In the case of ignorant, ordinary worldlings who lack virtue, with the breaking up of the body at death they go to a bad realm of existence, being reborn in hell. But you, householder, do not lack virtue; rather, you are strong in virtue. And by [recalling your] strong virtue, house- holder, you may be able to extinguish your pain and give rise to hap- piness. By [recalling your] strong virtue, householder, you may attain the fruit of once-returning or [even] the fruit of non-returning, as you have already attained stream-entry.
As I understand it it’s saying you can probably use that mental power in meditation to reach further in the Path. But it’s also not sure. This was from the Chinese Agama and was said by Sariputta. From 28. The Discourse on Teaching the Ill [Anāthapiṇḍika] in THE MADHYAMA ĀGAMA
First, it’s not just “virtue” but “bad precepts” that’s the subject of this passage.
Second, the translator is inserting “recalling your” into all of those passages, hence the brackets. It’s not in the original Chinese.
I’m also not sure why the translator renders “good” as “strong” in this passage, and s/he skips over the intensifier in front of happiness, which to me means it’s referring to Nirvana.
“Don’t be afraid, householder! Don’t be afraid, householder! What’s the reason for that? If a foolish and ordinary man goes to a bad place and is born in hell, it’s on account of bad precepts. Householder, you have no bad precepts but only good precepts. Householder, on account of good precepts, you might cease pain and suffering and give rise to the greatest happiness. On account of good precepts, the fruit of a once-returner or a non-returner might be attained for a householder who’s attained stream-entry in the past.”
Colorful! As a poet I would approve, but as a translator I will stick to translating 惡 consistently. I used render it as evil, but decided that was a bit strong in many passages.
