirror, extremely dim, when it is picked up and looked at itself, sees nothing, and its consciousness is like this mirror, once it hides dirt and dirt, it does not know its true face, causing life and death to be a wanderer, and the misery and misery caused by it and the blessings and misfortunes are implicated, which is the vacuum of forgetfulness, like a mirror that shines on the dust. For example, the deep and turbid water of the lake, although insects and fish swim in it, it is difficult for people to perceive. Life and death are intricately intertwined, and sorrow and worry block people's wisdom, so they become the mystery of the next fetus, and they forget when they are reincarnated, just like the worms and fish in this turbid water. For example, in a dark night, when you close your eyes and go forward, you can't see anything, and the darkness of life and death, with disasters and misfortunes, happiness or annoyance, that is, being conditioned and not knowing your past life, is the same thing as closing your eyes in the dark.
The Buddha told his disciples: Now I am a Buddha, my eyes are pure, all life and death, travel to and from the Three Realms, and the Buddha knows and sees. For example, crystal, glass, with colored silk threads through, green, yellow, red and white, vivid, Buddha to see life and death, but also like this through the pearl, clear understanding. For example, the pure water, clear to the bottom, the fish and insects, the shape of the whole thing, the Buddha sees life and death, such as seeing the insects and fish in the clear water without shelter. For example, the bridge, all pedestrians come and go, and the Buddha is like a bystander. The Buddha's will is lofty, knowing life and death, just like overlooking the crowd of people in the village under the mountain, it can be counted. The Buddha told his disciples: You should follow my teachings, and you will be able to know the life and death of the billions of eons, what should you do? When one practices the 37 qualities, namely the Four Thoughts, the Four Righteous Diligences, the Four Divine Feet, the Five Roots, the Five Forces, the Seven Consciousness Branches, and the Eightfold Path, to cut off the dirt of consciousness, to eliminate the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance, and to dissolve and dissolve the knots of doubt, and to attain the same wisdom as the Buddha, we will know the past and the future, like a purified mirror, which will appear in detail. The Buddha told his disciples: The good and evil done by people in the world will also repay each other after death, but people have not received pure Dharma eyes, so they do not know what they do, and they do not know their origins. Because of the six obstacles mentioned above, we can only see the basis of reward and retribution with the naked eye, and we vainly say that there is no cause and effect in three lifetimes. Those who have not attained enlightenment often engage in defilement, are lost by ignorance, are transformed by birth and death, receive a new body, are unaware of the naked eye, leave the old body and are bound to the new body, and are disturbed by the four pains of birth, old age, sickness and death, and after all, they will not be able to know the karmic retribution of the divine consciousness following the good and evil deeds. Whether people in this world are blessed, or suffered, or sympathetic, or hateful to each other, these are the testimonials of the reward for good and evil deeds done in this world. Because I didn't get the pure eyes, I didn't see it. If you don't have the intention of cultivating the path and do not act purely, but you think about the things of your past life and know the karmic consequences of retribution, just like you don't have your hands to write, and you don't have eyes to see things, of course, it's impossible. Therefore, when the Buddha was born, he expounded the scriptures and the Tao in order to enlighten people's minds, and wanted to know his relatives and see the coming and going of God between life and death, so he should follow the 37 qualities taught by the Buddha, collect the body and mind, and enter into meditation and samadhi, so that he can have knowledge and recognize the coming and going of God.
The Buddha told his disciples: Knowing God but having a name and no body, following the good and evil deeds, depending on the four major bodies of the earth, water, fire and wind, the body is still small when he was born, the function of the six roots is not complete, the insight is also small, and he does not know much, with the growth of age, the function of the six roots is gradually complete, and the knowledge of God is also with the body, and the practice of all kinds of greedy desires is becoming more and more prosperous, and when he is old, the body formed by the four is gradually decaying, and the knowledge of God is also unknown, and the function of the six roots is gradually declining.
In the course of life, people experience all kinds of impermanence and changes, and they cannot remember the things of the past, and when they are old, they cannot remember the things of their youth, let alone the things of their past lives. Because of the mystery of the yin and the obstruction of the fetal hell, it is impossible to come back and report to the face if you have not attained the will of the Tao and are tainted by foolish doubts.
If a person does not have a way to practice and wants to know about fate, it is like threading a needle in the dark night and asking for fire in the water, which will not be seen after all. Therefore, you should practice the vows diligently, and ponder where birth and death come from, where they end, why they come and go, and what the causes are. If you carefully contemplate the method of emptiness, and get the clear eye to cut off the knots, then the doubts will be solved. The Buddha said that this sutra has been completed, and when he saw that 500 people including the bhikshus and all the lay people had attained the first fruits, the bodhisattvas had to not pour back the samadhi, and each of them had three turns around the Buddha, and landed on the ground with their heads on their heads.
