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Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Book 163: Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Chapter 18:
A Ghost Frightening Another Ghost
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Satch)
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We as Buddhists learn that ghosts are one of the beings of the six realms. There are many kinds of ghosts; those who have merits are known as `meritorious ghosts.` Many ghosts are without merits, and they are collectively known as `meager wealth ghosts.` Those that often go without food are known as the `hungry ghosts.`
The netherworld is the realm of ghosts, also called the ghost path, the ghost course. In Buddhism, it points to the Yaksa Plane, the Raksasa Plane, and the Hungry Ghost Plane.
Most ghosts have certain powers. Those with great supernatural capabilities are respectfully addressed by people as gods; sometimes the ghost is called some sort of a great god. I realize that the ghost realm belongs to one of the ten dharma realms. When a person dies, his bardo spirit can be regarded as a ghost that has yet to incarnate.
Many assume that when somebody dies, he becomes a ghost. There is some truth to this thinking. But many also believe that when a person becomes a ghost, he will forever remain as a member of the ghost realm. There is really no truth to this, unless the bardo spirit is reborn in the ghost realm, and has become a ghost.
I want to especially inform everyone here that, in the realm of the bardo, the most important thing is to remember and think of the Triple Jewels and Three Roots. You must remain calm and focused, and remain unafraid. In the realm of the bardo spirits, you must never be fearful, not even of any horrifyingly gigantic and ferocious ghosts that may appear before you.
You must recognize:
1. These ferocious ghosts are deliberately trying to frighten you.
2. They are merely a reflection of your consciousness.
3. Ghosts are just an illusion.
4. It is just a mirror of your joy and anger. (Karma)
5. It is a test of your strength of meditative stability.
6. You should ignore the ferocious ghosts even if they collectively create the sound of a thousand thunders.
7. You should be unafraid and be fearless of ghosts.
8. You should remind yourself that you are already dead, and that no ghost could possibly hurt you, for they are just illusions.
9. Besides the issue of one ghost frightening another ghost, whatever you are most afraid of may be reflected and projected through your state of consciousness. Remember, these frightening imageries are nothing more than a reflection of your mind.
10. At this point everything hinges on the meditative strength and wisdom of the deceased.
The situation of a ghost frightening another ghost is indeed a dangerous path. Do not assume that these incidents do not happen!
Chapter seven of the Ksitigarbha Sutra, `Benefiting the Living and the Dead` states: `After death, the Gigantic Ghost of Impermanence will take the spirit of the deceased away without warning. At that time, nobody knows whether the spirit`s future is good or bad. In the first forty-nine days after death, the deceased does not hear anything. During this time, he will be judged in various courts to determine his karmic retribution. He will not be reborn until the trial is over. Before the trial in hell, the deceased already feels distressed, not to mention the suffering he experiences in the hell that surrounds him. The deceased longs for his children or relatives to help him by doing meritorious deeds on his behalf during these forty-nine days. After forty-nine days, he will follow his own karmic retributions and suffer. If he has heavy karma, he cannot be released for hundreds or thousands of years. If the spirit has ever committed one of the Five Endless Offenses, he or she will fall into the major hell and suffer all kinds of torment for an indefinite time.`
Who is this Gigantic Ghost of Impermanence? He is none other than the angel of death! A ferocious deity! An evil spirit! A Gigantic Ghost!
`Noble Lotus Practitioner, please do not be afraid. Keep your mind focused on reciting the Buddha`s name and mantra, and maintain your state of fearlessness. The Gigantic Ghost of Impermanence will naturally disappear!`
If you are afraid, fearful, appalled, and decide to escape, you may come across a cave that you want to hide in. If this happens, you are doomed!
1. If the cave is like an egg, you will be bornfrom an egg, as with fowls like chickens, ducks, and geese.
2. If the cave is like a womb, you will be born from a womb, as with mammals like cows, goats, and dogs.
3. If the cave is moist, you will be water-born, as with worms like flies, mosquitoes, and buffalo gnats.
4. If the cave appears out of transformation, you will metamorphose directly into hell or the netherworld realm.
The four forms of birth are: birth from the womb, birth from an egg, birth from moisture or water, and birth by sudden self-transformation. The womb-born, as in human beings, is where a life is formed within the mother`s womb before birth. Oviparous birth is the formation of life within the egg before birth, as in birds. Water-born, as in insects, relies on the condition of moisture in the atmosphere for birth. The metamorphic birth relies on nothing; this birth is spontaneously obtained by the intervention of karma, such as the case of all heavenly realms and the hell realm, and humans in the beginning of a kalpa of formation.
Let me say this:
If you see a long tunneling cave, once you enter it, you will become a snake.
If you see a car, and hide inside it, you will become a golden beetle.
If you see a sedan chair and hide inside it, you will become a crab.
If you see an aircraft and hide inside it, you will become a bird.
If you see a train and hide inside it, you will become a centipede.
If you see a ship and hide inside it, you will become a fish.
If you see a building and hide inside it, you will become a shell.
If you see an air-raid shelter and hide inside it, you will become a shrew or groundhog.
And the list goes on...
In any event, if you meet the Gigantic Ghost of Impermanence, just be fearless and do not be afraid of him and do not be shocked. There is no need to hide. Just recite the Buddha`s name and mantra.
An honorable Lotus Practitioner must know the four types of rebirth:
The first type of rebirth - rebirth in the state of right thoughts. At the time of dying, with a clear mind, the person recites the Buddha`s name and mantra. This is rebirth in the state of right thoughts.
The second type of rebirth - rebirth in the state of chaos. At the time of dying, the offenses committed by a person prior to his death haunts him as a vision of the Gigantic Ghost of Impermanence, and a vision of the fires of hell burning furiously towards him, and a vision of a flood drowning him. In a state of chaos, he suddenly hears the guidance from the great teacher instructing him to recite the Buddha`s name once or ten times. As he follows the instruction to recite the Buddha`s name with a focused mind, he will gain rebirth in the state of chaos.
The third type of rebirth - rebirth in a state of indeterminate neutrality. An individual that falls in this category has taken refuge in Buddhism, and also recites the Buddha`s name and mantra. Yet, upon the time of death, he is unable to recite anything, and his mind is unfocused and scattered, thus he is reduced to a state of indeterminate neutrality (neither good or bad). However, the merits gained from his previous recitations of the Buddha`s name and mantra ensures his rebirth to the Buddha`s Pure Land.
The fourth type of rebirth - rebirth through power of thought. If an individual is hospitalized and his vocal cord or throat is being operated on, his is unable to recite the Buddha`s name and mantra audibly. This situation happens quite often, and under these circumstances, it is perfectly acceptable to recite the Buddha`s name and mantra mentally, and rebirth is ensured.
The lotus practitioner of the True Buddha School should ideally cultivate to the point of realizing the Pure Original Self-Nature, the state of True Reality and True Mind. The world may be filled with all kinds of afflictions, yet the Self-Nature is inherently pure like the universe itself. When a practitioner attains the eighth consciousness of the Tathagata store, and leaves behind all types of distinctions, and arrives at the spirituality where words and thoughts cease, this would constitute as personal verification and attainment.
If you cannot reach this level of attainment, you must at least gain rebirth in the state of right thoughts and have accomplished the yogic response with your guru, principal deity and dharma protector. With these accomplishments, you are certain to be reborn in the Pure Land. If you cannot achieve this, then you should put your heart into the Pure Land practice of reciting the Buddha`s name. By the vows of Amitabha Buddha, the dying will be able to meet the Buddha and be liberated from the cycle of birth and death. This can also be categorized as `rebirth in the state of right thoughts.`
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