My Repayment

When encountering adverse circumstances, you should develop thoughts of compassion, forgiving those who do not realize their mistakes and avoiding disputes.

You should think: “in my previous lives, I have caused suffering and hurt sentient beings on many occasions. If I meet with adversity today, it is merely the repayment of previous debts.”

Thinking thus, you become naturally content and do not develop a mind of anger and vengefulness.

~ Patriarch Yin Guang, Pure Land Zen Zen Pure Land 

Comments

[Edmund]

Dear Venerable Wuling,

In adverse circumstances, I contrarily find it difficult to believe that I had 'owed' these nasty people debts and that now, all that had happened was simply a repayment.

I find it hard to believe that it was a past that is back to haunt me; a past that I can't see.

How can I see more clearly that the law of cause and effect really exists from life to life? I know that we can see the law of cause and effect in many aspects of life but surely we cannot extrapolate a universal principle thus, because of this?

Could you advise?

Best,
Edmund

[Venerable Wuling]

Edmund,

Very good question! I'd like to answer it as a blog entry because I'm sure others have also wondered about this. I'll cover this and your two other comments this week. Please stay tuned...