There are many things we can learn from Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance. Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance came about because Emperor Liang’s wife, Queen Chi, was reborn as a python after she died, and she asked Emperor Liang to cross over her. Queen Chi was about thirty years old when she died. As a queen, she had a lot of blessings, so technically she should not have died at such a young age. Why? The reason can be found in the preface of the repentance: “Emperor Liang’s number one wife, Queen Chi, was jealous of her husband’s concubines, and her thoughts and mouth were as poisonous as a venomous snake.”  Queen Chi was Emperor Liang’s queen and original wife, whom he loved very much, and granted her great power. However, she became jealous of others easily, and with her high position in the royal court, she hurt many people. So in the palace, there were many people who were victims of her jealousy. Because she was like a venomous snake, killing people left and right, she had to undergo the retribution of a short life.

 

Whenever Queen Chi had evil thoughts, they appeared in her actions, and she would use her mouth to abuse people. Because of her authority, she could do almost anything—if she was angry at anyone, she could order that person to be executed. Therefore, we must be extremely careful about our thoughts. Why is it that we all want to participate in Emperor Liang’s Repentance? It all comes from your mind; if your mind is willing, then you will come. One layperson was supposed to work this whole week, but because he really wanted to come, he overcame numerous difficulties and was able to attend. As you can see, the power of the mind is inconceivable.

 

The power of Queen Chi’s mind caused her to be reborn as a python. Pythons are poisonous and have hearts filled with hatred. This was all because of the hatred in her mind. But after she was reborn as a python, her “true nature had not been destroyed, and she knew of her evil karma”. From this, we can assume that Queen Chi had cultivated in the past, and also had some understanding of the Buddhadharma. However, when she was learning the Buddhadharma, she probably did not understand it very well, but was still able to accumulate enough blessings to be reborn in the heavens. In her next life, she became a queen. But after she became a queen, she was confused, and created evil karma that caused her to be reborn as a python. However, she did not become an ordinary python. Its Buddha nature had not disappeared, and it went to the royal palace to plead for help from Emperor Liang. Emperor Liang then asked Chan Master Zhi Gung and others to write the ten chapters of Emperor Liang’s Jeweled Repentance for Queen Chi to repent. Afterwards, Queen Chi was liberated from the body of a python and was reborn in the heavens. Other than high Sanghans helping her repent of her past offenses, Queen Chi was able to be reborn in the heavens because she knew that her past actions were wrong, and she was willing to repent. I believe that when they held the repentance ceremony at the time, she repented sincerely, the repentance manifested a response. From this instance, we can understand that the power of the mind can turn us into people, pythons, heavenly beings, or even realize Buddhahood. 

 

The mind can be good or evil; its power is immeasurable, so we must be very careful about our thoughts. Do not do an evil deed just because it is small; at the same time, do not refrain from doing a good deed because it is trivial. Good and evil actions all come from our thoughts. When we have an evil thought, we must catch it and cut if off immediately. When Queen Chi had her first thought of jealousy, if she had detected it and stopped it immediately, her jealousy would not have become an unstoppable habit that she was unable to control. 

 

On the other hand, whenever we have good thoughts, we should nourish and encourage them. The human mind has both a bright and dark side to it. This is called “the battle between reason and desire”. Reason and desire are always fighting each other. When they are clashing, you must use wisdom to contemplate and enforce reason. In other words, you train your mind to go in the right direction. There is a saying: “False thoughts are not something to be worried about; but you should be scared if you discover them too late.” We ordinary people are just like turbid water; we only have messed-up false thoughts. When the water is dirty, we can see it very clearly, and we should do the same with our mind. If you can reflect in this way and practice patiently, I believe that this will be very helpful to your cultivation and daily life.

 

On the road of cultivation, we need to help each other and rely on each others’ light (light=wisdom). We are all here, bowing to Emperor Liang’s Repentance together, eating in the same place and bowing to the Buddhas in the same Buddha hall. This is all because of a very deep Dharma affinity. We must tie wholesome affinities. Although Queen Chi harmed many people when she was alive, I am sure that she must have had wholesome affinities as well. If not, she probably would have stayed a python for a long, long time. This story is speaking the Dharma to us. As ordinary people, it is inevitable that we will get annoyed at some of our fellow cultivators’ shortcomings, but we have to tolerate each other, and enjoy others’ virtues and accept their faults, so that light and light will come together. When the light comes together, the power will be inconceivable. Let us hold hands and walk the Bodhisattva path together as companions in the Dharma.

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