Once upon a time, Venerable Maudgalyayana and Bhikkhu Huajie(?)(华杰比丘) went to the seaside together. On the way, they met a being that looked like a huge tree trunk. There were many insects eating it all over its body, and it screamed loudly. Bhikkhu Huajie asked: "What is the reason?" Venerable Maudgalyayana replied: "This being was once a steward of the monks, named Bhikkhu Leda(?)(乐达比丘). Because he used the money of the monks without permission, he was reborn as this being. The lay people to whom he gave the monk's money were reborn as these insects eating its body, and they will fall into the great hell after they die." The saint Bodhisattva Nagarjuna also made a vow: "I hope I will not be reborn as, a monk who cook or manage for the monks." The secret meaning lies in this.

As a person with broken precepts, if he occupies the seat of the monks and uses the cushions in the Dharma lecture hall, he will fall into hell or be reborn as a leprous animal. The Vinaya says: "If a person with broken precepts takes a step, takes a mouthful of food or drinks a bowl of water, with just this consumption of monks' property, this is wrong livelihood and he will fall into hell."

To be reborn in Sukhavati, absolutely one must make offerings and give alms. If one steals even a sesame seed only, not to mention being reborn in Sukhavati, one cannot even obtain a body in the upper realms, and can only fall into the ower realms. Once there was a monk who was reborn as a snake for stealing a few objects. A devi fell into the lower realms for stealing a flower. There are many such koans.

Moreover, the valuable items in the cemetery and the items on the corpse also have owners, so they should not be stolen. Once upon a time, a monk died and his body was thrown into the cemetery. Someone took the items on his body. The monk was reborn as a non-human and made the corpse stand up suddenly and say, "Don't steal my things."

Even if it is for the benefit of others, you must never steal. Once upon a time, when Bodhisattva Delopa(?)(德洛巴菩萨) went to beg for alms, he arrived at a house where two piles of sesame seeds were being sun-dried. The person guarding the house was going home to get food for him, so he asked Delopa to watch over it. At this time, he took seven sesame seeds from the pile of the other family with a shaga(?) (夏加 a small spoon) and threw them into the pile of sesame seeds of the person who brought him food. Originally, he could have attained bhumi quickly, but it was delayed for several years because of this.

Although there are many koans of stealing monks' property, here is a chilling case: In the past, a businessman offered precious treasures to many monks who follow the teachings of Buddha Vipassi. At that time, a powerful monk accepted it and took it for himself without offering it to the monks. One day, the monks demanded the money from him. He was furious and said rudely: "You eat shit, the treasures are mine." After death, this person fell into hell and was reborn in filthy vomit for 91 great kalpas. After death, he was reborn as a four-legged insect with a snake-like body in a large pond full of feces near Rajagriha. After seeing this, Buddha Sakyamuni showed it to the monks and said: "This sentient being will be reborn in hell and live there for tens of thousands of years, and then reborn in this unclean matter. In the future, the thousand Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon will come here with their followers and tell the whole story of this insect's misdeeds." But he did not say when he would be liberated. After thinking about this koan, we should be doubly careful about accepting the common properties of devotee and deceased offerings of the monks.

In addition, people with broken precepts pretending to be intact upholders, or those who practice contrary to the Dharam pretending to be legit followers, or cunning people pretending to be accomplished practioners to collect devotee and deceased offerings, all these are wrong livelihood. And is no different from stealing. As King Songtsen Gampo once said: "If one collects devotee and deceased offerings to support his parents, relatives and friends, etc., then the collector will be reborn as a camel. All those who enjoy it will be reborn as camel calves, and all the donors will be reborn as the camel's owner. You need to repay your debts in this way."

The mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo saw a big snake the size of a wooden yoke in a boulder in the Mo-linga Valley(?)(莫年格山谷). Thousands of thumb-sized frogs were densely packed on the surface of the whole body, eating it. The master spit a mouthful of saliva at it to bless it, and it was liberated. He said to the monks: "If a monk without merit enjoys devotee and deceased offerings, he will become like this."

When the Karmapa was only six years old, he was on his way from the plain near the Kongpo garkha Valley(?)(贡布嘉卡山谷) where he lived to a place for leisurely walk. While playing, he inserted the handle of a whip into a boulder. As a result, the rock cracked and in the middle of the rock there was a lung-shaped, elbow-long animal. There were many sesame-sized white beings on the outside of the body eating it, and many black beings inside eating it. The Karmapa simply spit on it and focused to bless it. It died, and its body was cremated. His companies asked, "What is the reason?" His Holiness said, "When I was reincarnated as the Rolpe Dorje in the past, a guru at this place who enjoyed devotee and deceased offerings prayed to me. So I saved it from the lower realms now. Otherwise, it would still fall into hell. Those white beings are the retribution fruit of his enjoying devotee offerings; the black beings are the retribution fruit of his enjoying deceased offerings."

Near the residence of the Venerable Ka-rab-pa(?)(卡绕巴尊者), there was a hawk that often killed other sentient beings. One day, the hawk died. The guru used his supernatural powers to observe where it was reborn, and found that it was reborn as the son of a wealthy herdsman due to its past good karma. But he died soon after due to the karma of killing sentient beings repeatedly. Later, the Venerable observed where he was reborn again, and found that he had turned into a great guru who taught and liberated many sentient beings. His spiritual work was extremely extensive. Because he was busy with his duties, he recited the rituals for the deceased while riding his horse or walking. Later, people called him the "Guru of Ritual on Horseback". Finally, when many believers gathered to hold a grand empowerment, the guru (suddenly) passed away. 

At that time, an attendant of the Venerable Karabpa was also present. After discussion, they decided to entrust the material body of the five sense bases of the deceased guru to the attendant to take to the Venerable Karabpa for ritual for the deceased. When the servant was approaching the Venerable's place, he was worried that he would be castigated if he brought it like that. So he rolled the body up with silk and placed it next to a rock, and went to the guru to report what happened. The guru said, "Wrap it with my ancestral robe!" The servant went with the ancestral robe. (When he arrived at the rock, he saw) that the material body of the five sense bases had turned into a vicious scorpion one elbow long. He immediately returned and asked the guru to go there to see. 

Although the master also came, the requisite causes and conditions were not met completely. It was useless to wrap it with the ancestral robe. The vicious scorpion fled to the side of a large rock. Driven by the force of karma, it pried into the rock that suddenly cracked, and then the rock closed. All the souls of the sentient beings related to the guru transformed into countless creatures and dissolved into the rock to nip at the vicious scorpion. A tall cypress tree also grew from the heart of the vicious scorpion. The attendant asked: "When will it be liberated?" The master said: "It will not be liberated until the tall cypress tree is reduced to the ground by the trample of the claws of birds."

In addition, the Black Horse Lama of U-Tsang was reborn as a big fish in Lake Yamzhog Yumco, etc. (There are many such koans). The Satipatthana Sutra says: "Whoever by wrong livelihood, makes a living even in small amount, will sink into the feces, and be eaten by insects."

There lived a wise Geshe in Lhasa who could talk with Manjushri as if he were talking to another person. Later, he could not see Manjushri, and he forgot the Dharma he had heard and received before, and could not remember anything. So he asked a guru for the reason. The guru asked: "Did you have so much property before?" He replied: "I didn't have it before, I had it later on." The guru said: "Perform the wealth destruction ritual once!" (He did so.) As a result, all the devotee offerings disappeared. He saw Manjushri again and everything was restored to the conditions before.

The great Geshe Potowa once said: "The sin of a layperson committing the ten non-virtues every day is not as great as that of a person with impure precepts  enjoying a mouthful of food from offerings." This principle is also stated in the Sutra of Rebuking the Violation of the Precepts(?)(呵责破戒经). The Aggregate of Jewels Sutra(?)(宝蕴经) says: "When the Buddha was proclaiming the harm of enjoying devotee offerings, 500 bhikkhus with impure precepts said, 'We should not enjoy devotee offerings' and returned to secular life. Other monks rebuked them. The Buddha said: 'Don't say this! Those who feel remorse and return to secular life are sincere and true to the Dharma. After death, they will be reborn in the Tushita Heaven and will become the first followers of Buddha Maitreya in the future.' 

At this time, another 200 monks burst into tears and said: 'Before we attain enlightenment, we would rather starve to death than enjoy a single mouthful of food from believers.' The Buddha said: 'Excellent! Virtuous men'" The Great Lion's Roar of Maitreya Sutra also says: "It is better to return to secular life a hundred times a day, monks with impure precepts should not enjoy devotee offerings." The Teachings to Bhikkhus Sutra(?)(教比丘经) says: "It is better to be an upright layperson than a person who wears a monk's robe but does not observe the monk's rules of training and enjoy devotee and deceased offerings."

Therefore, except for those who have the two merits of realization and being free of afflictive emotions, eating a mouthful of food from believers will also experience the retribution fruit a thousand times. As the Buddha said in the sutras: "Money given with faith by patrons, for the realized and unaffected by  afflictive emotions, I will allow it. If he does not have that and eats a mouthful, he will have to repay the debt as big as the king of mountains." The Vinaya also says: "It is better to eat, burning iron balls. Those who do not have pure precepts, should not eat devotee's offering food." As in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, it says: "It is better to eat burning stones, or drink molten copper. Those who do not observe the pure precepts, should not enjoy the offering food." The Ratnakuta Sutra says: "Those who break the precepts, even if they wear a monk's robe, because they render the offering fruitless, are like swallowing a burning iron ball. "

The omniscient Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa also said: "People who have committed serious crimes calling on their gurus for help, even if they offer cattle and horses when they die, unless they have attained the tenth bhumi and are liberated, they should not expect to be like me." However, the Satipatthana Sutra says: "Patrons who offer money and food to those who have broken precepts can be reborn in the upper realms." The sutra also says: "If one enjoys the offerings with remorse and fear, he can also reduce the retribution fruit of karma." Therefore, unscrupulous enjoyment of black money (i.e., devotee and deceased offerings) is a major obstacle to rebirth in Sukhavati.

Powerful people such as kings and ministers should only collect harvest and taxes reasonably. If they ignore the law and plunder the people's wealth, they will be like the former Prince Youthful Lotus(?)(莲童王子) who once ruled the country for sixty years and ended up falling into hell for sixty kalpas. The sutra says: Most of the high officials who plundered the people's wealth will be reborn as hungry ghosts or vicious nagas. Patrul Rinpoche also tells the story of an ancient monk's wealth manager named O-kyi(?)(哦吉) in "The Words of My Perfect Teacher". There are countless other examples like this. 

After thinking about the evil of stealing like this, if one can refrain from stealing even when one is facing a life-threatening situation, one will be reborn in a good realm, becoming a king who has great wealth and possesses the seven treasures and state power, etc. No one can harm his possessions, and he can enjoy them freely... There are countless benefits. The sutra also says: "Whoever stops stealing, is always happy to give, and does not steal, will be reborn in a good realm."

Abrahmacarya (unchaste conduct): refers to the sexual misconduct of a lay person and up to a monk, towards a real woman, an animal, a non-human, or a young girl. Or in an inappropriate place (mouth, anus, etc.). Originally, this is mentioned in the ten non-virtues as sexual misconduct, and it is called abrahmacarya here for the convenience of explaining to ordinary people. Or because it also appears in the teachings of Kadampa this way. For lay people, the so-called sexual misconduct refers to, while having a wife, having impure behavior with a woman who belongs to someone else or someone else's wife. This is also a very serious fault for ordinary people in the world. As the Abhidharma-kosha says: "Sexual misconduct is severely condemned." Serious sexual misconduct refers to committing impure acts with one's mother, Arhats, nuns, etc., which belongs to near-five heinous crimes; middling sexual misconduct refers not only to having impure behavior with someone else's wife, but also with one's own wife during the day, on fasting days, during pregnancy, when one is unwilling, and in places where there are Buddha statues, stupas, Buddhist texts, and gurus. Such offenses are also extremely serious; lesser sexual misconduct also has many different degrees of various types. Committing sexual misconduct oneself or instigating others to commit sexual misconduct constitutes the same crime.

The harm of unchaste conduct: Generally speaking, committing sexual misconduct with women is purely caused by lust, but there are also cases where sexual misconduct is committed with anger towards enemies' women, or to harm others. Thinking that women are like flowing water and anyone can perform impure acts with them, or using vajrayana practice as an excuse to say that vajrayana practitioners can perfrom impure acts. Such are commiting sexual misconduct with ignorance.

Depending on the difference in motives, the retribution fruit of sexual misconduct will be falling into the three lower realms, especially rebirth in the Iron Pillar Mountain hell. Or rebirth in dirty mud, or rebirth as a parasite in a woman's womb. Even if reborn with a human body, he will also experience the karmic result of his wife being robbed by others or his wife being difficult and stealing, having a bad temper, and the couple being like enemies meeting. Nowadays, many people marry a bad wife, quarreling all day long, and finally have to divorce, live apart, etc., which are all the retribution fruit for sexual misconduct in the previous life. Behavioral similarity outflowing fruit: lust for women life after life, liking impure acts, or rebirth as a chicken or other animals with strong desire.

Who is prone to committing sexual misconduct? Those who are shameless, mean, greedy, and have been reborn as fish or chickens in the past are prone to committing sexual misconduct. People with noble character and a sense of shame will not commit sexual misconduct.

In India, it had happened in the past that people who commit adultery were severely punished with the death penalty, and regarded as extremely mean and evil. Nowadays, the turbidity of afflictions is raging to the extreme, especially the female demons playing tricks on people's minds. Some men have suffered the pain of losing their property and livelihood, or their lives ruined for women. Many monks have also utterly broken their Pratimoksha vows for this, and even ruined or lost their lives in the end. This is all caused by desire. There are more details about these faults in the following text.

Today, we are in the so-called era of "With the five poisons and secondary afflictions, the mind is confused and disordered." Therefore, there are only a few accomplished monks who truly have pure precepts, while the evil ways of breaking precepts are immeasurable and boundless and arise everywhere. This phenomenon will only disappear when Buddha Maitreya emerges. Other than that no one can avoid it. As Dharmakirti said, "Since the evil ways are endless, it is difficult to destroy them all one by one."

Therefore, those who possess the conditions should start with themselves and make the human body they received meaningful. Moreover, if you want to be reborn in Sukhavati, lay people must strive to give up sexual misconduct, and monastics must completely abandon unchaste conduct and its equivalents. This is very important.

Just like the merits of abstaining from killing mentioned above, here is an example of alternately enjoying pleasure and suffering by mixing sexual misconduct with upholding precepts and performing good deeds: Once upon a time, Venerable Shronakotikarna went to the hell realm, walked and walked, and when the sun just rose, he came to a beautiful palace. There, he saw a charming goddess and a handsome man playing and having pleasure together. They also offered food and drink to the Venerable, and stayed together until dusk. At this time, they said, "Now a great terror is about to come, you should not stay here, kindly leave here!" The Venerable thought: What is going on? So he went to a nearby place to watch secretly: the beautiful palace and the goddess were gone, and the man was naked. At this time, a woman with a long body like a black poisonous snake and a hideous face appeared and coiled around him seven times, drinking his brain from the darkness of night to dawn. He experienced this unbearable pain and horror. When the sun rose, (these miserable scenes) all disappeared, and he enjoyed happiness as before. 

The Venerable asked, "What is the reason?" He said, "I was a Brahmin who committed adultery in Vasava. At that time, Venerable Mahakatyayana explained to me the many harms of committing adultery and advised me to give up adultery. However, I could only vow not to commit adultery during the day, but could not keep the precepts all day. Therefore, now I experience the retribution of enjoying pleasure during the day and suffering at night. If you return to the human world, please send a message to my son who commits adultery day and night. Tell him: 'Your father was reborn in hell because of his evil (adultery) practice in the past. You should give up this evil practice and observe the precepts, otherwise your end will be the same as mine.'" After returning to the human world, the Venerable conveyed the message to his son.

Therefore, if one can completely give up adultery and impure behavior, he will be happy life after life. And he will be praised by everyone in the current life, counted among the noble ones, like to keep the precepts in every life, and temporarily be reborn in the heavens, etc.. There are immeasurable merits. The sutra also says: "He who does not go to another man's wife, abstains from adultery, and is content with his own wife, will be transferred to a good realm."

In this way, before Amitabha Buddha and his retinue, remorsefully, one should confess to and repent of the three kinds of misdeeds accumulated by the body, namely killing, stealing, unchaste conduct or sexual misconduct. The so-called misdeed is the cause of karmic retribution ripening in the future; confession means to speak out the misdeed committed without concealing them; remorse means to separate one's own mind continuum from the negative karma of the misdeed.