(Continued from issue #290)
Instructional talk given by Venerable Master Hua
(7) The Dharma Realm of Humans
The way of people is harmony,
With merit and offenses interspersed.
On virtuous deeds you rise, with offenses you fall;
It has nothing to do with another else.
In the Dharma Realm of Humans, there are good people and there are bad people. There are types of people who are harmonious by nature and get along with everyone, hence, the verse ‘The way of people is harmony’. With merit and offenses interspersed. People are neither entirely good nor entirely bad. If they were entirely good, they would ascend to the heavens. If they were entirely bad, they would become animals or hungry ghosts, or fall into the hells. They have a bit of merit, and also have a bit of offenses. Either their merit exceeds their offenses, or their offenses exceed their merit. When a person’s merit is greater than his offenses, he will be born in a noble family; with little merit and many offenses, he will be born into a poor family.
According to the amount of good and bad karma each individual has created, myriad differences and distinctions result from these two extremes. People are neither totally yin nor totally yang. Those who are totally yin will become ghosts while those who are totally yang will ascend to the heavens; they will not be humans. On virtuous deeds you rise, with offenses you fall. If you perform deeds of merit and virtue, you will ascend. If you commit heavy offenses, you will descend. It has nothing to do with anyone else. Other people cannot make you fall into the hells or make you become a hungry ghost or an animal. What you become is your own doing. As it’s said, “You commit the offenses yourself, you undergo the retributions yourself.” That’s the human realm.
(To be continued …)