The law of cause and effect (Karma)

Buddhists believe in the law of cause and effect or karma: all the suffering we experience is the result of its previous cause; if there is no cause, there is no effect. If we engage in a good cause, we will experience a good effect, and vice versa. If we plant an apple, it will grow apple, not orange. If we plant an orange, it will grow orange, not apple. And all the mental, physical and financial ailments are the effects of our accumulated causes. Nothing is independent of cause and condition, and so things depend on cause and condition. So there are no effects which doesn't precede its cause.

The suffering we experience is the result of a cause that we accumulated. If we have not created a cause of suffering, Karma we did not commit will not be experienced, and the karma we commit will not be wasted. There is no fruit without seed.

Every part of our life is related to karma. Although we deny law of cause and effect, it is a reality that we experience every moment of our life.  The poor man suffer from financial problems, until he unearth a treasure lying under his floor.

For our own happiness, we create the cause of suffering. In Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life Shantideva says:

          Even though we wish to abandon suffering

          We create the cause of this suffering.

          Although we wish for happiness,

          Like enemies, we unwittingly destroy our happiness.

Karma is produced by ignorance. This very ignorance has wide and deeper meaning in Buddhist context. To begin with, we should know the way we generate ignorance, and how it accumulate karma. To know the way we generate ignorance, we should identify ignorance, and should know the stages of generating ignorance, the cause of ignorance and its negative effects.

There are six root ignorance. These are: attachment, anger, pride, ignorance, deluded doubt and deluded view. All these ignorance including the six roots derives from self-grasping ( I), and so the root of ignorance is self-grasping. Saying I, we first cherish to ourselves. Then, saying mine, we attach to our body, eye, face and so on. This leads to attachment to our side and hatred to other side. To protect I and Mine, we engage in harming, stealing, lying, and so on. In this way we accumulate karma. Therefore I or self-grasping plays the main role to accumulate sin and karma. This self-grasping is annihilated only by realizing emptiness.  So the emptiness is the antidote to self-grasping. Therefore Lord Buddha gave numerous teachings mostly in order to remove the self-grasping. We then attain liberation or Moksha. Any form of suffering comes to end.  

Even in one day, without our notice, we accumulate many sins by our speech, body and mind. We do not remember how many sins we commit every day. If we maintain mindfulness, we will be careful with our thought, action and speech.

If it is not karma, then why the children from the same family differ in intelligence, behavior, thoughts and so on?  We seldom find a family whose members have everything in common.

Some people escape death in air crush or road accidents, while others die immediately. Those who escape have no karma to die on that instance. If there is no karma of death, one would not die although he jumps from a building. Sometimes we think I haven't done any bad things, still I have problems after problems. Remember we experience the fruits of karma we accumulated in our previous life.

Few days back Stave Jobs passed away. His demise was a big lost to humankind in the digital world. He was a talented person and made a lasting contribution to young generation. Many wished him live longer because he gives us sophisticated gadget. But I am not yet reach his gadget. When karma came, it is impossible although we want to live. Here I mentioned his name to appreciate his immense digital contribution that no one ever dreamed. I pray that he reborn as a human and continue his social contribution to humankind.

 

Death cannot be avoided by fame, wealth, skill and entourage. If we have belief in karma, we try our best to avoid negatives as much as possible, and engage in positive as much as possible. Even when we die, we will die peacefully.

 If we have no karma, no matter how hard we work, we are not able to accomplish. If it is not so, everybody becomes rich because everybody wants to be rich and work for that end.

According to Buddhism there are four forces to clean our sins. Among them the most important are to regret the sin and promise not to repeat it. We wash our body every day, but forget to clean the dirt inside our body, which is sin. If you have interest to learn about karma, you can read Lamarim, which is condensation of Buddhism, where you find the subject on karma.

Prices are soaring; this makes us think more. Many gadgets are creating; these catch our attention. Generally speaking, what we have in the world is enough. What we really need is: we need to promote human value, remove poverty and preserve environment. Companies manufacture various technologies and commodities. They stir curiosity in our mind, and they eventually win us. They know the function and emotion of our mind. So every month they make mobiles with different designs. It is fine for rich, but problem for the poor. In this world has more poor than rich. These things often corrupt human mind. Some say it is my hobby to buy a latest mobile, and they buy it the moment it is unveiled.

I think it is better if we preserve environment and water. To wash their face our senior monks used a bowl filled with water. They said we should not waste water, and or it comes time when water is scarcity. I think they are the most qualified to receive the award for water preservation. Given the importance of environment, they planted fruits and flowers in their courtyard. My Guru wears same cloths for over 20 years. However, they used the cloths or things unless it is totally useless. My master has a bed sheet. It looks new, but it passed 20 years. On New Year he takes it out from wooden box and spread on the bed. When the New Year ends, he washes and packs inside the box.

Although we have so many facilities – I am sorry I have less facility and zero balance – we still say I have this and that problem. Our human desire is so large that it is difficult to be satisfied. If you read life stories of senior monks, our problems would disappear like melted ice. You would say: How they survived? How could they lead happy and peaceful life?

Also, if you have a house, look at millions of people who have no houses. You have your own house, and you are better than them. If you are in developed countries, you enjoy much facility than millions of people living in developing countries. So you have many things which you should be happy and satisfied.

However, look at this life what we were in previous life. What we will be in next life, look at what we do now.

Dharmarakshita said:

“The oppression we go through is caused by looking down on low profiled people, or it is the result of holding an attitude of contempt instead of love for others, hatred instead of showing them loving-kindness. The sufferings of poverty are the result of deliberately preventing others from gaining their necessities or destroying their possessions. The sufferings of estrange from ones friends and family are the result of ones actions like seducing other's partner, or deliberately estrange other’s friends. However, most of our experiences in this life are compensation of the actions we committed in our past lives”.

A man called Nyempa was ugly, but he had melodious voice. People are disgust with his look, but pleasant with his voice. In the previous life, Nyempa was a builder. A king hired many men to build a large Stupa. One of the builders was wore out and felt hostile towards the king's project. He muttered to himself "What is the point of constructing such a huge Stupa?" When the construction of the Stupa was finished, he offered a beautiful bell for the Stupa. The builder's hostility caused his body into ugly. His offering of the bell gave him divine voice. So we unwittingly create all the wrong causes.

  
We must firmly hold this determination in our mind. With that, we will try our best to create virtuous and stay away from non-virtuous as much as possible. We cannot abandon all non-virtue actions, but we can abandon killing, stealing, lying, and harming.

For Buddhists observation of karma is the main practice. Karma is very powerful. Even a Bodhisattva takes rebirth in lower realm. However, all misfortune and failure are caused by our karma. We don’t know whether we have karma or not. We should try what we like. If we fail we can try another one. There is nothing to worry. This is how we lead our life.

Only Buddha perceives the details process of karma. Not so by Bodhisattva. Belief in karma is difficult task: we rarely experience Karma immediately. If we experience karma immediately, we would avoid non-virtue and engage in virtue. Secondly, that we don't cautious or avoid non-virtue is influenced by having no belief in karma.

The law of karma is applied to every human being. The recognition of the fact of karma provides us benefit and profit. Regardless of our belief or recognition, karma is fact and reality, but invisible. Buddha didn't say I will protect you. Instead Buddha said I will give you teaching; you follow them; and you will be liberated. And if we believe in karma, tolerance becomes part of our daily life.

Karma follows us like shadow.

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