The Dharma-ending Age is the time when the demons are strong and the Dharma is weak. The power of the demon kings grows stronger day by day, while the influence of Buddhism diminishes day by day. In talking about Buddhas, however, we don't use the term "power"-we talk, rather of their awesome virtue. When living beings enjoy a reward of bountiful blessings then the Dharma is strong and the demons weak. But when living beings' reward of blessings lessens, then the demons are strong and the Dharma weak-a complete turnabout.

The lives of people in the world today is analogous to a mountain of eggs; it's as fragile as eggs piled on top of each other to form a mountain. If a single egg were to crack and break, then the whole mountain of eggs would come shattering down. People today are in a similarly precarious state. The whole world is filled with demon hordes. If one speaks true principle, no one wants to listen; but if one speaks of deviant things, many people latch on to those ideas. For instance, when the Sutras are explained and the Dharma is lectured, people may come to listen, but their attitudes lack enthusiasm. Yet, whenever a play is performed, a movie shown, or a burlesque show held, people rush to the scene and crowd to be first in line. From this we can see that people don't place much importance on the virtue of the Way. This is because the demon kings, wielding their power and using their psychic penetrations and changes, can cast a spell over people so that they lose all sense of decency.

The foremost monster, the weirdest one of all, is the computer. When the computer was invented, humankind basically conceded its life-force, because people became virtually useless. Whatever matter comes up has to be checked first with the computer. This is a trick devised by a demon king.

There's another weird creature at present terrorizing the world: television. This gadget has managed to confuse humankind to the point that people can't distinguish black from white, right from wrong, principle and specifics. Under the sway of TV, children are brainwashed to the point of being completely upside-down. They are taught to murder, to commit arson, to steal, to rape, to take drugs, and to cheat people on a grand scale. These are some of the things children learn from TV.

So the computer and the television are two horrendous freaks. Yet, people don't recognize these two monsters for what they are. In fact, they regard them as valuable as jewels. They'll spend wads of money to buy them and use them in their own homes.

In Chinese, the word for computer means "electric brain". Our brains are so shocked by the electricity that we become mesmerized to the point that we don't understand anything. If this "electric brain" isn't a weird creature, how else can you explain people becoming hypnotized by it? How else can people be led into losing their sense of self-respect? How else can people be caused to be born as if drunk and to die as if in a dream? It's weird creatures like these that undermine the moral fiber and drain the very life-force of people.

There are other weird monsters in the world today, such as rockets and missiles. They are shot into outer space. Hydrogen and atomic bombs follow close on the heels of such inventions. And now there's the laser, which in Chinese is the "death ray". Even the name gives it away. It's completely inauspicious. Death ray! Death ray! The Chinese characters for this term can also be translated as "completely extinguished"; and, of course, eventually it will extinguish us all. The demon kings invent these weapons for massive killing because their aim is to exterminate all of humankind. Now that they have created these monsters, they need to devise all kinds of methods to keep them operational. So, they have people work for them who tend to these creatures, and these people become demonic accomplices. As a result a tremendous amount of poisonous vapor is emitted into the atmosphere, polluting everything. This induces a feeling of dizziness and confusion in people, causing them to lose their sense of direction as if they had been drugged. This is all the workings of the demon kings.