When Can We be Helped?

In the Earth Treasure Sutra, we see that it is difficult to save sentient beings who have already descended into the hell realms. Earth Treasure Bodhisattva has great wisdom and great extraordinary abilities, thus he can help the sentient beings in the hell realms to even reach the Western Pure Land. But, because of our habitual behavior, when we are able to move up to the heaven realms, we continue to commit wrongdoings. And after life in the heaven realms has ended, we will again fall into the hell realms. But to Earth Treasure Bodhisattva it is as if we have returned after only having been gone for a few days!

Once in the hell realms, as we experience continuous suffering we will be unable to cultivate. Thus, our hatred and resultant negative karma will increase and become more binding. The sutras clearly explain this for us. From this, we can begin to understand how difficult it is to help sentient beings who have descended into the hell realms.

When can we be helped?

After we have committed wrongdoings, but before we pass on and descend into the hell realms. During this time, we must awaken so that through feelings of intense remorse and fear, we will diligently forgo thinking, saying, or doing anything that is bad and only do that which is good. In this way, we will maintain purity of mind. And in this way, we can change our present conditions and transform a bad situation into a good one.

It would be even better if we could bring give rise to the great Bodhi mind. If at the moment of death, we sincerely regret as we recite “Amituofo” one to ten times and we seek birth into the Pure Land, we will be reborn there. And we will do this even though we had been about to go to the lowest of the hell realms. We will be born in the Pure Land as non-retrogressive bodhisattvas, beings who will never fall back in their practice. Once there, we will have the opportunity to return to our world to help those whom we have an affinity with to transcend the hell realms.