Movies

‘The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon’ Master Of Guilt (周处除三害)

A cult master asks his followers and potential new devotees if they have thought of where they will be going to after death. A young boy says, ‘Heaven!’ He asks, ‘How do you know you will be going to heaven?’ The kid says, ‘Because I’m good and do not do bad things.’ The ‘master’ of instilling guilt continues asking, ‘Have you hurt small animals?’ Boy says, ‘No. I love small animals the most.’ He quizzes on, ‘Have you eaten shrimp?’ ‘Yes.’ He goes on, ‘Fish?’ ‘Yes, shrimp are tastier than fish!’

And there you have it. The message subtly driven home is that the boy is not as good as he assumes. Ironically, the cult master is right in this instance, although his intentions are wrong, as he wishes to use a rather common guilty factor of the child (and his mother) to further his selfish gains later. In this sense, with the pretense, his ‘holiness’ projecting ‘holier-than-thou-ness’ is actually the most guilty of all. (The boy later vomits due to cunningly spiked food offered to him earlier, as the ‘master’ pretends to heal him for his transgressions… for money of course.)

How do you know where you will be reborn? By gauging your conduct in body, speech and mind objectively. If there is more good than evil towards other beings, there will be good rebirth, as a human or heavenly being. If there is more evil than good, as an animal, hungry ghost or hell-being. It takes substantially more than average good to secure a heavenly rebirth though. Not only should the Five Precepts (五戒) be observed well, the Ten Good Karmas (十善业) have to be created too. (To reach Āmítuófó’s [阿弥陀佛] Pure Land [净土], the Three Provisions [三资粮] are key.)

Like the boy with incomplete understanding, many adults neglect the truth that being good is not just towards human beings, but all other sentient beings too. While decent humans will not abuse animals directly, often forgotten are those eaten meal after meal. The boy loves small (cute?) animals, but his cognitive dissonance made him blind to shrimp and fish being (less cute?) small animals too. He loves them for another reason — their taste. Karmically, how can those who keep insensitively and greedily demanding flesh of the killed deserve heavenly rebirths?

Related Reviews:

Nihilism Vs Existentialism In ‘The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon’
https://thedailyenlightenment.com/2024/03/nihilism-vs-existentialism-in-the-pig-the-snake-and-the-pigeon

The Three Poisons Of ‘The Pig, The Snake And The Pigeon’
https://thedailyenlightenment.com/2024/04/good-vs-evil-among-the-pig-the-snake-and-the-pigeon

Please Be Mindful Of Your Speech, Namo Amituofo!

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