Blog » Symposiums And Lectures » Repentance » What caused you to be born? -Emperor Liang's Jeweled Repentance and cultivation
What caused you to be born? -Emperor Liang's Jeweled Repentance and cultivation2014-02-17
♦ Spoken by Dharma Master Heng Yi
English Translation by Genglin Zheng
One reason we are familiar with Emperor Liang’s Repentance is because of Lady Chi, empress of Emperor Wu of Liang. Reborn a python, she asked the emperor to perform prayer services for her. This is the cause of the origination of repentance ceremony that is known to many people. But there is another cause as documented in A Further Collection of Essays on Buddhism, a book written by Dharma Master Daoxuan (Proclaiming the Way) in the Tang dynasty. The book mentioned that Emperor Wu of Liang was born in Northern and Southern Dynasty, during which the left home people ate meat. Emperor Wu made efforts to break this bad practice. He called upon the high monastics in the capital for meetings and debates. Applying the doctrines of the Nirvana Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra, texts were written against killing and eating meat. He wanted all left-home people to abide by the instructions in the texts. Exerting the influence of an emperor, he summoned the left home people to conduct a seven-day Way-Place of Compassion Repentance, which is the Emperor Liang’s Repentance that we are bowing now. Since then, Emperor Liang’s Repentance was widely performed in Buddhist temples, according to earlier records.
Other account holds that the familiar story of Empress Chi was simply made up during Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty was a very special period. Most repentance texts used in contemporary Chinese monasteries were compiled in that period. A few well-known dharma masters were involved in the compilation of this repentance. Among them was Dharma Master Ci Yun Zun Shi, who best represented these well-known masters. He compiled many texts of repentances. It is possible that the book of Emperor Liang’s Repentance was compiled during that period. These are research issues after all. Perhaps the origin cannot be traced in the mists of antiquity.
In this story, the heroine was Empress Chi, the legal wife of Emperor Liang. An Emperor couldn’t just have one wife, could he? Empress Chi, by nature, was very jealous and ill-tempered. She fought for the emperor’s favor, torturing and killing the emperor’s concubines. For this reason, she died suddenly at thirty, and was reborn as a python. Upon death, she returned to the emperor in a python’s body, telling him her miseries: she said she had nothing to eat, no place to sleep ever since becoming a python. In addition, there were scales on the body of a python; insects entered through crevices between the scales and bit her, causing her great suffering. She was hoping that the emperor could liberate her by transferring merits and virtues. The emperor therefore called upon Chan Master Bao Zhi Gong, who in turn called upon ten high monks into the imperial palace to compile Emperor Liang’s Repentance. Emperor Liang performed the repentance accordingly. One day he smelled strange fragrance that turned out to be what accompanied the presence of Empress Chi. The repentance dharma assembly had benefited her; she was liberated from the python body and ascended to Trayastrimsha Heaven. We are all familiar with this story.
The texts of Emperor Liang’s Repentance used in our ceremony begin with repentance for the sins committed by our six faculties. Next is the repentance on the sins committed by the three poisons of greed, anger, and stupidity. Next come taking refuge and cutting off doubts. The forth part is repentance and undoing feuds. In the fifth part, dwellers in the six paths rejoice in the Buddha’s blessings. The sixth part includes making vows and transferring merits and virtues. Either by the first or the second accounts of its origin, Emperor Ling co-authored the texts of the repentance. This is why during the repentance services, you will find the dictions very euphuistic. As being a member of the imperial family, Emperor Ling’s literary style is rich with imperial glamour. Specifically, we will see offerings at the beginning of each chapter. These offerings are not goods used by ordinary folks.
Now I wanted to mention about Empress Chi. When Empress Chi appeared as a python before the Emperor, she made a very frank, thought-provoking confession. She said to the Emperor, “Don’t you recognize me? I was your beloved wife Chi. When I was alive, I fought for your favor. Out of anger and jealousy, I had done cruel, unkind deeds; because of this I have turned into a python.” It was a very thought-provoking speech. Why? Lately I was brushing up on the Venerable Master’s talks on the Shurangama Sutra. The Master had the following talk on the Sutra, now listen carefully, the Master spoke on sentiments -- you all can tell me what you heard from the talk. In his talk, the Master spoke about the karma of rebirth, that is, how living beings come about. The Master said, between the ending of one life and its rebirth, it will experience a state called the intermediate yin-body. That is, one life cycle ends and the eight consciousnesses depart the body before the next body is formed. It’s wondering during this period is called the intermediate yin-body. This body can be a male or a female. It’s got a life span, too, a maximum of forty-nine days. During the forty-nine days, Yama reviews the karmas this person accumulates during his life time. There are good and bad karmas. Yama publishes his trails every seven days. If by the end of the seven-day period, the trial reaches a conclusion, the body will go to rebirth. If no conclusion is reached by the First Seven, the Second Seven follows; if no conclusion is reached by the Second Seven, then the Third Seven. There will be conclusions within forty-nine days to determine the rebirth path according to one’s karmas.
But not every intermediate yin-body took so long to be trialed. Some trials are immediate. For instance, a very bad person will fall to the evil path instantly while a very good person with very good cultivation will rise up to the good path instantly. As for the Buddha, he has an intermediate yin-body, too. The intermediate yin-body of a Buddha is practically just the same as that of an ordinary person. But a Buddha, with his deep cultivation, turns this body into a dharma body, via which he could attain rebirth where he wishes in worlds of the ten directions. So he needs no intermediate yin-body for purposes of rebirth. He therefore experiences differently from the intermediate yin-body of an ordinary person.
