If All Is Determined by Karma, Why Should We Still Strive? | Master Jingben
【Q&A Series】
If All Is Determined by Karma, Why Should We Still Strive?
So the conclusion is that the life we are living today is also connected to causes and effects from the past. If everything has already been determined by causes and conditions, do we still need to do anything to change it? Kindly request Master's guidance. Namo Amitabha Buddha.
Master Jingben Answers: Namo Amitabha Buddha. This is a question of great depth.
The premise you have stated is correct — "all things arise from causes and conditions." Our lives today are indeed intimately connected with all manner of past causes, conditions, and karmic effects — just like that single falling leaf.
However, there is one crucial point that must be clarified: "causes, conditions, and karmic effects" is not the same as "fatalism." It does not mean that everything is already fixed and cannot be changed in the slightest. On the contrary — precisely because all phenomena arise from causes and conditions, the moment the causes and conditions change, the result changes with them.
The greatest difference between us and that falling leaf is this: the leaf is passive — it falls with the wind, with no power to choose. But we, as human beings, possess thought and action. The causes of the past have indeed brought about the present effects; but this present moment is precisely when we are creating new causes. Every thought that arises within us, every word we speak, every action we take — all are planting fresh seeds for the future. We are not at all puppets of fate, powerless to act — we are the ones who can actively change the future.
Therefore, we not only need to strive — we ought to act with purpose: refrain from all evil, practice all goodness, plant many wholesome causes, and naturally the fruits of the future will be transformed.
And for those of us who recite the Buddha-Name, the most powerful cause — the cause that can most thoroughly transform our destiny — is this single Name, "Namo Amitabha Buddha."
Ordinary good or evil causes and conditions can only keep us turning within the Six Realms, rising and falling without rest. But recitation of the Name connects us directly with the power of Amitabha Buddha's Original Vow — and this is the "supreme contributing condition" that transcends all ordinary karmic forces. So even if our past karmic obstructions are heavy beyond measure, as long as we begin from this moment to plant this one cause of "reciting the Name," we can entirely rewrite our final destination — from endless cycles of birth and death, to rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, certain to attain Buddhahood.
So the answer is yes: we must act — and most importantly, we must begin to recite the Name from this very moment. We are not that helpless leaf, drifting wherever the wind blows. We are the ones who, through this single Buddha-Name, can take hold of the most powerful condition, and with our own hands transform the future of our own lives. Namo Amitabha Buddha
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