Bodhisattvas Fear Causes

It is said that bodhisattvas fear causes while sentient beings fear effects. So, bodhisattvas fear negative effects and take steps to avoid creating any negative cause. In doing so, they eradicate their debts—the karmic obstacles created from their previous wrongdoings. They also accumulate perfect merits and virtues until they reach the state of buddhahood. Whether worldly phenomena or the teachings of the Buddhas, nothing is beyond the law of cause and effect. Everything is empty and unreal, an eternally impermanent element. But the law of cause of effect is unchangeable and real, an eternally permanent element.

Cause and effect are closely related as they coexist mutually. A cause becomes an effect, which in turn results in another cause. From this endless cycle, we can see that a particular cause is not fixed. Neither is a single effect the only effect. The combination of cause and effect forms a continuous cycle, the cycle of rebirth.

Bodhisattvas are awakened, understanding beings and are therefore well aware that every single cause produces an effect. Because of this, they are mindful of their every thought, word, and action. They understand that a negative cause will become a future negative karmic effect, which they themselves will have bear.

Unlike bodhisattvas, sentient beings do not understand the principles and the realities of life. The little knowledge that we may have is limited and vague, far from complete. So, we carelessly commit causal actions and do not understand, when the effects occur later, why they happened. It is then too late for regret. Cause and effect are continuously played out all around us. If we are unable to connect the events, it is because we are not mindful. Rather we are impulsive and careless, not yet truly understanding.

For our own sake, we should not want to create any more bad causes but, instead, only cultivate those that are good. This is what the ancient masters and patriarchs tried so hard to encourage us to do.

So Where's My Garden?

 

For something to happen, we need the right conditions. What do I mean by conditions?

To attend college, I need the right conditions: study, good grades, and money to pay the tuition. To advance in my career, I need the right conditions: hard work that places me above the average, a supervisor who values my efforts, and an ability to get along well with my fellow employees. To be reborn in the Pure Land, I need the right conditions: faith, vows, and practice.

How do we create the right conditions?

We work hard planting the right seeds.

We figure out what is the cause that will bring about the wished for condition. And then we do the hard work of planting those causes, just like we work hard at planting and then nurturing seeds if we wish to have a garden. Sure we can watch the birds dropping seeds and see seeds being blown onto our barren plot of ground, but just watching this happen won't make a garden.

We need to carefully choose and then attentively and diligently tend our seeds. We need to make sure they are safe from adverse conditions like not enough water or too much sunlight or the onslaught of hungry insects. We don't wait around for someone else to wander along and do all the planting, watering, and weeding for us because if someone else does all the work, it will become their garden. Wonderful for them, but it will leave us still without a garden.

The law of cause and effect assures us that if we plant the cause, we will have the result. There is no doubt about this. Be assured that it will happen. Exactly when, I do not know. But I do know that without planting the cause, we will not have the conditions we wish for. Also, the more causes we plant, the better our chances for quickly getting the wished-for conditions.

Harmony Within and Without

The Study Report says: “Harmony at the level of inner truth (noumenon) means to attain One Mind Undisturbed and the Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment.” This is the goal of Pure Land practitioners. We Pure Land practitioners share the same goal and work towards the same direction—to attain One Mind Undisturbed. This is the goal of Pure Land practitioners. When one attains One Mind Undisturbed, one is truly qualified for attaining rebirth in the Western Pure Land. When one attains rebirth in the Western Pure Land, one will attain Supreme, Perfect Enlightenment. This is harmony at the level of inner truth (noumenon); this is our common goal.

Harmony at the level of phenomena means that we have to coexist. The Buddha taught the Six Harmonies for the Sangha to follow in daily life. The first is harmony in having the same viewpoints. How does one achieve this? By following the teachings in the sutras. The second is harmony in observing the same precepts. These precepts are the norms in daily life that we have to follow. The third is harmony in living together. We have to get along with everybody in a group. The fourth is harmony in speaking without conflict. There is no argument; whatever personal opinion we have, we replace it with the thought of Amituofo. The fifth is harmony in experiencing the Dharma bliss. We should be sincere, pure-minded, impartial, and compassionate. The last is harmony in sharing benefits. Everybody has the same living standard, and all offerings received are shared fairly.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

And it Made Me Cry

 

It's instinctive. And it made me cry. Not a lot. Only for a few seconds, but enough to think again how difficult it is to eliminate attachments.

Sitting here at my desk, I just saw some baby goslings. They were born within the past twenty-four hours because their parents, two Canada geese, were alone yesterday.

The goslings are so small. Little, yellow balls of fluff waddling along on short, but obviously sturdy, legs. Five trusting cotton balls walking in line behind their mother and followed by their father. Instinctively I wanted to call out to my mother to come see them as I have in the past. But time passes, and my mother is no longer alive, no longer able to marvel with me at how quickly the babies can walk and swim. And I miss her and am sad.

And I cry.

And then I smile. 

And I am again aware that it is difficult to give up what can no longer be. Difficult to break long-held attachments. Difficult to move on.

Difficult, but necessary. 

Because on the other side of difficult is joy in having been fortunate, contentment with what is, and growth through understanding the suffering of others. And each time, we take a peak at the other side of difficult, it is easier. And quicker.

And each time the smile returns sooner.

Impermanence

The practice and understanding of impermanence is not just another description of reality. It is a tool that helps us in our transformation, healing and emancipation.

Impermanence means that everything changes and that nothing remains the same in any consecutive moments. And although things change every moment, they still cannot be accurately described as the same or as different from what they were a moment ago.

When we bathe in the river today that we bathed in yesterday, is it the same river? Heraclitus said that we couldn’t step into the same river twice. He was right. The water in the river today is completely different from the water we bathed in yesterday. Yet it is the same river. …

The insight of impermanence helps us to go beyond all concepts. It helps us to go beyond same and different and coming and going. It helps us to see that the river is not the same river but is also not different either. It shows us that the flame we lit on our bedside candle before we went to bed is not the same flame that is burning the next morning. The flame on the table is not two flames, but it is not one flame either.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, no death, no fear