IV.9 -“life is a continuous process, even though it is demarcated by race, place, and time. Due to the uninterrupted close relationship between memory and subliminal impressions, the fruits of actions remain intact from one life to the next, as if there were no separations between births”
This verse reminds me of a session of meditation and art of tea appreciation with a Reverend at ‘Foo Hai’ monastery.＂因果＂are the two words I began my interest with and thus I seek more.
The reverend said (I am translating and it may not dictates his exact words.) “We are what we created from our previous life and what we will be depends on what we create in our current life. When we stop creating but clear what we created, we may be one life closer to enlightenment.”
I believe I am of such because of what I was in my previous life. I too believe that every man meets his own doom through cause and effect. Every action bears a result and every result leaves an impression. If I may explain it in the form of an example..this is like a simple food chain. The plant,at the start of the chain, was eaten by the herbivore, which was in turn, eaten by the carnivore, which was again preyed by another, and the cycle goes on and on. If, however, there was no plant, there wouldn’t have existed a chain cycle.
The law of cause and effect continue to exist in the sadhaka until the chain is halted and we only concentrate on clearing what we have caused previously. This is to me, the utmost toughest as we are prone to our own desires, and the temptations which left memories on our blind and senseless mind. At times, confusion too arisen when we couldn’t differentiate if the situation was what we have caused previously or whether it was led by our present doing. Whichever the case, it is beneficial for us or anyone to understand the simple law of “cause and effect” and then to direct our consciousness towards our inner-self instead of towards rewards or fruits of labour.
One more sentence of the day from the Reverend, again translated and not his direct words. “When we cease looking for fruits of labour, labour will not be labour”.
