《太上说轮转五道宿命因缘经》

At that time, the Supreme Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) was in a monastic dwelling in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, together with one thousand two hundred and fifty celestial immortals, earthly immortals, immortal youths, and jade maidens. When the long fast of the ninth month had come to an end, Lord Lao came out from the divine dwelling and went to Anathapindika’s Park beneath the Jeta trees in the kingdom of Shravasti.

Between the two kingdoms stood a great tree named Shijulei, one thousand eight hundred and sixty li in height, its branches and leaves spreading to cover six hundred and thirty li. The tree bore tens of millions of shi of fruit, sweet and fragrant in taste, like honey. When the fruit ripened and fell, those who ate it were cured of many illnesses, and their ears and eyes became clear and bright. Lord Lao sat beneath the tree, and the immortals picked the fruit and ate it.

The Perfected One of the Left Mystery (Zuoxuan Zhenren) said to the assembled immortals, “I observe the myriad things of heaven and earth, and I find that each has the allotted fate and causal conditions of a former life.” The immortals at once came forward, paid their respects, and knelt at length before the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun), saying, “What is the karmic causation of predetermined fate? We disciples all wish to hear of it. Please explain it in full detail, and instruct those of us who have never heard it.”

The Perfected One replied, “Very good. Those who wish to hear, please listen with concentrated and careful attention.”

The Dao (the Way) teaches that when people cultivate merit and virtue, it is like planting a tree: it grows little by little, and the fruit it bears never comes to an end.

Those who in this life hold high station and become emperors, rulers of states, feudal lords, or local officials do so because in a former life they paid reverence to the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Those who in this life enjoy abundant family wealth and possessions beyond counting do so because in a former life they practiced giving. Those who in this life live long and seldom fall ill do so because in a former life they upheld the precepts.

Those who in this life have well-formed features, a fair and clear complexion, and an outstanding presence, with soft and graceful hands and feet, so that everyone who sees them delights in them and never tires of looking, do so because in a former life they cultivated forbearance. Those who in this life are diligent and vigorous, never slack or idle, do so because in a former life they earnestly cultivated merit and virtue. Those who in this life carry themselves with calm composure and speak and act with care and thoroughness do so because in a former life they concentrated their thought and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to practice. Those who in this life are intelligent and well versed in the scriptures (Jing) and the Dharma, able to extol the wondrous teaching, awaken the ignorant, and move all who hear to inquire, receive instruction, and treasure these teachings as precious jewels, do so because in a former life they cultivated wisdom. Those who in this life have clear and pleasing voices do so because in a former life they sang in praise of the Three Jewels. Those who in this life are pure and seldom ill do so because in a former life they held a heart of compassion.

The assembled immortals asked the Celestial Worthy (Tianzun), “What is meant by the compassionate heart?”

The Zhenren (Perfected) of the Left Mystery (Zuoxuan Zhenren) replied that the compassionate heart is to cherish all living beings as a mother loves her own child; to wish that every living being in the world may each be free and at ease; to comprehend the intent of the Dao and constantly hold joy in the heart; and, for the sake of living beings, to refrain from every kind of evil deed. This is the compassionate heart.

The Dao (the Way) says: Those who are fair and handsome in this life are so because in a previous life they treated others with respect; those who are ugly in appearance in this life are so because in a previous life they were quick to anger. Those who lack knowledge in this life are so because in a previous life they were unwilling to study; those who are foolish and whose minds are closed in this life are so because in a previous life they did not teach others. Those who are mute in this life are so because in a previous life they slandered others without cause; those who are deaf or blind in this life are so because in a previous life they did not like to read the scriptures (jing) and were unwilling to listen to them.

Those who are reduced to servitude in this life are so because in a previous life they incurred debts and failed to repay them, and also failed to honor the Three Jewels (the Three Jewels refer to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha). Those with dark complexions in this life are so because in a previous life they blocked or destroyed light. Those born in lands where people go naked are so because in a previous life they wore thin, revealing clothing and thereby offended the monasteries. Those born in lands of horse-hoofed feet are so because in a previous life they practiced charity and good deeds, yet afterward felt regret and begrudged what they had given.

Those reborn in this life as roe deer, muntjac, deer, and similar animals are so because in a previous life they deliberately set out to frighten others; those who fall into rebirth as dragons are so because in a previous life they liked to tease and mock one another. Those who in this life grow malignant sores and suffer from leprosy that is hard to cure, enduring pain beyond words, are so because in a previous life they whipped living beings without cause.

Those who in this life are disliked, whom others do not wish to see and take no pleasure in meeting, are so because in a previous life they felt aversion upon seeing others; those who are loved and held in respect in this life are so because in a previous life they felt joy upon seeing others. Those who in this life are repeatedly seized by the authorities, thrown into prison, subjected to investigation, and bound in the cangue and shackles are so because in a previous life they confined and bound living beings without cause, denying them their freedom. Those born with a cleft lip in this life are so because in a previous life they sat fishing, and the hook wounded and tore the mouths of fish. Karmic offenses such as these must be treated with the utmost caution.

The Dao (the Way) teaches: In this life there are certain foolish people who, upon hearing others speak kind and wholesome words, are unwilling in their hearts to listen, and instead sow discord and stir up gossip among them. Such people will, in the next life, become dogs with harsh voices, whose cries sound as if they were answering human beings.

If people of the world hear the Jing (scriptures) yet do not listen and receive them with a sincere mind, they will fall in the next life to become donkeys. If during life they are stingy and greedy for wealth, attending only to their own eating and drinking, they will fall into the path of hungry ghosts; even if they are later reborn as human beings, they may live alone, or in poverty and hunger, with clothes that fail to cover the body and food that fails to fill the belly.

If someone is gluttonous, keeping the good portions for themselves while giving spoiled food as charity to others, after death they will become pigs, swine, or dung beetles and the like.

If someone seizes the property of others and strips away their clothing, after death they will fall to become sheep; in time they will themselves be flayed by people, thereby repaying the karmic offenses they formerly created.

If someone delights in taking life and spends a whole lifetime making a living by catching fish, after death they will become mayflies upon the water, born in the morning and dead by evening.

If someone steals the property of others without cause, when reborn after death they will become bondservants, oxen, or horses.

If someone covets another person’s wife and pays no heed to the Three Luminaries—here meaning the heavenly principle and precepts represented by the sun, moon, and stars—after death they will fall straight into hell: men clasp copper pillars, and women lie upon iron beds. Even if they are afterward reborn, they will be cast as chickens or ducks.

If someone likes to speak falsely, turning reports of others’ good deeds into slander, after death they will fall straight into hell and suffer the punishments of having molten copper poured into them, of having the tongue pulled out, and of having the tongue plowed by oxen. When later reborn, they will become evil birds of the owl kind; people who hear their cries are seized with fear and take them for inauspicious and uncanny omens, and everyone curses them, wishing only that they would die.

If someone indulges in wine and is often drunk, they thereby commit thirty-six kinds of faults—the many offenses that drinking brings—and after death fall into Nili, that is, hell; when later reborn as human beings, they will also be exceedingly foolish and lacking in discernment.

If husband and wife are at odds with each other, constantly quarreling and driving one another away, they will fall in the next life to become doves or pigeons.

If someone covets the use of other people’s labor, they will become an elephant in the next life.

The scripture (Jing) says: If someone serves as the head of a prefecture or commandery, receiving public grain stipends and the emoluments of rank, yet privately harms the common people—beating them with whips and rods and forcing them to hand over their property; and when the people appeal, he neither investigates nor adjudicates, and even after recording the case still refuses to show mercy—then such a person’s karmic offenses are grave. After death he falls straight into hell, and his spirit-consciousness undergoes every kind of suffering through tens of millions of kalpas (an immensely long span of time). When that punishment is complete, he is reborn as a water buffalo, with a ring put through his nose, made to draw carts and bear heavy loads, and beaten with great staves, so as to repay the debts of his former crimes.

The scripture further says: Those who do not bathe in this life came in a former life from pigs, swine, or dung beetles; those who are stingy and greedy, unable to yield or accommodate others, and who habitually speak sarcastic, wounding words, came from vicious dogs; those whose temperament is fierce and who are stubborn and self-willed came from sheep; those whose speech lacks composure and who cannot endure what befalls them came from macaques; those whose bodies give off a fishy stench came from fish and soft-shelled turtles; those who delight in evil deeds and have cruel, venomous hearts came from pit vipers; those who love fine food, kill many living beings, and lack compassion came from jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards.

Those born in this life in the remote lands of the “Six Yi” did not, in a former life, believe in the teachings of the Dao (the Way). Those who are hunchbacked in this life failed, in a former life, to hold their bodies upright when paying homage to the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha). Those who are often ill in this life and frequently receive acupuncture and moxibustion were highly skilled physicians in a former life; when they treated people with needles, the treatment was sometimes effective and sometimes instead worsened the illness, yet without achieving a corresponding result they took the patients’ property as payment, and therefore they receive this karmic recompense in the present life.

The scripture explains that certain traits and experiences a person manifests in this life are understood as related to actions in a previous life.

To be born human in this life, with a calm and gentle temperament, a dignified bearing, uprightness and wisdom, able to set forth profound and subtle principles and held in respect by others, is said to be because one formerly expounded and spread the true Dao (the Way) and was reborn from the heavenly realm. Thorough learning in this life, together with intelligence free of greed, is said to come from having accumulated a great store of merit and virtue over countless kalpas in a previous existence.

A fair and luminous complexion in this life is said to result from having often offered banners and fresh flowers to the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha) in a previous life. A body and breath that are pure and fragrant in this life are said to come from conduct without fault and from speech likewise free of evil deeds in a previous life.

Death by fire in this life is said to result from having often set fires in a previous life, burning and killing living beings; death by drowning, from having without cause thrown living beings into the water; death by hanging, from having without cause bound living beings with ropes; and death from the attack of a fierce tiger or a venomous snake, from having without cause incurred debts and killed people. Death by lightning is said to result from having done much evil in a previous life—deceiving and reviling elders, offending one’s parents, and defiling the sun, moon, and stars, the “Three Luminaries.”

Growing old alone and childless in this life is said to result from having harbored ill will in a previous life and envied the children and grandchildren of others. Being born short-lived, or harmed in the womb and miscarried, or dying in infancy soon after birth, is said to mean that one must pass through tens of millions of kalpas in the “Three Paths” (the three evil destinies spoken of in Buddhism: the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals) before one can be released.

The Dao (the Way) says: Those whose eyes are dim and whose sight is poor in this life were, in a former life, often unwilling to read the scriptures (Jing), and only later came to wipe the eyes of the elderly. Those who in this life become skilled artisans, adept at building temples and abbeys, came in a former life from the palaces of Heaven. Those who in this life are intelligent and penetrating, skilled at grasping wondrous sounds, in a former life often delighted in hearing the scriptural teachings and in instructing others.

Those who in this life are blind or deaf, or incomplete in the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), are so because in former lives they often slighted and abused other people and living beings. Those who lose their parents early and are left lonely and without support are so because in a former life they killed the parents of others. Those who are separated from their kin and stranded in a foreign land, or who are of low station and subject to servitude, are so because in former lives they often engaged in plunder and theft, or destroyed the households of others; they may also have waylaid travelers on the road, seizing, beating, binding, and selling them on, so that the victims’ parents were stricken with grief beyond endurance, and even unto death nothing could be restored. The sufferings they now endure are the repayment of past karmic offenses.

Zuoxuan Zhenren (the Perfected One of the Left Mystery) says: I have seen that, from former lives onward, offense and blessing bring about results such as these. These principles are clearly visible, and one ought to act with caution.

The Dao says: All who wish to accumulate merit should personally burn incense, offer blessed food (offerings used in prayers for blessing), and recite and transmit the scriptures; do not ask others to make the food offerings in one’s stead. If one has not personally fulfilled the vow one has made, it is like borrowing another’s food—how can one oneself be filled? One ought to consider this carefully, taking as essential the practice of good, the accumulation of blessing, and the bestowal of kindness upon others.

Zuoxuan Zhenren says: Burning incense, practicing the Way (worship and cultivation according to Daoist ritual), observing the purificatory fast while reciting scriptures, and lighting lamps so that the light continues—all these should be maintained, and taken as the constant method of everyday giving and doing good. In this way one can accumulate blessed recompense and increase wisdom, with no obstruction in the heart; one receives the protection of the various deities, all manner of evil karma disperses, and the host of demons dare not come again to trouble one. The negligent have no heart for vigorous cultivation. Once they suddenly fall ill, auspicious things are hard to come by; only then do they think of burning incense to seek blessing, yet by that time the various evil karmas have often already appeared, the demons are at their side, and strange manifestations follow one after another. Therefore one ought constantly to be diligent. Offense and blessing follow a person as a shadow follows the body and an echo answers a sound.

Planting a field of merit is like planting a shijulei tree (a kind of tree mentioned in the original text). At first a few seeds are sown, and later many fruits can grow. The immortals, hearing this, were filled with wonder, and so one ought constantly to cultivate with diligence. The sins and blessings a person creates all follow that person, just as a shadow follows the body and an echo answers a sound.

Planting a field of merit is like planting a shijulei tree. The immortals then came forward and paid homage, saying to the Taishang (the Most High, a revered deity of Daoism): “At first there was only a single seed; later it gradually grew, yet the fruits it bore were beyond number.”

The Taishang said to the immortals: “Give one portion in charity, and the blessings received can increase ten thousandfold—could these words be empty and false?” He then chanted:

A person of worthy virtue delights in giving, and the celestial deities naturally come to his aid. Give one portion, and blessings can increase ten thousandfold; life is peaceful and happy, and one’s span of years is long. If today one gives wealth and goods to good people, the blessings obtained cannot be measured; in the end all can cultivate and attain the Dao (the Way) of immortality and deliver living beings throughout the ten directions.

The Taishang told the immortals: People of the world lack wisdom. They look upon birth and death only with ordinary eyes of flesh and do not understand the principle of sin and blessing. By means of the eye of the Dao (a marvelous vision that discerns cause and effect), I see everything that has occurred from countless kalpas (extremely long spans of time) down to the present day. The retribution of sin and blessing is as perfectly clear as looking at a precious pearl and lapis lazuli in the palm of the hand—inside and outside distinct, without the slightest doubt.

The celestial immortals of the heavens, upon hearing this, rose, straightened their robes, and paid homage to the Taishang, saying: “These principles you have set forth we have not yet fully understood; we hope you will expound them further.”

The Taishang said: “This Jing (scripture) is called the Scripture on the Retribution of Fate and Causal Conditions in the Cycle of the Five Paths. If good men and good women can recite it and proclaim and transmit it, their merit will be without measure.”

At that time the Perfected of the Left Mystery, together with the celestial immortals and the common people of the world, upon hearing this scripture, were all filled with great joy. Each grasped the principles of causes and conditions within it, circumambulated three times, bowed the head in homage, and then departed.