Guru's Talk

The Spirit of a Death Convict

(By Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu)
(Translated by Haiyan Shen. Edited by TBN)

Once when I was engaged in cultivation in my quiet house of seclusion, the spirit of an executed convict came to visit me. He did not have any peace and joy. The state of his mind was wild and uncultivated. His impatient action was like that of a hyperactive child, and his body was broken into pieces.

I am most saddened whenever I see the type of spirit like his! Of course, needless to say, this death convict had committed grave crimes when he was alive in the human world. He had killed many people, robbed other's belongings, and raped women. He had lied to people, got drunk everyday, and was an evil drug trafficker with no conscience. He was so wicked that he was despised by many as human trash.

He was finally caught by the law, and was executed.

The majority of people applauded his death penalty. They thought society would no longer be harmed by such an evil person. But what I know for a fact is that such a spirit-the spirit of an executed convict-will never have a chance to be renewed. His death only results in a worse effect. This is because as a result of the violent execution imposed upon him, his body becomes broken into pieces and his mind and intellect become damaged, from which he becomes even more violent, more ferocious, and more brutal.

It is unfortunate that whenever people adopt a wrong means to eliminate an evil criminal, they voluntarily give up a chance to rehabilitate or rejuvenate that person, even though that chance might be slight. By continuing to make the mistake of executing people, society suffers, because executions result in even more evil people being in the world. In the course of transmigration, it is unavoidable that such a mistake brings great disadvantage to human society. As long as the spirit of a death convict happens to be reborn, he will be consumed by the event of his self destruction, and therefore, is human society ever to have tranquility and peace?

With my mystical insight, I see that the death penalty creates a vicious cycle, a violent chain of events, and mistakes upon mistakes.

I strongly hold that all sentient beings have their own value of existence. By no means does anyone have the right to end another's life. The death penalty ought to be abandoned!

To stress once again, the death penalty causes the spirit of the executed convict to lose control of himself, and causes his body and mind to be torn apart, from which the spirit becomes more ferocious. The death penalty causes so much damage to the spirit that it creates more problems for society. Considering that the death penalty is absolutely harmful, it should certainly be banished!

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