Understanding Causes and Realizing Fruits: Cutting Off Evil and Cultivating Good

Wholesome causes yield wholesome fruits, unwholesome causes yield unwholesome fruits, and causes that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome yield fruits that are neither wholesome nor unwholesome—everything lies within cause and effect. All these causes and effects are realized exactly as they are by the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha impartially realizes all karmic causes and retributions, in accordance with its inherent laws of cause and effect, and there would never be any wrongful or unjust cases. Part of our learning of Buddhism and cultivation is to change and eliminate those unwholesome causes, conditions, and retributions, and to continually increase wholesome causes, conditions, and retributions, so as to attain the ultimately pure Buddha-fruit without remainder.

Karmic causes are created by the five aggregates within worldly dharmas, and the retributions are also realized within worldly dharmas. Since they are worldly dharmas, they are illusory dharmas, not real and unchanging dharmas; all are illusory appearances conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha—the appearances exist, but their substance is empty. Sentient beings are often only able to create all kinds of karmic actions for the sake of the five aggregates because they cling to all the dharmas of the five-aggregate world as truly existent. If one genuinely realizes that the five aggregates are not the self and eliminates the clinging to the five aggregates, one will no longer easily create unwholesome karmic actions.

Although karmic causes and retributions are empty and false, when one undergoes the retribution it is still extremely distressing. Therefore, it is necessary for us to understand causes and reach their fruits, refraining from creating unwholesome karma and only creating wholesome karma, enjoying wholesome fruits life after life until we attain buddhahood. Out of compassion, the World-Honored One came to this evil world of the five turbidities and taught with all manner of words to guide sentient beings in breaking the wrong view that the five aggregates are the self; only then can sentient beings ultimately attain liberation and return to their self-nature. We should follow the World-Honored One's teachings, eliminate the unwholesome and cultivate the wholesome, cultivate away all afflictions and defilements, purify the mind-ground, benefit both self and others, and attain the Buddha-way and perfect the Buddha-fruit as soon as possible.