..续本文上一页ains of cyclic existence, sentient beings have not the slightest joy. In this life we reincarnated as a human being, but in the next life we could reincarnate as an animal. Such impermanent scenes and constant flux of changes continuously appear like a movie.

　　Not long ago, I read a case mentioned in the Madhyama Agama Sutra, and it helped me to generate great renunciation of samsara. The story goes like this: One day, when Todeyaputta was out, coincidentally, Buddha went to his house begging for alms. In Todeyaputta”s house, there was a white dog lying on top of a bed decorated with gems. The dog was eating some delicious food from a plate made of gold. When the dog saw Buddha, it jumped off the bed and barked loudly. With compassion, Buddha said to the dog: “Due to your previous unwholesome activities, you were born as animal. Why are you still not aware of your mistake

　　” After hearing Buddha”s words, the white dog became very sad, stopped eating and sleeping, and just curled up in a ball.

　　When Todeyaputta came back, he was surprised to see his dog”s behavior. He asked his family members: “Why is my dog behaving strangely today

　　” His family replied: “Buddha came here just now.” Todeyaputta”s dog was the apple of his eye. After he heard about the reasons for his dog”s behavior, he was burning with rage, and immediately went to question Buddha, saying: “Why have you caused my dog to behave strangely

　　” Buddha told him: “Please do not misunderstand me. Your dog is actually the reincarnation of your father, Todeya. If you don”t believe me, please go back to ask the dog where his treasure from his past life is buried.”

　　Surprised and bewildered, Todeyaputta went home, and asked the dog if he was his father”s reincarnation, and if he was, to please show him the place where he had buried his treasure. The white dog immediately walked to the place where the father lived in his past life, then used his claws to scratch the ground and barked continuously. Right away, Todeyaputta started digging on that spot and found the treasure.

　　For this reason, Todeyaputta generated peerless faith in Buddha, then went on to request teachings from Buddha. Buddha then expounded the law of karma to him, saying: “Those who take away the life of living beings will have a short present lifespan; those who liberated animals in their past life will have a long present lifespan; those who practiced generosity in their past life will be rich in this life; those who were very stingy in their past life will be very poor in this life; those who created wholesome activities in their past life will find kindness easily; those who created unwholesome activities in their past life will have negative thoughts endlessly; and so on.” (Some people always complain that evil thoughts come one after another in their mind, and that their mind is very negative. I think this certainly has to do with their behavior in their past life.) After Buddha expounded this Dharma, Todeyaputta gained tremendous joy in the Dharma, took refuge in front of Buddha to become a lay practitioner, and eventually gained liberation.

　　Those who have no faith in Buddha may consider this story to be a myth. However, it is not so; it is a fact. If you don”t understand it, it doesn”t mean it doesn”t exist. An American wrote a book called Talking to Heaven, in which he wrote about many cases where he had summoned souls of the dead from the hell realms or other world systems so that they could meet with their relatives who were still alive. Initially, many people did not believe him, so he revealed some secrets that were only known to the dead person, so that the relatives would believe the soul of the dead person had truly come. Then they started to communicate. This book created a great sensation in the…

《Buddhist View of the Science of Life》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…