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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