Why Is the Offense of Slandering the Three Jewels the Gravest?

All Buddhist sūtras are the true words of the Buddha; the Buddha does not deceive sentient beings. Many people feel that any casual remark they make is nothing, no big deal, yet the weight of that one sentence may be considerable, and one is often unaware of it. A single wholesome thought is the cause of rebirth in the heavens to enjoy pleasures; a single evil thought is the cause of rebirth in the Avīci hell. Words and deeds directed toward the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha are especially weighty, not to be compared with words and deeds in worldly affairs. If a single sentence damages or slanders the Three Jewels, whether truthfully or untruthfully, it is a cause for hell. A single word of discord is called divisive speech (two-tongued speech); stirring up discord within the saṅgha community, or disrupting the harmonious relationships among monastics, among laypeople, or between monastics and laypeople—all are causes for hell. The mouth creates the most karma. To avoid evil retribution, one should well guard the karma of the mouth and guard against disaster issuing from the mouth. When there is nothing to say, do not speak; when there is something to say, speak little and speak well; avoid stirring up trouble and creating disputes out of nothing. In this way one keeps oneself pure and leaves no faults behind—this is the conduct of a wise and intelligent person; the opposite is the conduct of a person steeped in foolishness and heavy afflictions.

Slander is divided into groundless slander and grounded slander; "ground" means evidence and fact. Saying something exists when it does not, saying something does not exist when it does, or distorting the facts—this is groundless slander. When the matter is real and what is said is factual, it is called grounded slander. With respect to the Three Jewels, both cases count as slander, and the offense is very grave. Speaking of a monastic's faults and misdeeds is a great offense; even if the matter is true, whether spoken to others deliberately or unintentionally it is an offense, and maliciously publicizing it is an even greater offense.

Why is the karma created toward the Three Jewels the heaviest in offense? Because the Three Jewels bestow the greatest kindness upon sentient beings in the world, possess the greatest merit, can bring sentient beings to liberation, enable them to leave suffering and attain happiness, and are the greatest field of merit for sentient beings. Creating evil karma within one's own field of merit is naturally the gravest offense and has the greatest impact. If, because of one's slander, sentient beings lose faith in the Three Jewels, it is tantamount to cutting off the path of liberation for sentient beings, and this offense is certainly heavier than any other.

In the world, doing evil to someone who has been kind to oneself is also despised and cast off by people; how much more so doing evil, within the Buddha's Dharma, to the Three Jewels, which can bring one the merit of liberation over countless kalpas—how could such an offense be small?

Whoever creates evil karma does so because of afflictions, because the mind holds only the self and not others. Greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt: because there is greed in the mind, and the greed cannot be satisfied, one creates evil karma out of not obtaining what one wants; because there is hatred in the mind, one becomes hateful when things do not go one's way; the mind is often deluded, not knowing wholesome from unwholesome, true from false, good from bad, and out of ignorance one creates evil karma; the self in the mind blazes fiercely and, unable to be concealed, bursts forth, crushing others, and one creates evil karma; because there is doubt in the mind and one cannot be certain of wholesome and unwholesome karma and its consequences, one creates evil karma.

All evil karma is created because of the self; all afflictions arise because of the self—the self is the chief culprit. Without eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), one revolves through the three lower destinies, the three evil paths cannot be avoided, and suffering is endless. Therefore every Dharma learner should make a great resolve: one must subdue that chief culprit and in the end annihilate that chief culprit; only then can one leave suffering and attain happiness, only then can one's own mind be peaceful and tranquil, and only then can the world be at peace. Thus eradicating the view of self can bring blessings to the whole world and bless and protect sentient beings, yet the greatest beneficiary is still oneself—although there is no more self, having no self is what is truly good.