Expert: Stuart Resnick - 8/5/2006

Question
Dear Randy Tay ,
Namo Amitabha ,

According to the book , THE GREATEST DISCIPLES OF BUDDHA "
One of the diciples was a notorious killer who killed many people in order to meet the wish of his master in collecting 1000 fingers . When this killer met Buddha , he began to have a 360 degree change and practised Dhamma from Buddha and eventually became an arahant in that very same life time . My question is
HOW CAN A PERSON WHO MURDERED SO MANY PEOPLE BECOME ARAHANT IN THAT VERY SAME LIFE WITHOUT HAVING TO SUFFER IN HELL FIRST ?
Thank you very much .

Answer
Thanks for your question. I can only answer from the Zen perspective. We say that everything is made by thinking. At this very moment, if you put down all ideas of "I, my, me," then already all things are perfect and complete. So all that matters is being awake in this moment. What are you doing right now?

Even if you do bad actions in life, even if you've murdered 1000 people, you can't possibly go back and change it, so all that you ever need concern yourself with is what you're doing just now. Not bad actions in the past, not heaven or hell in the future. Ask "What am I?" and return to the clear, empty mind that just reflects this moment. That's all.