a buddhist perspective

In our study of the Buddhadharma, we will have often heard that everything is subject to causality. But as ordinary people, we are unable to deeply believe and awaken. Why? We have seen many people who have committed wrongdoings escape retribution, while others who have done good deeds are not rewarded with good fortune. So we do not believe that one who practices virtue will receive good fortune and one who commits wrongdoings will receive their just retribution.

There is a profound principle here. We do not reflect deeply enough and our foresight is shallow. We do not know that a karmic reward passes through time, through the past, present, and future. It has been explained that cause and effect continues in an eternal and endless cycle. This cycle does not begin and end in one lifetime. In other words: “It does not mean there is no karmic effect, rather the time has not yet come for it to manifest.” We need to understand and affirm this principle to be able to completely understand the true reality of life and the universe.

Many of us continue to have good fortune even after we have committed misdeeds in this lifetime. This is because of our having cultivated vast good fortune in our previous lifetimes. Although we have currently committed misdeeds, the remaining good fortune, which we already had, is not yet exhausted. This good fortune resulted from previous lifetimes, not from the present lifetime. If we had not committed wrongdoings, our good fortune would have been even greater.

For example, a wealthy person who indulges his every whim while still committing bad deeds, would find that the great enjoyment in this daily life was because of the good fortune amassed in previous lifetimes. If this person was not currently committing wrongdoings, he might be even wealthier! The underlying principle is that when we do not experience immediate downfall when we enjoy good fortune and commit misdeeds at the same time, it is because of our past accumulation of good fortune. But, as the accumulation of wrongdoings increases, there will come a time when all of our good fortune will be depleted and the negative karmic retribution will come into effect. At this point it will be too late for regret.

On the other hand, we see others who seemingly do not receive good karmic rewards in return for their kind deeds and, in fact, they face many hardships. Their kind deeds seem to be repaid with unkind results. The Buddha explained why this happens many times in the sutras.

In their past lifetimes, these people committed countless serious offenses. If they were not currently performing good deeds, they would be suffering even more. Fortunately, they can stop all wrongdoings and cultivate virtue, and thus avoid even more troubles. As the teachings often tell us: “A serious wrongdoing has been transformed into a light retribution.”

So if we meet difficulties while cultivating good deeds, we should realize that such hardships are not the result of our current cultivation of good deeds. In addition, we need to be even more diligent in ending wrongdoings and in cultivating virtuous deeds. Through our endurance of hardship, we will undoubtedly experience prosperity, our transgressions will be eliminated, and we will receive good fortune.

We shall follow the rules set by the Pure Land patriarchs:
be a vegetarian;
be mindful of Buddha;
refrain from committing evil and cultivate good deeds;
know the law of cause and effect; and
cultivate good fortune and nurture virtues
so we can eradicate our karmic obstacles in this life and
attain rebirth in the Pure Land at the end of this life.

This way, we will not waste this lifetime and
this opportunity of being students of the Buddha.

~ Patriarch Yin Guang ~ 

In the Pure Land, we will be born inside our lotus flower, a pure conception. This is different from a fetus spending nine months in the womb. When one enters the womb, one is not pure. One’s thoughts are not pure. Neither is the living environment. The womb is surrounded by the large and small intestines, by feces and urine. Therefore, the environment is not pure.

It is different when one is born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The lotus flower is pure. In addition, one is born through transformation. As soon as one is born, the body is tall and the appearance is magnificent. There are no young or old people there. Everybody has the same appearance. It is a world of equality. Therefore, the mind is at peace.

People in this world have different appearances and do not have an impartial mind. One who has good fortune or good looks can easily become arrogant. One who has no good fortune or is unattractive often suffers from a sense of inferiority. These are common social phenomena.

In the Western Pure Land, everyone has the same appearance, the same physical conditions, the same living environment, and the same learning. Everyone is equal in everything there. Therefore, one will not have afflictions such as arrogance or a sense of inferiority.

Although one still has the seeds of afflictions and residual habits, there are no conditions that will cause these afflictions and residual habits to arise. This is why the Western Pure Land is incomparably wondrous and why it is praised by all Buddhas. These inconceivable conditions are because of the powers of the original vows and the merit of innumerable kalpas of cultivation of Amitabha Buddha.

~ Based on Ven. Master Chin Kung's 2003 lecture series on the Amitabha Sutra

Once upon a time a peasant had a horse. This horse ran away, so the peasant's neighbors came to console him for his bad luck. He answered: "Maybe."

The day after the horse came back, leading six wild horses with it. The neighbors came to congratulate him on such good luck. The peasant said: "Maybe."

The day after, his son tried to saddle and ride on one of the wild horses, but he fell down and broke his leg. Once again the neighbors came to share that misfortune. The peasant said: "Maybe."

The day after, soldiers came to conscript the youth of the village, but the peasant's son was not chosen because of his broken leg. When the neighbors came to congratulate him on his good fortune, the peasant said again: "Maybe."

Good luck or bad luck are a matter of perspective. Maybe something is one, maybe it is the other. Or maybe it just is.