Episode 207 – Thoroughly Understand the Law of Karma
>> “Body, speech, and mind create the
Threefold Karma. The habitual creation of karma is a cause. These habitual
creations in previous lifetimes form the seeds for future lifetimes. So, good
people habitually do good deeds and accumulate more goodness. Evil people
habitually do bad deeds and accumulate more evil.”
>> “The suchness of form, the suchness of nature, the suchness of
embodiment, the suchness of power, the suchness of function.”
>> “The suchness of causes, the suchness of conditions, the suchness
of effects, the suchness of retributions, the suchness of ultimate [wholeness]
from beginning to end. The suchness of causes” is “the seeds planted
by creating karma.” This is “the suchness of causes.”
>> The seventh is. “Assisting conditions that enhance fruition are
the suchness of conditions.”
>> The eighth is. “The fruit resulting from assisting conditions and
seeds is called the suchness of effects.”
>> Every realm within the Ten Dharma-realms, all things sentient or
non-sentient, all phenomena of form or mind, are all replete with the Ten
Suchnesses.
“Body, speech, and mind
create the Threefold Karma.
The habitual creation of karma is a cause.
These habitual creations in previous lifetimes
form the seeds for future lifetimes.
So, good people habitually do good deeds and accumulate more goodness.
Evil people habitually do bad deeds and accumulate more evil.”
This is to share with everyone that our daily living cannot be separated from the Threefold Karma of body, speech and mind. We continuously and repeatedly replicate the Threefold Karma. So, it is a “cause.” I often say that whenever we open our mouths, we create karma, we commit transgressions. These are our habitual tendencies. “The habitual creation of karma is a cause.” We keep repeatedly creating such karma. This is a continuous [cycle]. This seed is known as a “cause.”
“This habitual creation in the past” has, from earlier, yesterday, the day before, since Beginningless Time, been continuously accumulated and “forms a seed for the future.” In the past, we did these things, so these seeds already exist. In our future lifetimes, the [presence of these] seeds continues on.
So, take “good” for example. If we are people who do good deeds, we usually have a broad view of things and pure [intentions] toward others. Having an open heart and pure thoughts is also a kind of habitual tendency. No matter what people said, it remains in the past. When people do good deeds, we are glad to hear about them. We rejoice in others’ accomplishments. We do [good deeds] and teach others to do them. These are all good things. So, the things good people do and practice are all good habitual tendencies. Moreover, with these good habits, everything they do will always be good. Therefore, good begets good. In this lifetime, we create causes for goodness, which become seeds for goodness. When good conditions are added to seeds of goodness, this creates good karmic retributions. This principle is certain.
As for evil, “evil people habitually do bad deeds and accumulate more evil.” Evil thoughts lead us to constantly take issue with others. If people interact with such habitual tendencies, they cannot treat others with an open heart. They use their suspicions to keep others out. If they do this, these habitual tendencies will also grow stronger. So, I often mention greed, anger and ignorance. This is followed by arrogance, then followed by doubt. When we doubt others, we do not trust them. When we do not trust others, they feel uncertain of us as well.
So, we must clearly distinguish right from wrong. Good deeds are what we must do and teach others to do. Then goodness can endlessly reproduce goodness, so more goodness will accumulate. When we know something is not right, we must promptly change [our ways]. If we refuse to change our bad habitual tendencies, if we act this way at all times, every day, our [negative habitual tendencies] will replicate and grow. Negative causes will create negative conditions, which lead to negative things. So, indeed there is no other way to engage in spiritual practice but to really understand how, among people in the world, we can return to our pure intrinsic nature.
The Buddha constantly expounds the Dharma to us. Earlier we spoke of the “Suchnesses,”
“The suchness of form, the suchness of nature, the suchness of embodiment, the suchness of power, the suchness of function.”
I have spoken of the Ten Suchnesses, and these are the first five.
We must recognize “the suchness of nature.” All things have their own fundamental nature. Humans have a human nature. Therefore, all living things in the world have their individual appearances and their individual natures. But their true nature is the same. Beings that transmigrate in the Six Realms all have the same true nature but different forms. Tigers, lions and leopards are all living beings but have different appearances and habitual natures.
[The next five are].
“The suchness of causes, the suchness of conditions, the suchness of effects, the suchness of retributions, the suchness of ultimate [wholeness] from beginning to end. The suchness of causes” is “the seeds planted by creating karma.” This is “the suchness of causes.”
This is similar to planting seeds. After we sow them, they will grow, flower and produce fruits. In the same way, when the seed of a tree is planted in the ground, it will also grow, flower and produce fruits. Its origin is a single seed. But after the tree blooms and bears fruit, what we harvest has, from this one seed, reproduced into many, many seeds. This is how we create [karma] and continuously replicate it to cause bad things to endlessly aggregate and multiply. One [bad] seed can multiply and then yield many seeds of ignorance.
This applies to evil. The opposite, the correct thing, is goodness. Goodness also works similarly. So, if we do good things, good will continuously beget good and reproduce goodness. The principles are the same; the only difference is good or evil. “Refrain from all evils” means we cannot plant evil causes. “Do all good deeds” means we must create more good causes and blessings. This is something we must strive to do.
The seventh is. “Assisting conditions that enhance fruition are the suchness of conditions.”
Indeed, if we put a seed over there by itself, it will be of no use. We must ensure that this seed converges with conditions. Conditions such as soil, water, sunlight, air etc. must come together with it. These are assisting conditions. They assist this seed in becoming a fruit tree.
If the conditions are insufficient, for example if this seed only encounters water, it may germinate and sprout, but that is the only thing we will ever see. Although the sprout appears, the plant will not grow beyond that. We can then only tell that this seed is alive. It still lacks other conditions. It lacks conditions such as soil, sunlight, air and many other conditions. So, just one seed and one condition will not have enough strength. It must have the embodiment of a seed, as well as the power. To have assisting power, there needs to be other conditions.
Although it has both nature and form, if the conditions are inadequate, it will not be able to exercise its power. So, there needs to be causes and conditions. Conditions are necessary to assist the causes in bearing fruit. This cause is the seed, which gives rise to the effect. What kind of seed is this? A longan seed. We plant it, wait for it to grow and then harvest it. This is called the effect. The resulting fruit we harvest is the longan. Longan seeds will never produce lychees. To help a cause bear fruit, we need various conditions.
These are the examples we use to understand that [what comes out of] good and evil seeds is predetermined. Once we have good or evil seeds, we need good or evil conditions. Evil conditions will give rise to evil. Good conditions will give rise to good. But good and evil are intermixed in this world. There is both evil and good. There are bad temperaments. This person is good; he just has a bad temper. This is how good and evil are intermixed. So, things that assist causes to produce fruit are called assisting conditions. These assisting conditions allow [the seeds] to bear fruit.
The eighth is. “The fruit resulting from assisting conditions and seeds is called the suchness of effects.”
I just spoke of causes and conditions, and now the effects have manifested. All the causes and conditions we created in our past lives will then influence this life, including the parents we have and every person we meet throughout our life up until we grow old and die. These are all people we formed affinities with. Do we have bad or good affinities with them? If the karmic connections are good, we are happy to see them in this lifetime. If the karmic connections are bad, they will obstruct and impede us on many levels. Because of bad causes and conditions, naturally, when we come to this world, there will be negative effects and retributions. This is a definite principle.
The ninth is the retributions that are reaped. Retribution does not only refer to bad things. Good things can also be retributions.
Look at all the good things that are accomplished. [This is because] many people come together to complete good things. So, we often say we are very grateful that in our previous lives we created good affinities [so that we can be here]. In Tzu Chi, this big organization, when people see each other, they warmly say, “My Dharma-brother, how are you?” This is how they interact with each other. “Thank you, Dharma-sister; I am grateful.” When people speak, they express their gratitude, ask after each other.
In this large organization, we all work toward one thing. When it has been completed, we express our gratitude and mutually praise one another. Because we have good affinities, we are determined to manifest our ideals. When we reap and gather [the fruits] of good causes and conditions, this is the form that manifests. This is what we must put our hearts into; this is the “suchness of retribution.”
After the previous nine comes the tenth. The ten began with nature and form. Form is the foundation.
People intrinsically have form as their beginning and retribution as the end, A lot depends on our form. If we take the form of a human, we can attain and accept the Buddha-Dharma. If we “faithfully accept and practice it” during our lives, in the end we will ultimately attain many teachings. Attaining many teachings [affects] the way we live every day. Whether we create good or bad karma begins with this form.
Our form is that of a human. We can see that all things on Earth have all kinds of different forms. When we listen to the teachings, we hear many analyses of things, so “by grasping one truth, we understand all truths.” Because we have a human form, we can receive this unsurpassed, subtle and wondrous Dharma. So in the end, what is the final destiny we head toward? In the beginning, I mentioned many forms. Bad causes, conditions and effects will ultimately produce [negative] retributions. Good causes, conditions and effects will ultimately produce good [retributions]. We will then attain the next level and
transcend the Six Unenlightened Realms where we cannot control our retributions. We create certain causes, so we encounter certain conditions, and then we cannot control the karmic retributions we must face. Now that we recognize this, we want to do away with the Six Realms and also heighten our vigilance [to enter] the Four Noble Realms. If we are Hearers, by hearing [the teachings], we understand them. We may also be Solitary Realizers who observe the impermanence of this world to understand the Dharma. After hearing the Dharma, we understand and develop aspirations. By realizing the impermanence of life, we will seize the day to form great aspirations and vows to be a Bodhisattva and diligently advance [on this path]. At the end of the Bodhisattva-path is the ultimate state of Buddhahood.
Every realm within the Ten Dharma-realms, all things sentient or non-sentient, all phenomena of form or mind, are all replete with the Ten Suchnesses.
So everyone, we must all understand this. We must mindfully comprehend the Ten Suchnesses, starting from the Six Realms of the [Ten Dharma-realms]. How we transmigrate within the Six Realms is beyond our control. We live in the human realm, so we can listen to the Buddha-Dharma. By listening to the Dharma, we become awakened. Through realizing the impermanence of all things, we become awakened. After we understand the Dharma and realize impermanence, we must develop great aspirations and begin walking the Bodhisattva-path. At the end of the Bodhisattva-path is the Buddhahood we seek; then we can realize the true principles of the universe, which is the ultimate teaching.
So as for the Ten Suchnesses, if we can thoroughly understand them, we will become clearer on all Dharma. Every single thing has its own nature and form, its power. I hope we can all mindfully comprehend how our own nature, form, embodiment and power will function and [create] causes, conditions, effect and retributions. Whether we are speaking or silent, moving or still, we are creating the Threefold Karma. So everyone, please always be mindful.