Essay Writing of Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated
(Issue 7)
The Relationship between Precepts and cause and effect
Instructor: Shi Wuguang
Author: Wang Huaigu
December 26, 2021
Abstract
The precepts that the Buddha preached are the means of enlightenment to prevent wrongdoing and stop evil, and to teach sentient beings to leave suffering and attain happiness. All sentient beings want to leave suffering and attain happiness, but because they do not have the wisdom of cause and effect, they do not know good and evil, they do not know how to hold precepts, and they are unwilling to hold precepts. The result is to leave happiness and gain suffering. Therefore, I will focus on the relationship between precepts and cause and effect as the topic of this paper. The main purpose of this study is to probe the relationship between precepts and cause and effect from the aspects of “why Buddha established precepts, the three laws of cause and effect, and the fact that all suffering and happiness come from cause and effect”. The purpose of this study is to master the wisdom of cause and effect, and to practice the precepts in a pure manner, and to be free from suffering and attain happiness.
Key Words: precepts, eave suffering and attain happiness, wisdom of cause and effect, leave happiness and gain suffering, practice the precepts in a pure manner
Chapter 1 Introduction
Section 1: Motivation and Purpose of the Study
The purpose of studying Buddhism is to get rid of suffering and attain happiness, and in order to get rid of suffering and attain happiness, it is necessary to cut off evil and practice goodness, and to hold precepts purely. One of the most important aspects is to have the wisdom of cause and effect. Then, how does the wisdom of cause and effect affect the ability to cut off evil and practice goodness, to hold precepts purely, and to leave suffering and attain happiness? Is it necessary to hold precepts in order to practice Buddhism? The motivation of the study of this paper is to clarify the above questions.
The purpose of this paper is to understand thoroughly what good karma and bad karma are through the wisdom of Buddha’s cause and effect, and even through the conviction of cause and effect, so as to achieve the purity of holding precepts and leave suffering and attain happiness.
Section 2: Scope and Methodology
The author focuses on the relationship between precepts and cause and effect as the main object of inquiry in this paper. Around this topic, I analyze and investigate the wisdom of cause and effect, good and bad karma, suffering and happiness, and holding precepts based on the wisdom of cause and effect, relying on the Sutra of the Paths of the Ten Good Karmas, the Flower Adornment Sutra, the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Boddhisattva and the Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store.
The research methods used in this paper are the following three:
1 The Documentary Approach
The Buddhist scriptures are the source of first-hand documentary information. The Sutra of the Paths of the Ten Good Karmas, the Flower Adornment Sutra, the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Boddhisattva belong to this category. Secondly, there are the commentaries on the sutras made by the founder and great masters. The use of the documentary method can help to generate awareness of the problem and to collect richer arguments for drawing conclusions.
2 The method of doctrinal analysis
Although we can find a lot of information by using literature, we need to further analyze the meaning to understand the true meaning of the text. Based on the wisdom of cause and effect as stated in these teachings of the Dharma, we can know what is suffering and happiness, and find out the way to get rid of suffering and achieve happiness: holding precepts according to the wisdom of cause and effect.
3 The Method of Comparison and Contrast
Through the method of comparison and contrast, one can find out the differences between the objects of study, such as the dharma of suffering and the dharma of happiness, so as to gain a deeper understanding and wisdom choice.
Section 3: Review of Literature
In Buddhism, there are many scriptures dealing with cause and effect and precepts, each with its own characteristics. The Sutra of the Ten Good Karmas mainly illustrates the extraordinary rewards of the ten good karmas and their importance. It mentions that the ten good karmas are like the earth, the root and foundation of human and heavenly stability and even the achievement of all Buddhism. The Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store introduces the vast and subtle rewards of staying away from the ten evil karmas. There are other sutras that provide valuable and rich arguments for this topic.
These sutras analyze the relationship between precepts and cause and effect from different perspectives, and help to open up the author’s mind. The focus of this paper is mainly on the Sutra of the Paths of the Ten Good Karmas , the Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store and other sutras, in which we learn about the dharmas of good and evil, the dharmas of suffering and happiness, and the three great laws of cause and effect, then hold the precepts according to the wisdom of cause and effect. In addition, he uses factual arguments to refute the fact that stealing is not a dharma of happiness but a dharma of suffering.
Section 4: Structure of the Essay
This essay is divided into four chapters. The first chapter mainly introduces the motivation and purpose of the study, the scope and methodology of the study, the review of literature, and the structure of the essay. Chapter 2 discusses the reasons why Buddha formulates precepts and advocate their observance of precepts. Chapter 3 focuses on what is the dharma of suffering and happiness and the law of cause and effect from which all suffering and happiness come. Chapter 4 concludes the findings, limitations, and future prospects of the study.
Chapter 2: Why Buddha Makes Precepts and Promote Their Observance
When we talk about precepts, it is easy to think of the three fundamentals of Buddhist practice: precepts, meditation, and wisdom, and we can see the important place of precepts in Buddhism. There are many kinds of precepts in Buddhism, such as the Five Precepts, the Ten Good Precepts, the Bodhisattva Precepts, the Samanera Precepts, the Bhikshu Precepts and the Bhikshuni Precepts.
The reason why the Buddha established the precepts and prescribed disciples to keep them is that they enable sentient beings to leave suffering and attain happiness, attain the ultimate happiness of supreme Bodhi, and they are the earth for the achievement of all Buddhism. In other words, if they follow the precepts, sentient beings will be free and happy, and all things will go smoothly; if they violate the precepts, sentient beings will suffer and have bad luck, and there will be many obstacles.
As the the Flower Adornment Sutra says, “The precepts are the foundation of the supreme bodhi and you should fully hold the pure precepts. If you can fully hold the pure precepts, you will be praised by all the Buddhas. ”Because the precepts are the foundation of achieving supreme Bodhi, disciples of the Buddha should fully and completely practice and uphold the pure precepts so that they can achieve supreme Bodhi and leave suffering and attain happiness.
Another example is the Ten Good Dharmas Sutra, which says:
You must know that these ten good karmas can bring you to fruition and perfection of the ten powers, the fearlessness, the eighteen uncommon and all Buddha dharmas. Therefore, you should practice them diligently! Dragon King! For example, all cities and settlements depend on the earth for their dwelling, and all herbs, flowers , trees and forests depend on the earth for their growth. The same is true of the Ten Good Paths, by which all humans and celestial beings are established, and by which all the Sound-hearers, Bodhi of Sages Enlightened Solely , all Bodhisattva practices and Buddha dharmas are accomplished.
From this, we can see that the Ten Good Precepts are the earth on which all Buddhas are accomplished. All human beings and celestial beings are established on the basis of the Ten Good Precepts. and all the Sound-hearers, Bodhi of Sages Enlightened Solely , all Bodhisattva practices and Buddha dharmas are accomplished on the basis of the Ten Good Precepts.
The precepts are so important in the Buddhadharma, the precepts and cause and effect are closely connected, and they depend on each other and not a single one of them can be omitted. In fact, the precepts are the concrete manifestation of cause and effect and are formulated according to the wisdom of cause and effect. Cause and effect is the foundation of formulating the precepts.
In other words, if the cause and effect reach a standard, the precepts will be fulfilled naturally. If the cause and effect are not passed, the precepts will not be maintained. If your cause and effect reach a standard , it is wisdom. If you have the wisdom of cause and effect, you will know the benefits and advantages of keeping the precepts, and then you will be willing to keep the precepts, and you will naturally have more confidence and be able to keep them more easily.
Why? Because everyone are willing to attain happiness and to be free from suffering. But people don’t know how to attain happiness or how to leave suffering. How to get rid of suffering? As mentioned in the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva : “… Shakyamuni Buddha is able to manifest inconceivably great wisdom and spiritual penetrations in the evil world of the Five Turbidities and he regulates and subdues obstinate beings to let them learn what causes suffering and what brings bliss. ”Since sentient beings do not know the Dharma of suffering and happiness, the Buddha, with the power of vows of great kindness and compassion , came into the world to first make sentient beings know the Dharma of suffering and happiness, and then to try every means to make them all free from suffering and attain happiness.
Then, why did the Buddha make all kinds of precepts and rules? Why do we have to observe the ten good karmas and other precepts? We can also specifically understand the reasons from the following sutras .
According to Volume 2, the Commentary on the Four Points of the Bhikkhuni Precepts, it says:
All sentient beings are entangled in afflictions and cannot be freed. The Seven Buddhas, for the sake of eliminating all sentient beings’ knots and bonds of afflictions, preached this sutra on precepts. To free all sentient beings from all fetters, to enter nirvana together, and to eliminate all kinds of theories on the play in the three realms. What does the play mean ? The play is a script edited by people, the director directs the actors according to the script, the actors are acting accurately, and so are all the beings in the world, everyone is editing their own scripts, everyone is directing others as the director, everyone is playing their own roles …Therefore, one should observe and practice the precepts preached by the Great Immortals, namely the Buddhas, and the sages praise and admire the precepts. All the disciples of the Buddhas will not fail to observe the precepts to attain and enter into nirvana.
It is clear from this that the Buddha formulated and established the precepts in order to eliminate all the afflictions of sentient beings and to enable all sentient beings to be free from all fetters and to enter into the nirvana of no birth and no death, and to eliminate all kinds of theories on the play in the three realms.
Another example is also mentioned in Volume 1 , the Commentary on the Sutra of Protecting the Kingdom of Kind King Prajna Poramita : the Buddha said to Ananda: “After my nirvana, you will take the precepts Moksha as your guru and abide according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness…”. Why did Ananda only ask four questions? The general meaning is that the three jewels are incessant, taking the precepts as the teacher the Buddha Jewels are incessant…”
According to this, the reason why the Buddha asked his disciples to take precepts as their teacher is that this will enable the Buddha Jewels to continue, which means that it can make sentient beings have the chance to become Buddhas in the dark night of ignorance.
Therefore, in view of these laws of cause and effect and their extreme benefits, the Buddha set up all kinds of precepts, which are just to keep sentient beings away from all fetters and to obtain good benefits so that sentient beings can leave suffering and achieve happiness.
Section 1: The Natural Achievement of the Precepts through the Passage of Cause and Effect
Since there are many kinds of precepts, the author will mainly focus on the Ten Good Precepts, which are suitable for all sentient beings, to discuss the relationship between precepts and cause and effect.
1. What is Cause and Effect and Precepts
Cause and effect, in brief, means what previous cause will have what later effect. As it is written in Collected Works of the Dream Travels of the Old Man Hanshan, it says, if you know the cause in the past life, the recipient in this life is the cause; If you know the future fruit, what one does in this life is the fruit. And, all dharmas are produced by causes and conditions and all dharmas are destroyed by causes and conditions. My teacher, the Great Sramana have always said so. Of course, the cause and effect that Buddhism talks about refers to the cause and effect of three lifetimes , not necessarily limited to this lifetime or a particular lifetime. Specifically, there are three major laws of cause and effect: the seed and the fruit are identical, such the cause will cause such the effect; if you plant one seed, you will reap many seeds or and countless seeds; if you plant one seed now, you will reap in the future.
The three major laws of cause and effect are specifically embodied and flowed in the Buddhist scriptures. In the story of Cyclic Killing in the Sutra of Sages and Fools, the Buddha tells us, “ One karma of killing must be repaid in many eons and many lifetimes plus interests. ”In other words, if you plant one grain, you will reap many grains or countless grains; if you plant the seed now, you will reap in the future.
The cause and the effect, the effect and the cause echo each other, that is, from the cause we can observe the effect, and from the effect we can observe the cause. Let’s learn more specifically about the law of cause and effect from a story talking about the causes from the Sutra of Sages and Fools, Lord of the Buddha’s Grace.
The King Ajatasattu asked the Buddha, “This Hengqieda, in his previous life, what good roots did he plant that he did not die when he threw himself on a mountain, did not drown when he fell into the water, did not suffer when he ate poison, did not get hurt when he was shot by arrows, and he met the Holy Honored One to be saved from birth and death? The Buddha said to the king, “In the past there was a great kingdom called Bonuonai, whose king’s name was Vanmoda, and he was playing in the forest with his palace people.
The women sang with a loud voice. And there was a man outside who sang with a loud voice. When the king heard his voice, he was angry and jealous and sent for him and want to kill him. Then a minister came from the outside and saw this man in captivity. He asked his heelers, “What is the reason for this? ”And the others beside him, listed the deeds. The minister said, “Stop! Let me see the king.“When the minister entered, he said to the king, “Why did you kill that man whose sin was not so serious? Although he sang with them, he had not seen their forms, and he had not committed adultery, so I wish you to pardon his life. ”The king could not disobey him, so he pardoned him and did not kill him. The man was freed, and served the minister with great care … And he was saved by the minister, and he was brought to life, and he became a virtuous man, and he is the present Hengqieda . He was born in a place where life does not die , and now he has attained the truth when he met me.
From this, we can understand that in his past life, Hengqieda not only did not kill, but also saved the life of one person, so he was responded to become an immortal person, who could not die no matter what he wanted to do: he did not die when he threw himself on a cliff, did not drown when he fell into the river, did not harm when he ate poison, and did not get hurt when he was shot by arrows. This is the joyful result of not killing and of saving sentient beings.
This is the full verification of the truth of the law of cause and effect: the seed and the fruit are exactly the same, as the cause is, so is the effect; the seed is sown now, and is reaped in the future, or the seed was sown in the past, and is reaped now.
Let’s understand what the precepts are. The precepts are preventing wrongdoing and stopping evil. The Buddha was afraid that we would not be good and would suffer in the future, so he set up precepts to limit us to not doing anything that is bad and will make us suffer, and doing anything and swiftly doing anything that will make us good and happy. These are the precepts and rules of the Buddha.
This is the core idea of the entire Buddhist practice: “Do not do any evil, practice all good, and purify your own consciousness, which is the Buddhism. ”Specifically, these are the Ten Good Precepts: do not be greedy, do not be angry, do not be foolish, do not kill, do not steal, do not commit improper sex, do not speak delusively, do not use divisive speech, do not use harsh speech, do not use useless speech, In the following, we will use not killing and not stealing of the Ten Good Precepts as concrete examples to illustrate the relationship between precepts, cause and effect, and suffering and happiness.
2 Knowing and believing in cause and effect is the guarantee of keeping the precepts
Since we understand what cause and effect are and what the precepts are, we should believe in cause and effect, and then we will understand more clearly that to break the precepts is to plant evil causes and to reap evil consequences; if one is afraid of the bad and bitter consequences, one will not dare to create bad karmas and keep the precepts consciously.
If one is unwilling to keep the precepts or commit them, one’s wisdom of cause and effect has not passed. If one has the wisdom of cause and effect, one will understand the benefits of keeping the precepts, and one will take the initiative to keep the precepts, and one will be vigorous to move forward without slacking off. Therefore, to understand cause and effect, to believe in cause and effect, and to be convinced of cause and effect is the foundation and guarantee of being able to keep the precepts and to keep them for a long time. That is, one can keep the precepts with confidence and joy according to the wisdom of cause and effect.
As the story about talking the causes in the Sutra of the Worthy and the Foolish says
The Buddha told Ananda: “In a past time, thirty-two people stole an ox bull and led it to an old mother’s house to kill it. The old mother was delighted and gave him the killing tools. When they were to hold the knife to kill the ox, the ox knelt down and begged for the life. The men were so willing that they decided to kill the ox. The ox vowed at the end of her life: “If you kill me now, I will never let go of you in the next life. ”
At that time the ox was the present King Pasenadi. All the ox thieves were the 32 sons. The old mother, who is now Vaishali. The one karma of killing is repaid for many lifetimes plus the interests. Whenever the old mother helps the evil, she will be related to it and die a miserable death. In this life, having heard the Dharma, she is fortunate to be liberated and to be able to attain Anagamin, namely non-returner.”
When the woman’s relatives heard the Buddha’s words, their fire of hatred subsided and they each said, “This man’s retribution for being killed came from his own seed planted by himself. He killed only one ox, and now he has been so poor and miserable, let alone kill many more! So they led many people to accept the Buddha’s teaching and guiding and keep precepts of non-killing.
From the above quotation, we can see that Vaisalis’ kinsmen here, who had been so angry that they had already started to kill, understood that all this is just cause and effect; your killing me and my killing you, life and death are all foolishness, without wisdom, so they could hold the precept of not killing according to the wisdom of cause and effect, and cut off the dreadful cycle of killing back and forth, so that they could naturally be free from suffering and attain happiness.
Therefore, if we want to keep the precepts, we must know the importance of the wisdom of cause and effect. The wisdom of cause and effect is so important that it can be used from time to time to cultivate a life for ourselves, whether to cultivate a life of happiness and peace, joy and freedom, or a life of confusion, bad luck and suffering in everything. In fact, it all depends on how we grasp it ourselves.
Some people may think: “Cause and effect seems too easy. In fact, it is very easy, that is to say, every point and drop of our body, mouth and mind will become a cause, and every movement of the body, mouth and mind is a cause, and it will have corresponding rewards and retributions in the future. The Buddhist scriptures also say that what causes were planted in the past will bear such fruit now. Because it seems so easy on the surface, so everyone thinks they know how to do it. Does everyone really know how to do it? No, because those who are really proficient in karma will not be able to do any more evil and will naturally keep the precepts.
Then sometimes we can still run after delusions, we can still run after bad karma, we can still run after all people, things, and objects, why? The reason is that we have only superficially learned the cause and effect, and we have not made it into our own words and actions. If we forget the cause and effect when meeting the things, or even think that it doesn’t matter if we forget the wisdom of the cause and effect, and just follow our habits to create evil karma, then it is very dangerous. Because if we create karma according to our habits, there is nothing else but greed, hatred, ignorance and the ten evil karmas . Moreover, our habits are natural, and we don’t need to think about them, they just pop up and come out right away and they are merely bad karmas.
Because our bad karma habits have been deeply rooted and purified, very skilled, so that our actions and thoughts are nothing but karmas, nothing but offenses. If we want to create some good karmas, we still have to try to create a few good karmas in order to create it out, but our bad karma is so mature that we can create it out without even needing to think about it .
If we want to reverse this state of bad habits and bad karmas, we have to find a way to create good karmas. If we want to achieve the purpose of creating good karmas, we must be proficient in cause and effect. A person who truly penetrates the wisdom of cause and effect will certainly achieve good karma and precepts.
Therefore, if we can understand and realize that the wisdom of cause and effect is the basis for the Buddha’s formulating precepts and rules, we will be able to understand the Buddha’s kindness and compassion, and we will learn the precepts more joyfully, willingly and actively observe and uphold them, and even practice good causes and make good conditions at all times, so that we can be free from suffering and attain happiness for ourselves and others as soon as possible, and even free from relative suffering and achieve ultimate happiness!
Chapter 3: What is suffering, happiness, and all suffering and happiness come from the law of cause and effect
Since precepts can enable sentient beings to be free from suffering and attain happiness, what is suffering and what is happiness? Where do they come from?
Here, I will focus on the ten good precepts of non-killing and non-stealing to discuss the law of suffering and the law of happiness.
As stated in Volume 8, the Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store, “All the Buddhas of the past have kept away from the Paths of the Ten Bad Karmas, and have praised the fruits of the Paths of the Ten Good Karmas. Therefore, if one can observe and protect the Paths of the Ten Good Karmas as they are described here, and even to the end of one’s life without committing them eventually, one will receive all the extreme rewards as described before and after. ”This is telling us that the ten evil karmas are suffering, so we should stay away from them, and the ten good karmas are happiness, so we should obtain them. It is only all about the relationship between cause and effect, and the dharma is originally like that.
Another example is the Sutra on the Ten Good Karmas, which says:
If you do not kill, you will be able to attain the ten dharma of freedom from distress and afflictions. What are the ten? First, to give fearlessness to all sentient beings; second, to be always merciful to all sentient beings; third, to break all habits of hatred forever; fourth, to be free from illness; fifth, to have a long life; sixth, to be constantly protected by non-human beings; seventh, to be free from bad dreams and sleep happily; eighth, to attain the elimination of the knots of grievances and the natural release of all grievances; ninth, to be free from the fear of evil paths; and ten, to be born in heaven at the end of life.
From the above quotation, we can see that not killing is a happy dharma that brings great benefits to all sentient beings.
On the other hand, the consequences and retributions of killing sentient beings are: First, it causes beings to fear and suffer. Second, it causes the suffering of death for all sentient beings. Third, it causes the habit of hatred. Fourth, it incurs the suffering of constant illness. Fifth , it incurs short life span. Sixth, it brings on seeking harm from the soul of the enemies. Seventh, it incurs nightmares. Eighth, it incurs the gathering of all the resentments. Ninth: it incurs fear of entering the evil paths. Tenth, it incurs the retributions of suffering of hells, hungry ghosts, and animals.
From this, we can see that killing is a bitter dharma that can bring terrible harm to all sentient beings.
Moreover, in Volume 8 of the Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store it says:
If a great Bodhisattva can keep away from killing in his entire life, he is giving no fear or terror to all sentient beings, and causing all sentient beings not to produce sorrow or suffering and will be free from terrible fear. The good roots are quickly ripened due to it, and when they fell into the river of life and death in the five destinies in the past, all the evil karmic obstacles of body, speech and mind caused by killing, all the obstacles of vexation, all the obstacles of sentient beings, all the obstacles of dharma and all the obstacles of life span, killing beings by themselves and having taught others, seeing and hearing the killing beings and rejoicing with it, have all been destroyed without the rest and have had no more rewards because they have left the wheel of killing. In the present body, all human beings and celestial beings love them together, and there is no speculation and apprehension, they are peaceful and happy in the body and mind, and the life spans are very long.
It is also clear that not killing is the dharma of happiness, which can bring sentient beings such wonderful rewards as “peace and happiness in mind and body and a long life span”.
It is also mentioned in the Sutra of the Buddha’s Explanation for the Elder Shou Jia of Distinctions in Karmic Retribution
There are ten kinds of karmas that can cause sentient beings to have retribution of the short life: The first is to kill by oneself. The second is to persuade others to kill. The third one is to praise the dharma of killing. The fourth is to rejoice to see killing. The fifth is to wants to cause death in the place of hatred. The sixth is to rejoice when one sees the destruction of the enemy. The seventh is to destroy the birth of others. The eighth is to teach others to destroy something. The Ninth is to build heavenly temples and slaughter sentient beings. The tenth is to teach people to fight and kill each other.
This also tells us that killing is a bitter dharma that brings terrible harm and short-lived retribution to sentient beings.
On the contrary, “There are ten karmas that can bring sentient beings the retribution of a long life: The first is not to kill by oneself. The second is to persuade others not to kill. The third is to praise not killing. The fourth is to rejoices when he sees others not kill. The fifth is to saves beings conveniently when he sees others kill. ” It is thus clear that not killing is the dharma of happiness, which can bring sentient beings a long-lived reward that they long for so much.
Similarly, stealing, namely not taking what is not given is also like this. Stealing is the dharma of suffering, and not stealing is the dharma of happiness. This is also the relationship between cause and effect, and the dharma is originally like that.
As the Sutra of the Ten Good Karmic Paths says:
If you do not steal, you will have ten kinds of trustworthiness. What are the ten? The first is the abundance of wealth, which cannot be scattered and destroyed by kings, thieves, flood, fire, or non-loving children. The second is to be loved by many people. The third is not to be bullied. The forth is to be praised by all beings in the ten directions. The fifth is not to worry about damage. The sixth to be spreaded with good names. The seventh is to be fearless dwelling in the public. The eighth is to possess wealth, life, appearance, power, peace and happiness, and eloquence. The ninth is always to harbor the willing to give. And the tenth is to born in heaven at the end of life.
From the above quotation, it is clear that non-stealing is a happy dharma that brings wonderful benefits to sentient beings.
On the contrary, the consequences of stealing are: First, it incurs that kings, thieves, flood , fire, and unloved children destroy assets. Secondly, it incurs the resentment of all people. Thirdly, it incurs being constantly bullied. Fourthly, it incurs insults from all the ten directions. Fifthly, it incurs constant concerning about sorrow and harm. Sixthly, it incurs a bad name is spreaded. Seventhly, it incurs frightening and fear dwelling in the public. Eighthly, it incurs lack of wealth, life, appearance, power, happiness, peace and happiness, and eloquence. Ninthly, it incurs the habit of stealing. Tenthly, it incurs the suffering retributions in hells, hungry ghosts, and animals.
Therefore, stealing or theft is a suffering dharma that brings terrible harm to sentient beings.
Moreover, for example, in Volume 8 of the Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store, it says:
If a Bodhisattva-mahasattva is able to live out his life without stealing or getting what is not given, he is giving no fear or terror to all sentient beings, and causing all sentient beings not to produce sorrow or suffering and will be free from terrible fear. The good roots are quickly ripened due to it, and when they fell into the river of life and death in the five destinies in the past, when they fell into the river of life and death in the five destinies in the past, all the evil karmic obstacles of body, speech and mind caused by stealing, all the obstacles of vexation, all the obstacles of sentient beings, all the obstacles of dharma and all the obstacles of wealth and treasure, stealing by themselves and having taught others, seeing and hearing the stealing and rejoicing with it, have all been destroyed without the rest and have had no more rewards because they have left the wheel of stealing. In the present body, all human beings and celestial beings love them together, and there is no speculation and apprehension, and they are peaceful and happy in the body and mind, and the wealth and treasure will be sufficient.
It is clear that non-stealing is a happy dharma that enables sentient beings to attain “being peaceful and happy in the body and mind, and being sufficient in wealth and treasure”.
In summary, if sentient beings want to be free from suffering and attain happiness, they must first know what is the dharma of suffering and the dharma of happiness, and all suffering and happiness come from the wisdom of cause and effect. With this wisdom of cause and effect, we will know that we were ignorant and regretful for being unable to keep the precepts in the past; with this wisdom of cause and effect, we will naturally be able to accept and keep the precepts now, because everyone is willing to leave suffering and everyone is willing to attain happiness, and no one is willing to suffer and no one is willing to leave happiness.
However, there are some people in the world who do not believe in the Buddha’s wisdom of cause and effect and who only look at the facts in front of them, and they think that stealing brings wealth to people, because there is more wealth at the moment of stealing, and stealing is happiness. There are even some people who firmly believe that people are not rich without ill-gotten wealth, and horses are not fat without eating the grass at night; they are bastards if they don’t take advantage of others; one doesn’t become a thieve, but he just take something away with hands; they don’t take it for nothing.
Even not only steal themselves, but also let others to steal, and even praise others to steal: that person stole a lot and get rich. When he see others steal a lot, he is still happy. And he even thinks: I didn’t steal that much, if I steal that much, how good it is ! So, can stealing and taking without giving really bring wealth to people? Is stealing a joy?
In reality, people who steal may seem to have a little more wealth at the moment, but in the long run, not only will they not have more wealth in their lifetime, but they will only have less and less wealth, and they will only have the pain and suffering.
Why? Let’s analyze the reasons here. For example, if a person thinks that he can get rich by stealing, and he often tells others that those who steal are good, smart, and are good at taking advantage of things, are good at taking advantage of benefit, and are good at stealing things, then other people will take some money and belongings when they go to his house as long as he is not paying attention, naturally this person’s money and belongings will become less and less and fewer and fewer. Because he himself insists that stealing or theft can bring wealth to people, then the persons around him also have the same views with him, then his wife, children, relatives, friends, colleagues, can always take some of his money and belongings by hand. Therefore, the wealth of the person who steals is naturally getting less and less.
Moreover, everyone knows that this person is the person of this kind of theft , they do not trust him, and are more afraid to use him. Why? For example, my company is still short of an accountant, do I dare to use him? Of course not, because he will make my company’s money and property completely lost, or take them away, pick them up, or steal them away, wherever he goes, people will say to stay away from that person. If so, then how can he have more wealth?
Therefore, we can understand that stealing does not bring more wealth to people from the fact, it is the dharma of suffering, not the dharma of happiness. Because, first of all, everyone with whom he can deal will take away his things and steal them, because it is inappropriate not to take advantage of them. That is to say, even if he climbed up the mountain to look for weeds to eat, he would have to guard the weeds himself, and if he was not careful, someone else would take them. Second, no one dares to use him, he also has no job opportunities, that is, no opportunity to find money. How did he get more and more wealth?
In summary, killing is the dharma of suffering and also the cause of suffering, and not killing is the dharma of happiness and also the cause of happiness, which is just a cause-and-effect relationship, and the dharma is as it is. Stealing is the dharma of suffering and also the cause of suffering, and not stealing is the dharma of happiness and also the cause of happiness, which is just a cause-and-effect relationship, and the dharma is as it is. The dharma of suffering and the dharma of happiness all come from the law of cause and effect, and this is originally the truth of life and the universe. It’s just that sentient beings don’t know it, and the Buddha discovered this law of cause and effect, and compassionately told us about it, depending on whether we want to achieve suffering or happiness, and how to do it specifically is the key.
The key is to understand and judge: what kind of cause is formed by our every movement , action, word and deed? Is it an evil cause or a good cause? We don’t have that wisdom to judge, but the Buddha had that wisdom, so he directly told us in the form of precepts: do this, don’t do that. For example, it is evil to take something from another person by hand, and it is good not to take what is not given. Because the Buddha knew that the former is the cause of evil and must eventually evolve into the result of evil; the latter is the cause of good and must eventually evolve into the result of good.
Moreover, if we can all pass the wisdom of cause and effect, then we can all be pure in our precepts, we can clear away all the evil karmas, evil habits and evil vows, and we can all achieve infinite blessings and wisdom, and naturally we can leave suffering and attain happiness. It is also natural to understand and realize that one was wrong in the past, and completely wrong, because one did not know cause and effect and created many bad karmas; but one will be right in the present and in the future, because one is now proficient in the wisdom of cause and effect, so you are naturally willing to create good karma extensively, and to hold precepts purely. In other words, we rely on the wisdom of cause and effect to create good karma widely and to practice pure precepts.
Chapter 4 Conclusion
Section I Research Findings
Through the above research, on the one hand, the author has trained ourselves to write essays and, on the other hand, the author has further deepened our knowledge and understanding of cause and effect, precepts, and the dharma of suffering and happiness. In this way, the author has found the direction of my practice and gained confidence by relying on the wisdom of cause and effect to keep the precepts. With regard to the theme of “the relationship between precepts and cause and effect,” the research findings are as follows.
First, the observance of precepts enables sentient beings to leave suffering and attain happiness. If sentient beings follows the precepts, they will be free and happy, and all things will go smoothly; if one violates the precepts, sentient beings will suffer and have bad luck, and there will be many obstacles.
Second, when the cause and effect are passed, the precepts will be naturally fulfilled and purified, and then endless blessings, wisdom, merits ,virtues and abilities will be achieved. If the cause and effect are not passed, the precepts will not be maintained. If one has the wisdom of cause and effect, one will naturally be more relaxed, more confident, and more solid in keeping your precepts.
Third, the three major laws of cause and effect are the same: the seed and the fruit are exactly the same, such the cause will cause such the effect; if you plant one seed, you will reap many seeds or and countless seeds; if you plant one seed now, you will reap in the future.
Fourth, if sentient beings want to be free from suffering and attain happiness, they must first know what is the dharma of suffering and happiness, and all these dharmas of suffering and happiness come from the law of cause and effect. With the wisdom of cause and effect, one will be willing to take and hold the precepts, because by doing so, one will be able to get rid of suffering and attain happiness in a straightforward manner.
Section 2: Research Limitations and Future Prospects
In the process of exploring the theme of this essay, the author encountered some bottlenecks, there are mainly the following two points: 1. Due to the limitation of personal wisdom, I have not been able to conduct a more comprehensive, in-depth and extensive investigation of the theme, and the arguments of the theme are not sufficient and rich enough. 2. All suffering and happiness come from the law of cause and effect, and how to hold precepts according to the wisdom of cause and effect is not described accurately, naturally, coherently and thoroughly by the author.
Through this inquiry, the author hopes to further improve the limits of study mentioned above in the future direction of study, and to think and practice in accordance with the law, so that the author can thoroughly understand the relationship between the precepts and cause and effect as soon as possible, and have deep faith in cause and effect, hold the precepts purely and satisfactorily, and achieve the Buddha’s path.
Appendix References
I. Ancient texts (in chronological order)
I. Ancient texts (in chronological order)
1 (Eastern Jin) Translated by Buddhadhodhadra: Avatamsaka Sutra, vol. 6, Daizheng Treasure, vol. 9.
2 (Yuan Wei )Translated by Huijue: Sutra of the Worthy and the Foolish, vol. 7, Dazheng Treasure, vol. 4.
3 (Sui) Preached by Zhiyi: The Metaphysical Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, vol. 2, Dazheng Treasure, vol. 33.
4 (Sui) Translated by Gautama Fazhi, Sutra of the Buddha’s Explanation for the Elder Shou Jia of Distinctions in Karmic Retribution, Dazheng Treasure, vol. 1.
5 (Tang) Translated by Siksananda: Sutra on the Ten Good Karmas, Dazhengzang, vol. 15.
6 (Tang) Translated by Siksananda: Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva, vol. 1, Dazhong Treasure, vol. 13.
7 (Tang) Stated by Liang Bi: Commentary on the Sutra of Protecting the Kingdom of Kind King Prajna Poramita vol. 1, Dazhengzang, vol. 33.
8 (Tang) Written and Compiled by Cheng Guan, ” Commentary of the Avatamsaka Sutra , vol. 8, Dazhengzang, vol. 35.
9 (Tang) Translated by Xuanzang: Sutra of Mahayana Great Rally Ten Wheels of Earth Store, vol. 8, Dazheng Treasure, vol. 13.
10 (Song) Explaination by Si Tan : Explaination on The Lanyan Sutra, vol. 4, The New Continuing Treasure, vol. 11.
11 (Loss of age) Compiled by Fo Ying: The Four Points of the Bhikkhuni Precepts, vol. 2, Da Zang Treasure, Supplementary Edition, vol. 08.
12 (Loss of age) Recorded by Fushanri , edited by Tong Jiong: The Dream Travelling of the Old Man Hanshan, vol. 39, The New Continuing Collection, vol. 73.