[Geode]

From "The sutra of the past vows of earth store bodhisattva"



(Commentary by Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua - in America)




Sutra:



Buddha: "If there are women who detest the body of a woman, and who
full-heartedly make offerings to Earth Store Bodhisattva's image,
whether the image be a painting or made of earth, stone, lacquerware,
brass, iron, or some other material, and if they do so day after day
without fail, using flowers, incense, food, drink, clothing, colored
silks, banners, money, jewels, and other items as offerings, when the
female retribution body of those good women is exhausted, for hundreds
of thousands of aeons they will never again be born in the worlds where
there are women, much less be one, unless it be through the strength of
their compassionate vows to liberate living beings. From the power of
the meritorious virtues resulting from these offerings to Earth Store
Bodhisattva, they will not receive the bodies of women throughout
hundreds of thousands of tens of thousands of aeons.




Commentary:



Do not think that being a woman is a good thing, for being a woman
involves a great deal of trouble. There are women who do not like it and
always wonder why they have to be women; they want to learn what they
can do about it. Through worship of Earth Store Bodhisattva these
questions can be resolved.



What is the trouble involved in being a woman? Because there are people
who might like to investigate this further, I will go into a bit more
detail. You should not think of this as an attempt to cause women to
dislike their state and leave home. If that occurred then there might be
even more problems for me to deal with.



There are Five Obstructions and Ten Evils encountered by women. First we
will discuss the Five Obstructions. The first is that women are not able
to become the Great Brahma Lord because that position is accomplished
through purity, and the body of a woman has a great many impurities.
Sec