Action & Result

KARMA

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO COMMIT MANY NEGATIVE ACTIONS SUCCESSFUL AND APPEAR TO BE HAPPY?

When we see dishonest people having wealth or cruel people receiving respect and power, or kind people being robbed or dying young, we may doubt the law of cause and effect. This is because we are only looking at what is happening in the short period of time of this one life.

Many of the results we experience in this life are results of actions created in previous lives, and many of the actions we perform in this life will ripen only in future lives. The wealth of dishonest people is the result of their generosity in proceeding lives.

The wealth of dishonest people is the result of their generosity in proceeding lives. The current dishonesty is leaving the karmic seed for them to be cheated and to experience poverty in future lives.

The result given to cruel people is due to positive actions they did in the past. In the present they are misusing their power, thus creating the cause for future pain. Kind people who die young are experiencing the result of negative actions such as killing done in past lives.

DO WE NECESSARILY EXPERIENCE THE RESULTS OF ALL OUR ACTIONS?

When seeds, even small ones, are planted in the ground, they eventually will sprout; that is, unless they do not receive the conditions such as water, sunshine and fertilizer necessary for their growth, or unless they are burnt or pulled out of ground. The ultimate way of uprooting the karmic imprints or seeds is by meditation on the emptiness of inherent existence. This is the way to purify the afflictive emotions and the karmic imprints completely. At our level, this is rather difficult, but we still can stop the harmful imprints from ripening by doing purification. This is similar to keeping the seed from receiving water, sunshine and fertilizer.