Discussing Karma at Jetavana; Meeting in Tianzhu

When thoughts arise there surely will be desire,Longing is certain to lead one to disaster.Why should intelligence distinguish the three ranks of nobility?When conduct is complete it naturally returns to the primal sea.Whether you become an immortal or a Buddha,All must be arranged from within.In absolute purity, with all dust removed,All will be achieved and one will rise to heaven. The story tells how when Sanzang and his disciples were nowhere to be seen at dawn the monks in the Clouds of Compassion Monastery all said, "We couldn't keep them, we couldn't say goodbye to them, and we weren't able to ask them for anything. We've let those living Bodhisattvas slip clean away." As they were talking, some of the great families from the Southern outskirts of the city came in with invitations, at which the monks clapped their hands in regret and said, "We were caught off our guard last night: they all rode off by cloud." Everyone then kowtowed to heaven in gratitude. The news was spread to all the officials in the city, who told the great families to prepare the five......