Dhamma Talk

When talking about the Buddha Dharma, we first need to establish a concept of time. Most people do not take sufficient account of time, but the Buddha taught that time, as the basis for the principal of cause-and-effect, is of prime importance for understanding human existence.

The first line of the verse says: “Time flows through past, present, and future.” The Buddha taught that time is continuous, that the past, the present, and the future are connected into a seamless flow. No matter how far back we go, there is still a past beyond that past; the past goes so far back you cannot find a beginning. So, from a long, long time ago, sentient beings have been transmigrating in the cycle of life and death.

On the other side of the present moment lies the future. The future continues so far ahead that there is no end in sight. There is always a future beyond the future. Thus if we compare the past and the future, we can say that the past is without beginning, the future without end. It is the present that links the past and the future, and it is in the present that our life unfolds.

Ordinary people do not understand how cause-and-effect operates in the present. Why? Because they do not understand that the present is the result of causes from the past. Likewise, all the actions that we perform in this present life in turn function as new causes, which will produce effects we reap in the future. Most people choose to ignore this fact. They do not want to study or discuss what happened in the past, and to them the future is blank and meaningless. They care only about the present.

Under these circumstances, most people only want to indulge in the pleasures of life, always looking for comfort and enjoyment. Such material indulgence leads only to entrapment, which brings extreme affliction. When one perceives life through distorted lenses and builds one’s activities upon false values, one will never be able to make progress, for one is trapped by one’s false views.

The reason the Buddha spoke about the interconnectedness of past, present and future was to demonstrate the operation of the law of causality in the past and future. By understanding this, you will not perceive your lives as being isolated or independent of everything else. Thus your views will gradually open up, and you will not feel pessimistic, trapped by current limitations. By taking into account the backward and forward extensions of time, when things go well in your life you will not be carried away by joy, for you understand that your fortune is the result of good causes you planted in the past. And when things go badly, you will not be regretful since you realize your problems stem from a lack of good causes in the past. Looking at the world we live in, with the current political environment and low social morality, we are constantly affected and bothered.

You must say to yourselves: “Now that I have learned the Buddha Dharma, I am responsible for taking what I have learned, building up a clear conception of the law of cause-and-effect, and teaching it to others.” Teach others not to over-indulge themselves in times of success, and not to be discouraged or depressed in times of difficulty. Rather, one should use the difficult times as an opportunity to enhance one’s good human spirit.

The above is an excerpt from a series of lectures by Ven. Master Jen-Chun on “the basic concepts that anyone learning Buddhism should have.” These were the preliminary lectures to the study of Ven. Master Yin-Shun’s “The Way to Buddhahood.”