Surangama Sutra Exposition
by Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu
Sentient beings cycle endlessly due to the root of killing, stealing, and sexual desire.
“Purna, when thought and love intertwine, and love cannot be released, then parents, children, and descendants are successively born. Such beings take desire and craving as their root [for rebirth]
“When craving and love nourish one another, and craving cannot cease, beings born from egg, transformation, moisture, and womb devour one another in succession according to their relative strength. Such beings take killing driven by craving as their root.
“When humans eat sheep, sheep die and are reborn as humans; humans die and become sheep—and so it continues through all ten forms of life, dying and being reborn, preying upon one another across cycles of existence. Evil karma arises together, extending endlessly into the future. Such beings take stealing driven by craving as their root.
“You owe me a life; I repay you a debt. Because of such causes and conditions, through hundreds of thousands of kalpas, they remain perpetually bound within birth and death.
“You love my mind; I cherish your form. Because of these causes and conditions, through hundreds of thousands of kalpas, beings remain entangled. Killing, stealing, and sexual desire—these three are the root. Through such causes and conditions, karmic results continue in succession.”
Purna asked why sentient beings exist and why they endlessly cycle in the rebirth realms.
The Buddha explained that the roots of this are killing, stealing, and sexual desire. The very fact that we were born reflects the sexual desire of our parents; likewise, we give birth to our children because of the same desire. This continues endlessly throughout generations. This is the root cause for rebirth due to sexual desire.
Beings are born through four forms of birth—egg, womb, moisture, or transformation—depending on their state of mind during bardo.
Killing and stealing result in endless entanglement of karma. Once a being is born, one must eat to survive, and thus killing occurs. [Animals and plants all have lives.] Beings kill each other according to their relative strength. This is the root cause for rebirth due to killing.
For their livelihood, beings also steal. Wanting to accumulate wealth is craving. Whenever one desires something more than one deserves—seeking a promotion, a raise, benefits, or privileges, accepting bribery or engaging in corruption—this becomes the root cause for rebirth due to stealing.
People may not realize that they too kill, steal, and have sexual desire. For their livelihood, they inevitably perform these acts and thus the cycle continues. This is what the Buddha teaches Purna.