Sep 20, 1998
The law of cause and effect
Let’s take a look at the law of cause and effect that the Buddha of the past tried to teach the world of humanity throughout his life. People tend to believe that things in the world are created or influenced by people with certain powers. This is easily observed in societies governed by certain political systems or ruled by dictators. But for such a thing to exist, the society had to pay a reasonable price for it. The reason such a thing was possible is because people have been forcing their own ideas on other people without knowing much about what exists in the world.
The law of cause and effect refers to things that reveal the truth about how things in the world come into existence. By knowing the law of cause and effect, people can avoid doing bad things and save themselves from ignorance. Let’s check what the law of cause and effect is all about.
The law of cause and effect refers to the phenomenon that occurs when a certain event and a certain thing meet. For example, when you mix lead and copper or platinum and copper, the phenomenon of creating new substances with different properties is called the law of cause and effect. Also, when a seed is planted in the ground, the fact that it produces good or bad fruit is also subject to the law of cause and effect.
The law of cause and effect refers to what exists in the law of truth that causes all things in the world to exist. However, people who do not know the law of truth cannot understand these words. Here, let’s check how we can understand and accept the law of cause and effect.
Earlier, it was mentioned that when platinum and copper are mixed, a new alloy with specific properties is formed. However, even for the same alloy, the properties can vary slightly depending on the respective proportions of platinum and copper. For instance, the properties of alloys created by mixing 60% copper and 40% platinum differ from those created by mixing 40% copper and 60% platinum.
How should the law of cause and effect be viewed in the law of truth? The law of cause and effect is like a mathematical formula. When the results I get are less than what I wanted, it means that I have not fully fulfilled the problems that exist in the law of truth.
Before understanding the law of cause and effect, we must look at the principle of how something brings a specific result into existence. Countless things exist within principles, and countless things are being solved by the principles.
Buddha made tremendous efforts to inform people of this fact. By knowing these things, people wake up from ignorance and stop falling into wrong places and doing wrong things. People can save themselves from the temptations and dangers of the world. The reason so many problems exist in this day and age is because these things are not embedded in people's consciousness. Because these things are not widely revealed, taught, or understood among people, many controversies, struggles, and even wars are taking place today. It comes from not being able to fully see and understand what exists in the human world.
Let me tell you something. What is the scariest thing that humans need to be wary of in this era? That is ‘contact with spirits.’ This is very important. People must be wary of the contact with spirits.
I met someone yesterday and expressed my concerns about this issue, and that person said the following.
"In this current era, what is spreading even more rapidly than a frightening epidemic is the contact with spirits."
However, people are not wary or afraid of it, but rather expose themselves to it. What will happen in this case? Contact with spirits results in the loss of self. People who have lost themselves say strange things about things. You must know these things well.
So how is contact with spirit created? When you are defenseless against spirits, spirits in the form of energy can enter the human body or consciousness.
Since the 1970s, in this country, organizations related to ‘Qi (氣)’ or ‘Dan (丹)’ and many people who say they engage in ‘philosophy’, while doing actually fortune-telling, have emerged. There weren't that many in the old days. Now there are many who practice divination, read fortunes, and engage in name-based philosophies.
Among these, the most dangerous thing is philosophy. Doing philosophy here does not refer to engaging in academic philosophy. In this context, philosophy refers to the act of predicting the fortunes and misfortunes of others. Ordinary shamans do not have such bad spirits. However, the ghosts given to the people who practice philosophy are said to predict good or bad luck, and they can put bad things in people.
The second frightening thing is ‘ki’ (氣). Going to a place where ‘ki’ (氣) exercise is practiced means surrendering people’s bodies and consciousness to ghosts. People who engage in such exercises are out of their mind. Spending a long time in such places, following their instructions, can lead to the deterioration of one's consciousness and behavior.
The next frightening thing is "dan" (丹). Even when practicing the exercises of "dan," one can encounter many similar experiences as when practicing "ki" exercises.
In order to check whether what I said is true or not, you need to check whether ghosts are attached to the people who are doing such things. The problem is that even if a ghost or spirit is attached, there is no indication that it has been attached. It cannot be confirmed with human eyes or consciousness. I'll say it again that you need to be careful of people who put up signs saying they do philosophy, people who practice ‘ki’ exercises, and people who do something strange called 'Dan'. The problems that arise from going to these places are different from common diseases. These problems not only ruin the body, but also the consciousness, which is more important than the body. It destroys the soul. This disease is more frightening than diseases such as cancer. People of this era do not really understand this fact.
I said to the person I met yesterday regarding this matter.
"People are writing a lot of things from their own experiences for posterity. So, why don't you also contribute by writing a passage in 'Teachings of Nature' about when and where you did something, what book you read, and how the book changed your destiny, and how it influenced your actions?"
"I can't write such stories anymore because I am now too scared of ghost pranks.”
This time, I will explain about Four Pillars of Destiny (사주팔자). Four Pillars (사주) refers to how four pillars influence people's destiny (八字). Let's take an example. Suppose someone planted a wild persimmon tree on April 17, 1998, considering it an auspicious day. If the wild persimmon tree has a bad foundation and roots, will it bear good fruit just because it was planted on a favorable day? Absolutely not. Everything in the world exists according to the law of cause and effect. If the seed and soil are good, then good fruit will come from there. This is what exists. What is what exists? It is the law of truth.
These days, it's quite common for parents who are unable to come up with a name for their child after giving birth to pay as much as 100,000 won to have a name created. If you attach the word "watermelon" to the name of a sweet potato and call it a watermelon sweet potato, does it become a watermelon? No, it doesn't. Even if you give it a good name, it's of no use. Good fruit comes from a good seed and good land. A good sweet potato and a good watermelon can only come from a good seed and good land. Just because you call a seed that produces small watermelons ‘big watermelon,’ will a big watermelon grow from that seed? Absolutely not.
If you know the law of cause and effect, you won't fall into such ignorance. If you use a name given by someone with attached spirits, there is no way to break free from the chains of the devil.
I would like to reiterate once again. The Buddha's intention in teaching the law of cause and effect to people was to awaken them from ignorance and make them value what exists.
What I have spoken to you about several times until now is that what exists determine fortune and misfortune (吉凶 禍福). If you seek and perform good things, you don't need a good name or Four Pillars of Destiny. Everything will naturally go well. If you associate with bad people, problems will keep arising. This is what things of the world are like. The Buddha dedicated his entire life to informing humanity of things of the world. There is a famous saying attributed to him at the time of his death.
"I have taught nothing. I have never spoken my words."
‘I did not say I have taught nothing, but rather, I said 'I have not spoken my words.' It means that the Buddha spoke not of his own thoughts but of what exists. This is crucial. Ordinary people speak of their own thoughts, not of what exists. At this point, we can once again confirm how much love and light the Buddha's teachings have brought to the world of sentient beings." Through this, you must open your eyes to reality. How can human consciousness open its eyes? I will explain how human consciousness can open its eyes through this.
As you listen, watch, and observe what exists, your consciousness gradually awakens. "Ah, I see! ‘Things in the world happen this way for this reason, and that way for that reason!’" As you understand things one by one like this, you will gradually open your eyes to what exists.
There is a question I often hear whenever I travel. People who want enlightenment ask how I could become enlightened. I say there must be great love. And the answer is that in order to make great love exist within themselves, they must first open their eyes to what exists.
Then they ask how they can open our eyes to what exists.
“If you really want to be enlightened, follow me, listen to what I say, and watch what I do. “After a year or so, you will realize that you know nothing.”
This means that if you do not believe in your own thoughts and instead believe and rely on what exists, the wrong thoughts within you will disappear. If you continue to listen to and accept what exists, the thoughts that have accumulated in your consciousness will disappear. In that way, you become like a person who doesn't know anything.
If you follow along for a year and listen carefully, you will see what exists as it is. If you practice for another year, you will gain conscience and courage in your mind. 'Ah! There are such good things in this world! I think I should try to let people know about this good thing.’ However, when you open your eyes to what exists in the world, you come to realize that other people are in the same state you are in before you open your eyes. If you open your eyes and go to the blind and immediately remind them of what exists in their minds, the blind man will doubt. ‘Could this guy be trying to trick me? ‘Isn’t this a strange guy?’ Depending on the level of a person’s fundamental cause, something like this can happen.
There is nothing that cannot be achieved through the law of cause and effect. Everything has repeatedly appeared and disappeared according to this law. Looking through this law, the world itself is the Creator. Activities constantly occur under the structures that exist in the world, and new things are created due to those activities. Matter or life forms emerge from the process. If this were not true, the world on Earth would disappear. But the world will never disappear. Because a single law exists and that law continues to appear and move in the activities of all things. The rise and fall of all things is determined by this law.
Was it inevitable that our country would become as difficult as it is now? Absolutely not. Our country could have become the most prosperous and powerful country in the world. The reason why it is not like that now is because people did not value cause and effect, and ignorance and the wrong things that came into existence because of that ignorance have prevailed.
A fundamental cause is what you are born with. How is the fundamental cause created? It is created by life in reality. Being created in life in reality means being obtained from the environment. Society is the foundation. While it is easy for those with good consciousness to engage in activities in good society, in bad society, those with bad consciousness will prevail. In this way, the rise and fall of society is divided.
The most basic and important thing is that what exists itself is the answer. What exists itself is both a problem and a solution. What exists comes into being by existing affairs and by the activity of what exists, affairs happen endlessly. What exists is the basis, and existing affairs occur by the activity of what exists.
We see and experience all kinds of things in our lives. Everything we see and experience appears as a result of what happened within cause and effect.
Yesterday I went to Busan Station. Members of the National Assembly were giving speeches there. I don't know if it was because I was standing in the back, but there wasn't much to listen to. In order to be justified in what they say, they must reveal what exists.
If you get to know the wrong person, you will experience wrong things. When a deer drinks water, it becomes deer antlers, and when a poisonous snake drinks water, it becomes poison. If you mix recorded words here with nonsense of ghosts, it becomes a text with great explosive power. The funny thing is, when a stranger reads it, it's easier to read and sounds much more plausible than what I say. But the result is just the opposite. This is because a bad person altered the original content by mixing it with the nonsense of ghosts. The fact is that rather than leaving existing things as they are, they have been altered.
Foreign monks who heard me while traveling said,
“What you say is exactly what the Buddha already said.”
“The texts in the scriptures you have read have been corrupted by wrong people over a long period of time. They have become poison.”
I told the monks that the Buddha's words had been corrupted, but they did not fully understand that the teachings had been corrupted. So I explained it again like this.
“If you eat good food before it goes bad, that is, before it deteriorates, it helps your body work, but if you eat it after it deteriorates, it turns into poison, causing pain to your body and darkening your mind. The truth is also like this. “When good teachings become corrupted, they become like poison.”
It is good to record what I say during this time and take it with you, but if the recording falls into the hands of the wrong people, it can cause damage to society. This is the truth.
What you should pay close attention to is the nature of what exists. I see those who are very good at lying while hanging out with people. And people who are good at lying are different every time I meet them.
There is something that people who come to our cultural center for the first time often say. This means that the people at the cultural center are boring. Why do they say they are boring? People here are a little more sincere than ordinary people, so they value what exists and try to do it responsibly. On the other hand, they seem boring because they don't try to please others. When new people come to visit, the members have to tell them where they came from or to ask them to come again, but they don't show much interest in whether they come or not. When people come to visit, they have to show interest, but since they don't, they come once and don't want to come back again because they don't find it interesting.
When they see me, they say that I am a worthless person or that the sermon is boring and they don't want to come. Historically, most traitors who harmed loyalists used soft and kind words and actions. At first, there were many evil people among those who tried to appear kind and good and spoke as if they were just. They say that what they say is justified and that they can see things which they cannot. If you get to know the people who come here, they are all good people. They are blunt and don't flatter anyone. Good people don't make you feel good from the beginning. They silently help people around them when they are in trouble. They never lie or hurt others.
Having a high level of academics does not make you a great person. No matter how much they learn, people who lie and harm others are trash in human society. No matter how much money they have, people who do such things are like trash. But this era is different. Scumbags are treated well. They are being treated like a treasure. So society is very unstable.
If you ask people who say they want to be a great person how to become a great person, no one will know how. There are children who say their dream is to become president. Being president does not make them a great person. A good person is someone who does not lie and does not harm others. Better people do things that bless others. They help people by telling the truth, that is, revealing things as they are. These people were not treated very well, especially in our history. The reason is because there was no good teaching in our society.
Now you will gradually realize why the law of cause and effect is so important in our lives. The teachings of some religious groups say that the Creator controls everything. It is said that the Creator created and governs all things, and according to what I have confirmed, all things were created according to the law of cause and effect.
Everyone! If everything was resolved by the Creator, wouldn't he have made it possible for people to live on the moon? Isn’t the Creator a bit like that? Of course, I do not deny the speculation that this mysterious living world was created by someone. It is because I have confirmed such amazing phenomena. The activity of the Earth itself is the fundamental cause of all life. In other words, activity is the Creator, the cause of everything existing. Human activity created rockets and conquered the moon. The Creator did not create the rocket. It was created by human activities. It is the activity of the world that brought us into existence. We exist because of our activities.
All the results we want exist in things you don't yet know about. We must learn to know what exists. What would you do by learning something that doesn't exist?
It doesn't really matter whether you yourself name your children or you pay some money for a person naming your children. A person who lives well even if the name sounds ridiculous will live well, and a person who cannot live well even if the name is made by a kind of a specialist cannot live well. What I am saying is that we need to wake up from our foolishness. People who like foolish or strange things are bound to get caught up in strange things. If you get caught up in something strange, you lose yourself and forsake the greatest blessings of life. You should never do anything foolish. What is foolish and what is not foolish is revealed by what exists right there.
If possible, avoid going to places where fortune-telling is performed. Even if you are fortune-telling, you should especially not go to places that have religious signs. Even if you go to places that have traditional names of fortune-tellers, there is little chance of harm.
Let me tell you something about a sad incident. Ms. Park was here. I haven't seen her since she followed a man to a place where the so-called philosophy thing is done. When I heard the story later, she went there and the man who was doing philosophy smiled brightly. She said a strange phenomenon occurred after that. After that, she couldn't escape from that spell. I still can't contact her, and I feel very sorry about that. These days, places with signs saying they do philosophy are very scary. Some places do this a lot without even putting up a sign.
The most important thing we must keep in mind in this day and age is to prevent contact with ghosts. But this is not easy. People who already have contact with ghosts must ensure that they no longer have contact with bad ghosts. All the ghosts are not the same. Just as living people have all kinds of different qualities, each ghost has different qualities because it is a result of the person who lived. When ghosts enter human consciousness, their properties appear in the human body. These people usually show characteristics of a dual personality. Sometimes these people show their good side, but at other times they show their evil side.
The most dangerous and unfortunate thing about this era is that there are so many people who put the dead, ghosts, into people or work for the dead. It is difficult to live with one's sanity, but how can people who have lost their sanity live in a bad environment? All kinds of unfortunate things happen there. If you always keep this in mind and try to prevent this from happening to you, you will be able to live a somewhat rewarding life.
What I would like to add is that people who are good in life are good in death. For example, when a tree does a lot of good activities, the fruits it produces are also good. And it doesn't just end with the fruit. its effects extend to the afterlife. Good fruits can create good activities if planted as seeds. As a result, good fruits are produced again. Likewise, if you gain good enlightenment through life and understand the law of cause and effect, you can become a great person in the endless afterlife.
It is not a dream to attain enlightenment and know things as they are while you are alive. Please keep this in mind and think carefully about what you should listen to and know during this time. By discussing the questions you have with one another, you will be able to get great help for your own lives.