Patriarch Yin Guang wrote in his journal that the sutras teach, “Bodhisattvas fear causes, sentient beings fear results.” The Master then wrote, “To avoid the result of suffering, Bodhisattvas destroy evil causes in advance. Thus, evil karma is eliminated and virtues are accrued in full, up to the time they become Buddhas.” [i]
Whether worldly phenomena or the teachings of the Buddhas, nothing is exempt from the law of cause and effect. It is said that everything is empty and unreal, an eternally impermanent element, but the law of cause and effect is unchangeable and real, an eternally permanent element.
Both cause and effect are closely related, as they mutually co-exist. A cause produces an effect that in turn becomes another cause. From this endless cycle, we can see that a particular cause is not fixed. Neither is an effect the only effect. The combination of cause and effect forms a vicious cycle: birth and death.
A bodhisattva is an understanding awakened being and is therefore well aware that every cause produces an effect. Because of this, they are very cautious in their every thought, word and deed, understanding that a negative cause will become a negative karmic result in the future for which they will have to personally bear the consequences. Unlike bodhisattvas, sentient beings do not understand the principles and realities of life. Our knowledge is limited and vague, far from complete. Consequently, we carelessly commit causal actions and do not understand, when the results occur later, why they happened. By then, it is too late.
Based on the work of Ven. Master Chin Kung