Queries on Gaining the Wisdom of Past Lives沙門問佛。以何因緣得知宿命。會其至道。A monk asked the Buddha: "Under what conditions is it possible to come to the knowledge of the past and to understand the most supreme Way?"
佛言。淨心守志。可會至道。The Buddha said: "Those who are pure in heart and single in purpose are able to understand the most supreme Way.
譬如磨鏡。垢去明存。斷欲無求。當得宿命
It is like polishing a mirror, which becomes bright when the dust is removed. Remove your passions, and have no hankering, and the past will be revealed unto you." 英文版经文转载自 菩提字幕屋，英译者 D.T. SuzukiEnglish version sourced from Bodhi Fansubs, translated by D.T. Suzuki △ 英文 | 释宏添 中文 | 德焱 02 : 54开始
法师讲解：問道宿命（2）
Commentary: Queries on gaining the wisdom of past lives (2)
In the six realms of existence, supernatural power is really nothing uncommon. Basically the Buddha had disallowed his disciples to demonstrate supernatural power because the pursuit of it will only nourish people’s desires of greed, hatred and ignorance, which are against the spirit of Buddhism. When our mind becomes pure, supernatural power will manifest naturally, so any purposeful pursuit of it is unnecessary indeed. Apart from the wisdom of complete extinction of afflictions, all other supernatural powers are of no help in liberation.
In addition, supernatural power is no match for karma. Venerable Master Moggallana, rated number one in supernatural power, is a well known example in this respect. During the lifetime of Sakyamuni Buddha, the troops of Kosala wanted to attack the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu. Moggallana tried to save the people of the Sakya clan with supernatural power by hiding them in his alms bowl and raising them to the sky. After the battle Moggallana fetched the alms bowl only to discover that the Sakya people had been turned into bloody water; supernatural power had failed to save them. As for the cause of such karma, once in a past life there was a pond in a certain village. One day the villagers caught all the fishes in the pond and ate them. In this life, the fishes became the soldiers of Kosala whereas the villagers became the Sakya clan to redeem the debts of karma. It follows that supernatural power cannot violate the laws of karma.
Moreover, some diligent heretics might also be able to demonstrate supernatural power. If they were to use supernatural power to relieve people as well, in which case people would not be able to distinguish between the truthful way and the heretical way. The use of supernatural power would only arouse people’s desires that such power could fulfil, and thus would become an obstacle against cultivation. Even if it was used, it would just serve as an expedient measure because ultimately Buddhism is meant to use wisdom to relieve people. In order to draw a distinction between Buddhists and heretics, the Buddha disallowed his disciples to demonstrate supernatural power except for compassion reasons on very limited occasions.
