Lesson Eight: Sow Good Seeds and Reap The Harvest

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Lesson Eight Sow Good Seeds and Reap the
Harvest


"Hah! What a day. I've missed all my shots. I
couldn't have done worse," brooded the hunter.
''It must be that monk I met this morning. He is
the cause of my bad luck. If I see him again, I'll
lay my hands on him."


On his way home, the hunter met the same
monk again at the fringes of the forest. Instantly,
he set his ferocious dogs upon the innocent
monk. Being unable to outrun the fangs that
were snapping at his heelsthe monk scrambled
up a tree to save himself.


The enraged hunter hurled curses and pierced
the soles of the monk with his arrows. As the
monk was struggling in pain, his outer robes fell
upon the hunter and covered him completely.
Suddenly,the dogs turned around and attacked
their master thinking he was the monk. The
hunter was bitten to death.


When the dogs were gone, the monk climbed
down the tree. He went to see the Buddha to
find out if he had committed any wrong. His
doubts were cleared,and the Buddha told him
the evil results accrue to one who harms an
innocent person.


He who harms a harmless person, one pure
and guiltless, upon that very fool the evil
recoils like fine dust thrown against the wind.

Dhammapada 125

1.What is Kamma?

Modern physics took a great leap forward when
Isaac Newton discovered the natural physical
law that every action has an equal and opposite
reaction. There is a similar law expounded by
the Buddha more than 2,500 years ago which
operates in the moral sphere Kamma.

Kamma operates in its own sphere without the
intervention of an external, independent ruling
agent or being it has no lawgiver. It is a natural
and universal law.

Kamma can be explained at many levels. In the
language of a child, it is: Good begets good,
and evil begets evil.

In the language of a farmer, Kamma is explained
in this way: The harvest you reap is the result
of seeds you have sown. Good seeds bring a
good harvest and bad seeds a bad harvest.

Kamma is explained in the Dhammapada as: "By
mind the world is led, by mind it is drawn, and
all men own the sovereignty of mind. If a man
speaks or acts with an impure mind, harm
follows him like the wheels follow the ox that
draws the cart. If a man speaks or acts with a
pure mind, happiness follows him like a shadow
that never leaves him."

These explanations show that Kamma is a
physical, verbal or mental action performed
intentionally. "Kamma is volition," said the
Buddha.

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