[Buddha-l] Re: Where does authority for "true" Buddhism come from?

[Benito Carral]

On Friday, January 27, 2006, Ron Leifer wrote:

> When I first went to see Khenpo Khartar Rinpoche, the
> first  thing he said to me is "Whether you believe it
> or  not,  there  is  rebirth.  Otherwise you could do
> anything you want with no consequences."

   This  has  made me to remember some things. My first
Chan  teacher  (a  Westerner  born in the US) taught me
that  rebirth  was a stupid teaching from the Hindus. I
must say that I was never convinced with that teaching.

   After that, I have been lucky enough to meet some of
the greatest living Chan masters and have some tea with
them.  I have always talked with them about rebirth and
everyone without exception believed in rebirth.

   I  didn't  use  to  believe  in  rebirth,  but after
visiting  some  Chan monasteries in South China where I
was  very  welcome  (for  which I give thanks), my mind
changed  in  a radical way. I'm afraid I can't say more
about that.

   Anyway,  I  want to quote from Ven. Xu-yun's(1) "The
Ch'an   Training",   that   talking   about  the  first
prerequisite for training says:

           (I) Firm belief in the (law of) causality

              Whoever   one   may   be,  especially  if
           striving  to  perform  one's religious duty,
           one  should  believe  firmly  in  the law of
           causality. If one lacks this belief and does
           whatever  one  likes, not only will one fail
           in  the  performance  of religious duty, but
           also  there  will be no escape from this law
           (of  causality)  even  in  the three unhappy
           ways  [the  hell of fire; the hell of blood;
           the  Asipattra  hell  of swords]. An ancient
           master  said:  "If  one  wishes  to know the
           causes  formed  in  a previous life, one can
           find  them  in how ones fares in the present
           life;  if  one wishes to know the effects in
           the  next  life,  one can find them in one's
           deeds  in  the  present life." He also said:
           "The  karma of our deeds will never be wiped
           out  even  after  hundreds  and thousands of
           aeons  (but)  as  soon  as conditions become
           ripe,  we  will  have  to  bear  the effects
           ourselves."  The  Shurangama Sutra says: "If
           the  causal  ground  is  not a true one, the
           ripening   (fruit)   will   be   distorted."
           Therefore,  when  one sows a good cause, one
           will reap an evil fruit; when one sows melon
           (seeds)  one  will  gather melons (and) when
           one  sows beans, one will gather beans. This
           is the plain truth. [...]

              (Dear)  friends, after listening to these
           two  stories,  you will realize that the law
           of  causality  is indeed a dreadful (thing).
           Even  after the attinment of Buddhahood, the
           Buddha   still   suffered   a   headache  in
           retribution    (for    His    former   act).
           Retribution is infallible and fixed karma is
           inescapable.  So we should always be headful
           of all this and should be very careful about
           creating (new) causes).

           (_Ch'an  and  Zen  Teachings,_ Volume 1, pp.
           29,  30,  32  in  my  1993  copy from Samuel
           Weiser;  translated and annotated by Charles
           Luk.)

   Best wishes,

   Beni

   
(1) I have already finished the Spanish translation and
received a preface from Ven. Guo Yuan Fa Shi, for which
I also give thanks; I hope to publish it this year.