Tragedy after tragedy

Luo Xiaoyi was safely in his seat, looking at the noisy crowd around him, and felt as if he hadn't seen Cheng Bei for a while.

After assessing her IQ, she shouldn't fall into the pit.

Could it be that something has changed?

Between thoughts.

A young man with a goatee wearing a dark green toad mirror walked through the dark dance floor and came straight to Luo Xiaoyi.

"Still drinking?" The toad mirror youth asked.

"Who are you?" Luo Xiaoyi raised his head slightly.

"You don't even know me?" The youth is condescending.

"I don't have the money to cheat you, why don't you go!" Luo Xiaoyi continued to bow his head and drink.

"You haven't been contacted by an apostle since you arrived at the apostolic reception house, have you?" The toad youth asked in high definition.

Luo Xiaoyi's eyes lit up and he stood up, "Who are you?" ”

"Memphhisto!"

"Oh, leader, hello hello!" Luo Xiaoyi gave up his seat enthusiastically.

Memphisto took his seat.

"I've been to the Apostolic Office since the twenty-third episode of the second season, and the announcement inside has instructed me to wait for the work to be arranged, what instructions does the leader have?" Luo Xiaoyi's attitude is sincere.

"The instructions are there, but I ask you to go with Cheng Bei to complete them."

"Okay, ready to go." Luo Xiaoyi's fighting spirit was high.

"Follow me." Memphisto left his seat.

led Luo Xiaoyi to the bathroom.

Luo Xiaoyi asked.

"Cheng Bei will be out soon."

Middle circle

The Three Evil Paths

Cheng Bei, Fuxian departed from the thin and pale blue heaven, and fell to the vast world under his feet in an instant.

As we approached the ground, the majestic prairie unfolded, and at the drop point, a waiting black dot appeared in front of us.

The two landed in front of the black dot.

"I'll leave it to you," Fugen nodded to Manjushri.

Manjushri sat on top of the green lion, dressed in a loose monk's robe, and his spirit was serene, as light as the breeze.

"Walking" Manjushri got off the lion and beckoned Cheng Bei to move forward.

Cheng Bei and Fuxian nodded goodbye.

Hurry up to Manjushri.

"Where is this?"

"Beast Road!" Manjushri's voice is even more joyless.

The beings of the Hell Path and the Hungry Ghost Path have no time to practice the Dharma because of great suffering. Beings in the animal path are ignorant and unwise, so they are unlikely to understand the Dharma, so they are unable to cultivate goodness.

The exception is a very small number of animals. Therefore, once you fall into the animal path, you have to endure painfully until your karma is exhausted and another small cause of the past is ripe, and then you can hope to be human again. After a person lives for a lifetime, after countless killings in his hands, this will lead to countless reincarnations in the Three Evil Realms, and there will be no recovery.

Beings of the animal path are scattered in the heavens, on the earth, under the earth, and in the waters, some of them live where they can see it, and some of them live where they cannot see it. Their lifespans range from as short as one day and one night, to those as long as some insects. Large animals can be as big as mountains, and small ones as small as the naked eye to see. They are also born in different ways, including viviparous, oviparous, hygrophytic, and metaplasia.

Cheng Bei stared at the scenery of the plains, and her mind was flooded with images and explanations that she had seen countless times on TV.

In the Masai Mara, the world's largest wildlife reserve, the world's most spectacular natural wonder is staged every year, the world-famous Great Migration. From July to October, millions of wildebeests, hundreds of thousands of zebras, antelopes and tens of millions of flamingos travel from Tanzania's Serengeti Reserve in the south to Kenya's Masai Mara National Park. They escaped the big crocodiles of the swamps, the fierce lions and leopards that hid deep in the grass, and crossed the river into the new world of the north.

Manjushri's words in his ears were long and long.

Animals are characterized by stupidity. Hungry ghosts suffer more than animals, but they understand the Dharma. Although there are some animals with slightly higher intelligence, they are generally stupid and do not have the ability to think very precisely. So, it's almost impossible for them to do any good karma.

In addition, animals are exposed to the cold and heat of the wild or other habitats, chronic lack of food, and the killing of each other in nature. Not only do large animals eat small creatures, but some small animals also penetrate the bodies of large creatures and burrow into their bodies, causing them to suffer. Creatures in nature have to escape the threat of other creatures, and it is not easy to get even a little sense of security, and they live in panic for a long time. Animals raised by humans are nose-pierced, branded, whipped, and labored, and slaughtered for food.

The most dangerous enemy for the small wildebeest is the hyena. Hyenas are never left behind, they follow wildebeest herds as they migrate, often attacking other animals, and themselves, inevitably eaten by larger, stronger predators, and now they have crept into this primitive party ball, looking for an opportunity to sneak attack.

During the migratory season, the wildebeest herd leaves a rich gift for the lions as they pass through the lion's territory. Confusion, chaos, confusion often takes a toll on wildebeest herds, and baby wildebeest are the most likely to get separated from their mothers at this time. With such a large and heavy animal, when it runs, even the earth will shake, and the grass on the ground will be trampled into a mess. There is a large group of rulers here, and they dominate the animal kingdom. In the Serengeti area, there are about 500 lions, many of which live in the vicinity. This time the little wildebeest was lucky. Because the lioness chose a more sumptuous meal, the big wildebeest.

Leopards often wait until dawn before going out to hunt for food. Under the attack of adult female leopards, herbivores are unlikely to survive. Birds such as the euro and cattle herons feed on the small insects that live on wildebeests, while others, such as the African great westbird, avoid the large migratory wildebeests. The wildebeest herds are in grassy areas with narrow roads, slowing down their travel, and they will stop to drink until they feel like they have quenched their thirst.

In this pond where the wildebeest drinks, it is covered with kale, and the owner of the pond hides under the kale. It wasn't until this point that they showed their faces out of the water. This is the hippos, the occupants of the pond, they soak in the water all day long, so that their sensitive skin is not exposed to the sun in the hot sun, and only at night do they come ashore to find food. Brutal battles often take place among them for dominance, but for the migrating wildebeest herd, the hippos do not pose a threat to themselves.

The Grumati River, a common home for wildlife, flows through it all year round, and it has experienced the migration of wildebeest herds again and again. But even in this paradise, there are fearsome natural predators of wildebeests. Huge crocodiles have taken the river for themselves and have lived here for many years. For the wildebeest, not only do they have to drink here, but more importantly, they have to wade across the river to the other side. This section of the Grummeti River, where the wildebeest passes, is home to hundreds of Nile crocodiles, some of which are very large, up to 6 meters long. The wildebeest herd had not drunk water for five days during their long trek. They must drink water. Otherwise, you will die of thirst. Small crocodiles often choose young wildebeests, but even then, the wildebeest herd still risks going to the river to drink. But the adult wildebeest has discovered a pair of ill-intentioned eyes, and there is an even more vicious foe there. This huge reptile, with all its might, dragged its prey into deep water.

If we observe the suffering of animals, it is easy to develop compassion and compassion for sentient beings. There seems to be a contradiction between some sutras that teach not to eat the flesh and blood of animals, and some sutras that allow you to eat the three pure meats, but there is no real contradiction, but this is just a different teaching from the Buddha to people with different roots.

The purpose of being a vegetarian is to make it easier to cultivate compassion. Some Buddhists think that eating a vegetarian diet means cutting off all forms of killing, but this is not the case. Even if the farmer does not use pesticides when farming, he will inevitably damage countless small insects when turning the soil.

Therefore, even vegetarians are not completely cut off from indirect killing. Human beings rely on other beings for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation in their daily lives, so human beings owe too much to sentient beings. As Buddhists, we should always think about animals and other sentient beings, and develop true compassion for all sentient beings, which is the spirit of the Dharma. Otherwise, a vegetarian diet alone will not be of much help to sentient beings, so it will not be of much significance.

After listening to Manjushri's explanation, Cheng Bei looked back at the killings he had seen along the way, and sighed lightly:

"The root of death of the living, the root of life of the dead. Kindness is born of harm, and harm is born of grace! ”

The supreme mystical feeling stirred the limbs of the whole province.

"If you are a living thing, you must live in the fetters of life, the weak eat the strong, the victor will also become the food of the next victor, ordinary people turn from others, with the flow of karma, not at ease!" Cheng Bei broke his thoughts.

Manjushri's slender eyes looked at Cheng Bei for a long time.

Although it is impossible to contemplate the number of animals and animals, there are clouds in the Buddhist scriptures, and if the number of human beings is compared to the dust on the fingernails, the total number of animals is like the earth and the earth. If the total number of livestock is compared to the dust on the fingernails, the number of hungry ghosts is as great as the earth; If the number of hungry ghosts is compared to the dust of the fingers, the beings in hell are like the earth and the earth. Therefore, it can be seen from this that it is extremely rare to be born as a life in the Three Virtuous Paths. Once you fall into the Three Evil Realms, you don't know when you will be able to become a human again.

When we think of livestock, we immediately think of cows, horses, and other creatures that can be seen on land and earth. In fact, the number of animals visible on land is far less than that of living in water. At the bottom of the sea, in the dark depths where the sun and moon cannot reach, it is the place where the animal road densely gathers. The beings of the animal path are not limited to the varieties that are known now, but also include many, many species that have not yet been seen.

Unconsciously, Cheng Bei had followed Manjushri to the shore of the long coastline, and the turbulent sea in front of him extended to the end of the horizon, in the space of sea and sky, silent and quiet.

As Manjushri approached the end of the sea and the sky, a multi-mile bridge crept ahead, quietly allowing the two to climb up.

The sea-crossing bridge began to surge in detail, and Cheng Bei looked down and found that the so-called bridge was nothing more than an illusion laid on the back of a huge sea turtle.

Sea turtles scurry towards the end of the sea.

The salty sea breeze ruffled Manjushri's hair, but it was not messy in the wind, and the image of the whole body rose to the emptiness and tranquility of the wordless avenue.

Hungry Ghost Road

From the perspective of suffering, the suffering of hungry ghosts is greater than that of animal beings. From the point of view of foolishness, animals are far less intelligent than hungry ghosts. Beings in the Hungry Ghost Path are intellectually sufficient to understand the Dharma, and are not as stupid as animals.

The above-mentioned hells and hellish realm beings cannot be seen by ordinary people except for the Buddha and other holy beings, unless they are in their paths. However, the sentient beings of the Hungry Ghost Dao occasionally walk around the human world, and ordinary eyes may also see them.

They don't live like hellish beings, but they live in scattered places.

Sometimes, you may hear people say that they encounter ghosts in the fields that breathe fire, and these are hungry ghosts who occasionally walk around the world in search of food.

The beings of the Hungry Ghost Dao are born in viviparity, and each fetus will give birth to hundreds of little ghost babies.

Buddhist monks have a vow to leave a mouthful of food at each meal, recite mantras and make mudras for blessings, and then give it to hungry ghosts.

There is a historical allusion to this tradition: when the Buddha lived, there was a hungry ghost mother with great supernatural powers. In order to feed hundreds of children, he caused trouble in the world, killing the babies of the world. The Buddha took all his ghost children away with supernatural powers and hid them in the Buddha's food pot. When the hungry ghost mother found that the child was missing, she searched the heavens and the earth with her magical powers, but could not find any trace of her child, and finally had to come to the Buddha for help.

The Buddha said to him, "Your children have been hidden in the pot by me! Now you also feel the concern of mothers all over the world for their children. Thou hast killed the babies of the world every day, and thou wilt thou not know the pain of the mother of the victims? If you swear never to kill any more human babies, I will release your children!

The devil replied, "I feed on infanticide. If I don't kill them, what will my children eat?"

The Buddha replied, "Yes! If you swear never to harm your baby, my monks will give you food every day from now on!" Since then, the Buddha's Sangha has had a tradition of giving food to hungry ghosts every time they eat. From this allusion, it can be seen that the beings in the Hungry Ghost Path not only have a hard time eating and drinking, but also have hundreds of children born in each litter, which makes life even more difficult and painful.

Although there are different types of hungry ghosts, most of them suffer from the same cold, heat, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and oppression by the more powerful people of their kind.

In the Hungry Ghost Dao, some of them are quite blessed, accumulate a lot of wealth, and have supernatural powers to help others. There are also some wealthy and powerful ghost kings who like to oppress other people of the same kind, and even harm human beings (such as the aforementioned ghost sons and mothers), just like local bullies in the world.

Other ordinary hungry ghosts, in addition to being forced by **, are also bullied by these vicious ghost kings of the same kind, so their lives are very painful.

"Sounds like it's talking about the human world!" Cheng Bei sees the clarity of the heart. "Heaven and earth, the thief of all things. All things, the way of man. Man, the thief of all things! ”

Manjushri still didn't start thinking with Cheng Bei, and waved his hand to greet Cheng Bei to get down the turtle, and Cheng Bei saw that in a moment, the turtle crossed the blue sea and blue sky and leaned on the edge of a huge island.

Creeping on the edge of the dark green coastline, the island appears isolated, bleak and unknown.

Cheng Bei silently sketched the shape of the island from far and near, and felt that it was appropriate to describe its shape as a human stomach organ.

Once ashore, Manjushri continued to introduce what he saw along the way like a dutiful tour guide.

In addition to the above common suffering, all kinds of hungry ghosts also have their own kinds of suffering.

The first type of hungry ghost is the outer obstacle hungry. Because of their past karma, they encounter all kinds of external obstacles that prevent them from getting food.

In broad daylight, the warm sunlight can make them feel cold; At night, the moonlight makes them feel unbearably hot. They have very large bellies and are often extremely hungry, but they have difficulty finding food.

Their heads and bellies are huge, but their feet are like dry wood that is about to break, and they are weak to support their walking.

Even when they see food from afar, when they take the energy to look closer, the food will turn into all kinds of things that cannot be eaten, and the drink will turn into something undrinkable such as purulence, due to their own karmic obstacles.

The same glass of water in the world is objectively such a cup of liquid, but all beings see it as a different thing because of different blessings.

The beings of the heavenly realm are extremely blessed because of it, and they see it as a cup of delicious nectar. The good fortune of all beings in the world is medium, and when you see it, it is just a glass of ordinary water.

However, the above-mentioned external obstacle ghosts will be inferior to their own good fortune, and when they see it, they will regard it as an undrinkable substance such as pyuria. Therefore, this kind of hungry ghost is miserable to run around in pain for many years, but it is difficult to find something to eat! They suffer physically and mentally for many years, and it is difficult for them to get a moment of food, clothing and rest.

The body of the cataract ghost is as huge as a mountain, but the feet are also as small as dead wood, and they are weak to move. Their mouths erupt with flames, and their throats are as small as pinholes, so they can't eat or drink.

When the food obstacle ghost sees the food, the food turns into a flame. When they see the water, the whole river dries up, preventing them from quenching their thirst. Some people with eating disorders have to eat dung or eat their own flesh.

The karmic causes of being born in the path of hungry ghosts include miserliness and refusal to give to others, stealing the Three Jewels for personal use, and refusing to minister when others are in trouble.

The lifespan of hungry ghosts is uncertain, and some can even last tens of thousands of years. In Buddhism, in addition to the aforementioned tradition of giving alms at each meal, there are also a variety of pujas for giving food to the "flame mouth" (i.e., hungry ghosts).

During the puja, practitioners bless food and drink with mantra and Buddha power to satisfy the hungry ghosts (Note: For more information on the method of almsgiving, please refer to the Venerable Book "Buddha-figure Sea Meeting" PS: Extracurricular reading, not recommended to read at school.) ）。

In addition, there is a method called "water casting", in which the practitioner sees himself as a Guanyin monk, blesses the water with mantras and mudras, and turns the water into a substance that can satisfy hunger and thirst, so as to give alms to hungry ghosts. This method is especially beneficial for hungry people with eating disorders.

But even then, whether or not they can be rescued depends on their own individual karma. Even if some hungry ghosts are able to receive water alms, it is not because of the power of Buddha and mantra, but because they have at least not been stingy in their past lives to the point that they are not willing to give even water. If in a past life, even the water available everywhere was never willing to give to others, I am afraid that even the water spell may not be able to solve their suffering.

"So, isn't Guanyin the supreme way of control? The hungry ghost said that it also takes care of it? Cheng Bei was puzzled.

"Management also needs to rely on interdisciplinary people to improve efficiency." Manjushri answers questions.

The two of them quickly walked out of the large stomach-shaped island and came to the edge of the ocean.

The dark waters are choppy, and the sky is stormy.

"Now we've come to the six largest hell paths!" Manjushri introduced it like this.

Hell Road

Among the six realms, the suffering of the hell path is the greatest.

It is also a folklore: the ten halls of Hades and the eighteen layers of hell

"Hell Path" is just a general term, but it can be subdivided into four parts: the Eight Hot Hells, the Eight Cold Hells, the Near Hells, and the Lonely Hells. With the exception of the Hell of Solitude, all the other hells are created by the collective collective karma of all beings. Those who create the heaviest negative karma will be reborn in the hell path and will go through tens of trillions of years before they can leave this path.

The beings of the hell realm are not born from the mother's womb, nor from the egg, but from incarnation. Sentient beings who are reborn in the Eight Heaty Hells suffer in all kinds of great ways. In some hot prisons, sentient beings will slash and kill each other, but they will not die, and they can only endure the pain of being killed for many years, and they will not be able to leave at all. In other prisons, severants were burned until they smoked, or they were mutilated, or they were boiled in molten copper until their skin was open and their flesh was rotten. These are all miserable situations that are conjured up when the bad karma of the past matures, and they are unspeakably miserable. In the Eight Great Cold Hells, sentient beings are forced by varying degrees of cold suffering, and may even be frozen and frozen for tens of billions of years, but they will not die because their karma is not exhausted. The sufferings of other hells will not be detailed here (Note: Refer to the Master's book "The Wheel of Life and Death" PS: extracurricular reading, it is not recommended to read it in school). In short, the Hell Dao is the most painful of the six realms.

The Cambrian explosion of life

Cambrian Explosion

The Cambrian explosion of life, known as one of the major unsolved cases in paleontology and geology, has plagued academia such as evolution since Darwin.

About 542 million years ago to 530 million years ago, known as the beginning of the Cambrian period, the vast majority of invertebrates appeared in just over 20 million years.

This phenomenon of a large number of invertebrate fossils (arthropods, molluscs, brachiopods and annelids, etc.) that appeared in the Cambrian strata almost "simultaneously" and "suddenly" over a period of more than 20 million years, while animal fossils have not been found in the more ancient strata before the Cambrian for a long time, is called the "Cambrian explosion of life" by paleontologists. It was also the beginning of the Phanerozoic.

An auspicious cloud under Manjushri's feet was as pale as blue, carrying her and Cheng Bei across the ocean to look at the noisy sea level under their feet.

In the turbulent waves of the world where water molecules gather, there are hidden fluctuations that cannot be seen clearly.

Cheng Bei was placed on top of the life dome of this manifest universe, using his own tool knowledge to interpret the composition of the Hell Dao.

The descriptions of hell in different Buddhist scriptures are also different, including eight hells, one hundred and thirty-six hells, sixty-four thousand hells, and so on

Among the six realms, the suffering of being born in the hell realm is the most terrible. In the middle circle of the Great Wheel of Life and Death, the situation of beings in the hell path is described. In fact, the Hell Dao is subdivided into four parts: the Eight Hot Hells, the Eight Cold Hells, the Near Hells, and the Lonely Hells. In the picture, due to the limitation of space, the four types of hell and the details of each of the four categories are generally not depicted.

Of the four types of hells mentioned above, with the exception of the hell of solitude, the other hells are created by the collective collective karma of the beings who are born in the hells.

What kind of beings will be born in the hell realm? Generally speaking, those who create negative karma (such as killing, fornication, stealing, etc.) will be born in the three lower realms when the karma is ripe, and those with the most serious negative karma will be born in the hell path, the middle one will be born in the hungry ghost path, and the minor one will be born in the animal path, but this is only a very general explanation. If you want to elaborate, some negative karma is particularly related to certain negative paths, such as those who are able to give to others but are unwilling to do so, and the result is to be born as a hungry ghost. In addition, certain types of negative causes can lead to being born in certain hells. In short, what is the cause of our creation will lead to the corresponding retribution at the right time. These are not a system of punishment from God, but a law of nature - there is nothing superstition or mystery in the fact that a particular cause meets a certain cause will produce a certain effect! (To be continued.) )