Baizhang’s Fox. Again. And Again.

u/ewk posted about Baizhang’s fox earlier, and it reminded me of another case.

BCR: Case 97

The Diamond Sutra says, "If anyone is despised by others, even if he has committed some serious transgression in a former life and been doomed to fall into the evil world, the transgression in the former life is wholly wiped out by virtue of the fact that he is despised in this life."

It’s also mentioned in Book of Serenity with commentary by Wansong...

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This is Wansong’s preface to the Diamond Sutra Case

Wansong's Preface

Understanding the meaning based on the scriptures is the enemy of the Buddhas of all times; deviating one word from the scriptures is the same as devil talk. Does someone who is not included in cause or effect still experience the results of action or not?

Is the man of enlightenment Free from causality?

The diamond sutra says that the transgression in a former life is wholly wiped out by the fact that he is despised in this life.

Mumon says that, if you understood something or others you’d see why old Baizhang would enjoy 500 rebirths as a fox.

Why does Mumon say that about Baizhang when it’s the old man who was reborn as a fox?

Did the old man transgress in another lifetime - before the time of the Buddha?

Was his transgression wiped out by the fact that he is despised in this life?

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GPA’s comment:

If you feel guilty, does that absolve your transgressions? When you are scorned for misdeeds of the past, who is doing the scorning?

Does it affect your actions?

A single finger can destroy a million mistakes. Two fingers can kill a fox

🦊

Submitted October 08, 2017 at 02:23AM by NegativeGPA http://ift.tt/2fT5RFD