Following Afflictions Is Not the Conduct of Sages and Worthies

Killing people with mantras and vetāla ghosts—this method of killing is very secretive; others do not know that you have developed the intention to kill, do not know that you have killed, do not know that you kill without shedding blood. If one goes along with such afflictions, one is an evil person; acting them out constitutes the karmic offense of killing. Going along with such afflictions makes one not merely a person lacking virtue, but one lacking great virtue—such a person cannot possibly be a person of great virtue or a bodhisattva. Such evil-doers and criminals would never appear among the ranks of bodhisattvas.

Some people, although they do not kill and do not wish to see others kill, nevertheless kill animals—this too is the karma of killing. For example, when one craves meat and wants fresh meat, rather than killing with one's own hands, one hints for others to kill on one's behalf. By muttering that one wants to eat meat, others will find a way to procure a living creature, slaughter it, and cook it before letting him eat. Thus his hands remain perfectly clean, unstained by blood, but his mouth is no longer clean, and his mind is even less clean. Can one go along with such afflictions? To go along with them is killing, an offense of grave magnitude that cannot be repented. Instigating others to kill carries an even heavier offense. Such a sinner could not possibly be a sage or a bodhisattva.

Some people make excuses, saying: "We bodhisattvas all know that animals are manifestations of the tathāgatagarbha, and eating meat is also something manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; therefore everything is illusory and false. As long as you know this clearly, then eating is the same as not eating, and killing is the same as not killing." What they mean is that knowing all dharmas are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, one may do anything, or do nothing at all. Then let me ask: what is the purpose of studying the Mahāyāna dharma of the tathāgatagarbha? Is it meant to cover up evil karma and conceal one's own afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion? Is the tathāgatagarbha a prop for committing evil deeds? The more one studies the dharma of the tathāgatagarbha and the longer one studies it, the more unscrupulously one commits evil deeds? Is this the ultimate state that studying the Buddha-dharma leads to?

Some people talk about the tathāgatagarbha every day, yet commit evil deeds every day, with boundless afflictions daily and no bottom line. Even ordinary worldlings are not like this. Not studying Buddhism, not studying the tathāgatagarbha, wouldn't it be better to be a good ordinary worldling with peace of mind, a superior-grade ordinary worldling who is a modest gentleman? I have met quite a few people who have been indoctrinated with wrong notions. They say: "Don't look at these surface phenomena—these are all matters of appearances. You should look at our dharma; our dharma is the most supreme and most precious Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha dharma, rare and hard to encounter." I find it strange: having studied such a rare and precious Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha dharma, yet unable to resolve matters of appearances, and the more one studies, the more chaotic and filthy these matters become, running contrary to the Path—then what is this dharma for? Is it to endorse oneself and serve as a facade, or to eliminate ignorance and attain liberation?

Speaking of liberation, some people have more to say. They say: "We Mahāyāna bodhisattvas do not seek liberation; only arhats go for liberation. Bodhisattvas do not attain liberation." What is implied here? It implies that bodhisattvas are all bound by the worldly dharmas of the five aggregates, bound by afflictions, bound by ignorance; at death, because of these bonds, they are bound within the three evil destinies, bound within the cycle of the six destinies of rebirth, no different from ordinary worldlings. Is that so? If so, then such bodhisattvas are no different from ordinary worldlings, and there would be no point in being one at all.