Ten Causes and Six Retributions
“Ananda, all retributions are invoked by individual beings’ intentional acts – there are ten habitual causes resulting in six kinds of retribution.
“What are the ten causes? The first is the habit of intercourse driven by sexual desire. The friction of contact generates a tremendous inner fire, just like warmth arises when one rubs one’s palms together. The habits of desire and intercourse continue to set each other ablaze, resulting in the experiences of iron bed and copper pillar in the hells. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name the act of lust ‘the fires of desire’. Bodhisattvas avoid sexual desire as they would avoid fiery pits.
“The second cause is the habit of greed, which gives rise to nonstop plotting and scheming when one craves for something. Such inner grasp and suction carry on, generating intense cold and solid ice, as if one inhaled cold air sharply through the mouth. The habits of greed and craving continue to work on each other, resulting in the experience of extreme cold in the hells, with ice babbling and cracking into shapes of blue, red, white lotuses and other icy effects. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name the act of greed ‘the water of craving’. Bodhisattvas avoid greed as they would avoid the seas of pestilence.
“The third cause is the habit of arrogance, which gives rise to haughty feelings of superiority that lead to intimidation and power struggles. As the habit continues accelerating, here comes inner torrents and rapids generating restless waves of water, just like mouthwatering happens when a person works his tongue trying to taste flavors. The habits of arrogance and arrogant acts incite each other, resulting in the experiences of rivers of blood in the hells, as well as rivers of ashes, burning sands, seas of poison and the sensation of molten copper forced down one’s throat. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name the act of arrogance ‘taking a drink of stupidity’. Bodhisattvas avoid arrogance as they would avoid drowning in huge deluge.
“The fourth cause is the habit of hatred, which leads to mutual defiance and confrontation. As it goes on nonstop, one’s heart becomes so insanely frenzied that the molten vapors turn into metal, bringing about the sensation of being exposed to mountains of knives and iron cudgels, trees/wheels of swords, axes, halberds, spears and saws. It is like a harbored grudge eventually exploding into the impulse to kill. The habits of hatred and hateful acts incite each other, resulting in the experiences of being castrated, beheaded, pierced, beaten … tortures of all sorts in the hells. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name the acts of hatred ‘sharp knives and swords’. Bodhisattvas avoid hatred as they would avoid massacre.
“The fifth cause is the habit of deception, which gives rise to enticing and manipulation. As the practice of entrapment keeps on, it feels as if one is being bound by ropes and thickets, or as in an overly irrigated field, the grasses and plants keep shooting up and overgrow. The habits of deception and manipulation perpetuate each another, resulting in the experiences of being handcuffed and fettered in the hells, along with being chained, whipped, clubbed, and so forth. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name the acts of deception ‘treacherous crooks and cunning thieves’. Bodhisattvas avoid deception as they would avoid jackals and wolves.
“The sixth cause is the habit of falsehood, which leads to mutual distrust. As it goes on further and further, one becomes more and more adept at cheating and feels as if being covered with dust, dirt, excrement, urine, and all other sorts of filth, and one’s vision is obscured as if the dust keeps being stirred up by the wind. The habits of falsehood and cheating impel each other, resulting in the experiences of sinking, drowning, being tossed around, flying and falling, floating and eventually submerging. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name fraudulence ‘robbery and murder’. Bodhisattvas avoid fraud as they would avoid treading on venomous snakes.
“The seventh cause is the habit of resentment, which harbors enmity and vengeance, such as in an evil person’s mind the malicious thinking of hurling rocks and gravels, of imprisoning in cages or urns, of bagging and beating. Such habits of resentment and vengeance incite each other, resulting in the experiences of being tossed, seized, struck, and stoned in the hells. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name resentment and vengeance ‘wrongful and harmful ghosts’. Bodhisattvas avoid resentment as they would avoid drinking poisonous liquor.
“The eighth cause is the habit of asserting wrong views, such as Satkāyadṛṣṭi (the idea that the self is in the body or possessed by the body), or wrong views regarding prohibitions, and wrong views concerning karma. Such views result from opposition and contradiction, which make one feel as if being escorted by officials to testify in the royal court, like one cannot avoid being scrutinized by someone passing in the opposite direction. The habits of holding and expressing wrong views feed on each other, resulting in the experiences in the hells as being questioned, interrogated, and subjected to tricks and pressures until all be exposed in public, while the youths who keep track of one’s good and bad deeds countering the offender’s excuses. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name wrong views ‘pit-traps’. Bodhisattvas avoid wrong views as they would avoid standing on the edge of a steep ditch full of venom.
“The ninth cause is the habit of injustice that pairs with blaming and libeling, generating feelings of being crushed between boulders and mountains, or being grinded by millstones, plows or wheels, which are exactly the pains that injustice inflicts on people. The habits of such injustice and unjust acts reinforce each other, resulting in the experiences of being pressed, bludgeoned, pummeled, battered, squeezed, and strained in the hells, as well as being weighed and measured. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name wrongful accusations ‘vicious tigers’. Bodhisattvas avoid injustice as they would avoid lightnings.
“The tenth cause is the habit of litigation that, because of evasion and concealment, inevitably leads to disputatious court proceedings, during which one feels as if everything being reflected in a mirror by lamp or candlelight, as if being exposed to direct sunlight with nowhere to hide the shadow. The habits of litigation and disputation are constantly at each other’s throats, drawing out the experiences in the hells as one’s past deeds being testified by evil companions, as if one’s accumulated karma being illumined and revealed. That is why the Tathagatas of the ten directions name concealment and obfuscation ‘shadowy villains’. Bodhisattvas avoid them as they would avoid a burden as heavy as carrying a mountain while treading on a sea.
“And why are there six kinds of retribution, Ananda? All beings create karma with their six consciousnesses, and then experience retribution through their six sense faculties (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and cognition). What are the retributions then?
“The first is the retribution of seeing. At the time of death, one may see raging fire extend throughout the ten directions, and one’s spiritual consciousness will ascend and then fall, riding on a wisp of smoke while plummeting into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, there is light, and all sorts of ferocious creatures are perceived, which makes one feel boundless fear; in the other scenario, there is total darkness and stillness, which causes one to feel boundless terror. Then the raging fire overwhelms the other five consciousnesses, creating the sounds of water and molten copper boiling in cauldrons, the smells of black smoke and purple fumes, the tastes of hot iron pellets and gruel, the touches of hot ashes and burning coals, and the cognition that the entire space is filled with sparks of fire and spurts of flame.
“The second is the retribution of hearing. At the time of death, one may hear gigantic waves roaring, inundating the whole world, and one’s spiritual consciousness will sink, riding the waves into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, one can hear, and there are all sorts of noise causing one to feel confused and deranged; in the other scenario, one cannot hear, and the dead silence causes one to sink into oblivion. Then the roaring waves overwhelm one’s other five consciousnesses, creating the voices of scolding and accusing, the sights of thunders and noxious vapors, the sensation of breathing in rain and mist infested with poisonous organisms that swarm all over one’s body, the tastes of pus, blood, and all sorts of filth, the touches of feces and urine of animals and ghosts, and the cognition of lightning-strikes and ravaging hail.
“The third is the retribution of smelling. At the time of death, one may perceive toxic vapors permeating the air far and near, and one’s spiritual consciousness emerges from the earth and then falls into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, one can smell, and by inhaling too much of the toxic vapors, one’s mind becomes distressed and deranged; in the other scenario, one has blockage in the faculty of smelling, and subsequently loses consciousness from suffocation. Then the vapors overwhelm one’s other five consciousnesses, causing one to feel like being interrogated and tortured, or to see flames and torches, or to hear the cries of sinking and drowning in molten metal as well as boiling liquids, or to feel as if tasting rotten foods, or being ripped apart and putrefying into a mountain of flesh with countless open wounds fed upon by countless maggots, or to feel as if ashes, fumes, sands and gravels were flying through the air to shatter one’s body.
“The fourth is the retribution of tasting. At the time of death, one may perceive a flaming iron net covering the entire world, and one’s spiritual consciousness will fall into the net, suspended upside down before plummeting into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, one inhales vapors, causing the body to freeze solid and then crack; in the other scenario, one exhales, giving rise to a raging fire that burns the body to a roast. With such tasting of flavors, as it passes through tongue-consciousness, one feels as if being forced to confess and suffer; as it passes through eye-consciousness, one feels like being burned by red-hot metals and stones; as it passes through ear-consciousness, one feels as if being stabbed with sharp blades; as it passes through nose-consciousness, the whole surrounding feels like being enclosed in a gigantic iron cage; as it passes through body-consciousness, one feels as if being pierced by arrows and darts; as it passes through mind-consciousness, it seems that flying pieces of hot iron are raining down from the sky.
“The fifth is the retribution of touching. At the time of death, one may perceive huge mountains closing in on all sides, leaving no escape. One’s spiritual consciousness will then see an iron city teeming with fiery snakes, fiery dogs, tigers, wolves, lions, while ox-headed jailers and horse-headed rakshasas show up holding spears to drive one through the city gates into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, one has the sensation of gathering that feels as if mountains coming together to totally crush one’s body; in the other scenario, one has the sensation of separation that feels as if knives and swords slicing up one’s organs. As this sense of touching passes through body-consciousness, one feels as if being struck, beaten, squashed, or pierced; as it passes through eye-consciousness, one feels like being engulfed in flames; as it passes through ear-consciousness, one hears cries of torment, as if coming from the road to hells, or at the gateway, or in the courtroom, or on the execution bench; as it passes through nose-consciousness, one feels suffocated, as if being confined, bagged, tied up and beaten; as it passes through tongue-consciousness, one feels as if the tongue being plowed on, clamped up, cut off or chopped up; as it passes through mind-consciousness, one feels like falling, flying, being fried or roasted.
“The sixth is the retribution of thinking. At the time of death, one may perceive a ferocious wind tearing down the whole world, while one’s spiritual consciousness gets swept up into space before riding the air plummeting into the Unrelenting Hell. There, one of two things may occur: In one scenario, one is completely confused, feeling totally lost and racing about frantically; in the other scenario, one is not confused, but acutely aware of the endless frying and burning. When such deluded thinking combines with mind-consciousness, one feels confined to locations and places; when it combines with eye-consciousness, one feels as if being interrogated and judged; when it combines with ear-consciousness, one hears of rock clashing, or flooding, hailing, mud-sliding and the likes; when it combines with nose-consciousness, the act of breathing becomes like running a large fiery chariot, or a fiery ship, or a fiery jail; when it combines with tongue-consciousness, one involuntarily produces shouts, cries, and regretful sobs; when it combines with body-consciousness, one has to suffer expansion or shrinkage, as well as ten thousand deaths and rebirths within a single day, lying face-up or face-down.
“Ananda, these are the ten causes and six retributions of the hells. All of them are created by sentient beings’ confusion and delusion. If one creates evil karma engaging all six consciousnesses at the same time, one will enter the Avici Hell to endure limitless suffering for countless eons. If the six sense faculties create karma separately, each in individual state, one will enter one of the Eight Unrelenting Hells. If one commits killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct involving all the three creators of karma – body, speech, and mind – one will enter one of the Eighteen Hells. If one commits two of the three major sins – for instance, killing and stealing – without involving all three creators of karma, one will enter one of the Thirty-Six Hells. If one commits one of the three major sins with only one of the three creators of karma getting involved, one will enter one of the One Hundred and Eight Hells.
“Therefore, all beings create their own karma with their individual acts, and beings with the same karmas fall into the same hells. All hells are created by delusion and have no independent existence.”
阿難此等皆是彼諸眾生自業所感。造十習因受六交報。云何十因。阿難一者婬習交接。發於相磨研磨不休。如是故有大猛火光於中發動。如人以手自相磨觸暖相現前。二習相然故有鐵床銅柱諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目行婬同名欲火。菩薩見欲如避火坑。
二者貪習交計。發於相吸吸攬不止。如是故有積寒堅氷於中凍冽。如人以口吸縮風氣有冷觸生。二習相凌故有吒吒波波囉囉。青赤白蓮寒氷等事。是故十方一切如來。色目多求同名貪水。菩薩見貪如避瘴海。
三者慢習交凌。發於相恃馳流不息。如是故有騰逸奔波積波為水。如人口舌自相綿味因而水發。二習相鼓故有血河灰河熱沙毒海融銅灌吞諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目我慢名飲癡水。菩薩見慢如避巨溺。
四者嗔習交衝。發於相忤忤結不息。心熱發火鑄氣為金。如是故有刀山鐵橛劍樹劍輪斧鉞鎗鋸。如人銜冤殺氣飛動。二習相擊故有宮割斬斫剉刺搥擊諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目嗔恚名利刀劍。菩薩見嗔如避誅戮。
五者詐習交誘。發於相調引起不住。如是故有繩木絞挍。如水浸田草木生長。二習相延故有杻械枷鎖鞭杖撾棒諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目姦偽同名讒賊。菩薩見詐如畏犲狼。
六者誑習交欺。發於相誷誣誷不止。飛心造姦如是故有塵土屎尿穢污不淨。如塵隨風各無所見。二習相加故有沒溺騰擲飛墜漂淪諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目欺誑。同名劫殺。菩薩見誑如踐蛇虺。
七者怨習交嫌發于銜恨。如是故有飛石投礰。匣貯車檻甕盛囊撲。如陰毒人懷抱畜惡。二習相吞故有投擲擒捉擊射撮諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目怨家名違害鬼。菩薩見怨如飲鴆酒。
八者見習交明。如薩迦耶見戒禁取邪悟諸業。發於違拒出生相返。如是故有王使主吏證執文藉。如行路人來往相見。二習相交故有勘問權詐考訊推鞫察訪披究照明善惡童子手執文簿辭辯諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目惡見同名見坑。菩薩見諸虛妄。遍執如入毒壑。
九者枉習交加發於誣謗。如是故有合山合石碾磑耕磨。如讒賊人逼枉良善。二習相排故有押捺搥按蹙漉衝度諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目怨謗同名讒虎。菩薩見枉如遭霹靂。
十者訟習交諠發於藏覆。如是故有鑒見照燭。如於日中不能藏影。故有惡友業鏡火珠披露宿業對驗諸事。是故十方一切如來。色目覆藏同名陰賊。菩薩觀覆如戴高山覆於巨海。云何六報。阿難。一切眾生六識造業。所招惡報從六根出。云何惡報從六根出。一者見報招引惡果。此見業交則臨終時。先見猛火滿十方界。亡者神識飛墜乘煙。入無間獄發明二相。
一者明見。則能遍見種種惡物生無量畏。二者暗見。寂然不見生無量恐。如是見火。燒聽能為鑊湯洋銅。燒息能為黑烟紫焰。燒味能為燋丸鐵糜。燒觸能為熱灰爐炭。燒心能生星火迸灑煽鼓空界。
二者聞報招引惡果。此聞業交則臨終時。先見波濤沒溺天地。亡者神識降注乘流。入無間獄發明二相。一者開聽。聽種種鬧精神愗亂。二者閉聽。寂無所聞幽魄沈沒。如是聞波。注聞則能為責為詰。注見則能為雷為吼為惡毒氣。注息則能為雨為霧。灑諸毒虫周滿身體。注味則能為膿為血種種雜穢。注觸則能為畜為鬼為屎為尿。注意則能為電為雹摧碎心魄。
三者嗅報招引惡果。此嗅業交則臨終時。先見毒氣充塞遠近。亡者神識從地涌出。入無間獄發明二相。一者通聞。被諸惡氣薰極心擾。二者塞聞。氣掩不通悶絕於地。如是嗅氣衝息則能為質為履。衝見則能為火為炬。衝聽則能為沒為溺為洋為沸。衝味則能為餒為爽。衝觸則能為綻為爛為大肉山。有百千眼無量食。衝思則能為灰為瘴。為飛砂礰擊碎身體。
四者味報招引惡果。此味業交則臨終時。先見鐵網猛炎熾烈周覆世界。亡者神識下透挂網倒懸其頭。入無間獄發明二相。一者吸氣。結成寒氷凍裂身肉。二者吐氣。飛為猛火燋爛骨髓。如是嘗味。歷嘗則能為承為忍。歷見則能為然金石。歷聽則能為利兵刃。歷息則能為大鐵籠彌覆國土。歷觸則能為弓為箭為弩為射。歷思則能為飛熱鐵從空雨下。
五者觸報招引惡果。此觸業交則臨終時。先見大山四面來合無復出路。亡者神識見大鐵城。火蛇火狗虎狼師子。牛頭獄卒馬頭羅剎。手執槍矟驅入城門。向無間獄發明二相。一者合觸合山逼體骨肉血潰。二者離觸。刀劍觸身心肝屠裂。如是合觸。歷觸則能為道為觀為廳為案。歷見則能為燒為爇。歷聽則能為撞為擊為剚為射。歷息則能為括為袋為拷為縛。歷嘗則能為耕為鉗為斬為截。歷思則能為墜為飛為煎為炙。
六者思報。招引惡果。此思業交則臨終時。先見惡風吹壞國土。亡者神識被吹上空旋落乘風。墮無間獄發明二相。一者不覺。迷極則荒奔走不息。二者不迷。覺知則苦無量煎燒痛深難忍。如是邪思。結思則能為方為所。結見則能為鑒為證。結聽則能為大合石。為氷為霜為土為霧。結息則能為大火車火船火檻。結嘗則能為大叫喚為悔為泣。結觸則能為大為小。為一日中萬生萬死為偃為仰。
阿難是名地獄十因六果。皆是眾生迷妄所造。若諸眾生惡業圓造。入阿鼻獄受無量苦經無量劫。六根各造及彼所作兼境兼根。是人則入八無間獄。身口意三作殺盜婬。是人則入十八地獄。三業不兼中間或為一殺一盜。是人則入三十六地獄。見見一根單犯一業。是人則入一百八地獄。由是眾生別作別造。於世界中入同分地。妄想發生非本來有。
Buddha Mind 