慈濟傳播人文志業基金會
On Karmic Effects

 

The compound of Miaotong Temple

Liugui, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan

Our shadows are upright when we stand in an upright position, whereas they are crooked when we bend down. We normally believe that our blessings have a direct connection with our behavior, just like the link between our physical bodies and shadows—i.e., we will eventually reap sweet fruits after doing good deeds, but we will suffer unfavorable consequences after doing evil things.

However, people’s lives and fates do not always unfold according to this seemingly well-founded tenet. As we can observe, many malicious people possess tremendous power and lead quite enjoyable lives, while the lives of many kind and benevolent people are full of suffering and hardship. My neighbor Mrs. Wang was a devout Buddhist who always urged others to adopt a vegetarian diet. She believed that we humans should not hurt any animals. She also never missed a chance to help the needy. To our surprise, this kind, compassionate woman was recently killed in a car accident. Shocked and bewildered, many of her friends while lamenting her death also expressed skepticism toward her belief in “doing good.” “Why wasn’t she blessed and protected by her karma?” they asked.

As a practitioner of Buddhism for over two decades, I believe that the good karmic effects one reaps may not have been sown solely in one’s current life. By the same token, one may wait until a future life to face the retribution for bad deeds committed in one’s present life. The rice we eat today was actually grown and harvested last year. If the good karma that a person created in his previous lives is ripe, he may, regardless of the bad acts he commits in his current life, still enjoy those blessings and rewards in this life. It is like a farmer who can tide his family over during a bad year if he has stored enough grain and food from previous years. That same farmer will probably run into big trouble next year if his farm is unproductive this year.

Furthermore, people change their minds quickly. A good person’s determination to do good deeds might not last forever. Conversely, a malevolent person might be inspired by someone he admires and subsequently repent for his sins and become a new man. All these intertwined transformations can be difficult to scrutinize.

As bystanders, we can hardly judge a person according to his good deeds because many people deliberately do good deeds discreetly so other people will not know about them. This is called an accumulation of unknown merit. We can only see the tip of an iceberg, unaware that over 90 percent of the ice is below the surface of the water. Likewise, karmic effects, similar to icebergs floating aimlessly at sea, can be truly hard to examine and describe.

The law of karmic effects helps resolve a basic question: Why should we need to do good deeds and refrain from doing bad things? Instructors from social, educational, and religious organizations both in the East and West exhort their followers to do good deeds because this doctrine universally conforms to both public interests and to God’s will. We are inclined to consider our own personal interests before we do something, and we make sure that what we do will benefit not only ourselves but also our friends and families. The core meaning of the law of cause and effect fits this frame of mind perfectly. Good has its reward and evil has its recompense. We reap what we sow. Those who live according to this law are accountable for their own behavior, and they actually do not need to be stimulated or prompted by the teachings of any religious mentors or schoolteachers. They can choose for themselves a decent or an unfavorable future. They are the true masters of their own destiny.

We Buddhists firmly believe we can take nothing but the karma we have created, good or bad, with us when we die. According to the Earth Treasury Sutra, we can accumulate a lot of karmic merits by doing good deeds in this life, and we will consequently be greatly blessed in a future life. In the same way, we will surely encounter a lot of calamities, misfortunes, and disturbances in the future if we keep doing wrong or committing crimes in this life. We might even be reborn into the Three Lower Realms of animals, hungry ghosts, and hell.

This brings to mind one of Master Cheng Yen’s teachings: “Work willingly and receive the results joyfully.”

Fall 2017