On Cause and Effect

1.
The Great Master said,
"The Truth of the universe goes round and round without birth and death. Therefore, to go is to come, to come is to go, to give is to receive, and to receive is to give. This is the everlasting Way that shall never change."

2.
The Great Master said,
"According to the principle of the rotation of the four seasons in the universe, all beings pass through birth, old age, illness and death. According to the Principle of the alternation of Negative and Positive Forces in the Universe, Yin and Yang, human beings are rewarded for their deeds, either good or bad, according to the Principle of Cause and Effect. Though winter is the time when the Negative Force appears to be greater, the Positive Force is still contained in it, and as the force gradually gains in strength, spring and summer come. And, though summer is the time when the Positive Force appears to be greater, the Negative Force is contained in it, and as the force gradually gains in strength, autumn and winter come at last. Likewise, human beings are either strong or weak, and are interrelated with each other. According to their good or evil deeds, they will be progressing or retrogressing, and will either be in mutual accord or in conflict as a result. This is the Principle of Cause and Effect."

3.
The Great Master said,
"As plants live with their roots set in the earth, in the right season the seeds or roots that have been planted will sprout and grow. As sentient beings live with their roots set in Heaven, once we think, move, or speak all the Karma seeds are thereby planted in the void of the Dharma world of the universe, and the result of each act will reap good or bad. How, then does anyone dare deceive human beings or Heaven?"

4.
The Great Master said,
"The rewards and punishments that are given by human beings, since they are given with a conscious mind, are seldom correct. However, the rewards and punishments that are given by Heaven and Earth, since they are given with unconsciousness, are right according to the Truth. The Truth, being so capable and omnipresent in the universe, responds correctly to good and evil deeds. How could one deceive it and be free from the fear of retribution? Therefore, enlightened people consider the reward and punishment given by the Truth greater and more important than the reward and punishment given by human beings."

5.
The Great Master said,
"Try not to curse or condemn anyone behind his back. Since there is an invisible stream of communication of spirit through the universe, if you have cursed or condemned a person even once in his absence, communication takes place and the seed of mutual conflict is sown. Likewise, if you have thought well of a person and praised him even once without his knowledge, communication takes place and the seed of mutual prosperity is sown. These seeds will in time bear bad or good fruit respectively. An earthworm and a centipede have energies of mutual conflict, and therefore, if their skins are burned together, we can clearly observe that the two energies repel each other and one of them retreats. This shows us that energies of mutual conflict or accord respond to each other unfailingly."

6.
The Great Master said,
"As the weather is sunny and bright at times, but becomes cloudy and gloomy at other times, so are the human spirit and our environmental circumstances favourable at times and the opposite at other times. This is nothing but phenomena based on the Principle of Cause and Effect, and those who know the principle will take change calmly, as does Heaven and Earth; but those who are not aware of the principle are likely to waver in their minds, losing themselves midway between joy, anger, pleasure, and sorrow, and therefore remain eternally in this tormented state."

7.
The Great Master said,
"What has been given to others out of benevolence will return as benefit, and what has been taken from others out of malice will be taken away by malice. The retribution may be multiplied or diminished according to the progressing or retrogressing steps that the others are taking in their religious lives, but retribution can never be completely washed away. Even if the other person has no intention of retaliating, punishment comes in a natural way, and therefore no one can receive blessedness or punishment for others or give his share of blessedness or punishment to others."

8.
Cho Jeon-Kwon asked the Great Master,
"Since Buddhas must never have committed wrongs throughout their lives, they are not to suffer from anything while living, as a reward. On the contrary, however, the ancient Buddha suffered from many difficulties in his day and the Great Master, since the establishment of this Order, is also suffering a great deal from unreasonable surveillance by the authorities, and from difficulties in guiding the minds of people in our Order. This is quite incomprehensible to me."

The Great Master replied,
"I have been making efforts to keep from committing wrongs for quite a long time. However, my sufferings seem to be a form of revenge by the wicked and evil spirit which I had unconsciously suppressed in my activities of deliverance through many lives." He continued, saying, "Even a mighty Buddha who delivers all sentient beings compassionately with right Dharma is unable to counterbalance good and bad Karma. On the other hand, even the merit of a worthless person cannot be cancelled by wrongdoing. The mighty Buddhas and Bodhisattvas may only shorten the periods of suffering from the retribution of their Karma; they will never be able to cancel it entirely."

9.
A man asked the Great Master,
"If one practices the Way wholeheartedly, can one be free even from one's destined Karma?"

The Great Master answered.
"It will be difficult to be free from destined Karma all at once, but one may find a way to become free of it gradually. If one practicing the Law is aware of the principle in the changes of the Six Paths and the Four Forms of Birth, refrains from committing evils, and accumulates good deeds every day, one will naturally be closer to doing good and farther from following evil ways. Even if someone tries to retaliate against me as a result of my wrongdoings, if I face that person with Dharma mind, with no intention of further retaliation, this conflict of Karma between the person and myself shall cease. Even if you have to suffer from some bad consequences, consider the complete emptiness of your own Nature in which no sin Karma exists, and reflect on your past wrongdoings and try to rectify them. With such a mind state, all the past sins may melt away like the snow melting by the fireplace.

This is the way to diminish the destined Karma spiritually. Or, if you practice moral training successfully, you will always be progressing upward in the course of treading the Six Paths. Accordingly, thus becoming stronger than others, you will be receiving just a little compensation from the weaker ones. And as you are accumulating virtuous deeds in the universe, the universe protects you wherever you happen to be, therefore, evil finds it difficult to have an effect on you. This is the way to lighten the destined Karma by great power."

10.
Seeing a disciple suffering from another's insult, the Great Master said,
"Be tolerant when the chance for retaliation arises, for then the conflict of Cause and Effect shall cease. If you try to seek revenge from others they may do the same in turn, and the mutual conflict may never cease."

11.
When a member who was in conflict with her husband and hated him wished never to be reconciled with him again, the Great Master said,
"If you want nothing to do with your husband, discard both your love and your hatred and face him with a natural mind."

12.
When the Great Master was in Bongnae Cloister and heard the scream of a hog shot by a hunter, he said,
"When one thing profits, another thing is sacrificed."

And he added,
"As I saw the hog killed today, I could imagine what the hog must have done in the past; as I saw the hunter kill the hog. I could imagine what the hunter would face in the future."

13.
The Great Master said,
"When one commits sins with one's body, mouth and mind, one is repaid by various means. Here are some examples. If one hurts the feeling of others by saying untrue things, one will be sick with stomach pains in one's future life. If one is nosy and likes to spy on others, one may be born as an illegitimate child and be received with humiliation. If one likes to expose the secrets of others and to embarrass others in public to the extent that they blush, one will be born with ugly defects on one's face and have to live a life of humiliation."

14.
A disciple asked the Great Master,
"For what kind of sin Karma might one be killed by lightning?"

The Great Master answered,
"The reason that one is killed instantly by lightning is that one's sin might also have been caused by hurting many people in a manner like that of lightning. For example, if one was in a position of political or military power, one might have misused the power and killed or hurt many people by various means."

15.
When the Great Master was supervising the construction of a Temple of Won Buddhism in Seoul, he heard the laborers say to one another that one cannot succeed by one's own effort without some unknown help, and he said to his disciples afterward,

"Generally speaking, we human beings do receive some unknown help or hindrance in our lives. Ignorant people may believe that God, Buddha, ancestors or ghosts are responsible for sending these, but the wise person knows that everything is caused by the effects of one's own body and mind, and whatever one receives now is the result of one's actions in the past. Whatever one is doing now will have its result in the future, and there is no result without a cause. Therefore, stupid people seek only for wealth and glory unreasonably, and forcibly reject poverty and distress, while a wise person will receive with tranquility whatever blessedness or punishment one has caused in the past, endeavoring constantly to cause future blessedness and happiness. In so doing, one sows the seeds of limitless merit everywhere in the universe so that the source of blessedness will never cease at any time or in any place."

16.
The Great Master said,
"The most urgent thing is not necessarily teaching people the numerous scriptures or encouraging goodness, rather, it is more important to let them be aware of, and believe in, the Principles of No Birth and No Death, and the Truth of Cause and Effect."

17.
The Great Master said,
"An ordinary person may be envious with greed when other people are blessed, but one will be taking a nap during a chance to create blessedness. This resembles a farmer who wishes to harvest much without working hard. If the farmer does not sow in spring, there will be nothing to harvest. This is the Principle of Cause and Effect and it applies not only to farming."

18.
The Great Master said,
"One who does not cause goodness will never realize a better life in one's future lives. This may be compared to the fact that, in the present life, even though one may wish to live in a large expensive house, it is impossible to do so if it isn't one's own house. Look at Kong-Chil. When he gets off the train at Iri he must pass modem houses in order to enter his shabby home. This is an example of how one receives according to one's own past deeds."

19.
The Great Master said,
"Only the deserving person may enjoy great blessedness continually. If an undeserving person happens to have received blessedness, that person may lose it or somehow cause a disaster as a result of it. Hence, a wise person knows how to cause, keep, and utilize blessedness, and no matter how great the blessedness may be, can keep it forever."

20.
The Great Master said,
"Stupid people value honor highly and try to show off to the public with undeserved honors, but they do not realize that it is the cause which will harm them in the long run. The principle is that deserved honor is revealed naturally even if one tries to conceal it, while undeserved honor is never recognized no matter how hard one tries to reveal it. Therefore, the honor that was gained through words without real, deserved deeds is likely to be destroyed through words, and the honor that was gained by trickery will not only be destroyed by trickery, but it may also bring contempt upon the deserved honor that was originally gained through one's deserved achievements. This may mean even the loss of life and property in a serious case. How can one risk not being careful?"

21.
When a beggar asked Kim Ki-Chun to accumulate blessedness by being charitable to him, Kim asked the beggar,
"If I am able to be charitable to you, do you have the capacity to bless me?"

As the beggar was silent, Ki-Chun said,
"Stupid people often beg others to create blessedness for them, but such an attitude will do nothing but cause further sins."

Hearing this, the Great Master said,
"Ki-Chun spoke the Truth. People like to receive blessedness, but few people cause blessedness and though people dislike to be punished, they do things deserving of punishment, and therefore more people live in suffering than in happiness."

22.
The Great Master said
"If one indulges in all kinds of bad deeds and doesn't control oneself, other people will try to punish one, but if other people are not able to punish one, the Truth surely will. Since a wise person refrains from evil deeds even before others prohibit them, and since the wise person may often accept others' advice before the Truth prohibits an action, the wise one is at peace and never afraid of having bad deeds revealed."

23.
The Great Master said,
"Those of you who abuse a little power with little craft, do not try to deceive and harm the public, thinking them to be foolish. The collective mind of the public shall be the mind of Heaven; the collective eyes of the public shall be the eye of Heaven; the collective ears of the public shall be the ear of Heaven and the collective mouths of the public shall be the mouth of Heaven. You cannot deceive or harm the public, thinking that they are foolish."

24.
A fierce dog, who lived in the vicinity of the Headquarters of Won Buddhism, died after being bitten by a neighbor's dog, and the Great Master said,
"That dog, when he was young, possessed a fierce disposition and ruled over other dogs in the vicinity, but time came for him to be affected by Cause and Effect and to die in a miserable manner. This example should be a warning to those who abuse power, and therefore one should not ignore the implications, dismissing the example simply by saying it is a dog's case."

The Great Master also said,
"We can also know the stage to which people are progressing or retrogressing through the use of their minds. That is, the progressing person with a gentle and good-natured mind does not harm other people, but gets along well with everybody and remains humble while extolling others. That person likes to study and learn, believes ardently in the Truth, is always trying to train the self, likes to see other people promoted and encourages the weak in all possible ways. On the other hand, the retrogressing person with a wild mind will not be able to contribute benefits to other people. That person comes into conflict with everyone, is conceited, looks down on others, dislikes learning and neither trains the self nor believes in the Principle of Cause and Effect. That person cannot tolerate seeing others promoted and tries to put others down in all possible ways."

25.
The Great Master said,
"If one indulges in doing evil deeds and is talked about by many people, one's future becomes dark. For example, the man who abused his power as a county chief by robbing people of their property and lives was cursed and talked about by a great many people. And, as if the talk were the very seed and cause, in his later years he fell into a miserable condition which indicated to other people that he was being punished. Public opinion is surely to be dreaded."

26.
The Great Master said,
"Among the numerous sins that ordinary people commit recklessly, there are five major sins to be feared. The first is misleading the spirit of the public without knowing the right principle. The second is discouraging the crowd from believing in the Principle of Cause and Effect so that they do not produce good Karma. The third is to curse the wise and righteous and to be jealous of them. The fourth is mingling with and helping evil people. And the fifth is hampering belief in the great Law of right religion, harming the progress of such a religious organization. If one keeps committing these sins, one will not be delivered from the Three Evil Paths."

27.
The Great Master said,
"There are three most dreadful sins in the world: the first is injuring others by declaring that they have committed sins merely from one's own suppositions, the second is alienating intimate acquaintances out of envy and the last is misleading innocent people with evil genius. If one continually commits these sins, in retribution one may become blind, dumb or lose one's mind."

28. The Great Master said,
"There once was a Buddhist master of a meditation sect whose temple was wealthy with sufficient alms and many disciples. But he used to support one of the disciples separately with the profits from some fruit trees he raised by himself.
When the disciples asked him the reason,
he said,
'I am supporting him in order to lighten his debt incurred because he had not done anything of service for other people in the past, and because in his present life he was not born a man who can bring profit to others. Furthermore, if in his present life he was being fed by offerings that were meant for the welfare of the people, he would have to repay it with hard work in many future lives although the debt arose only in his present life. Therefore, because of my affection for him as his teacher, I raise these fruit trees to support him myself.'
The master's deed is a great example for those of you who live a public life.

You should pay attention to this example and realize that you may have offerings from people if you deserve to receive them by serving the public either mentally, physically, or materially. But if you are taking care of only yourself, you shall incur great debt when you eat out of public offerings and will have to pay it back with hard work in your future lives. Generally speaking, however, those who love others prefer not to be offered gifts, while those who care only for themselves like to receive them. One must be very careful at all times so as not to become someone who is in debt to the public."

29.
One day when Choi Nae-Sun invited many members to dine at her place,
the Great Master joined his followers. Afterwards he said,
"When a person does a good deed, the manner in which one is paid back is not necessarily of the same proportion or kind. Reward depends not only on the amount of the material offering, but also on the depth of the person's mind and on the ability of the other party to give a reward.
For example, there was a farmer who took three officials over a flooded river. Later, when the farmer was receiving rewards from them for this favor which had been done on the same day, at the same hour, and with the same labour, their methods of reward were all different in accordance with their positions and abilities. Although this may be a simple story which happens in our actual life, in reality it illustrates the unchanging principle of how our good deeds are returned through the past, present, and future."

30.
When the Great Master was in Yungsan, a young man who had led a life of debauchery came to see him and swore that he would become a decent human being as a disciple of the Great Master, often confessing all his past sins. Soon after, the Great Master happened to take a trip of several months duration, and during that time the young man returned to his old habits and dissipated his family property through wine, women and gambling. When the Master returned to Yungsan, the young man felt ashamed and tried to avoid the Great Master. But one day he unavoidably came across the Great Master on a path.
Then the Great Master asked,
"Why is it that you have never come to see me?" The young man answered, "I am sorry. I beg your forgiveness."

The Great Master replied,
"What are you sorry about?"

And the young man answered,
"What I swore to you before has resulted in nothing but deceiving you, a saint. Please forgive my sins. "

The Great Master said,
"You have been careless all this time and have lost your family property and are in great trouble. If I were to receive retribution for your deeds, you could be sorry for me and would need to apologize or avoid me. But the truth is that you have deceived yourself. Therefore, do not try to avoid me, but try to control your own mind from now on."

31.
When the Great Master was in Yungsan, he took a walk one day by a vegetable field. There was a manure pit nearby and all kinds of insects were breeding in it. Just then a mouse came along and ate the insects. The disciples commented,
"That mouse often comes and eats the insects like that."

Then the Great Master said,
"He might enjoy eating the insects now, but in a few days, he will be eaten by the insects."

The disciples did not quite understand, and asked,
"How could the Principle of Cause and Effect work so fast?"
In a few days, however, the same mouse fell into the manure pit and began to decay while all kinds of insects gathered to feed on it.

Then the Great Master said,
"You seemed to doubt what I said the other day, but I said it judging only from the circumstances. At that time, the pit was full of manure and the mouse was free to cross it and eat the insects. I knew, though, that farmers would pail out the manure to be used in the fields. Then the mouse, who used to cross the pit freely, would step into it carelessly and couldn't help but be drowned. Of course, then he would be eaten by the insects."

He continued, saying,
"It is the same with human beings in that we receive retribution for good or bad sooner or later according to the nature of the causes."

32.
When Kim Sam-Mae-Wha was slicing meat in the kitchen, the Great Master asked. "Have you ever seen the Hell of Knives Mountain?"

She answered,
"No, I have never seen it."

Then the Great Master said,
"The meat on the chopping-board now may be said to be on the Hell of Knives Mountain. It has already been torn into thousands of pieces by axes and knives before it is distributed to each home. It will be cut into pieces again with thousands of knives at each home. What a dreadful thing the Hell of Knives Mountain is!"

33.
The Great Master said,
"In the past, there have been many people who lived comfortable lives even for their generation in spite of their deceitful and evil minds; but in the future such people will find it difficult to live comfortably even for one generation. Before there death, people will receive most of the retribution for whatever they have caused during their lifetimes. Therefore, as the world becomes brighter, those with truthful and virtuous minds will find everything truthful and virtuous and their futures will be bright and hopeful, but those with deceitful and evil minds will find everything deceitful and evil, and their futures will darken and be without promise."

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