Lecturer: Master Zheng-Yan
Subject: The Karmic Law of Cause and Effect (因緣果報)
The ancients said “Good is rewarded, evil is punished. All retribution will occur, it is just a matter of time.” That is right. Good deeds lead to rewards. We must believe this. Every day we talk about karmic cause and effect, so we must believe the Buddha’s teachings.
The Sutras, and the ancients, said that good is rewarded. We must believe this. Good is rewarded, and of course, evil is punished. It is only a matter of time. All retributions, good or bad, will occur. We have to understand this.
We also said yesterday that the Sutras tell us there are three types of karmic retribution. Next-life Retribution, Present-life Retribution, Future-life Retribution. With present-life Retribution, whatever we have done in this life, we will face the retribution in this life.
There was a story in the news. It was on every TV channel. It took up a whole page in the newspaper. The story was from Central Taiwan, about a woman who killed her mother-in-law. The woman was only 28 years old. When this report came out, her father kept saying, “How is this possible! She was such a good kid. I told her to kill a fish when she was little, and she didn’t dare. How could she kill someone?” But this was a prominent story in the newspaper, and the woman admitted that she killed her mother-in-law. How could a young wife feel such deep hatred toward her mother-in-law? According to the neighbors, the mother-in-law treated her well enough.
But others said, “Sometimes we heard them argue quite a bit.” And there were other rumors “Not long ago, the mother-in-law had helped her pay off some debts.” So, some people wondered if she killed her over money. “Maybe her mother-in-law would not give her money to pay off new debts, so she killed her.” This young woman looked very pretty and was very young. How would she live the rest of her life? The two of them must have had a bad karmic affinity in a past life.
Otherwise, in this life, why couldn’t their neighbors and relatives piece together her motive? Why would such an atrocious murder occur? The mother-in-law must have accumulated bad seeds and affinities in a past life to reap the retribution in this one. As for the woman, she had to pay for a life with a life. Perhaps she will receive life imprisonment, instead of being sentenced to death. Perhaps she will be in jail for decades. Won’t she feel regretful and blame herself? She will still live for a long time. Isn’t this Present-life Retribution?
It may be a Present-life or Next-life Retribution. Perhaps this was the Next-life Retribution for the mother-in-law from her last life.
Next-life Retribution means that if we do good or bad in this lifetime, we will face retribution in the next life.
As for the daughter-in-law, she faced retribution in this life. There is also Future-life Retribution, which happens in a future lifetime. Some people who do bad things in this lifetime are very smug and do not do a single bit of good. They treat others harshly or poorly. But they have not exhausted their blessings, so they still proudly enjoy themselves. How can we explain this? We can only say that it is not yet time for their retribution. Perhaps they will face it in a subsequent lifetime. This is the karmic law of cause and effect.
So it is said, “We face it in this life or in the future,” or “we face retribution after innumerable lives.”
Sometimes retribution happens in this lifetime, sometimes the next, and sometimes incalculable lifetimes in the future. This is truly very wondrous. So, keep a clam mind and pure thoughts. Having found the correct direction, we should remain pure in our hearts and have faith in the karmic retribution Buddha spoke of good and bad. If good karma is stronger than the bad, then there are remnants of blessings. So, we see people enjoying blessings because they have a lot of good seeds and affinities from their past lives. If their blessings are strong and unexhausted, they will enjoy them before facing retribution.
People recite the Water Repentance. They listen to and discuss it. It was written by Dharma Master Wu-da. Ten lifetimes earlier, he was Yuan Ang. Out of loyalty to the emperor, and to protect the country and its people, he lured Chao Cuo to the East City to kill him. Chao Cuo realized he had been set up, and his heart was filled with hate. When the sword fell, his mouth was open. When his head rolled, a rock went into his mouth; and as he clenched down, he shattered the rock. Clearly, his hatred was tremendous. He was determined to avenge himself, so he kept following Yuan Ang. But after Yuan Ang killed Chao Cuo, he left his post. He left lay life to become a monk in the mountains. He started to fear karmic cause and effect. He knew murderers would face retribution. So, he focused on his practice and strictly upheld the precepts. For ten lifetimes he was a revered monk; for ten lifetimes Chao Cuo followed him but the conditions for revenge never manifested.
After ten lifetimes, Yuan Ang became Wu-da. When Wu-da was a young practitioner, he obeyed precept and was disciplined. He nurtured a loving heart. For a while he traveled from temple to temple. At one time, there was another monk, who was seriously ill, staying at the same temple. The young monk, Wu-da, could not bear to see the sick monk suffer, with no one to care for him. So, he stayed and took care of him. Eventually the sick monk recovered and the two monks who had stayed together bid each other farewell. This sick monk told the young monk, “If you have any difficulties in the future that you cannot resolve, come find me. I will be between two giant pine trees on Jiulong Mountain.” Then they parted.
The young monk roamed freely and spoke the Dharma to help transform others. Eventually everyone treated this young monk, Master Wu-Da, with great respect. Emperor Yi-Zong revered the Buddha’s Dharma; he knew its truth was profound and mysterious. Since this young monk was so knowledgeable, he invited him to the palace to expound Dharma. After hearing the Dharma expressed so well, Yi-Zong took refuge under him and named him Imperial Dharma Master. He gave him offerings and respected him. He often came to speak with him and asked him to explain what he did not understand.
Once he had a chair made, a beautiful and expensive sandalwood chair. Sandalwood was as valuable as gold. The emperor felt the person he respected most should sit on the most valuable of treasures. He spared no expense to make this valuable chair for Master Wu-da. Master Wu-da, in a brief moment of pride, accidentally bumped into the chair and developed a bruise. The wound bled and festered. He was the imperial teacher of the entire country, so naturally, the emperor called on all the eminent physicians treat him. They could not do anything. They exhausted all kinds of treatments. They all shook their heads. This was a rare human-faced sore. It looked like a mouth that was eating something. Whatever medicine they applied, or tried to stuff into it, made no difference. So, master Wu-Da knew this must be karma. How do you exhaust this type of karma? He remembered what the sick monk told him decades before. There must have been a hidden meaning behind it.
So, he begged the emperor to let him go to Jiulong Mountain. The emperor had no other solutions, so he sent an entourage with master Wu-Da. When they arrived, a young novice led him in. The two monks were happy to see each other again. That poor monk was poor monk was actually Venerable kanaka, a highly realized monk. Venerable Kanaka said to Master Wu-Da. “Don’t worry. Sleep here tonight. Tomorrow I’ll ask the young novice to guide you to the pond at the foot of the mountain. Just wash your wound there.
So, early next morning, the young monk guided him that place. Seeing a pool of clear water, Master Wu-da quickly knelt down, but as he gathered the water to wash his wound, he seemed to hear someone speaking to him. The voice said loud and clear, “Ten lifetimes age, Yuan Ang killed Chao Cuo in the East City. You were Yuan Ang and I was Chao Cuo. I have waited for revenge for ten lifetimes. You’ve been an esteemed monk for ten lifetimes, so I have had no way in. Now you are a teacher to the emperor. But once you became arrogant, the door of karma opened and I entered. Now Venerable Kanaka has washed away my grievances, so I am satisfied. After hearing that, it seemed like the work from a dream. So, he gathered the water to wash the wound. It hurt him to the bone. When he woke up, he was healed. He turned around to express his gratitude, but everything had disappeared. The temple was gone. So, he established a practice center there and wrote the Repentance text.
So, the Water Repentance came from Master Wu-Da. This is an example of Future-life Retribution. The retribution was unexhausted. It took ten lifetimes for the opportunity to arrive. He was an esteemed monk for ten lifetimes. So how can karma be exhausted? Only with retribution. We need to accept it, then it will naturally be exhausted. In conclusion, karmic retribution is a very real thing. Good is rewarded, and evil is punished. It is just a matter of time. The retributions will always occur. So, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV 靜思晨語 法譬如水)
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