English Tit-bits - 02

One creates the good or bad causes; one will experience either good or bad effects. Caused by oneself, effects back to oneself, just like the echo in a valley.

Sometimes, people say, "how come I always do good-deeds, but I still receive quite a lots of bad effects!" Just wonder why?

In the Buddhist way, the effects from the cause in this life are largely accumulated from a previous life or lives: for instance some people are born into a rich family, some into a poor family, some people are always sick, some always happy etc.

In other words, some of the Causes generated in this life, one may not experience the Effects of in this life yet; it could be carried over to the next life. Just like having a Credit & Debit account book, everything we do is recorded. There is no such thing as a write-off, but if one does a lot of good deeds, bad effects from a previous life(s) will be minimized or disappear. Bad effects can be compensated by good-deeds.

Anyway, the cycle of Life is just like a graph, having its ups & downs, when one is down, just remind yourself, this is perhaps what I accrued from my previous life, then you might feel better. For sure, one does not always stay either at the bottom of the trough or the top of the crest all the time. Adopting a "Medium Approach" helps to overcome both extremes.

Changeable

There is no such thing as non-changeable, forever or being forever young. Thousands of our body cells die every second; there is no stable state or non-changeable "I".

From the moment the fetus is conceived, growing, ageing and dying, such processes are our life-cycle, and one should make full use of such lifetime opportunity to cultivate to progress further.

Chanting

"Namo Ah May Tall Fa" (Amitabha - Buddha's name) as an example. These few words have a very strong frequency that will help one as well as others.

Imagine, if a radio is not tuned to the right frequency, then the reception will be very poor, sounds like; sa la, sa la….., one cannot hear what it is all about.

Chanting is similar to refining the radio frequency, when you chant any of Buddha's name with a dedicated heart (not just chanting once, but keep repeating on a daily basis), and eventually one day, when your radio frequency is tuned to coincide with that of the Buddha(s), then they can hear you clearly.

If a person deserves to be connected to them, then they will help the person to open their "Wisdom Safe" that was carried from previous lives concerning knowledge and also help the individual to acquire more knowledge during this life.

On the other hand, "Chanting or not Chanting", one should try his/her utmost best to help others from the bottom of their heart without any intentions, doing good-deeds….etc. So that, at the end of our life, we will have quite a good credit book to carryover, which will help us to progress further to higher levels. Why not!

Control our heart

Don't let one's heart be influenced by the outside environment. Say, you just want to go out to buy 6 apples, but due to the price of other items being so attractive that the "Come and get me" temptation could not be resisted. SO, the heart changed by the environment

Do let your heart control the environment. That means no matter how good the environment outside is, just follow your heart at all time.

Credit and Debit book

Few hundred years ago, in the Ching Dynasty, a rich old man summoned his four wives to his bed-side, saying:

I am very sick and will die soon; I think my journey will be a bit lonely without company. Will anyone of you will accompany me to the next life.

Old man said to the fourth wife (the youngest one), I love you dearly since you are young and full-of-beans. You come with me then.

Number four wife said, my dear husband, I am still young and have years of happy life ahead, please do let me continue to enjoy my life.

The sick old man looked at the third wife:
The third wife said, my husband, I am still beautiful and am not really old, I am thinking to re-marry after you have gone.

The second wife said, my dear, you know I have to look after your children, who will look after them if I go with you? Anyway, I could organize an unforgettable grand funeral for you, shed a few tears, and then return home to continue my normal household chores.

Then the sick old man anxiously and eagerly looked at his first wife:
The first wife said, my husband, you have been ignoring me for years, but never mind, I will accompany you.

**Buddha said, everybody also has four wives too.

The fourth wife is our youth.
This is what we most love and would like to maintain and treasure. We worry when we have white hair, wrinkles around the eyes, railway lines on the fore-head and so on, but growing from youth to old age is part of our life cycle on earth.

Third wife is our money and treasures.
When we are carrying on our journey, we can not arrange to transfer our money to wherever we are going to. Instead all our money and treasures will have to change ownership.

Second wife is all our friends and relatives.
They will shed a few tears for you, and then afterwards their life must go on as usual.

The first wife is our Credit and Debit Book.
All good or bad deeds are recorded in the book; the only thing we can carry to cross-over is this book.

The moral of the above:-

Do more good-deeds; SO we can carry a healthy credit book when we cross-over one day.

	Cause	Effect
	Respect others,	others will respect you.
	Work harder,	get better returns.
	Plant tomato from seed,	will have tomatoes to eat a few months later.
	Heavy Smoking,	damages the lungs.
	Commit a crime,	punishment will follow.