The Surangama Sutra

by Hsuan Hua

  People who are governed by emotion... are totally unreasonable.... Their motto is “Eat, drink, and pass the time. The Buddha is only a figment of the imagination, so don’t follow the Buddha’s moral precepts. What do you want to do that for? They’ll just control you. If you don’t follow precepts, see how free you’ll be.” In fact, if one does not follow moral precepts, one is very likely to end up in the hells. Is that what you’d call freedom? If you receive the Buddha’s precepts and then use them to govern your behavior, it’s not so likely that you’ll fall into the hells, and even if you do, you’ll get out much more quickly. So don’t outsmart yourself. It’s better to follow the precepts. (VII, 112–3)

  C. Ten Causes and Six Retributions

  “Ānanda, these retributions are the consequences of individual beings’ intentional acts. For this karma there are ten causes based on beings’ habits, and beings undergo in turn six kinds of retribution.

  [1] “What are these ten causes, Ānanda? The first cause is the habit of sexual desire, which, when joined to physical contact, leads to intercourse. When the friction of contact is sufficiently prolonged, there is an inner feeling of a great raging fire erupting from within. It is like the warmth that arises when the hands are rubbed together.

  “When the latent habitual energies of sexual desire erupt into the fires of habitual sexual activity,53 the consequence in the hells will be the experience of the iron bed and the copper pillar. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see evidence of sexual desire and the activity that results from it, they call these things the ‘fires that arise from craving.’ Bodhisattvas view sexual desire as something to be avoided, as one would avoid a fiery pit.54

  [2] “The second cause is the habit of craving, which, when one is attracted to something, leads to plotting and planning. When the attraction and the grasping are incessant, there is an inner feeling of freezing cold and solid ice. It is like the experience of the air being cold when one inhales sharply through the mouth.

  “When latent habitual energies of craving are compounded with habi-tual acts of craving, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of freezing, which causes babbling, chattering, and whimpering, and which cracks ice into shapes of blue and red and white lotuses, and other such effects. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see evidence of excessive greed, they call them ‘the water of craving.’ Bodhisattvas view craving as something to be avoided, as one would avoid a sea of pestilent poisons.

  [3] “The third cause is the habit of arrogance, which, when compounded with haughty feelings of self-superiority, leads to competitiveness. When that arrogance continues unchecked, there is an inner feeling of a rushing torrent of leaping waves of water. It is like the mouth watering when a person tries to taste his own tongue.

  “When the latent habitual energies of arrogance are expanded to include habitual arrogant acts, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of rivers of blood, rivers of ashes, burning sands, or seas of poison, or the experience of molten copper being poured over one’s body or of being forced to swallow the copper. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of arrogance and arrogant acts, they call them ‘taking a drink of stupidity.’ Bodhisattvas see arrogance as something to be avoided, as one would wish to avoid drowning at sea.

  [4] “The fourth cause is the habit of hatred, which, when joined to a predilection for defiance, leads to confrontations. When one’s entanglement in habits of defiance is unrelenting, there is an inner feeling of the heart becoming so hot that it burns, and its fiery energy becomes like metal. Then this person will feel as if he is being exposed to mountains of knives, of iron clubs, of swords standing like forests or arrayed like spokes of a wheel, and of axes, spears, and saws. It is like a harbored grievance intensifying until it explodes into an urge to kill.

  “When the latent habitual energies of hatred recklessly incite habitual acts of hatred, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of being castrated, dismembered, beheaded, abraded, pierced, flogged, clubbed, and so forth. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of hatred and hateful acts, they call them ‘sharp swords.’ Bodhisattvas view hatred as something to be avoided, as one would wish to avoid being executed.

  [5] “The fifth cause is the habit of enticing others, which, when joined to a fondness for conniving, leads beings to the practice of entrapment. When the setting of traps becomes too much, this person will feel as if he is being bound by ropes and immobilized in wooden stocks. It is inevitable, just as it is inevitable that trees and grasses in a field will shoot up when the field is saturated.

  “When the latent habitual energies of enticing others become prolonged, leading to acts of entrapment, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of handcuffs and fetters, along with cangues and chains attached to cangues, whips and canes, clubs and cudgels, and so forth. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see enticement and entrapment, they call them ‘cunning thieves.’ Bodhisattvas view defrauding others as something worthy of fear, as one would fear a pack of jackals.

  [6] “The sixth cause is the habit of falsehood, which, when joined to deviousness, leads to insinuations and insults. When these insinuations rise to the level of treachery, such a person will feel as if he is being covered with dust and dirt and with excrement and urine and all manner of filth. It is like the dust that, when stirred up by the wind, obscures people’s vision.

  “When the latent habitual energies of lying are added to acts of deceit, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of sinking and drowning, first being hurled upward, then flying through the air, then falling, floating, and finally perishing. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of falsehood and insinuation, they call them ‘robbery and murder.’ Bodhisattvas view lying as something to avoid, as one would avoid stepping on a venomous snake.

  [7] “The seventh cause is the habit of festering resentment, which, when joined to a propensity to nurse hatreds, leads to acts of vengeance. Such a person will come to feel as if he is being stoned, or being imprisoned in cells or in cages mounted on carts, or being confined in urns or in sacks that are then beaten. It is like the evil designs harbored and nurtured by venomous and secretive people.

  “When the latent habitual energies of making false accusations merge with acts of making such accusations, the consequence in the hells will be such experiences as being hurled, seized, stabbed, and stoned. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of resentment and vengeance, they call them ‘unscrupulous and harmful ghosts.’ Bodhisattvas view making false accusations as equivalent to drinking liquor laced with a fatal poison.

  [8] “The eighth cause is the habit of holding wrong views, which, when joined to a temperament that automatically rejects the opinions of others, leads to such mistaken understandings as the wrong view that the self is real,55 wrong views concerning prohibitions, and wrong views concerning karma. Such a person will come to feel as if he has been brought before officials of the royal court56 to determine what views he has held. Such scrutiny will be unavoidable, just as one cannot escape being scrutinized by people whom one meets when walking in the opposite direction on a road.

  “When the latent habitual energies of holding wrong views are joined to acts that result from holding wrong views, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of being interrogated while subjected to devious tricks and to high-pressure questioning, so that all is eventually brought out into the open. The youths who keep track of good and evil deeds consult the evidence to counter the offenders’ arguments and excuses. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of wrong views, they call them ‘pit-traps.’ Bodhisattvas consider attachment to wrong and biased views as equivalent to standing on the edge of a ditch full of pestilent water.

  The youths mentioned here are employees of the hells; they keep
records of good and evil done in the world. When your turn comes, they read out your record. If you try to argue or rationalize, they merely find the page and place and read it out just as it actually happened. They have unimpeachable proof, and your protestations are useless. (VII, 128)

  [9] “The ninth cause is the habit of blaming, which, when joined to a predilection for defamation, leads to making false accusations. Such a person comes to feel that he is being crushed between mountains or between boulders, or that he is being broken on stone wheels, or being ripped by plows, or being ground up by millstones. These are like the injuries visited on good people by a slanderous villain.

  “When the latent habitual energies of blaming lead to habitual unjust acts, the consequence in the hells will be the experience of being pressed, pummeled, bagged, squeezed, and strained, then weighed and measured, and so forth. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see false accusations being made, they call them ‘vicious tigers.’ Bodhisattvas view unjust acts as equivalent to claps of thunder.

  [10] “The tenth cause is the habit of disputatiousness, which, when joined to a predilection for obfuscation and concealment, leads to vociferous court proceedings. Such a person will feel that in the end, everything will be revealed, as if reflected in a mirror by the light of a candle — just as no shadows can hide people when they are in full sunlight.

  “When the latent habitual energies of disputatiousness are joined to engagement in disputes, the consequence in the hells will be the truth about one’s acts being confirmed by evil companions, as if one’s karma were illumined in a mirror. Therefore, when the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions see instances of obfuscation and concealment, they call them ‘shadowy villains.’ Bodhisattvas view obfuscation to be as burdensome as the task of carrying a high mountain on one’s head while walking in the ocean.

  “Ānanda, these retributions are the consequences of individual beings’ intentional acts. For this karma there are these ten causes based on beings’ habits, and beings undergo in turn six kinds of retribution.

  “How is it that there are six kinds of retribution, Ānanda? All beings create karma through their six consciousnesses, and they experience retribution through their six faculties. How is it that the various retributions are experienced through the six faculties?

  [1] “First, there are the retributions that are the negative consequence of intentional acts of seeing. This karma of seeing affects the other five consciousnesses as well. When a being is about to die, he may first see fire raging throughout the worlds of the ten directions.57 Upon his death, his spiritual awareness will ascend and then fall, riding downward on a wisp of smoke directly into the Unrelenting Hell. Then one of two things may happen. If there is light for the being to see by, he may perceive all manner of ferocious creatures, which cause him to experience the extremes of fear. Or there may only be darkness, and all will be silent; nothing can be seen. The being then feels a boundless terror.

  The text here describes how the ten causes lead to retributions through the six faculties. These retributions are interconnected. Although one of the six faculties may have been the predominant cause of a karmic offense, the other five are all involved to some extent. They act as accomplices....

  In general, the reason we commit so many karmic offenses is that we are unable to control our faculties. We can’t keep ourselves from being affected by the experience of the six kinds of perceived objects. Instead of redirecting our hearing inward to listen to our true nature so that we can experience the supreme awakening, we fly out through our six faculties in pursuit of perceived objects, and we commit a myriad of karmic offenses in the process....

  If you have samādhi, then it doesn’t matter what you look at every day. The more you see, the less you will be influenced by the beauty of the opposite sex. But if you don’t have that kind of skill, then you need to be a little bit more careful. With a little more care, you won’t have to hug the copper pillar or fall into some other hell. (VII, 134–5)

  “Next, that raging fire that he saw may overload his ear-consciousness so that he is overwhelmed by the sounds of liquids and molten copper boiling in cauldrons. His nose-consciousness may also be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the smells of black smoke and purplish fumes. His tongue-consciousness may also be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the scorching taste of a gruel of hot iron pellets. His body-consciousness may be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the sensation of hot ashes and blazing embers burning his body. His mind-consciousness may be overloaded so that he experiences the processes of cognition as overwhelming spurts of flame and showers of sparks flickering and bursting in the air.

  [2] “Second are the retributions that are the negative consequence of intentional acts of hearing. This karma of hearing affects the other five consciousnesses as well. First, when a being is about to die, he may hear the roar of gigantic waves as they inundate earth and sky. Upon his death, the being’s spiritual awareness will sink downward, riding the waves directly into the Unrelenting Hell. Then one of two things may happen. If the being can hear, he may perceive a crashing din that causes him to become dull and deranged. Or, the being may be unable to hear, and the utter absence of sound causes him to sink into mental darkness.

  When a being is about to die, he may hear the roar of gigantic waves inundating heaven and earth. But does this phenomenon really take place? No, it merely appears that way to that particular being as his karmic retribution. The same is true when we see mountains, rivers, vegetation, buildings... and everything else in the world. They all are manifestations of our karma.... When our karma ends and our emotion is emptied out, we will realize that everything throughout the Dharma-Realm is empty. There isn’t anything at all. But due to our attachment to phenomena, we see all kinds of colors, shapes, and forms. (VII, 139–40)

  “That roar of the gigantic waves that he heard may now overload his ear-consciousness so that he hears voices accusing and interrogating him. Next, his eye-consciousness may be overloaded also so that he is overwhelmed by a vision of thunderclouds composed of noxious vapors. His nose-consciousness may also be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the stench of marsh-water infested with venomous bugs that swarm over his body as the water drenches him. His tongue-consciousness may be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the tastes of pus, blood, and all kinds of filth. His body-consciousness may be overloaded so that he is overwhelmed by the feeling that his body is covered with the feces and urine of beasts and ghosts. His mind-consciousness may be overloaded so that he experiences the processes of cognition as overwhelming lightning-strikes and pounding hail.

  [3] “Third are the retributions that are the negative consequence of intentional acts of smelling. This karma of the nose-consciousness affects the other five consciousnesses as well. First, when a being is about to die, he may perceive toxic vapors thickly filling the air far and near. Upon his death, his spiritual awareness will try to rise above the vapors, but instead he will fall into the Unrelenting Hell. Then one of two things may happen. If the being’s nasal passages are open, he will inhale so much of the noxious vapors that his mind becomes deranged. Or, if his nasal passages are blocked, he will suffocate, lose consciousness, and fall to the ground.

  “The vapors that he smelled may overload his nose-consciousness, and he will feel that he is being subjected to interrogations concerning his character and past behavior. Next, the vapors may overload his eye-consciousness so that he is overwhelmed by visions of flames and torches. The vapors may also overload his ear-consciousness so that he is overwhelmed by the cries of beings drowning in cauldrons filled with boiling liquids. The vapors may also overload his tongue-consciousness so that he is overwhelmed by the taste of rotten fish and rancid stews. The vapors may overload his body-consciousness so that he is overwhelmed by an experience of being split open and of putrefying into a great mountain of flesh with a hundred thousand open wounds like so many open eyes, and these wounds are fed upon by c
ountless maggots. His mind-consciousness may also become overloaded so that he experiences the processes of cognition as ashes and fumes and as sand and gravel flying though the air to pound and shatter his body.

  [4] “Fourth are the retributions that are the negative consequence of intentional acts of tasting. This karma of the tongue-consciousness affects the other sense-consciousnesses as well. First, when a being is about to die, he may perceive a net of red-hot iron that covers the whole world with intense heat. Upon his death, the being’s spiritual awareness will fall into the net and be suspended there, hanging upside down until he falls into the Unrelenting Hell. Then one or two things may happen. He may breathe a vapor in through his mouth, and this vapor may cause his tongue and his whole body to freeze solid and crack. Or, if he tries to spit the vapor out, he will be engulfed by a raging fire which burns him to the marrow of his bones.

  “As his tongue-consciousness undergoes these experiences, he will feel that he is being forced to make confessions and to suffer punishments. Next, his eye-consciousness may have the experience of overwhelming visions of being burned by hot metal and hot stones. His ear-consciousness may undergo an overwhelming experience of sounds seeming to stab him with sharp blades. His nose-consciousness may undergo an overwhelming experience of his nose becomng a gigantic cage of iron that encompasses everything around him. His body-consciousness may undergo an overwhelming experience of being pierced by arrows and darts. His mind-consciousness may be overwhelmed by the experience of the contents of his mind seeming like flying bits of hot iron raining down on him from the sky.

  [5] “Fifth are the retributions that are the negative consequence of intentional acts of touching. This karma of the body-consciousness affects the five other consciousnesses as well. First, when a being is about to die, he may perceive great mountains closing in on him on all sides so that he cannot escape. Upon his death, the being’s spiritual awareness will perceive a great iron city teeming with fire-dogs and fire-snakes and with tigers, wolves, and lions. Ox-headed guards of the hells and horse-headed rākṣasas, armed with spears, drive the being through the city gates and into the Unrelenting Hell. Then one of two things may happen. If the being’s body is still capable of sensation, he will feel his body being crushed between mountains so that his blood spurts forth from his squashed flesh and bones. Or, if the being’s body is no longer capable of sensation, swords will pierce his body and slice up his heart and liver.