Voice of Master Jingzong - Q and A about the Purpose of Life
淨宗之聲 - 人生目的問答
(continuation of Q5 - 2/6)
2. One day, Ananda asked the Buddha about the suffering in hell. The Buddha said, “ If I tell someone about that, he will be frightened to death and will not be able to continue listening.”
Holding a pebble, the Buddha further said, “A betrayer was punished by his king by being stabbed by spears one hundred times in the morning. What do you think?” Ananda said, “It sounds terribly painful.”
At noon, the king wondered why he was still alive and ordered him to be speared another one hundred times. In addition, he ordered him speared another one hundred times, if he was still not dead by the evening.
The Buddha asked Ananda, “Can you describe how painful that must have been?” Ananda said, “How can I describe it?” The Buddha said, “His pain is as small as this pebble, and the pain in hell is like a Himalayan Mountain.”
Of course, these are metaphors the Buddha used. Reality transcends our understanding. We are still unable to imagine the pain in the various hells and the pain of reincarnation. So, we should always caution ourselves through these words of the Buddha.
(to be continued tomorrow)
2
有一次阿難想讓佛跟他說地獄的苦是什麼樣子,佛說:“如果我能說得出來,也有人能聽得進去,那這個人當下就要心臟爆裂。”因為沒法容納得下,會恐怖而死。
“打個比喻吧”,佛拿了顆小石子,對阿難說,“假如一個人犯了叛國罪,被國王抓住,早晨在身上插一百矛,你覺得怎麼樣?”阿難說:“那太痛苦了。”
“中午國王一看,還沒死啊,再插一百矛。”早晨那一百矛插下去,身上就沒有一塊完整的地方了,中午在傷口上再捅下去。晚上再看還沒死,又在遍體鱗傷的身上再捅上一百矛。
佛問:“你覺得這個人的痛苦怎麼樣?”“哎喲,這個痛苦那沒辦法形容了呀。”佛說:“他這樣的痛苦只是一顆小石子這麼大,地獄的痛苦比喜馬拉雅山還要大。”
這是佛打的一個比喻。其實這種比喻也超過了我們的想像,我們仍然想像不出地獄是怎樣的苦惱,輪迴是怎樣的苦惱。所以要以佛的教言來警悟自己。
Namo Amituofo!
