Destiny of Auras
VOLUME 7, Chapter 4
H7 Destiny of asuras.
I1 A general introduction to their name and number.
Sutra:
Furthermore, Ananda, there are four categories of asuras in the triple realm.
Commentary:
Furthermore, Ananda, there are four categories of asuras. Asura is also a Sanskrit word. Sometimes it.s translated as non-gods.
That.s because some asuras have the blessings of the
heavens but not the virtue of the gods. Another translation is not
upright in appearance; however, only the male asuras are that way.
The asura women are extremely beautiful. Asuras are found among
beings of the four kinds of birth: womb-born, egg-born, moistureborn,
and born by transformation. Each of these will now be
discussed.
I2 A specific explanation of those included in this destiny.
J1 Egg-born ghosts.
Sutra:
Those in the path of ghosts who use their strength to
protect the dharma and who can ride their spiritual
penetrations to enter into emptiness are asuras born from eggs;
they belong to the destiny of ghosts.
Commentary:
Those in the path of ghosts who use their strength to protect the dharma and who can ride their spiritual penetrations to enter into emptiness are asuras born from eggs. Some ghosts are
good and act as dharma protectors. Guan Di Gong is an example.
He is a great and powerful ghost. These kinds of ghosts protect and
support the Triple Jewel. They can use their spiritual powers to go
into emptiness. These asuras they belong to the destiny of ghosts.
J2 Womb-born people.
Sutra:
Those who have fallen in virtue and have been dismissed
from the heavens dwell in places near the sun and moon. They
are asuras born from wombs and belong to the destiny of
humans.
Commentary:
Those who have fallen in virtue and have been dismissed from the heavens dwell in places near the sun and moon. They
started out in the heavens, but they didn't have the virtue to remain
there. They fell and were thrown out into empty space. They take
up residence in places close to the sun and moon. They are asuras born from wombs and belong to the destiny of humans.
J3 Transformation-born gods.
Sutra:
There are asura kings who uphold the world with a penetrating power and fearlessness. They fight for position with the Brahma lord, the god Shakra, and the four heavenly kings. These asuras come into being by transformation and belong to the destiny of gods.
Commentary:
There is another category of asura kings who uphold the world with a penetrating power and fearlessness. Their strength
is enormous. They can shake the entire world system. If they grasp
the peak of Mt. Sumeru with their hand and push, they can topple
the mountain right down. That's the kind of strength they have.
With such great spiritual powers, they think they'd like to be the
Great Brahma King or the lord Shakra. So they fight for power and
authority. They fight for position with the Brahma lord, the god Shakra, and the four heavenly kings. These asuras come into being by transformation and belong to the destiny of gods. They
use their spiritual powers to undergo this transformation.
The lord of the asuras had a beautiful daughter who became the
reason why he went to war with the god Shakra. She was an
exquisite young goddess, and when Shakra laid eyes on her he went
to the lord of the asuras to ask for her hand. The asura father
consented. It turned out, however, that the asura woman was
extremely jealous and selfish. The lord Shakra liked to listen to the
Buddhadharma and would go regularly to hear the dharma masters
lecture on the sutras. The asura woman noticed his absence and
became jealous. She thought, "Now that he's married me, he
doesn't love me anymore. I bet he's going out and having an affair."
Possessed by such jealous thoughts as this, she secretly followed
the lord Shakra one day to find out where he went. When the lord
entered the dharma assembly and took his place, his wife observed
that there were a lot of women in the gathering. This fired her
jealousy even more, and with that she became visible. When Shakra
saw her he asked, "What are you doing here? You come here to get friendly with women and don't invite me
along", she replied in a jealous fit.
Shakra slapped her face, and she began to cry and ran home to
the asura king to tell her tale. "The god Shakra is breaking the rules
and always going out to find women,. she reported. When I
followed him, he hit me."
Of course, when the asura king heard that, he was outraged.
We're going to war: We'll overthrow him and usurp the throne!
He sent out the entire company of asura soldiers and generals to
join battle against Shakra. Well, guess what; the combined military
might of Shakra, Brahma, and the four heavenly kings could not
overcome the asura troops. It was a stalemate. Finally Shakra had
to go to the Buddha to ask for help. "What's to be done?" he said, "I can't beat these asuras."
Shakyamuni Buddha replied, "Go back and tell all your officers
and enlisted men to recite the phrase, 'Mahaprajnaparamita', and I
guarantee that everything will turn out all right."
Shakra did as he was told, and the asuras gave up without
further fight. That's how Shakra finally won. But these kinds of
asuras are always fighting for position and authority.
J4 Moisture-born animals.
Sutra:
Ananda, there is another, baser category of asuras. They
have thoughts of the great seas and live submerged in
underwater caves. During the day they roam in emptiness; at
night they return to their watery realm. These asuras come into
being because of moisture and belong to the destiny of animals.
Commentary:
Ananda, there is another, baser category of asuras. They have thoughts of the great seas and live submerged in underwater caves. These asuras belong to the animal realm.
Dragons and the like are examples. Since they think so much about
the sea, they end up living in it. During the day they roam in emptiness; at night they return to their watery realm. They go
back to their underwater caves in the evening. These asuras come into being because of moisture and belong to the destiny of animals.
F3 Concludes they are false and exhorts him to be apart from them.
G1 Brings up the medicine and the sickness.
H1 Generally mentions the false sickness.
Sutra:
Ananda, so it is that when the seven destinies of hell-dwellers, hungry ghosts, animals, people, spiritual immortals, gods, and asuras are investigated in detail, they are all found to be murky and embroiled in conditioned existence. Their births come from false thoughts. Their subsequent karma comes from
false thoughts. Within the wonderful perfection of the fundamental mind that is without any doing, they are like strange flowers in space, for there is basically nothing to be attached to; they are entirely vain and false, and they have no source or beginning.
Commentary:
Ananda, so it is that when the seven destinies of hell-dwellers,
hungry ghosts, animals, people, spiritual immortals,
gods, and asuras are investigated in detail, they are all found to
be murky and embroiled in conditioned existence. They all still
have some form of appearance. Their births come from false
thoughts. Their subsequent karma comes from false thoughts, and it leads them into their next rebirth. Within the wonderful perfection of the fundamental mind that is without any doing, they are like strange flowers in space, for there is basically nothing to be attached to. The seven destinies are like illusory
flowers in emptiness; they are nothing to cling to. They are entirely vain and false, and they have no source or beginning.
H2 Points out the deep root of the illness.
Sutra:
Ananda, these living beings, who do not recognize the fundamental mind, all undergo rebirth for limitless kalpas. They do not attain true purity, because they keep getting involved in killing, stealing, and lust, or because they counter them and are born according to their not killing, not stealing, and lack of lust. If these three karmas are present in them, they are born among the troops of ghosts. If they are free of these three karmas, they are born in the destiny of gods. The incessant fluctuation between the presence and absence of these karmas gives rise to the cycle of rebirth.
Commentary:
Ananda, these living beings in the seven destinies, who do not recognize the fundamental mind, all undergo rebirth for limitless kalpas. They don.t know of the wonderful perfection of
the fundamental mind which is without any doing, and so they keep
having to undergo birth in the six paths. They are born and then die;
they die and then are reborn. In this life they're a cow, and in the
next life they're a horse, and maybe in the life following that they
become a person. It.s a continuing cycle. How long does it go on?
There's no way to calculate how many aeons one passes through in
this way. They do not attain true purity. They never uncover their
inherent pure substance. Why? Because they keep getting involved in killing, stealing, and lust. They get all hung up in
them and can.t stop their involvement. Or it is because they counter the three karmas of killing, stealing, and lust and are born according to their not killing, not stealing, and lack of lust. If these three karmas are present in them, they are born among the troops of ghosts. If they commit acts of killing, stealing and
lust, they go to the realm of ghosts where all their friends and
relatives are also ghosts.
If they are free of these three karmas, they are born in the destiny of gods. The incessant fluctuation between the presence and absence of these karmas gives rise to the cycle of rebirth. The continuous battle between creating those
karmas and not creating them goes on and on. Sometimes they
create them, sometimes they don't. Tha'.s the nature of rebirth.
H3 Decides on a medicine that can get rid of it.
Sutra:
For those who make the wonderful discovery of samadhi, neither the presence nor the absence of these karmas exists in that magnificent, eternal stillness; even their non-existence is done away with. Since the lack of killing, stealing, and lust is non-existent, how could there be actual involvement in deeds of
killing, stealing, and lust?
Commentary:
For those who make the wonderful discovery of samadhi, neither the presence nor the absence of these karmas exists in that magnificent, eternal stillness. Some beings in the seven
destinies can attain wonderful and genuine samadhi power. That
refers to the great Shurangama Samadhi. They return the hearing to
hear the self-nature, and the nature accomplishes the Unsurpassed
Way. They cultivate the perfect penetration of the organ of the ear
and attain true and proper samadhi-power. If the three karmas are
present, one goes into the three evil destinies of hell-dwellers,
hungry ghosts, and animals. If they are absent, one can attain
rebirth among humans, immortals, gods, or asuras. But in this
samadhi, those karmas are neither present nor absent; even their non-existence is done away with. The absence of divisions into
the three evil destinies and the four good paths is dispensed with as
well. Since the lack of killing, stealing, and lust is non-existent, how could there be actual involvement in deeds of killing,
stealing, and lust? If they fundamentally don't exist, how could
there be involvement in those acts of karma? How could such
karma actually be created? It isn't.
G2 Collective and individual karma are both false.
Sutra:
Ananda, those who do not cut off the three karmas each have their own private share. Because each has a private share, private shares come to be accumulated, making collective portions. Their location is not arbitrary, yet they themselves are falsely produced. Since they are produced from falseness, they are basically without a cause, and thus they cannot be traced
precisely.
Commentary:
Ananda, those who do not cut off the three karmas each have their own private share. Every creature that does not sever
the three karmas of killing, stealing, and lust creates its own
individual share of karma. Because each has a private share, private shares come to be accumulated, making collective
portions. Their location is not arbitrary. When beings create
similar kinds of individual karma, they will undergo similar retributions;
this is called the collective portion. It' not a random
coincidence; it.s not an arbitrary circumstance. However, though it
seems to be precise, that precision is itself a result of falseness. Its
source is false to begin with, and so the text says: yet they themselves -- the individual shares and collective portions -- are falsely produced. Since they are produced from falseness, they are basically without a cause. The falseness is insubstantial.
Falseness has no seed. It is vain and empty and not actual. Thus they cannot be traced precisely. You can search but you cannot
find the root. They arise falsely and just as falsely cease to be. You
may be determined to find their source, but it doesn't exist. They
are like a person's shadow. It's only a shadow, and you won't
succeed in finding its source. You may say that its source is the
body, but the appearance of the shadow is not the body itself. The
shadow is merely an illusion.
G3 Likeness and difference both false.
Sutra:
You should warn cultivators that they must get rid of these
three delusions if they want to cultivate Bodhi. If they do not
put an end to these three delusions, then even the spiritual
penetrations they may attain are merely a worldly, conditioned
function. If they do not extinguish these habits, they will fall
into the path of demons.
Commentary:
Shakyamuni Buddha calls to Ananda: You should warn cultivators that they must get rid of these three delusions if they want to cultivate Bodhi. The "three delusions" here are the three
karmas of killing, stealing, and lust. They are called "delusions"
here because the karma arises from delusion. If one were not
confused and deluded, the karma would not be created. If they do not put an end to these three delusions -- that is, if there is even
the tiniest bit of any of these three delusions in your makeup -- a
hair's breadth of killing, stealing, or lust that you don't get rid of -- then even the spiritual penetrations they may attain are merely
a worldly, conditioned function. Perhaps they may get a bit of
spiritual power or a small amount of wisdom, but even that cannot
be considered to be unconditioned spiritual penetration. It resides
in form and appearance and depends upon an intent in order to
function. It is spiritual penetration which is attached to
appearances. If they do not extinguish these habits, they will fall into the path of demons. If the habits of killing, stealing, and lust
are not brought to a stop, you will sink into the demonic paths in the
future.
Now you see why I say that such-and-such a cultivator is a
demon king. He does not observe precepts regarding killing,
stealing, or lust. If one is like that, how can one obtain genuine
wisdom? It's impossible.
Sutra:
Although they wish to cast out the false, they become
doubly deceptive instead. The Thus Come One says that such
beings are pitiful. You have created this falseness yourself; it is
not the fault of Bodhi.
Commentary:
Although they wish to cast out the false, they become doubly deceptive instead. They add falseness to falseness, falsehood to
falsehood. They start out by telling a lie, by speaking incorrectly.
But afterwards they say that they didn't lie, and that's another lie. If
you tell a lie, there's no use in arguing. Admit it and then it's just
one lie. But someone who denies the lie he told ends up by telling
two. In this way he increases his offenses. The Thus Come One says that such beings are pitiful. People who never do things
properly are really pathetic. You have created this falseness yourself; it is not the fault of Bodhi. All this false delusion and
karma is something that you brought into being. There's no fault on
the part of Bodhi. Therefore, you can't say, "If we were all Buddhas
how come we gave rise to falseness?" You make a mistake if you
talk like that.
F4 Decides the deviant and proper.
Sutra:
An explanation such as this is proper speech. Any other explanation is the speech of demon kings.
Commentary:
An explanation such as this is proper speech. If you talk in
this way, you are in accord with the Buddhadharma. Any other explanation is the speech of demon kings. If the explanation is
not along these lines, you can know it.s a demon king talking. You
should make the distinction clearly. The dharma spoken by demon
kings is based on falseness. For instance, he knows about a
particular situation but says he doesn't know. That's lying. Cultivators should know that the straight mind is the Bodhimanda.
Be straightforward in all situations. Don't be deceptive.