English Tit-bits C

	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.

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.

Cause and Effect (2) - What life was before this life and after?

If one wants to know how one did in the previous life then just take a look at what one has or experienced in this life.

For what the next life will be, then one needs to take note of the performances in this life.

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!

Character, attitude and talking

One's character and attitude are the tell tale signs of one's capability towards life.

The way of one's talking can show their inner-manner and their knowledge.

Charitable Deeds

When doing charitable deeds, do not think of self-aggrandizement but do them with all your sincere heart and for the benefits of others without intend.

Donation -- When donating to a Charity, forget the "To" and "From" as well as the amount donated, that is real Charity.

Choice

Birds can choose any tree to live in, but trees cannot choose what kind of bird is welcome to their tree.

Human beings can have options for our future path. We should treasure our life and the option to be able to choose our own paths and righteous destiny.

Circle

Imagine we stand inside a circle; our boundary of a circle is what we know. The area beyond the circle is endless and resembles limitless knowledge.

Sparkling educational-qualifications do not make such person knowledgeable, intelligent, bright and clever; just be humble because you are still inside your own circle.

Everybody’s circle is different; they all have their own way and choice to fill it up with goodies. Try to expand the circle, since knowledge is infinity; just keep on to acquiring more.

Clever or Stupid

Some people think that they can confidently trick others without them realizing; because some are easily satisfied without questioning the real meaning or motive behind.

Having a suspicious mind is normal; without any question will make one looks like a fool!

Oh well, you can fool some people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

** More information:- Related story

Compare, calculate and awake

Comparison can bring endless bitterness, jealously and sorrow.

Being calculating will not win much friendship.

Being awake helps one to become an understanding and reasonable person.

Concentration

Concentration is the most important attitude when doing or learning any thing. Everybody can do it. Once you can concentrate when doing anything, you are there, regardless of race, religion, youth or old age.

Most important of all is when talking to others, just pay concentrate. This is a good manner and respectful of others.

** More information:- Related story

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.