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Hello! Today I'd like to talk about Buddhism, specifically about the Principle of Cause and Effect.
The Principle of Cause and Effect is the foundation of Buddhism. The entire knowledge of Buddhism is based on it.
People who don't know it don't know anything about Buddhism.
The Principle of Cause and Effect is also the Final Truth of the Universe. Everything that happens in the Universe happens because of it. It controls everything that happens in the Universe.
No one can defies the Principle of Cause and Effect. It is impossible to break it. No one is omnipotent.
It is impossible to have an omnipotent being.
No god, no buddha, no one has the power to defies the Principle of Cause and Effect.
A buddha is a person that knows and follows the Principle of Cause and Effect. That is the definition of buddha.
A buddha is a person that has achieved the highest level of wisdom by discovering the Truth of the Universe.
And the Truth of the Universe is the Principle of Cause and Effect. That is how important the Principle of Cause and Effect is.
So what the Principle of Cause and Effect says exactly?
It can be stated in 3 simple phrases. In chinese characters they are as follows:
善因 善果 悪因 悪果 自因 自果
因 means "cause". 果 means "effect". 果 can also be translated as result or consequence.
It is impossible to have an effect without a cause. There is always a cause for any effect.
If there is a cause, sooner or later, inevitably, there will be an effect.
善 means "good". 善因 means "good cause". 善因 善果 means "good cause, good effect".
悪 means "bad", "evil". 悪因悪果 means "bad cause, bad effect".
自 means "one's","oneself". 自因自果 means "one's cause, one's effect"
善因 善果 says that if you do good things you will receive good results.
悪因悪果 says that if you do bad things you will receive bad results.
自因自果 says that if you are the one doing the action, you are the one who will receive the result.
Everything that happens in the Universe can be explained by the Principle of Cause and Effect.
For example let's suppose that you are working in a building and your building is hit by an airplane hijacked by terrorists.
You would say that this tragic event is the fault of the terrorists, right?
They are the ones to blame for your misfortune, right?
The answer is no! The Principle of Cause and Effect says 自因自果, if you are the one receiving the result,
then you are the one who did the action.
Everything that happens in your life is the result of actions that you yourself did in the past. You just may not remember.
Maybe you are suffering the consequences of things you did yesterday, or maybe last week, or last year, or maybe you are suffering the consequences of things you did a million years ago, in a previous life.
You just don't remember.
Let's suppose you are crossing the street, and a car ignores the red sign and hits you.
According to the law, according to the police, you are the innocent victim
and the car driver is the guilty one. But not according to Buddhism.
Why do you have to be exactly in that place, exactly in that time? There could be irresponsible drivers everywhere but if you are not exactly in that place, exactly in that time, nothing will happen to you.
What force pulled you to be exactly in that place, exactly in that time? The answer is karma.
Everything we do are actions. Everything we think, every thought are actions of the mind.
Everything we say are actions of the mouth. Everything we do with do body are actions of the body.
All our actions become a form of energy, an indestructitle, invisible energy called 業 or karma.
This karma is stored in a place called 阿頼耶識. 阿頼耶識 is our true soul, an indestructible, immortal, invisible soul.
Each one of us has his or her own soul. 阿頼耶 means deposit, storage.
Himalayans are the highest mountains in the world. "Hima" means "snow". "Alaya" means storage.
"Himalaya" means storage of snow. 阿頼耶 and "alaya" are the same word.
Everything we did since an infinite past is stored inside the 阿頼耶識.
Every single thought, every single word, everything we did is recorded in the 阿頼耶識.
Your actions recorded in your 阿頼耶識 are the cause of everything that happens in your life.
When the appropriate conditions appear then the result happens. In Buddhism the appropriate conditions are called 縁
The appropriate conditions combine with the cause to produce the result.
因 + 縁 = 果. You cannot have a result with only 因 or 縁. You need both to have the result.
In our example the irresponsible driver is the condition. Your past actions are the cause.
The traffic accident in which you are hit by the car is the result.
If I sow seeds of apple I will reap apples. If I sow seeds of orange I will reap oranges.
If I know the seed, I know what will come out.
If I know the present, I know what will happen in the future, because the future is the result of the present.
In the same way if I see apple shoots coming out of the ground I know that I sowed seeds of apple, not orange.
If I know the present, I also know the past, because the present is the result of the past.
If you want to know the future, look at the present. Because the present is the cause of the future.
If you want to know the past, again look at the present. Because the present is the result of the past.
The present contains your infinite future, and also contains your infinite past.
You cannot change the past, but the future is something that you are creating right now with your own actions.
The future is not something decided by fate, or god. No one can interfere in your life.
Everything that happens in your life was caused by your own actions in the past. It is not the fault of the government.
It is not the fault of your boss, colleagues, family, neighbors. That is why buddhas cannot feel hatred.
Hatred in Buddhism is called 愚痴. 愚痴 may also be translated as "ignorance"
because people who feel hatred ignores the Principle of Cause and Effect.
People who don't know the Principle of Cause and Effect blame other people for bad things that happens.
They blame the government, the bosses, the employees, the family, the neighbors, everybody except themselves.
And then they fight other people, escalating to war.
But the knowledge of the Principle of Cause and Effect makes hatred disappear.
Buddhism can stop wars. Countries with Buddhism like India, China, Japan,
experienced great prosperity exactly at the time when Buddhism was at its height.
If you want happiness, if you want good things to happen in your life
then you have to stop doing bad things, and make an effort on doing good things.
This is called 廃悪修善.