Law of Cause and Effect -- The Three Worlds

                   We've learned so far from the Law of Cause and Effect, that every effect has a cause.


                   So of all the various ages, time periods, and decades we could have been born in... what exactly determines when is the moment we're born?

Original Photo Art by Alan Cleaver available on Flickr.com

                   Answer: the Law of Cause and Effect.

                 There are now more than 7 billion people alive today with nearly 200 countries in the world. We could have been born in so many different cities and places on this planet. So what determines where in the world we're born? Or how we even came to be born to our parents?

Original Photo by woodleywonderworks available on Flickr.com

                   Answer: It's still the Law of Cause and Effect.

Good Cause,    good effect.

Bad cause,    bad effect.

Own cause,    own effect.

                  Let's review briefly.

                  Cause refers to our deeds or actions.

                  Effect means our resulting experiences.

                  Good deeds lead to good results; bad deeds lead to bad results. Our own actions determine the good or bad experiences that happen to us.

                  So, for example, let's say you were born in United States. The cause for your birth had to occur before you were born.

                  The Law of Cause and Effect applies throughout all of the Three Worlds. In Buddhism, the Three Worlds represent time.

                 The Three Worlds are the Past World, the Present World, and the Future World.

                 The Past World includes all our lives from before our present life. 

                  The Present World is the span of our life from birth to death. 

                  The Future World represents our afterlife.

                  We've performed countless deeds in our past lives. All these past actions from before our human experience are what determined in this lifetime what our gender would be, the city we were born in, and even our date of birth. We could have been born at a time of war or a time of peace. Our family could have been richer or poorer when they had us. All of these karmic factors are determined by the deeds of our past life.

                   Children born to the same parents have different faces, personalities, and talents. This is because each one of them has their own individual karma.

                     Our destiny changes over time as a result of each choice we make in the present.

                   Now if someone chooses to take the life of another, they may face the death penalty for their actions. But why is it that if someone takes the lives of 10 people, or even 100 people, they can still only be put to death one time? Under ordinary law, the consequences for the other murders can't be prosecuted. 

                   But if a worker is paid a salary of $100 a day and then works for ten days straight, would it make sense to only get paid $100? No, of course not. Ten days work would deserve $1,000. One hundred days of work would merit $10,000 of wages. 

                   If the causes vary, then the results should also vary. 

                   A murderer can face the death penalty in this life only once. However, under the Law of Cause and Effect, they have to face the repercussions of every life they extinguished in a future life.

                   And just because a bad seed remains undetected does not mean that the person who planted it is safe. It may take time, but the bad effect will most certainly emerge for that person.

                   A seed that is planted will surely grow.

                  Let's review a scientific example of a cause with a delayed effect. More than 30,000 years ago, a squirrel buried the fruit of a flower in the arctic region of Siberia. Forgotten over the ages, it became covered over with an icy cold permafrost and remained perfectly preserved in sub-zero temperatures. Then in February of 2012, Russian scientists were able to grow a healthy, living plant from the fruit of that flower.

Original Photo by captainmcdan available on Flickr.com

Original Photo by tasaarni available on Flickr.com

                 Likewise, karmic seeds that we planted long ago before we were born can still become effects within this lifetime.

                   This means that all those bad things that we ourselves have done and kept secret in our hearts and minds for sure, will come back to us one day.

                   Every cause in the universe has an effect. According to Buddhism, this has always been and will always be the truth. 

                   In order to reveal to us how our destiny is shaped, Sakyamuni Buddha shared this insight within the Cause and Effect Sutra:

If you want to know the seeds of the past, 

look at the fruit of the present. 

If you want to know the fruit of the future, 

look at the seeds of the present.

                         What does this mean exactly?

                         The way to know what you did in the past is to look at what's happening to you right now. Whatever you're doing at present will determine what type of experience you'll have in the future. 

                          There are many practical examples where this can be witnessed easily. Someone with good grades now is someone who studied hard in the past. Someone who's lazy now and makes no effort can't expect good results in the future.

                            However, because of all the countless past causes contained within our Alaya-consciousness (storehouse consciousness) since the beginningless past, there are a vast, incomprehensible combination of consequences that can occur to us while we're alive. The only missing component preventing them from occurring is the right condition to bring them about.

                            The Law of Cause and Effect as it relates to concept of time and condition is known in Buddhism as the Law of Causality in the Three Worlds.

  Looking deeply 

into our present 

reveals both 

the past and the future.

    The present is thus the key to the past and the future.

This is the reason 

why Buddhism teaches 

the importance of the present self 

and being in the 

NOW.

                           But did you know even the word "now" is in the past before you finish saying it?

                           When you say -- "Now!"-- as soon as you utter the sound "N-" from your lips, it enters the past by the time you arrive at the "-ow!" It's a tiny, one-syllable word, and yet with this example we can clearly see how time within the Three Worlds is all connected.

Original Photo by katerha available on Flickr.com

                           The more we strive to understand the Law of Cause and Effect, the more we strive to discard bad intentions and practice good intentions.

                           We aim at getting rid of bad thoughts, so that they don't occur to us later on. The result of doing bad things only brings more bad results into your mind.

                           We want to set our minds on positive thoughts, but then follow through with them so that they become actions as well. 

                           Because whatever we choose to do now... these choices will be the results we are going to end up harvesting for ourselves later. This is why we should fear evil and turn to the light with all our hearts.

Original Photo by _Virdi_ available on Flickr.com

                            If you don't want bad results, stop doing bad deeds. If you want to be happy, do good deeds.

                            This is the conclusion of this series on Law of Cause and Effect. I encourage you to read lessons on Law of Cause and Effect here on this blog. Continue to review and study it often, because this universal truth is both the foundation of Buddhism as well as the compass that points the way for all toward a happier life.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Arctic Flower Article from New York Times

Law of Cause and Effect -- Karmic Power

            So let's recap what we've learned so far about the Law of Cause and Effect before explore karmic power in more depth.

  Good causes produce good effects. 

Bad causes produce bad effects. 

 Own causes produce own effects.

Causes mean our actions, 

or in other words what we do.

Effects mean the result of our actions, 

or in other words what we experience in life.

            Good deeds bring us good experiences, and bad deeds bring us bad experiences. Our own actions determine what kind of experiences we bring into our lives.

Original Photo by Nicole Yeary available on Flickr.com

            The concept of individuals determining their own future through the power of their own deeds is known as karma.

             Karma is an invisible, indestructible energy that never fades away. It is this karma that has the power to determines whether events are favorable or unfavorable to us in any given situation.

             This karmic power is stored in what is known in Sanskrit as Alaya-vijnana, or "storehouse mind." It is like a spiritual storehouse holding all your karmic power. All our karma is stored here eternally without limit. This is the true self that transmigrates lifetime to lifetime within the cycle of birth and death.

            We can imagine this mind works almost like documents stored onto your computer. You first input data into the word processor by typing with your keyboard. All the letters and spaces you type translate into digital information which the computer then stores invisibly within its hard drive. The hard drive is very compact giving it the power to store a lot of information.

              Likewise, our physical brains also hold a lot of data. Over a lifetime, the brain of a scholar can often hold the contents of an entire library. His head doesn't have actual paper books in it. The contents of the books are stored invisibly within his mind.

Original Photo by Tulane Public Relations available on Flickr.com

                Now because of the invisible nature of karmic power, it can often conceal certain causes and effects from our perspective. Let's look at an example that demonstrates this idea.
              
                Every year in Japan, the cherry blossom trees bloom in the springtime. It is a national pastime to have a picnic under the trees to observe their beautiful pink, white and rose colored-leaves.

Original Photo by rumpleteaser available on Flickr.com

                 However, one creative Japanese poet wrote about the cherry blossoms during the winter and composed this curious work:

Year after year

Cherry blossoms bloom again

on Mount Yoshino

Split the tree and look inside -- 

where are all the flowers?

               In spring, we can see all these beautiful cherry blossoms in abundance, but the poet is asking us here... where is the power to bloom flowers in winter?

               Hidden within all of them is the power to bloom a flower. You can't chop the tree in half and see with your eyes where these flowers are hiding. Science may be able to pinpoint the location of where the organic chemistry of the flowers can be found, but you won't find actual flowers anywhere in the tree. So where are they?

                Sure, all the trees contain the tiny biological energy that make cherry blossoms. This power is a cause that remains dormant until the right condition comes along. That right condition is warm, spring weather. When this cause and condition combine, beautiful flowers bloom as the effect.

                 Trees that are sickly or malnourished no longer carry the biological energy required to create flowers even in spring. So a condition alone isn't enough. Without a cause, there's just no result. There must be a cause and condition for an effect. 

                 If cold weather makes spring arrive late, then the blossoms arrive late as well. In that case, the cause was ready, but the condition delayed the effect. If the winter is mild, then cherry blossoms can bloom sooner. The sooner a condition comes, the sooner it can become an effect.

                 So the energy in the cherry blossom trees is unseen. With the right condition, only then can the visible result of cherry blossoms emerge.

Original Photo by Zdenko Zivkovic available on Flickr.com

                  Karmic power is invisible too, but once it combines with the condition, it becomes an effect. If you where to look for it with a microscope in our body, you wouldn't be able to find it.

                   As we learned earlier, the Law of Cause and Effect runs through the Three Worlds. In the next post, we will learn how our karma relates to our past and future.

Law of Cause and Effect -- Own Cause, Own Effect

               Relationships and marriages take a lot of work. If both people don't put in the necessary effort, they often fall apart. It requires a very special balance between two people who are committed to each partner's well-being while remaining firmly centered themselves.

                But we often hear all the stories of how a good wife got stuck with a good-for-nothing husband. He may gamble, abuse alcohol, and then takes it all out on his wife, who only wants what's best for him.

Original Photo by Christiano Betto available on Flickr.com

                It's obvious to scold him for this wrongdoing and rightly so... especially if he's causing her to suffer. But according to Buddhism, is this bad spouse to blame for everything in this scenario?

                Let's re-examine what the Law of Cause and Effect says.

Good deeds,   good results.

Bad deeds,   bad results.

Own deeds,  own results.

                A good cause produces a good effect, and a bad cause produces a bad effect.

                Sow watermelon seeds, and surprise! You get a watermelon!

                Cause, of course, means our actions, and effect means our fate. So if we do good deeds, good things will happen to us. If we do bad deeds, bad things will happen to us. This point is clear.

       But there's one more phrase to reflect on from above:

Own deeds, own results.

Own deeds, own results = Own cause, own effect

                   This means if you drink a lot of alcohol, the person next to you is not the one who becoming intoxicated.

                    You're the one who receives the effects and gets drunk.

Original Photo by CarbonNYC available on Flickr.com

                   Let's say you're taking a college class. When you study hard, your grades will go up from that effort. Your classmate who didn't study does not receive the benefit of your diligent hours of memorizing the textbook.

                    Others' cause, own effect is not possible. Someone elses' deeds never determine your results.

Others' deeds = own results

Others' cause = own effect 

No chance!

                    On the surface level, it may be easy to agree with, but when we experience this principle firsthand, we begin to question it. As soon as bad things start happening, it's especially hard to accept this. How can we think this way when others are the ones making our lives hell? We blame and hate them for the misery we feel they alone have created for us. 

                    However, there's an old saying that helps us reflect on this frame of mind:

"The thief blames the rope that binds him." 

                    Hundreds of years ago, thieves were tied up with rope once they were captured. Today, of course, police officers use handcuffs. Either way, a thief can no longer move freely once he is detained. He begins to think that the rope is the real cause behind his suffering.

                    "If only it weren't for this rope, I'd be free!" he mutters to himself angrily. "It's all the fault of this stupid rope."

                     All the thief's rage is projected onto his current situation of being tied up. He sees this as his main problem and nothing else. 

                      Buddhism says that this is a foolish way of thinking. What got him tied up in the first place was his own actions. He should really be blaming himself for all the valuables he took from people. All the rope in the world couldn't bother this thief, if he hadn't been stealing to begin with. 

                     So to blame others for our misfortune, especially using phrases like "It's all your fault!" or "You're the one to blame!" makes us exactly like the thief cursing the rope.

Original Photo by Suhamshu available on Flickr.com

                     Everyone's suffering is the direct result of their own actions. 

                     Own cause, own effect. Every time.

                      So what about the good wife who was stuck with that bad husband earlier?

                      Well, the cause of her suffering still stemmed from her own past actions. He may really be a terrible person to be with. But had she never married him, she wouldn't have suffered as much. There are plenty of men in the world. Of all of those prospective bachelors, she chose HIM to fall in love with. If she married someone else, things would have been much different.

                      Without any doubt, the cause of her suffering comes from her past deeds.

                      But now you may think -- "But what about the husband?!? Don't tell me he's completely off the hook for being a jerk!" 

                      The husband isn't the cause of her troubles. He's a bad condition for her.

                      Only when a cause and condition come together can an effect arise.

  Cause = Wife's past karma (actions)

Condition = Husband's negative behavior

Effect = Wife's agony      

                       This universal truth could really be called the Law of Cause, Condition, and Effect, but it's referred to as as the Law of Cause and Effect for short.

                       Now let's imagine rice seeds as the cause. You'd like to grow some rice, but can you start planting anywhere? You can't just put some rice seeds on the carpet in your apartment or onto a solid block of ice and expect rice to grow. The rice seeds would never sprout in those places.

                       Rice seeds need sunshine, a lot of water, rich soil, and hot, humid temperatures. These are good conditions for rice seeds. When the cause of rice seeds comes together with these right conditions, stalks of rice become the result.  

                        So the cause of the wife's suffering was stored karmic power from her past, and the husband became a bad condition to her in the present. When these two forces combined, the effect became her suffering.

                         If the the wife's suffering continues despite her own positive efforts, she might have to consider a separation or divorce. This drastic step may be necessary, especially if her husband becomes violent or abusive. If we try to do as much good as possible but we don't receive good results, we may need to work on acquiring better conditions for ourselves.

                       So to implement the Law of Cause and Effect into our lives, we first become mindful of all the seeds we ourselves plant. This is because they will come back to us in the future as causes.

                        Then as good Buddhists, we try to be good conditions for others in hopes they follow our own example.

Original Photo by Natesh Ramasamy available of Flickr.com

                        Then as we've just learned, we must also be mindful of external conditions present in our life. By choosing the right conditions to surround ourselves in, we encourage more good causes to have a greater opportunity to flourish.

                       Please make sure to come back for the next installment in the Law of Cause and Effect series on karmic power.

Law of Cause and Effect -- Part One

      The foundation of Buddhism is the Law of Cause and Effect.

       Without knowing this deeply, one cannot understand Buddhism or move forward on the path. The Law of Cause and Effect is made up of these three essential guidelines:

Good deeds bring good results.

Bad deeds bring bad results.

Your own deeds bring your own results.

       Every effect has a cause and a condition.

Original Photo by stevendepolo available on Flickr.com

       A cause and a condition combine to make an effect.

       All effects have a cause. All effects have a condition. There are no exceptions.

Cause---------------------------------Condition

/\

Effect

       Due to this relationship, the Law of Cause and Effect can more clearly be known as the Law of Cause, Condition, and Effect.

      A law within Buddhism is a rule that penetrates the Three Worlds and Ten Directions.

      The Three Worlds are past, present, and future.

       The Ten Directions are north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, up, and down.

       The Three Worlds represent all time, infinity, always. The Ten Directions means any place, everywhere, all countries on the earth. So the Law of Cause and Effect is applicable everywhere, and it never changes. Even if society changes, this fundamental law in Buddhism never will.

       To give an example, let's look at rice. In order for there to be rice, there needs to be a rice seed. But just a rice seed alone cannot make rice. Proper water, sunlight, soil, and labor are required to harvest the rice. Only when it meets the right conditions can it produce rice.

Original Photo by Marc Veraart, available on Flickr.com

       Using this logic, it also becomes clear that a rice seed simply dropped on the floor of your house will never grow.

       Being born human is an effect, and so this must have a cause. Though we are all born human, the lives we are born into are all different. These different effects must have different causes. So each life has its own different cause. For examples, the location we're born like Africa, Japan, or the United States, and the era we were born into differs.

       Now there are situations that occur in which we do not know the cause. Yet there has to be a cause for those too. Something that happens accidentally doesn't mean it is without a cause. It is simply not yet known or the evidence is not available.

       So what is the future of humanity? What is the destination for all human beings?

                                                      Happiness    OR    Unhappiness

       We are living to obtain happiness. Favorable or unfavorable fates are effects. Without knowing their cause, we can't be happy. We all want to know the causes and effects that determine our fate for better or worse. That's why these three lines are so crucial to learn repeatedly:

Good deeds bring good results.

Bad deeds bring bad results.

Your own deeds bring your own results.

       To see cause and effect clearly, let's use for example fruits and vegetables. Planting a watermelon seed yields a watermelon. Planting a radish seed yields a radish. You harvest only what you yourself have planted.

If you plant watermelon seeds...

Original Photo by pj_vanf available on Flickr.com

 

you get watermelons.

Original Photo by srqpix available on Flickr.com

If you plant radish seeds...

Original Photo by Rosa Blue available on Flickr.com

you get radishes.

Original photo by orangejack available on Flickr.com

Your Effort   -------->   Your Result

       It is impossible to plant a watermelon seed and get a radish, or plant a radish seed and get a watermelon. It will never happen in a million years.

       Likewise, good effects or a favorable fate can only have come from a good cause. Bad effects or an unfavorable fate can only have come from a bad cause. The relationship of this principle penetrates the Three Worlds and the Ten Directions.

      A good cause is the equivalent to a good deed or action.

       A bad cause is the equivalent of a bad deed or action.

       Suffering from a bad fate, we say we're unlucky or we've been hit by bad luck. But how does luck determine favorable or unfavorable fates?

Original Photo by fontplaydotcom available on Flickr.com

        Many attribute it to a god or the curse of an ancestor. But still the reason remains shrouded in vague, unclear answers.

       Our deeds and our actions determine our fates. Good deeds and actions will result in a good fate. Bad deeds and actions will result in a bad fate. To obtain happiness, we have to do good. No one wants to suffer a bad fate, but we can only avoid a bad fate by not doing bad. This truth penetrates the Three Worlds and the Ten Directions, both timeless and universal.

       Never has there ever been a case where a good deed has produced a bad effect. Never also has there been a bad deed performed that led to a good effect. Whether we're happy or not is caused solely by the deeds we perform.

       If a student studies hard, they will get good grades and eventually be employed. We can see clearly how the cause, studying diligently, led to the effect of getting good grades.

Original Photo by Enokson available on Flickr.com

        How deeply you believe in the Law of Cause and Effect shows how deeply you believe in Buddhism. When we think of stealing, we refrain ourselves from doing so in order to avoid the bad effect of being arrested. Again these ideals remain valid throughout the Three Worlds and the Ten Directions.

      What you sow, you shall reap. The concept of own cause own effect is very important and easily misunderstood. All of our fate at this moment has been brought on by our own deeds. It is our own deeds not those of others.

       We think in our minds constantly: others' cause, my effect. We think that someone else's deeds bring our effects. We constantly blame others for our misfortune. But this is completely wrong. There is not a single case where occurred. It is not true in the Three Worlds and the Ten Directions. All phenomenon occurs by own cause, own effect.

       When we're happy we accept the Law of Cause and Effect gladly. I worked really hard to enjoy these results. What I have sewn I am now reaping! But when tides turn and we are in a bad circumstance, we no longer believe it to be true. Yet when we're in trouble or in the wake of a natural disaster we do not think, what I have sewn I am reaping now. We persist otherwise by saying, "This could not have happened to me because of something I've done."

       If you cannot believe that this is the case in bad times, then truly you don't believe that good times are of your doing either.

       It's never the case that others' causes bring your effects.

       Some may ponder, "Why was I born as the son of horrible parents?" People like this are in miserable situations, and they often hold grudges against society or other people. But a seed you haven't planted will never occur to anyone, rest assured.

       Others' cause own effect will never occur. Never in life.

       An example of this is in the story of the thief who blamed the rope. A thief went out and stole someone's belongings. Then he was caught by the authorities and tied up with a rope. He began to suffer greatly and cursed the rope that restricted his freedom.

Original Photo by Itani Stock Photos available on Flickr.com

       Who created the pain for this thief? What's the cause?

        The thief believed it was the rope. However had he not stolen, there would not have been a rope. The thief must blame his own crime, created by his own actions.

       We study hard, and then we can get into a top university. We steal and we meet with misfortune. But do we really understand this point? When we suffer from trouble we know there must be a cause. The actions of someone else quickly become our target.

       If someone else is drinking alcohol, do you receive the effects of being drunk instead of them? No. How about you exercise and your friend gets healthier instead? No, if you're the one who's cautious with your diet, it's you who becomes leaner. The effects only occur to the person on the diet and their efforts.

         If you deeply believe in the Law of Cause and Effect, you must lament your misfortunes deeply as your own doing. We tend to instead sympathize with the thief tied down by the rope in those cases. We hold grudges and blame others which shows ignorance of the Law of Cause and Effect.

      In the next post, I will review this article and go over the incorrect notion of others' cause own effect.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reference: This three-part series on the Law of Cause and Effect is written from lecture notes. The seminar was taught by Takamori Kentetsu, the current living master of Pure Land Buddhism.