(continued from previous issue)

I asked the netherworld king, "What is the karma that causes everyone in these families to die?"

The netherworld king responded, "The elderly and the newborn all travel on the same path."

I asked, "Their karmic retributions are the same?"

The netherworld king answered, "Just like the sky, its temperature is the same."

"Why isn't there a difference in the times of the karmic fruition?" I asked.

He casually responded, "Dying together will save a lot of effort."

I asked, "And the karma behind this?"

"Like attracts like," he answered.

Everyone should carefully reflect on this exchange between the netherworld king and me. You will discover that every member of a family is part of each other's mutual karma. As it turns out, there exists subtle causation and fruition that results in entire families dying at the same time and place.

*　*　*

I once asked the netherworld king, "Why did every member of a particular Song family die?"

The netherworld king replied, "The head of the family had a favorite phrase that he often used whenever he made a vow: ‘If such and such is the case, may my entire family die.’"

The netherworld king continued, "He made vows carelessly and this curse ended up being recorded by deities that enforce vows and oaths. When the time for karmic retribution came, his entire family's karmic fruitions were basically the same. So the entire family died."

"Oaths cannot be taken carelessly?" I asked.

"Of course not," the netherworld king replied.

"Making vows irresponsibly has karmic consequences?" I responded.

"Naturally. This is negative speech karma," the netherworld king answered.

"Why did the karmic retribution of the entire family occur together?"

The netherworld king responded, "Just like cloth or clothing made on a weaving machine -- when it was made, it was made at the same time. When it is ruined, it is completely ruined."

"Are there exceptions?" I inquired.

The netherworld king responded, "Karma is unfathomable."

*　*　*

Today, I ask everyone: As Buddhist cultivators, of course, we should not make vows carelessly. The forces that bind vows are very important. I would like to ask everyone: What kind of vows should a genuine Buddhist practitioner make?

(The end)

(From Book #187 "Manifestations of the Netherworld")

(本文選自蓮生活佛第187冊著作「地獄變現記」文章「全家死光光」)