Dharma Master Jingjie
For both ordinary beings and enlightened beings, there are times of comfort and
happiness in their lives. Whether it is the joy of an enlightened sage or the
momentary feeling of relief in the sufferings of hell-realms -- all are
produced by good karma.
Take the Avici Hell, the Hell of Uninterrupted Torment, for example. The
suffering there goes on all the time. The beings are thrown into boiling oil to
be fried; after being fried to death and reduced to a skeleton, they are
scooped out. A cool breeze blows and revives the body, then it is thrown back
in to be fried again.
For beings in the Avici Hell, there is only a single instant of happiness or
comfort. That is when the cool breeze blows to restore their body. Where does
this pleasant sensation come from? It is the result of past good karma.
Even the pleasant sensation of that cool breeze in the Avici hell is the result
of good karma, because it is impossible for comfort and happiness to arise from
negative karma.
Therefore, as long as it is a good result, it must be due to good karma. For
instance, being able to walk right now—this itself is good karma. Do not think
that walking is your natural entitlement; not everyone can walk. Being able to
eat this bowl of rice and enjoying it is also good karma.
Not a single thing happens without causes. Being able to drink this cup of
water and being nourished by it is the result of good karma. Anything that
makes you feel comfortable and happy in this life is entirely due to good
karma, and you should praise your past good deeds for it.
If you can walk, you should praise your past merits; if you can eat or sleep
well at night, it is due to good karma! Nothing must be taken for granted. This
is the first principle you must know: that all happiness is a result of good
karma. There is not a single exception
to this law.
~~
When the Buddha was in the world, there were many lay practitioners who were
benefactors or protectors of the Dharma. The most important protector was Elder
Sudatta. Elder Sudatta grew up in a very wealthy family and he deeply loved
giving alms to the poor and neglected elderly people. Therefore, he was also
called Elder Anathapindika (Giver to the Destitute).
He had seven sons. The first six had already married... and Sudatta asked many
people to make inquiries for a suitable wife for his youngest son. Later, he
heard that in the neighboring country, in the city of Rajgir, there was a woman
who was very beautiful, possessed of perfect virtues and from a wealthy family.
Elder Sudatta took his attendants and travelled to Rajgir to propose marriage.
The prospective in-laws had also heard of Elder Sudatta's name and invited him
to stay in their guest quarters.
Towards dusk, Elder Sudatta saw many people busily preparing a vast amount of
food. Elder Sudatta asked, "What are you all busy with?" and was
told, "Our master is going to invite the Buddha to come tomorrow so as to
make offerings."
Elder Sudatta asked again, "What is the Buddha like?" "The
Buddha has thirty-two major marks and eighty minor characteristics, adorned
with boundless qualities." According to the scriptures, upon hearing of
Buddha's qualities, Elder Sudatta’s hairs stood on end and a great joy arose.
This showed that Sudatta had deep virtuous roots.
When night fell and everyone went to sleep, Elder Sudatta could not contain
himself any longer; he wanted to hurry and see the Buddha. He was unable to
wait until tomorrow. In the middle of the night, he left his in-laws' residence
to visit the Buddha by night.
The omniscient Buddha knew that Elder Sudatta was coming and waited for him. As
soon as he arrived, the Buddha first emitted a great radiance. Upon seeing the
Buddha, Elder Sudatta immediately fell to his knees. The Buddha taught him the
Dharma of the Four Noble Truths and Sudatta gained the realization of
Stream-Entry right away.
Due to realizing the first level of Arhatship, Elder Sudatta now had unwavering
faith in the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and the Shila (precept discipline), known
as the Four Irreversible Faiths. He felt that there was no need to attend the
banquet the next day, so early the next morning, he hurriedly returned home
with his attendants. He felt that he had to build a monastery in the Kingdom of
Sravasti and offer it to the Buddha.
However, the Buddha's monastic community was enormous, comprising one thousand
two hundred Bhikkhus. Sudatta asked around to see where a monastery could be
built; finally, he found a suitable place in Sravasti. It was a garden that
belonged to the crown prince of King Prasenajit, Prince Jeta.
At first, the prince did not want to sell but he could not afford to offend
this Elder, so he asked, "Why are you buying this garden?" Elder
Sudatta said, "I want to make offerings to the Buddha and his monastic
community. I plan to build many monks' quarters and a teaching hall and invite
the Buddha to reside here and teach the Dharma."
Upon hearing this, Prince Jeta realized it was a good deed. Unable to flatly
refuse but reluctant to agree, he decided to make it difficult for Sudatta
instead. Jeta said, "If you can cover my entire garden with gold, I will
sell the garden to you." Elder Sudatta replied, "Done! It's a
deal!"
Prince Jeta said, "No, wait, I was just joking with you." Elder
Sudatta said, "You are the crown prince today and the future King, can you
speak words in jest?" Left with no choice, Prince Jeta had to sell it to
him. Prince Jeta said, "You pave the ground with gold, but the trees will
count as mine." That is how the name Jetavana (meaning “Prince Jeta's
trees”) Anathapindika's Park came to be.
According to the scriptures, after Elder Sudatta bought the land, he used
elephants to transport a huge amount of gold to pave the ground and he also
built the monks' quarters and the teaching hall. When the construction was
finished, all his money was spent. He became so poor that he didn't even have
money left for food.
So what is there to do? Sudatta managed to find a sandalwood bucket in the
storehouse. He took this bucket to exchange for a little money and his family
cooked a pot of rice, preparing to eat. Just as they were about to start their
meal, Venerable Maudgalyayana arrived to beg for alms.
Now, Sudatta was already a noble being who has achieved the first stage of
realisation. Such beings have an unshakable understanding of cause-and-effect.
They know that virtue will only bring happiness. We ordinary people might be
influenced by the ups and downs in the situation, but Elder Sudatta’s mind was
unshakably established in the Dharma.
Therefore, he said, "Divide the rice in half and offer the half-portion to
Venerable Maudgalyayana." The family prepared to make do with the
remaining half. Right then, Venerable Sariputra also arrived. Again, Sudatta
had to make a difficult choice. Should he choose the current karmic result
(rice) he already had, or should he prioritize creating a virtuous cause for
the future? But the Elder's mind was resolute, he said, "Divide it again
and offer half to Venerable Sariputra."
(Note: Shariputra and Maudgalyayana were great Arhats who were the foremost
disciples of Lord Buddha.)
When Sudatta’s family was finally about to consume the last one-quarter of
their ration of rice, the Buddha himself arrived. The Elder declared, "So
be it! We will just go hungry today to make offerings to the Buddha."
Elder Sudatta personally took this one-quarter portion of rice, ran to the
Buddha, knelt down and offered it.
The Buddha compassionately accepted it. After accepting it, according to the
scriptures, Lord Buddha spoke a four-line verse.
"This day onwards,sins extinguished, merits born,eternally prosperous,never lacking ever again."
Lord Buddha said, “By this act of giving, Sudatta has eradicated the very last
trace of stinginess and greed remaining from his past lives. In all his future
lives, until he attains Buddhahood, there is only one type of situation he will
find himself in —wealth and prosperity. Even though he has not attained
Buddhahood, the word "poverty" will no longer exist in his life.”
We all know that the Buddha either remains silent or speaks the truth. The
moment Buddha says something, it becomes fixed and unalterable. This is called
the “Golden Mouth." As long as the Buddha gives a prophecy, there is no
room for change in the matter. For example, the Buddha said that King Virudhaka
would die in seven days and this fate could not be changed. Even though the
king fled by boat, it was useless.
What is the point of this story? It shows that virtue definitely ripens into
good results of happiness.
~~
Cause-and-effect often spans across lifetimes before bearing fruit. For
example, some vegetarians attribute their poor health to their vegetarian diet,
saying that it makes them unhealthy. This is illogical. Poor health comes from
the karma of killing in past lives; it has nothing to do with a vegetarian
diet. Even if there is any connection, it is only a secondary condition. (For
example, when one eats an unbalanced vegetarian diet due to a lack of
knowledge.)
By not killing, the result is a long life. When we practice good deeds, it is
very easy to be misled by the results of existing karma from past lives. This
is very troublesome. If good results from virtue appeared immediately, it would
be very easy to believe in doing virtue and everyone would do it. If you
practice charity and immediately gain wealth, this would be highly motivating.
But where does the difficulty lie? This is especially hard for beginners
because their life’s karmic forces are suddenly shifting in direction. It can
happen that when one is cultivating virtue, suffering intensifies instead. This
is the most difficult part. It tests your understanding of the Dharma and how
strong your refuge is in the Dharma.
Virtue can never cause suffering. It is extremely important to have conviction
in this! Therefore, it is impossible for vegetarianism to be the cause of poor
health. Absolutely impossible! There is no such logic in this world. If this
were possible, then all the teachings spoken by the Buddha would be dismantled
and cause-and-effect isn’t true.
So what is the explanation for poor health? Eating a vegetarian diet is based
on a heart of compassion; this is karma that leads to longevity and good
health. However, this karma does not ripen immediately; it is first stored.
Karma must go through a phase of dormancy before it manifests in the next life.
Present suffering of ill health is the result of other previous karma of
killing. One needs to undergo the residual karma from past lives. This is how
cause-and-effect works.
You must always believe this one thing: practicing virtue cannot possibly lead
to suffering. This is absolutely impossible! Because cause-and-effect will
never be mixed up or mistaken. Today's good karma cannot be used yet and must
first be deposited into the "bank." Most of the karma we create in
this life has not manifested. The seeds sown in the spring cannot be eaten as
rice yet; they can only be harvested in the autumn. The rice you eat this
spring was planted last year.
Therefore, in your understanding of cause and effect, you must remember the
framework of past, present, and future karmas so that your mind is resolute in
its faith. Otherwise, it is very difficult to cultivate. As soon as you are hit
by obstacles or difficulties, your mind regresses and it is hard to walk the
path steadfastly.
~~
What is virtue? It is any act free of afflictions. For instance, a mind free
from desire or attachment as in the mind of generosity; a mind free from anger
as in the mind of kindness and compassion; or a mind free from delusion as in
wisdom. All these are virtues.
What is non-virtue? Any act initiated by the mental afflictions of attachment,
aversion and delusion is non-virtue. If it is neither an affliction nor a
virtue, it is a neutral karma. For example, when you are taking a walk or
trimming your nails, if you are neither having a virtuous nor non-virtuous
motivation, this is called neutral karma. It is neither good nor bad.
The formation of karma is determined by one's thoughts and intentions. If the
mind is non-virtuous, no matter what you do, it is bad karma; if the mind is
virtuous, even if you are scolding your son, it is good karma…
In Buddha’s time, King Pasenadi had three princesses, one was named Princess
Virtuous Light. She was very beautiful, loved by people and had virtuous
conduct. She was the most famous among King Pasenadi's three daughters. Due to
her beauty and empathy, King Pasenadi doted on her most. Often, after
finishing his official duties, King Pasenadi would take a walk in the garden
with the princess and chat with her.
One day, during their walk, King Pasenadi said, "My daughter! You look so
beautiful and are praised by others. This is due to my love and blessings for
you." The princess was usually very compliant with her father, but this
time she replied, "Father, what you said is not true. My karmic rewards in
this life are due to past good karma."
Upon hearing this, King Pasenadi departed in a bad mood. The next day, he
brought it up again, saying, "Your good karma comes from my favour and
blessings on you." The princess’s answer remained the same. She said,
"This is my good karma." For three consecutive days, she gave the
same answer which enraged King Pasenadi.
So, King Pasenadi said, "Fine, let us see whether the power of your good
karma is greater or my power is greater." He ordered his attendants to go
to the streets to find a beggar. After finding one, the king said to the
beggar, "I will marry my daughter to you, how about that?" The beggar
said, "That's wonderful!" Thus, the princess was married to this
beggar.
After marrying the beggar, the princess accepted her fate. People who really
understand Dharma are different from others. Her conviction and refuge in the
Dharma did not change.
After marrying the beggar, she asked him, "Where do you live?" The
beggar replied, "I have no home, I am a beggar." "Then where did
you live when you were a child?" The beggar said, "When we were
young, we were originally a wealthy and prominent family. Later, a fire broke
out and our parents died, so we siblings had no choice but to wander outside as
beggars."
The princess said, "Alright, let's go take a look at your old home."
The beggar took the princess to see his old home. It was in ruins and the house
had burned down. The princess said, "It doesn't matter, let's settle down
first." The two of them started growing vegetables and farming the land.
While the couple was farming, as they dug down with a hoe, there was suddenly a
"clink" sound. It turned out that they found treasures left behind by
his ancestors. The beggar excavated the treasures and built a residence even
larger than the one that the princess had lived in before, with furnishings
that were even more luxurious.
King Pasenadi, in the meanwhile, had just been acting out of a momentary fit of
anger. After his anger subsided, he sent someone to check how the princess was
doing. When the attendant took a look, he came back and reported, “The place
that the princess lives in now is even better than her previous residence.”
King Pasenadi was extremely surprised! He hurried over to see for himself.
The princess joyfully invited her royal father in. The king looked around and
it was true! The furnishings inside were even better than before.
So, King Pasenadi took the princess to meet Lord Buddha and asked the Buddha to
explain the causes and conditions that led to this karmic fruit. The Buddha
said that the princess enjoyed giving to others in every life. This generosity
had already formed a deep habit and transformed into a virtuous root. This
means that her virtuous thought has now developed into a kind of conviction,
her understanding of this Dharma principle is embedded into her very nature and
is now very firm.
The Buddha said that the princess's wealth in this life comes from one past life. During the
time of Kashyapa Buddha—the Buddha immediately preceding Shakyamuni Buddha—
Kashyapa Buddha had four great disciples and the princess in that life had made
offerings equally to these four great disciples.
At that time, the princess was a jobless woman. Her husband earned the money.
Outside of what was used for their daily lives, she took a little of her
husband's money to make offerings to Kashyapa Buddha's four great disciples.
Initially, her husband opposed this, saying, "It's better if we just use
this money ourselves, why should we make offerings to practitioners?" But
the princess repeatedly persuaded her husband, saying that they should make
offerings so that they would have wealth in future lives. Eventually, her
husband reluctantly agreed.
Therefore, when the princess’s karmic reward ripened, there was a difference
between certainty and uncertainty. Where did the money for the offerings come
from? It was earned by the husband, so of course her husband had a share in the
merits.
But why was the princess’s karmic fruit so firm and unshakable that it would
not change no matter what the King did? Why did this beggar (her husband in
that past life) have to meet the princess before his karmic fruit could be
activated?
This was because he was passive in making the offering. He did not have joy and
a firmness of intention in making the offering. In other words, his mind of
generosity was weak. Although both the princess and him made offerings at the
same time, their karmic fruitions were different.
It is like two identical horse carriages; one is pulled by a strong horse, the
other is pulled by a weak and slow horse. Therefore, the karmic force these two
people created are different in power.
Practicing virtue after understanding Dharma principles is completely different
from doing so without understanding! Say you are attending a seven-day Amitabha
recitation retreat because the president called you to attend. You attended out
of a feeling of obligation, you feel embarrassed to refuse the invitation. This
is also good karma, but when the karmic reward is received, its power will be
weak because you only came out of obligation.
If you are proactive and enthusiastic and drive for four or five hours to
attend the retreat, making a big effort, then that karma will be completely
different. When the Amitabha’s name enters your mind, the feeling is very
different.
The formation of karma itself is dominated by mental intention. When the mind
or intention is strong, the karma is heavy and the karmic result will
correspond to the level of the karmic force.
Even the princess’s father, a king, could not obstruct her karmic fruition. Her
merits had reached such a level that it could no longer be obstructed by
anyone. Even when her father married her off to a beggar, her good fortune
manifested all the same. What is due to her still came forth; nothing could
stand in its way. This is only because when the princess created the karma, her
mind was firm and indestructible like a diamond and she had powerful
aspirations.
Therefore, you must understand that the karma is absolutely guided by mental
intention to produce its karmic force. Your intention governs the strength and
direction of the karma.
