Usually, we interpret it with the saying, “You reap what you sow.” However, the Dharma says, “Sentient beings’ karma is inconceivable, and the retribution is also inconceivable.” As the fundamental law governing the existence of all things, the Law of Cause and Effect is far from being as mechanical and simplistic as we might think.
其次要相信有业有报，即善的行为形成善业，恶的行为形成恶业，所谓“善恶到头终有报，只争来早与来迟”;
Thirdly, we should believe in past and future lives, and life is a continuous process with a beginningless past and an infinite future, in which this present life is merely a chapter, and the Law of Cause and Effect is the link that runs through all episodes.
最后还要相信有圣有凡，即生命层次有高低之分。生命是能改造的，它既会因为道德净化而升华，也会因为烦恼炽盛而堕落。正因为命运具有可塑性，我们付出的努力才有价值。倘若生命不能转化，不会延续，那么不论流芳千古还是遗臭万年，究竟有什么不同？
Finally, we should believe that there are saints and ordinary people. That is, there are high and low levels of life. Life is malleable; it can be uplifted through moral purification or degraded by the deepening of afflictions. This potential for change renders our efforts meaningful. After all, if our lives were unchangeable or concluded entirely at death, what significance would there be in our actions, whether good or bad, in this world?
版权所有：济群法师
Excerpted from:
Life’s Suffering and Its Liberation
By Master Jiqun
