Is Your Present Circumstance a Cause or an Effect?

Causality spans the three periods of time—past, present, and future. Thus, the actions one undertakes now and the favorable or adverse circumstances encountered may be either effects or causes. What is called an effect refers to reaping the fruit in this present life from causes planted in the past. What is called a cause refers to actions performed in the present life serving as causes, which will bear fruit in the future life. When others perform wholesome or unwholesome dharmas toward you, it may be either an effect or a cause. If it is an effect, then you planted the cause in your past life and deserve this result in the present life. If it is not an effect but a cause, then the other party is planting a cause upon you, and they will reap the fruit in the future. This is the principle of causality spanning the three periods of time. Therefore, present circumstances are not necessarily effects nor necessarily causes; only those with supernatural powers or great wisdom are able to discern whether a matter is truly a cause or an effect.