The Karma Law And Meditation

THE FAIRNESS OF KARMA 

The Law of Cause and Effect is the most important doctrine of Buddhism. All Buddhist doctrines are based on the Law of Cause and Effect.

The Law is not created by the Buddha but it is the natural law of the universe. The Buddha was the one who discovered it, and he most completely grasped it than any saint ever did in any age. If people don’t fully understand it, they must get a wrong thinking of Buddhism, and they may be easily superstitious; and then they can’t apply Buddhist doctrines to their life.

Anyone who comes into Buddhism should completely get to know The law first, no matter what they come to find it out or to practice determinedly.

Now, we discuss the Law in order to see that it is really the wonderful and absolute justice in the universe. Everything that happens in the world has its cause, it never happens by chance; Therefore, what we do now will have an effect on our present lives or our future lives.

For this reason, people need to understand the law thoroughly in order to know how to keep their words and to check their actions everyday so that everyone can find a way to create good causes at present and will get good effects in future.

May all beings comprehend the Law so as to live and practice according to the natural law of the universe, and all of us can go together on the way to Nirvana.

THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT IS WONDERFUL AND ABSOLUTE JUSTICE

We are born in this world never by chance, but by our karma from the past life. And then our being here now will be also a cause of our future. There is something that will sensibly happen in future. We can make our blessings when we come to a pagoda with our respect for the Buddha and Sangha and to pay homage to them. Our blessings will create some good causes those will arise various good effects in future.

It seems like that when people sow a seed, a grown tree will not only bear a fruit but many fruits as well. For example, if a seed of a mango is sowed, people shouldn’t think that its tree will bear only a mango and it ends up, it is not completely simple like that. Before mangoes are born, a tree must be grown first, and then its branches, its leaves, and its followers will be also grown and then finally, the tree bears mangoes. This means that people only sows a seed of mango but they have a whole of mango tree that can shade their house, its branches can supply their wood, and they can enjoy eating its fruit. From a seed being sowed, people can take not only a fruit but they can also take some other benefits.

Similarly, if we talk together about Dharma, and we try our best to practice the way of the Buddha, and then we will gain not only a fruit of blessing but many fruits of blessing will come to us as well. It is simple to see that when people come to a pagoda, they know something about doctrines, and theirs minds are nobler; while their personalities are perfect; every word they say is powerful and that can make their children respect for them. People really don’t know whether they can have blessing of wealth in future, but at the present, their children are good and obedient, it is their big blessing. When people sowed a seed of mango, they have not taken a mango yet; but they could sit under its shadow first.

There is no need to say further, we can clearly see that Buddhists who usually go to a pagoda can improve themselves step but step. They can be loved and trusted by their people around them. Any time they need to do charity in their neighborhood, their friends and their neighbors can give them a hand.

In the past, maybe nobody could answer your call for help, but now, when you have fully understood Buddhist doctrines, you are self-development, you are perfect, and then any time you call for doing charity, your neighbors and friends are willing to support you. Specially, if you come to help the old, the poor in your village you will be delighted when you see them being happy and pleased with your help. As a result, a relationship of neighborhood is close together, and your neighbors can trust each other.

Before now, every time you were out, you should be worried about your house that may be broken by thieves, because you had nobody watch it. However, since you and your neighbors have done charity together, you have your neighbors watch your house when you go out. It is clearly that now you gain a friendly relationship between you and your neighbors.

Your going to pagodas at present is to have a cause from the past, and then it will create some good effects in future. The Law of cause and effect is the justice which always controls people’s lives.

Actually, the Law in Buddhism is not simple at all, it is really complicated, and it completely penetrates human ethics and also saint ethics. People as well as Saints or Bodhisattvas are all controlled by the Law.

If we went to be perfect, we must have a way to create good causes. If we want to have power, or to be beautiful, or to have anything else, we also have a way to create good causes. Every method we use must be appropriate to standards of morality. The best way we should use is the way of human morality.

Monks and nuns who want to practice Buddhist doctrines in order to be free from the world have had causes and effects, too. We also have a right method to create right causes to attain sainthood, though it will take us very long time.

If a saint wants to transform human beings, he must first create a right cause so that he can gain a good effect of persuasion because it is not sure whatever he says is to convince others immediately. If he has no causal conditions with beings much, he can hardly persuade them; people may not follow his saying.

Thus, a saint wants to help people, he should create a right cause first so as to have causal condition with them. Because we fully understand the law, we always make an effort to practice diligently the way of the Buddha for all our life.

Only people who have no idea about the Law have no need to do good; they are superstitious and usually wrong things, but they want to take many good things. We are the ones who know well about the Law, we diligently create good causes as much as possible, and we try to help others around us. Besides, we are fully aware of what is right and what is wrong so that we can make our life better and better.

For example, a pupil is not to do well in school, but he won’t be bad for his whole life, if he has created good cause for one or two years, he will be a good learner later. This is really efficient. If a good pupil creates good cause, then he will be excellent.

There is a effective method for pupils to progress with their studies. They don’t need to be absorbed in study too much. It is the question that they should have a cause of morality, and then their lives would wonderfully change better.

This is the miracle of the Law.

THE POSTULATES OF THE LAW 

There are postulates of the Law as follows:

Every thought, every word, or every action we do will bring us an effect. It means that the owner of thinking, of word and of action will receive an appropriated effect. Moreover, we should pay attention to an important point that our thinking, saying and action can be classified as two kinds: first, not having affected others; second, having affected others.

Thus, karma includes three forms:

First is thinking in mind

Second is saying.

Third is action.

The three forms are classified as two kinds:

One kind is not to affect people. The other kind is to affect people, and some consequence will be arisen.

If a person goes to a field and shouts loudly “I’m a king”, he just created his “mouth karma”, even though nobody knows about his thought at that time. His “mouth karma” has not influenced on someone else, it still creates small causes of arrogance, illusion, and ambition. That person is normal, not special at all, but he has a dream of being a king. Because no one can accept him, he has to go to field to shout for satisfaction of his ambition. It is a cause of arrogance. The one will later get his effect that is appropriate his cause. After he went to field he seems normal, but his life is not natural any more. Before his going to field, people around him were still happy to see him, after that, they seem to look down on him. Actually, nobody knew what he did on field, it is just because he has lost his blessing, then he has lost people’s sentiments towards him.

This is a cause that doesn’t affect some one else.

A cause that affects others will last long.

For example, you are richer than your neighbors are, then you are so arrogant, and look down on them who feel self-pitying. It affects another’s mind. When you make a feeling of disgrace and self-pity of someone else, then later your worst retribution will come to you. It is not as simple as the one who stood on field to shout. Maybe your blessing is still staying with you at present, you can enjoy it for ten or fifty years more; however, when you are old, your assets would collapse, then you become the poor, and you would be looked down by people. The consequence of scorn for the poor is so bad that your offspring will never achieve success in life. If you ill-treat or torture others, then suffering will persistently come with you for long time. Causality is really terrible. It is not simple at all.

If you are rich and powerful, then someone who is poor and homeless needs you to give them a dwelling; at the time they come to ask you a favor, you are too busy to receive them warmly, and even more, you refuse to help them. They leave with suffering and continue to survive with homeless. Causality of your doing will awfully come to you later. It is not only this life but also many future lives that you will become a poor person who has no help in times of need.

In short, causality will last for long.

If our doing affect others badly, then retribution will come to us hundredfold more than what we did. We only slap someone’s face in front of the crowded, but later, we will be tortured and disgraced for a whole year.

As a seed of mango is sowed, a mango tree will be grown for years and it will bear so many fruits.

Clearly, effect is bigger than cause; therefore, we make people suffered, then suffering will torture us persistently. On the other hand, when we bring people happiness, we will get pleasure for long.

For example, some time, when you are driving on a road, you see someone who is getting pain, while the road is deserted, even though you are so busy, you still stop to help that person. Because you are king-hearted you can hardly ignore the sick one, and then you take the one to hospital. Thanks your help in time the person can be saved. Only with your help, will your heath be increased, and your long-life will be lasted longer. In future, your children will get help when they are in great need. Good effects will come with you last and long, though you only helped another one time.

Causality is really fair 

It is always that when a seed is sowed, people will get a lot of fruits. Causality is really fair. That is why people should fully understand the Law of cause and effect in order to control every action, every thought, and very word for their whole life.

The best consequence of belief in the Law of a good person is that the person knows how to control oneself, and also how to avoid doing evil deeds, but that person will do good deeds more often than not. It is the first result and benefit of that person. Later on, the person will get blessing of good doing.

We don’t know for sure how much blessing we will get in future; however, we are the true people in the present life, and we are the ones who can control ourselves. Anyone who knows how to control oneself is the good person. So, if we want to be true people, we should know how to control ourselves first. Anyone who doesn’t know how to control oneself is not good person. He is not moral. People who are moral know how to control themselves, anything they do they always consider it carefully, even though they feel like doing it very much. Generally speaking, controlling oneself is a sign of beginning of morals.

The Law of cause and effect can help people know how to control their doing, their saying, and their thinking. If we have wisdom and we understand the Law, we should check what we do or what we love, and we also reason to where our consequences will lead us. It is good consequence of people who understand and believe in the Law. If there are many people in society understand and believe in the Law, and that society must be stable and prosperous. When people understand and believe in the Law, they can’t have a heart to torture each other, but they always want to bring others happiness and safeness.

If we study Dharma sincerely and seriously, then we live up to the Buddha’s saying we will obtain great blessing that is our wisdom; whereas, if we prevent people from studying Dharma, then retribution of foolishness will come to us. It means that everything we do always becomes our cause and effect.

An important point in the Law is justice. The Law is the justice.

It can be said that the beauty of the Law is the justice. At the first time, people may be uncertain when they are told about the Law, because they don’t know for sure whether it is true. How is it proved that “a good turn is never lost”? Even scientists can hardly prove it or know about it at all. Meanwhile, the fact is that bad persons are still rich, while good people are poor, though they believe in Buddhist doctrines. This is a question that makes people doubt it. There are many people believing in the Law, because they know that it is fair.

We can see that some people are not wise enough to know how the Law runs, but they still believe in the Law and accept it. Actually, only saints can see how the Law works, normal people like us can never know it. If people are asked “Why do you accept the Law when it is not proved yet?”, many of them can answer sincerely that “The Law is the justice, we love the justice of the Law; then we accept it, even though we don’t have enough wisdom to know whether it is true. We will live up to the Law and help our children understand the Law and live up to the Law, too.”

Are those people morally? Yes, they are. Only can moral people love the justice. When they love the justice, they believe in the Law. They don’t take any notice of what science has no proved it yet.

Some people may think that “I don’t believe in the Law that is not proved by science”, those people are immorally, because they don’t love the justice. They only base on a reason, and then they don’t accept the Law. When people don’t love the justice how they can be morally, they must do wrong thing at any rate. If they have power, it is certainly that they make use of their power to exploit other people in order to get benefit. If they don’t have power, they are just civilians, and they still think what they can do to take money from others’ pockets. It is economic laws.

A simple answer based on economics for a question “How to earn money?” is that “How to turn others’ money into ours?”. This is real, no one can deny it. Of course, talking is easy, but in fact everything seems not to be simple. Because money is as important as one’s skin and flesh, nobody can easily take it from others’ pockets, unless they are pickpockets.

What should you do if you want to turn others’ money into yours? You must supply people with something that they need or want. This is a fair law of supply and demand.

SUPERSTITIOUS 

The law of cause and effect keeps people from being superstitious.

Superstition” means we want to achieve good results but base on wrong causes. For example, everyone wants to be rich and according to the law of Karma, we have to help others, repair or build roads, give alms to the poor, help others find jobs… We should strive to do these things in all our life then in the future or in our next life, we will be wealthy, This is right views.

However, superstitious people think that if you meet a woman when you go out of your house, your business will fail on that day. Or at the beginning of a year, if you come to a temple to pick buds, you will prosper this year. In fact, if we pick buds in temples, we will receive the retribution that our trees will not grow.

Having belief in wrong things is called superstition Some people believe that we will be rich if we repeatedly beg deities for that. This is untrue. The truth is when deities see we are ethical, they will help us overcome some difficulty, but we must do good deeds in return. No deities will make our wishes come true when we beg them because deities are fair. Indian people blindly believe that dead people will be liberated if we drop them into the Ganges.

This is wrong belief because to be liberated we must cultivate diligently and dropping dead people into the Ganges only causes cholera, terrible smell and water pollution.

Or a tribe in Polynesia (a partition of the Ocean continent, consisting of over 1,000 islands in the Central and South of the Pacific) believe that eating the brains of dead people will be intelligent, but unexpectedly, it creates viruses that cause mad cow disease spread all over the world and is incurable. It is also superstition.

According to the law of Karma, to be intelligent, we have to be happy for and praise intelligent people. We should help studious students in having books or pay for their schooling. Or we should help others wholeheartedly. With three good deeds in this life, we will be talented in our next life without eating brains of pigs of monkeys. Eating brains of animals causes us easily to get disease and will be mad later. Bear in mind that those who eat human brains will get mad cow disease, or become mad cows; those who eat pig brains will have a headache; those who eat monkey brains will be mad and have damaged brains. So if you want to have a great brain, you should not eat brains of animals but love people and help them to be wise and believe in the law of Karma. This is the unique way. 

Superstitious people are often those who don’t want to serve others, don’t have belief in the law of Karma, but do want to do things that are formal and seem spiritual, while those who have Right View and belief in the law of Karma will devote their life to serving others. Because of our understanding of the law of Karma’s way, we will be thousands of times harder than before but we ourselves, rather than our karma, will lead our life. We will volunteer to offer others our help rather than waiting for their asking. The point is when we strive to help others even in small things, our ethics will improve.

So if we understand and believe in the law of Karma, we will prevent ourselves from being superstitious and make our life better.

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