Question: There is a passage in “The Four Purity Teachings”: “If after my death, some bhikkhu decides to practice samadhi, he can light a lamp and burn a knuckle on his body in front of the image of the Tathagata.” (sound ruò, meaning burning) a stick of incense. I say this is a person who has no beginning and has accumulated debts. He will pay all his debts in one moment. He will bow down to the world forever and escape from all the defilements. Although he has not yet understood the path to supreme enlightenment, he has already decided on the Dharma. Heart. If you don’t sacrifice your life for this, even if you do nothing, you will definitely repay the old debts to others, just like me, Mamei, just like me.” What does this passage mean?
Answer: My understanding of what the Buddha said about this passage is: The Buddha said that after his nirvana*1, if a bhikkhu (Buddhist student) is determined to practice and escape from the three realms, if this person can stand in front of the Buddha statue or light a lamp on his body, Either burn a knuckle, or burn an incense scar. You can choose any one of these three methods according to your specific situation. Why does the Buddha tell us to do this? The countless debts we have owed since beginningless kalpas will all be repaid by the small amount of sacrifice we can endure. I will never come back to this Saha world to suffer all kinds of suffering, and I will be free from all outflows forever. Although I didn’t immediately understand the ultimate path to becoming a Buddha. This person will never back down and become corrupt on the path of learning Buddhism.
If we cannot have this intention of sacrificing our lives to repay old debts, even if we reach the high realm of Buddha, we will definitely have to come back to be human beings, because the debts we have owed in every life have not yet been paid off. It is as if the Buddha himself had eaten the wheat that had been fed to the horse for ninety days.
In his past life, the Buddha was a Brahma (a monk who practiced hereticism) and led five hundred boys to practice Taoism in Mount Fanzhi.
There was also a Buddha alive at that time. One time, the Buddha went out to beg for alms. Because there was a sick bhikkhu in the monastery who could not go out to beg for alms, he asked a bhikkhu to beg an extra meal from the fasting master and bring it back to the sick bhikkhu.
When the alms-giving bhikkhu passed by Fanzhi Mountain with his meal, the Brahma smelled the aroma of the food and immediately felt jealous and said: “How can these bald monks eat such good food? They only deserve to eat it.” Wheat that feeds horses.” His disciples heard what their master said and echoed, “Yes, they should eat wheat that feeds horses.”
This Brahma attained Buddhahood through practice in his later life, namely Sakyamuni Buddha. Once, Sakyamuni Buddha took five hundred of his disciples to a country to live in summer. The king first welcomed him, but after he arrived, he stopped supporting the monks. At this time, a horse master who was feeding horses saw him. The Buddha and his five hundred disciples had no food to eat, so they used wheat that was fed to the horses as offerings to the Buddha and his five hundred disciples.
These five hundred disciples are the five hundred Arhats, that is, the five hundred boys who practiced with Brahma in the past. Although they have all attained enlightenment, they still have to eat nine hundred because they slandered others in the past life, saying “these bald monks only deserve to eat Marmite”. Wheat for horses for ten days.
If a person who is determined to leave the three realms and practice to become a Buddha cannot choose one of the three methods of lighting a lamp, burning a knuckle, or an incense stick to sacrifice his life to pay debts, he will be like a Buddha even if he becomes a Buddha in the future. Pay his old debt. The scriptures also mention that Sakyamuni Buddha had a headache for three days, which was also due to the fact that he had hit a fish on the head three times when he was a child.
The Buddha’s telling of these stories is just a manifestation, telling us that the Buddha’s power is not as powerful as his karma, and that “even if it lasts for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, his deeds will not be destroyed.” Only sincere repentance can eliminate the sins of this life, and the debts without beginning can be completely eliminated by the above-mentioned methods taught by Buddhism. Don’t think that if you practice Buddhism and have the blessing of the Buddha, you can do wrong things and not be guilty of the cause and effect and sit back and relax. .
After becoming a Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha had supreme wisdom and knew how to make us disciples repay our karmic debts – a way to “clear our karma” all at once. He hoped that we would become Buddhas as soon as possible. This is the Buddha’s compassion and care for us.
From this, I also think of why Chinese monks burn incense scars on their heads. This is because the ancestors understood the meaning of burning incense scars and burned incense scars for monks. Therefore, there are also lay people who understand the principles at home and burn incense scars on their arms. Burning incense scars on upper legs, or burning a knuckle. I saw a male layman from the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the United States burn his little knuckle. He said he didn’t feel any pain when it was burned, but the pain became unbearable the next day and he had to take painkillers. Lay people who have burned incense scars say they feel no pain. The method is to stick the rotten banana pulp about the size of a soybean on the arm or leg, and then put the lit incense head (shake out the flame) about an inch long and insert it into the banana. Put it on the mud and wait until the incense burns out. Leave it alone. You will only feel heat but no pain. There is no need to apply medicine. Be careful not to get infected. Blisters will appear soon. After a day or two, the blisters will disappear and become scars.
I have heard this from lay people who have had scars burned, but have not practiced it myself. I am writing this here just to let fellow practitioners understand that burning scars is not a “cruel” thing. Burning a lamp on your body, burning a knuckle, The use of incense sticks is only for monks and monks, and lay disciples are not asked to do the same. Whether or not to burn the scars is up to oneself. I have seen many lay people choose to burn incense scars on their arms and legs. If they don’t tell you, they won’t be able to see it. It is certain that the old karma will be resolved and new karma will not be created. They will be reborn in bliss, and the flowers will bloom and they will see the Buddha.
Master Xuanhua said: “In Buddhism, all scriptures are important, but the Surangama Sutra is even more important. Wherever the Surangama Sutra is found, the true Dharma resides in the world. The Surangama Sutra If there is no more, then the end of Dharma has appeared. The Surangama Sutra is the true body of the Buddha, the Surangama Sutra is the relics of the Buddha, and the Surangama Sutra is the stupa and temple of the Buddha. All Buddhists must show their strength, Use your blood and sweat to support this Shurangama Sutra.”
