《Guru’s Talks》
Book 129 Entering the Most Hidden Yin-Yang Realm: Murder and Vengeance
(《走入最隱祕的陰陽界》＜殺人報讎 ＞)
by H.H.Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu
A disciple, Lianhua Kunyang, had a wife who have birth to a son. The entire family rejoiced because the couple had been married for five years already. As it took them this long to conceive a child they were elated and overcome with joy.
Lianhua Kunyang and his wife brought their son to see me and asked me to help them pick a good name for their child.
As soon as I laid eyes on the child, I was greatly shocked.
Upon the child’s face was a vein of enmity, a very clear and apparent vein of enmity. When I preached Dharma in earlier days, I often emphasized the concept of “cause and affinity” in Buddhadharma.
If a child comes from “kind affinity,” the child has come to “repay kindness.”
If a child comes from “negative affinity,” the child has come to “exact vengeance.”
A child who has come from “neither kindness nor evil,” is neutral.
As for the child of Qin Kunyang, because he had a vein of enmity on his face, I deduced that he had come for avengement. Although I understood this, I dared not reveal it on my face and was also unable to utter it to his parents. I really did not know what to do!
I picked the name “Youhan.”
Both husband and wife agreed and said it was good.
Only I understood in my heart that “Youhan” [friendly fellow] was a pun for “Youhan” [with regret]!
I thought of helping Qin Youhan unravel this knot of enmity.
Secretly I asked my Dharma protector, “Can this knot be unraveled?”
“No, it cannot.”
“Why is that so?”
“This hatred is deep as the ocean.”
I sighed to myself.
●
Two years passed. Qin Youhan was two years old and temperamental. Whenever things were not to his liking, his eyes would brim with tears that poured like rain. He would burst into tears and clench his fists, his face contorted with fury. His skin would turn a dark purplish color, and his breath short and rapid, as though he were going into shock.
The discoloration of his appearance to a dark purplish color alarmed his parents. They brought him to the doctor for a physical examination and found that he had a hole in his heart which caused oxygenated and deoxygenated blood to mix. It was necessary for him to have surgery.
The doctor said, “We can perform surgery when he gets bigger, but there is no guarantee of success.”
This matter caused much distress for Lianhua Kunyang and his wife. They loved Qin Youhan very much, and regarded his life as their own. They tried to protect him through many methods and visited numerous doctors, both Chinese and Western. They paid homage to countless buddhas and deities, offering innumerable prayers. The money that the couple spent on Qin Youhan, piled as high as the mountains. Lianhua Kunyang was willing to spend all his savings for Qin Youhan to be healed.
The couple came to consult me.
“Grand Master, what is the matter with Youhan? What kind of karma has led to this?”
“May I speak frankly?” I asked.
“Grand Master, please speak frankly; we will not blame you, because we are utterly exhausted both in mind and body!”
“Alright, I will say it then. Youhan has a vein of enmity on his face. This clearly indicates that he has come for avengement. This child has come to claim payment for a debt.”
“I don’t believe it,” his wife cried out.
“Why didn’t Grand Master say anything when we sought you for help with picking a name? And the name Grand Master picked was so good – how can we believe it? Why do you reveal this only now?”
I said, “The name I picked contains an implicit meaning in the choice of words. Isn’t Youhan [friendly fellow], Youhan [with regret]?”
“Friendly fellow, with regret; friendly fellow, with regret…. Why didn’t we think about this implicit connotation from the start?”
The couple begged me, “Grand Master! Please save Youhan!”
“I cannot,” I said with heartache.
“Why not?”
“This hatred is as deep as the ocean.”
“We don’t believe it, he is so adorable, and we love him so very much. What kind of hatred would a child like this have with us?”
I spoke to them quietly, “When you return home, ask Kunyang’s father who he killed in this lifetime. This person died in water.” (The vein of enmity was connected to water.)
Qin Kunyang replied, “My father has lived his entire life in good and upright conduct; such a thing is not possible. My father’s nickname is Qin Samaritan. Would a Samaritan kill anyone? Grand Master, you must be mistaken this time.”
I remained silent.
Lianhua Kunyang and his wife left bitterly.
●
This time, I was indeed mistaken.
When Qin Kunyang went back home and queried his father, his father shook his head. No matter how he thought about it, he could not remember any such thing.
Qin Kunyang’s father said, “What utter nonsense!”
“Alright then! I will go back and ask Grand Master for an explanation!”
Qin Kunyang came back to me. “Grand Master! What have you to say this time?”
I sweated profusely.
“I have nothing to say, but I suppose if your father did not cause this matter, it could have been your grandfather?”
“Grandfather?” he cried. “He is deceased. There is no way to verify this since he is dead, Grand Master!”
I felt really sorry and spoke to Qin Kunyang softly, “Please go back home and ask your father if he knows anything about this matter!”
“Fine!” Qin Kunyang asked, “If my father says there is no such thing, or he does not know anything about this matter, how will you explain it then?”
“I… I would have nothing left to say!” I fell silent, disheartened.
●
After Qin Kunyang returned home, he asked his father whether or not his grandfather had killed anyone. Initially, his father, Qin Samaritan, shook his head. But after pondering this over for a very long time, he recalled having heard of such a matter.
Kunyang’s grandfather and his neighbor, Zeng, had shared use of the same well.
Both their wealth and status within the village were equivalent.
Both of them were also educated scholars.
When it came time for election of a village chief, the two of them were candidates.
One day, as Kunyang’s grandfather walked towards the well and prepared to draw water, he saw Zeng’s back to him and saw that he was also in the process of drawing water. Zeng’s body was stretched over the well, his head bent forward, his hips raised. Seeing that no one was around, Kunyang’s grandfather walked over stealthily, and lightly bumped his body against Zeng. The unthinkable happened and Zeng fell into the well.
Zeng shouted loudly for help.
Kunyang’s grandfather had an impulse to throw a rope into the well, but ultimately, he did not.
Zeng stared up at Kunyang’s grandfather, his eyes filled with utter helplessness.
Later Kunyang’s grandfather called for help, but, when they pulled Zeng out, he had already breathed his last breath.
Kunyang’s grandfather became the village chief, and he did his best to do good deeds.
However, in his heart he was always ashamed of what he had done, and a knot remained within his heart that never resolved. He told this story to Kunyang’s father.
Finally, the matter was becoming more defined.
Who had Zeng been reborn as? It was already evident.
And Qin Kunyang?
How was this to be resolved?
●
When Qin Youhan grew bigger, he had heart surgery, and sure enough the surgery was a failure. Qin Kunyang and his wife were so distraught with grief that they could not bear to live.
Someone asked me, “Why couldn’t you save him?”
I replied, “Enmity had crystallized into a vein, and the depth of this hatred had already become fixed karma.”
“Fixed karma cannot be changed?”
“The Buddha has said, fixed karma cannot be changed!”
With regards to this matter, my comments are: Buddhist sutras have mentioned that bodhisattvas fear karmic causes, while sentient beings fear karmic effects. Matters of karmic cause and effect are in fact noticeably evident within their obscurity, concealed while apparent. When one sows beans, one will reap beans. When one sows melons, one will reap melons.
My divinations or prophetic consultations are in fact nothing extraordinary or mysterious; they seem inexplicable but are also quite normal and ordinary. After reasoning out a sequence of events, nothing should remain unclear. Past, present, and future, ancient to modern times, the ripening of events is not so far away! One who understands this principle is already near Tao.
