What causes us to be born in the higher or lower realms? This depends on the good and bad actions that we have accumulated. In fact, Samsara itself is produced by our own actions. There is nothing else that delivers us to the higher realms or to the lower realms. Anything good or bad we have experienced or are facing at the moment is the inevitable consequence of our past actions, and the kind of future we expect truly depends on our present actions.
Why have we taken birth in this human realm? Why are all humans not equal in terms of mentality, wealth, looks and so forth? Why do rich people get richer and the poor remain poor in spite of making the same effort? Ask these questions to yourself and analyze them time and again. Our own karmic actions and their consequences lead to the conclusion that every individual must bear the fruit of his or her own past deeds, irrespective of whether they were good or bad.
In this context the Sutra of Employing Mindfulness says,
It is possible for the fire to change its nature and become cold;
It is possible for the wind to be caught and be bound by a lasso;
It is possible for the sun and moon to fall on the ground;
But the fruits of past actions are infallible.
The law of cause and effect basically tells us that the pain and pleasure we experience today are the result of past deeds. The inevitable law of cause and effect is unavoidable, just as a shooter cannot control his arrow after it has been shot.
In order to comprehend the essence of cause and effect, I would like to relate a story of a man and his cruelty:
Once there lived a farmer who was very cruel and ill-tempered. He owned a poultry farm, where he raised as many as hundreds of chickens, usually selling them in the meat markets and to the hotels. One day as he went around checking his farm, he found a dog had entered his chicken house and killed one of his chickens. Seeing this, the farmer became very angry and dragged the dog outside. He became so furious that he shouted at the dog saying, “You filthy dog, I have taken so much trouble in raising these chickens and you have come to steal them…huh!!!” With that he took out his sharp knife and said, “I am not going to kill you but I will slice off your tongue. Let’s see if you ever dare to eat my chickens again.’’ The dog seemed to look sorry, he bowed his head down and cried softly for mercy but the cruel farmer grabbed the dog by the neck and brutally sliced off its tongue.
Many years passed after this brutal incident and one day the farmer received an invitation from his relatives saying he must attend the marriage ceremony of his nephew. The next day, he got on a bus and left for the wedding. On the way the bus slipped off the road and fell into a river, where many passengers died while some survived with severe injuries. The farmer was among the survivors but he was severely wounded too. When he woke up he found himself lying on one of the beds in the hospital, but he couldn’t understand what was happening. His memory was lost for sometime but slowly everything started to reappear in his mind. He remembered the journey by bus and the clear image of that tragic incident which nearly took his life. Out of fear he tried to scream but to his dismay, he found that he couldn’t scream at all. He felt severe pain in his mouth, he tried to speak but all in vain. The frightened farmer opened his mouth to look in a mirror and to his amazement he saw half of his tongue already cut off. He lost his ability to speak thereafter. He consulted many great doctors, but nobody could help him. The helpless farmer then remembered the incident of many years back when he ruthlessly sliced off the tongue of the innocent dog. He regretted his mindless act towards the helpless dog and he also realized that he was paying for his own misdeed.
With this story I shall pause here by quoting a saying:
“As you sow, so shall you reap”.
Similarly, Lord Buddha once said:
“Even after a hundred eons
Sentient beings’ actions are never lost.
When the conditions come together
Their fruits will fully ripen.”
Therefore one must be very cautious in considering one’s own actions. It is said that you will not be exempted from even for a slightest negative act without experiencing its grave consequences in the future. So as much as possible, try not to commit even a single unwholesome deed and try to develop a firm faith in the law of cause and effect.
By Nyima Wangdi
8th Year, NNI
