Evil Ghosts Calamity: Not Even a Hostile Glance

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

若三千大千國土。滿中夜叉羅剎。欲來惱人。聞其稱觀世音菩薩名者。是諸惡鬼。尚不能以惡眼視之。況復加害。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》（鳩摩羅什譯） (Lotus Sutra, Universal Gate Chapter of Guanyin Bodhisattva, translated by Kumarajiva)

Plain-language explanation

This lesson has only one passage of scripture. It concerns the "Evil Ghosts Calamity" among the seven calamities.

First, the scene. The text says: 「若三千大千國土。滿中夜叉羅剎。欲來惱人。」 "三千大千國土" is a very large world in the Buddhist sutras. Saying the ghosts "滿中" means there are so many that they are everywhere, not just one or two. Yakshas and rakshasas are a common class of evil ghosts in the sutras, and this calamity speaks of these ghosts wanting to come and trouble people.

Next, the turn. The text continues: 「聞其稱觀世音菩薩名者。是諸惡鬼。尚不能以惡眼視之。況復加害。」 The key is two layers. First it says the ghosts cannot even look with evil eyes, which is already a very light step. Then it says that harming is not even worth mentioning. The text uses the pattern "even... let alone...", pushing one step further each time, and this gives the conclusion of the calamity.

The difference between this calamity and the earlier third calamity lies in the scene. In the third calamity, merchants go out to sea and their ship is blown to the land of the rakshasa ghosts. In this calamity, the ghosts themselves "欲來" (want to come). The text speaks of the time when ghosts come to trouble people. Both use "羅剎," but in one a person walks into the ghosts' place, and in the other the ghosts come to the person's place.

In reading this passage, a few things should be kept distinct. The original meaning of the text is that after the name is recited, evil ghosts cannot do harm. As for what "ghost" refers to, different ages have explained it differently, and this lesson does not settle the matter for the text. Other sutras also tell of evil ghosts subdued after the name is recited. For example, the 《請觀世音菩薩消伏毒害陀羅尼呪經》 (Sutra of the Dharani for Invoking Guanyin Bodhisattva to Subdue Poison and Harm) tells of a woman possessed by an evil ghost whom the Buddha taught to recite Guanyin Bodhisattva's name, and the evil ghost was subdued. That is the account of another sutra and cannot be taken directly as an explanation of the Universal Gate Chapter.

This site's modern way of putting it: this calamity is not asking readers to go looking for ghosts, nor is it meant to frighten anyone. When reading it, one can place the "ghost" inside the scene of the text and ask only one thing: what situation does this line describe, and what answer does the text give.

Also, the reciting of the name in the text has a condition before it: 「一心稱名」. At its very beginning, the Universal Gate Chapter says that when beings suffer, they 「一心稱名」, and Guanyin Bodhisattva 「即時觀其音聲」. In reading this calamity, it too should be read within this premise.

Key terms

夜叉羅剎

A class of evil ghosts in the Buddhist sutras. Yaksha and rakshasa are names that came from India. They often appear as a pair in the sutras and stand for ghosts that come to trouble people.

三千大千國土

A very large unit of world in the Buddhist sutras. The text says such a land is full (滿中) of yakshas and rakshasas, describing a number so great that they fill it everywhere.

尚不能以惡眼視之

尚 means "even." It means the evil ghosts cannot even look at a person with ill intent, which is a very light step.

況復加害

況復 means "how much more so." The previous line says they cannot even look, and this line says that harming is all the more impossible. It is a writing style that pushes one step further each time.

One line to remember

是諸惡鬼。尚不能以惡眼視之。況復加害。

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.