human
But the plan upon which he works, said my student interpreter,
gpt
For one who has reached such an age, I said,
human
The signs are that' I shall live some years longer, replied the old man,
gpt
He means the shore of the Sea of Death and Birth, says my interpreter.
human
The ship whereby we cross, you know, is the Ship of the Good Law; and the farthest shore is Nehan,--Nirvana.
gpt
Are all our bodily weaknesses and misfortunes, I asked,
human
That which we are, the old man answered,
gpt
Evil and good?
human
Greater and lesser. There are no perfect actions. Every act contains both merit and demerit, just as even the best painting has defects and excellences. But when the sum of good in any action exceeds the sum of evil, just as in a good painting the merits outweigh the faults, then the result is progress. And gradually by such progress will all evil be eliminated.
gpt
But how, I asked,
human
The chain of causes and effects is not easy to explain in a few words. To understand all you should study the Dai-jō or Greater Vehicle; also the Shō-jō, or Lesser Vehicle. There you will learn that the world itself exists only because of acts. Even as one learning to write, at first writes only with great difficulty, but afterward, becoming skillful, writes without knowledge of any effort, so the tendency of acts continually repeated is to form habit. And such tendencies persist far beyond this life.
gpt
Can any man obtain the power to remember his former births?
human
That is very rare, the old man answered, shaking his head.
gpt
To have such memory one should first become a Bosatsu [Bodhissattva].
human
Is it not possible to become a Bosatsu?
gpt
Not in this age. This is the Period of Corruption. First there was the Period of True Doctrine, when life was long; and after it came the Period of Images, during which men departed from the highest truth; and now the world is degenerate. It is not now possible by good deeds to become a Buddha, because the world is too corrupt and life is too short. But devout persons may attain the Gokuraku [Paradise] by virtue of merit, and by constantly repeating the Nembutsu; and in the Gokuraku, they may be able to practice the true doctrine. For the days are longer there, and life also is very long.
human
I have read in our translations of the Sutras, I said,
gpt
Not so! replied the old man.
human
They, who by self-mastery reach such conditions of temporary happiness, have gained spiritual force also, and some knowledge of truth. Their strength to conquer themselves increases more and more with every triumph, until they reach at last that world of Apparitional Birth, in which the lower forms of temptation have no existence.