The Reason Why Vilifying the Dharma Precludes Rebirth and Liberation

The Eighteenth Vow of the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Conditions for Rebirth in the Land of Ultimate Bliss): "If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten directions, with sincere faith and joy, aspire to be born in my land, and recite my name even ten times, yet are not born there, may I not attain perfect enlightenment. Excluded are those who commit the five heinous sins and slander the correct Dharma."

The five heinous sins are shedding the Buddha's blood, killing an Arhat, disrupting the harmony of the Sangha, killing one's father, and killing one's mother. The correct Dharma refers to the true teachings that enable sentient beings to attain liberation, encompassing both Mahayana and Hinayana doctrines.

Why can those who commit the five heinous sins not be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, nor even attain the fruition of enlightenment, realize the mind, or achieve liberation? Why can those who slander the correct Dharma not attain the fruition of enlightenment, realize the mind, or achieve liberation?

First, regarding shedding the Buddha's blood: Because the Buddha's karmic seeds are utterly purified, he cannot attract any evil karma or conditions and receives no retribution for evil. Therefore, no sentient being can kill the Buddha or harm him to the point of causing his physical body to bleed. Why, then, is there the concept of shedding the Buddha's blood? The Buddha's bloodline is the Dharma lineage, the transmission of the Buddha Dharma. Shedding the Buddha's blood means causing the Dharma lineage to be cut off and cease its proper propagation. Since the Buddha Dharma enables sentient beings to transcend birth and death and attain liberation, shedding the Buddha's blood is an extremely grave offense. The karmic retribution for this evil deed is the karma of the Avici Hell. Those who commit such evil cannot attain liberation or escape the suffering of birth and death.

An Arhat is a liberated sage who has severed all afflictions. Due to their virtue of liberation, they deserve offerings from both humans and devas and are called "Worthy of Offerings." The level of liberation attained by Bodhisattvas of the eighth ground and above is equivalent to that of a fourth-fruition Great Arhat. The liberation level of Bodhisattvas from the first to the seventh ground is equivalent to that of a third-fruition sage, who retains a trace of afflictive karma, does not take the final fruition of liberation, and does not enter the true stage of liberation, ensuring they do not enter the remainderless nirvana. Respecting and making offerings to an Arhat results in the retribution of severing afflictions, attaining liberation, and freeing oneself from birth and death. Conversely, killing an Arhat prevents one from severing afflictions, attaining liberation, or transcending birth and death. All paths to liberation from the suffering of birth and death become completely blocked. Therefore, one cannot be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, attain the fruition of enlightenment, or realize the mind and see one's true nature.

A harmonious Sangha community: Sangha (Sanskrit: Saṃgha) refers to ordained male Buddhist practitioners, meaning "assembly," "community," or "fellowship." In a broad sense, it also includes female practitioners, with ordained men and women collectively called Sangha and Bhikkhunis. A Sangha is a religious community organized by four or more ordained practitioners who follow the Buddha Dharma. Without the status and qualifications of ordination, one does not belong to the Sangha or Bhikkhuni order; no matter how numerous, they cannot form such a community. As for the Noble Sangha, it must consist of monks who have genuinely attained the fruition of enlightenment and realized the mind. Those who falsely claim attainment or realization with their conscious mind are still ordinary monks. When not controlled by the conscious mind, what is fully revealed is the nature of the afflicted mind (manas), which has neither attained fruition nor realized the mind, inevitably bound by its views and afflictions to the cycle of birth and death.

Harmony (Saṃgha) means living together according to the principle of the Six Harmonies and Respects. The Six Harmonies are: 1) Harmony in Views (sharing the same understanding), 2) Harmony in Moral Discipline (practicing the same precepts), 3) Harmony in Dwelling (living together peacefully), 4) Harmony in Speech (avoiding disputes), 5) Harmony in Mind (sharing joy and accord), and 6) Harmony in Benefits (sharing resources equally). If views and opinions are not aligned, there is no harmony. If members do not uphold the Three Refuges, Five Precepts, Eight Precepts, Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni Precepts, and Bodhisattva Precepts, or if the precepts practiced are inconsistent and do not conform to the Buddha's established rules, there is no harmony. If physical bodies cannot reside together in a common place, living scattered in various directions, there is no harmony. If there is internal quarreling, mutual slander, attacks, undermining, and constant disputes, there is certainly no harmony. If members feel uncomfortable in each other's presence, harboring inner resentment, displeasure, and estrangement, there is no harmony. If benefits are unequally shared, regardless of the type, with one side only sacrificing and giving without return, and the other only taking and possessing, there is likewise no harmony. Violating even one of these means the group cannot constitute a harmonious Sangha.

A true harmonious Sangha can transmit the correct Dharma through the ages on behalf of the Buddha, rescuing sentient beings from the sea of fire that is birth and death. Destroying it means destroying the raft that ferries beings out of birth and death. The karmic retribution is the inability to attain liberation from the suffering of birth and death. Therefore, one cannot be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, attain the fruition of enlightenment, or realize the mind. Disrupting a disharmonious Sangha does not incur this fault, as a disharmonious Sangha brings afflictions and suffering to sentient beings, adding more afflictions on top of existing ones, increasing bondage and fetters, making the suffering of birth and death even more severe.

Parents give us our physical body. With this body, we can encounter the correct Dharma, study and practice it, and have the opportunity to attain liberation, permanently escaping birth and death. Therefore, the kindness of parents is as immense as a mountain; even grinding one's body to dust cannot repay the kindness of their giving birth and nurture. If sentient beings not only fail to support their parents but instead kill them, the crime of killing one's father or mother is incomparably heavy. After death, they will fall into the Avici Hell without hope of liberation. Therefore, those who kill their father or mother cannot be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, attain the fruition of enlightenment, or realize the mind.

The correct Buddha Dharma, when practiced by sentient beings, is the cause of liberation, enabling them to achieve liberation and transcend birth and death. Slandering these Dharma teachings means not believing in the correct Dharma. If faith is insufficient, how can one practice? Without practice, how can liberation be attained? The Dharma is like a raft for crossing the sea of birth and death. Destroying the raft, how can sentient beings cross the sea of birth and death? By slandering the correct Dharma, one not only lacks faith oneself but also prevents others from accepting it. This sin is extremely grave. One will certainly be unable to escape birth and death and attain liberation. Therefore, one cannot be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, attain the fruition of enlightenment, or realize the mind.

The Dharma that enables sentient beings to attain liberation includes the Hinayana teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, as well as the Mahayana teachings related to the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature), such as the Prajñāpāramitā (Perfection of Wisdom), Vaipulya (Expansive) Sutras, and Vijñaptimātratā (Consciousness-Only) doctrines, including the theories of the five consciousnesses, sixth consciousness, seventh consciousness (manas), and eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). It also includes the Threefold Training of precepts (śīla), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā). The Four Noble Truths and Twelve Links enable sentient beings to attain minor liberation, not permanent and ultimate liberation. The Mahayana Tathāgatagarbha Dharma enables sentient beings to attain permanent, true, and ultimate liberation. The Dharma concerning the seventh consciousness, the manas, ensures minor liberation for sentient beings and also ensures their great liberation, leading to ultimate liberation. All liberation, regardless of degree, depends on the liberation of the manas. If the manas is not liberated, any liberation is false; afflictions cannot be severed, birth and death cannot be ended, the sea of suffering cannot be crossed, and one cannot attain the cool, tranquil, and quiescent nirvana.

Those who commit the five heinous sins are extremely rare, but those who slander the correct Dharma are increasingly numerous, seen everywhere, and this is now commonplace. Therefore, it is advised that if one's own meditative concentration and wisdom are insufficient, and one's level of realization is inadequate, one should always be cautious in speech and action. When not qualified to be a judge, silently cultivate oneself. Even if one cannot yet attain the fruition of enlightenment or realize the mind, and lacks the wisdom of consciousness-only (vijñapti-mātra), one should still strive to be a wise person in the worldly sense, not inviting disaster upon oneself or creating obstacles on the path to liberation.