Even though it is a terrible evil, you can still repent. There was a person in ancient times who did evil things throughout his life, repented when he was about to die, had a kind thought, and ended up with a good death. It is said that one strong thought is enough to wash away a hundred years of evil.
As long as a person is alive, even if he has committed a serious crime, he can still repent and be purified. In ancient times, some people committed evil deeds throughout their lives, met a great virtuous teacher on their deathbed, and realized they had a kind thought, thus achieving a good death. The Surangama Sutra makes it clear. The Buddha told us that all living beings in the void Dharma Realm are originally one body. Therefore, for serious sins, as long as you are willing to turn back and truly repent, this karma can be eliminated. A verse of the Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Dharma says: "More than 60,000 words are contained in seven scrolls, which contain boundless wonderful meanings. White jade relics flow from the edges of the teeth. The red lotus tongue shines with light. The nectar trickles down the throat, and the mouth feels cool. "If you commit crimes, you don't need two or three lines of wonderful Dharma."
The so-called "Shrangama" that opens wisdom and the "Lotus" that leads to Buddhahood. "One strong thought is enough to cleanse away a hundred years of evil." Even the sins committed in a hundred years can be washed away as long as the heart of repentance is strong.
The power of reform is great. Nanfanbuzhou, where we are located, is a place of karma. People have great mental power. If it is used well, it will be liberation. It is the boat of liberation. If it is not used well, it will become an anchor of reincarnation. In fact, the so-called practice is to correct our bad words, deeds, thoughts and morals, to transform ourselves from a bad person into a good person, from an ordinary person to a sage. There are many people who have changed their minds and transformed themselves into very good people within a few years. In one lifetime, one hundred years, and thirty-six thousand five hundred days, he transformed himself into an extraordinary sage.
Therefore, "Changing is the most precious thing." Even if it is a seed of hell, if it can be changed, it can be achieved. Fault is like a deep valley that has been dark for a thousand years. By lighting up a lamp, the darkness of thousands of years can be broken in an instant. This lamp is a metaphor for wisdom, awakening, and true enlightenment. Even if what you did in the past was wrong, as soon as your thoughts are awakened, your thoughts are quiet, and your true wisdom appears, your sins will disappear. It can be seen that this thought, one thought of peace and one thought of wisdom, is very rare and valuable!
Because we have been addicted to the five desires for too long, and we have been addicted to the five desires for countless kalpas. Our physical life is short, but our spirit lasts forever. Our Dharma body and wisdom life are eternal. Therefore, after countless eons of reincarnation, I have lost my true nature, blindly and ignorantly clinging to this body, being greedy for the enjoyment of the five desires and six dusts, and creating countless sins. This has resulted in ups and downs in this life and unsatisfactory everything. If we want to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, we must first know how to make amends.
Layman Yuan Liaofan recounted his life experience in detail, reminding us that as long as we are still breathing and willing to change, no matter how big of a mistake we make, we can eliminate it.
Therefore, regardless of the length of the fault, "it is more expensive to correct it." Even if you make a mistake that lasts three days and don't correct it, you won't cut it off without any reason; if you make a mistake that lasts for three thousand years and you are willing to correct it and repent today, you will be purified.
Some people have been practicing Buddhism for a long time without making much progress, while some people have made progress after practicing Buddhism for ten days. What is the reason for this? That is, he can change. If you don’t change, even if you study for three thousand years!
Master Hongyi taught that to change your habits, you must first correct your own bad habits, including walking, living, sitting, lying down, dressing, eating, doing things, and treating others. This is a practical practice. If you improve one point, you will make progress; if you improve ten points, you will make ten points of progress. If you correct it every day, you can definitely become a sage.
Correction is very important. Correction must be made in a timely manner and cannot be delayed. The "earthly world" is a mortal world, and our own lives are impermanent. The Buddha told us at the beginning of the "Eight Great Enlightenment Sutras": "As a disciple of the Buddha, I should always recite the Eight Great Enlightenments with my heart day and night. The first enlightenment: the world is impermanent, the country is fragile, the four great sufferings are empty, and the five yin are absent. I, born and died, mutate, hypocritical and ownerless, my heart is the source of evil, and my body is the source of sin. If I observe like this, I will gradually escape from life and death."
We must seize the opportunity to change. The human body is very precious. As long as you are willing to change your past, you can escape from the lower realms and the cycle of birth and death. Heavenly beings are more blessed than us, but they can't change their ways. We humans can change. This is the preciousness of human life. It would be a pity not to make good use of it. Human life is rare and easy to lose. If you don’t take one breath, this life will be over. I’m not sure whether I can survive today!
So every day you live, you have to change your life. If you miss this day, it will be too late to change! "If you want to change, you have no choice." For example, if you are seriously ill and bedridden and unconscious, can you change? If you don't take a breath and fall into the three evil realms, can you change it? Therefore, you should work hard to change things while your mind is capable. When you reach the lower realms, you will have no chance to change things.
From the two aspects of "secret" and "bright", let's talk about the consequences of not correcting. "Ming" refers to the place that can be seen in the human world, and "you" refers to the evil realm that is invisible to the naked eye. Most people are just intellectualists, they only see the bright side and fail to see the dark side, so they deny it all. In fact, darkness is more terrifying than light.
"Ming" means that after doing evil, it will be notorious for thousands of years and be infamy for thousands of years. Future generations all know that there was such a great evil man in the past, and even the filial piety and kindness of his descendants could not wash away his bad reputation. Like Qin Hui of the Song Dynasty, he had committed many evil deeds in his life and had been infamy for thousands of years. No matter how filial his descendants were, there was nothing they could do to clear his name. Infamy in the world is a disgraceful thing.
People nowadays often say that "honor is a person's second life." In fact, this is secondary. The most serious thing is the retribution in the next life. We have created too many bad karma. The so-called "Five Rebellions and Ten Evil Sins" are clearly stated by the Buddha in "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's Original Vow Sutra". If you create extremely serious sins, you will feel the retribution of hell. Where did hell come from? It's all our own fault.
"Secret" means sinking for thousands of kalpas, feeling the fire and freezing of hell when the karma is mature, the hunger pain of hungry ghosts, etc.! All realms, the realm of joy and the realm of pain, are all manifested by the mind. This is what the Buddha said in the Avatamsaka Sutra. All dharmas, including heaven and hell, "appear only with the mind, only with consciousness." Change". The heart is our own true heart; consciousness is the delusional mind, and we create good and evil deeds based on the delusional mind. If your heart is kind and your deeds are good, the realm will naturally be perfect and perfect; if your heart is evil, your thoughts are evil, and your actions are evil, the realm will naturally be disaster.
Therefore, heaven is manifested by one’s own mind, hell is also manifested by one’s own mind, and our current living environment is also manifested by one’s own mind.
We have to correct our mistakes in advance. If we delay, it will be difficult to reverse once the karma matures. The mistakes we make in our continuum are all the causes of the three evil paths. If we don’t get rid of one of them, we will fall into the three evil paths. Therefore, we must correct it in time. You must not take any chances when it comes to reforming, thinking that even if you commit evil throughout your life, it is still too late to repent on your deathbed. The Buddha said, "Life is between breaths." Life is impermanent. Flesh and blood perish easily. If you can't take another breath, you have no chance to change. Therefore, one thought of awareness and one thought of wisdom is very valuable.
On the one hand, if you commit too many bad karma, you will have a bad reputation for thousands of years, and even filial sons and great grandchildren will be unable to clear your name. On the other hand, if you do too many evil deeds, you will definitely suffer the evil retribution of suffering for thousands of kalpas. This evil retribution is not formulated by the Lord of Hell, it is all caused by ourselves.