The Law of Cause and Effect and Destiny

The rewards of good and evil follow each other like a shadow, the cause and effect of the three lives, and the cycle is not lost. All retributions arise from karma, and all effects arise from causes. If for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, the work is not destroyed, and when karma and fate meet, the retribution will be repaid to oneself.

Retribution is divided into: present reward, birth reward, and future reward. Present retribution means doing good deeds now and enjoying blessings now, doing bad deeds now and receiving bad rewards now. When evildoers see good fortune, they are not yet ripe for evil. When they are ripe for evil, they will suffer the consequences of their sins. When Zhenxiang sees misfortunes, his good deeds are not yet ripe. When his good deeds are ripe, he will surely receive his blessings.

What is cause and effect? ??Cause and effect is also called karma and karma, and it is also called karma and retribution. It is one of the basic principles of Buddhism. "Cause" is the reason. The result is the result, also called the result. "Karma" refers to all physical and mental activities, which are divided into three karma: body, speech, and mind. "Retribution" refers to the retribution of karma, that is, the consequences of the good and evil done by karma. The cause is karma, and the effect is retribution.

Everything we do, say a word, or even have a thought is a cause. Depending on the nature and weight of good or evil, there will be appropriate results behind it. Sooner or later, we will always be affected. of. To sum up, if you sow good causes, you will get blessed fruits, and if you sow evil causes, you will get bitter fruits. In fact, what kind of good will bring what kind of blessing, what kind of evil will bring what kind of suffering, there is also the appropriate "law of cause and effect".

The Buddha said, "Those who do the ten good deeds of the highest rank are reborn in heaven, those who do the ten good deeds of the middle rank become human beings, and those who do the ten good deeds of the lowest rank become asuras. Those who are inferior to the ten evil deeds will fall into the state of animals.” Explain that the ten good deeds and the ten evil deeds are the causes of reincarnation in the six paths, and the six reincarnations are the consequences of the ten good deeds and the ten evil deeds. Life is a continuation of karma and results. It brings the good and evil deeds done in the previous life to the present life, and brings the good and evil deeds done in this life to the next life. From the cause of action to the result, from the result to the cause of action, birth and death flow, and reincarnation is endless. The joys and sorrows of life, the ups and downs of world fortune, are all caused by karma. Therefore, the Buddha said, "It is self-generated and self-perceived." The "cause" will not disappear on its own before the "result" is obtained. On the contrary, if you do not create good or evil karma, you will not get the corresponding results. It can be seen from this that if there is a cause, there must be an effect, and if there is an effect, there must be a cause. Because you don’t give up in vain, you won’t get the fruit in vain. As the scripture says: "The rewards of good and evil follow each other like a shadow; the cause and effect of the three lives will not be lost in the cycle." This is true of the law of the world, and the same is true of the law of the world.

The law of cause and effect is not stipulated or created by the Buddha, but an objectively existing law. The Buddha only revealed it. Master Yinguang said: "When the Tathagata achieves enlightenment, all sentient beings will fall into the three paths, and they will not escape from cause and effect." It can be seen that even the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot transcend cause and effect, let alone us ordinary people, whether you believe it or not, we are bound by the law of cause and effect.

Cause and effect run through the three lives; some people believe that everything in life is accidental, without any cause and effect; after death, the body disappears and the consciousness drifts away; some people see good people receiving evil rewards and evil people receiving good things. If there is retribution, then one will doubt cause and effect and doubt the Dharma. This is due to not understanding the principle of cause and effect connecting the three lives. The Buddhist scriptures say: "If you want to know the cause of the past life, the recipient of this life is; if you want to know the result of the next life, the author of this life is." This means that the good and evil consequences we receive in this life are all karma sown in previous lives, and we reap the consequences of what we sow. And the karma caused by the three karma of body, speech and mind at present is exactly the retribution that one should receive in the future. The cause and effect are in an endless cycle without any mistakes. The scripture also says: "Even if it lasts for hundreds of thousands of kalpas, your work will not be lost. When fate meets you, you will receive the retribution yourself." "Hundreds of thousands of kalpas" is a very distant time, and the "karma" that you have done is the remote cause of what you have sown. The karma that was sown hundreds of thousands of kalpas ago will not disappear on its own. "When the karma meets" means that if the karma matures now, "the consequences will be paid to you" and you will have to reap the consequences.

Regarding the timing of retribution, there are generally three situations:

1. Present retribution: that is, if you do good deeds now, you will enjoy blessings now; if you do bad things now, you will receive bad retributions now.

2. Retribution: If you do good or evil in this life, you will receive blessings and misery in the next life.

3. Post-retribution: If you do good or evil now, you will only receive good and evil retribution in the second life, the third life, or even hundreds of thousands of billions of kalpas later. Although the retribution is uncertain sooner or later, as long as you sow the seeds of karma, there will be no consequences. Therefore, it is said that "good and evil will be rewarded in the end, it's just a matter of whether they come early or come late."

Why do evil people receive blessings? This is because the good roots he cultivated in his past life are deep, and now the causes and conditions have matured, so he enjoys blessings. If he does not do evil things in this life, his blessings will be even better. As for the evil causes he has planted in this life, they will not disappear on their own. When fate meets him in the future, he will definitely receive the evil retribution he deserves.

It's like a child from a wealthy family who eats, drinks, goes whoring, gambles, and squanders as much as he wants, but he doesn't suffer from hunger or cold. This is because his family's wealth is very strong. But if this continues, one day you will lose everything.

As for a good person suffering bad retribution, this is because he has committed serious sins in the past, and now the cause and conditions (conditions) have matured, so he receives bad retribution. If he does not do good deeds in this life, the evil retribution will be more severe; on the other hand, the good causes he has sown in this life have not disappeared, and he will definitely receive corresponding blessings in the future. For example, a felon was not executed immediately, but he repented and made meritorious deeds. However, his meritorious deeds were small and his crime was big, so he could not be fully pardoned, but the heavy punishment was changed to a light one. If he can continue to make meritorious deeds and accumulate a lot of merit, not only will all his old sins be forgiven, but he will also be rewarded, put to important use, and become rich and noble.

Master Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty, Master Jiexian, an eminent Indian monk, was the abbot of Nalanda Temple. He had profound moral conduct and high moral prestige. Once he suffered from a very painful illness and could not bear it, so he was ready to go on a hunger strike and die. At this time, the three Bodhisattvas Guanyin, Manjusri, and Samantabhadra said: "Because you have been a king many times in your past life and have done many crimes that harmed the people. You should have been in hell for a long time and suffered bad retribution. Because of you In this life, you work hard to spread the Dharma and live your life, so you suffer this small amount of suffering in the world to offset the great suffering that should lead to hell for a long time. You should endure it and sincerely repent, and the pain and illness will be eliminated." Master Jiexian followed the instructions and later recovered from the disease.

If people do not understand that this kind of thing is caused by the past, people may say that Master Jiexian is not an enlightened monk, or that such a great practitioner still suffers from such a painful disease. Buddhism has What are the efficiencies and benefits? In fact, the cause and effect of the three lives are complicated. Some are converted to hindcasting, and heavy reporting becomes current reporting and underreporting; some are converted to current reporting, and underreporting becomes hindcasting and heavy reporting. This must be understood.

It can be seen that fortune-telling is just seeking the end at the expense of the basics, because it cannot change destiny. Only by firmly believing in cause and effect, consciously stopping evil and doing good, not sowing evil causes and planting good causes widely, can we transform and eliminate past sins and cultivate present and future merit. This is also the only way to change your destiny. Really benefit yourself, your whole family, and mankind. I hope you will be careful and do it.