Good deeds
stand tall like a green pine,
While evil deeds bloom like flowers.
It seems, the pine is not as brilliant as the flowers.
When the frost comes,
the pine will still stand tall,
While the flowers,
withered, can be seen no more.
This little poem artfully highlights the principle of cause and effect.
Good deeds can be compared to a pine tree. When we do a good deed it may not attract much attention, whereas evil may at first seem appealing When the time of retribution comes, goodness, no matter how plain, will beget goodness while evil will only bring about ruin and demise.
Let us use another example. Evil can be compared to a grindstone. When we use a grindstone everyday we do not notice it getting used up, until one day we realize it has become much smaller. Evil people are like the grindstone; you do not see from the surface that it is being worn out, but actually it is wearing out daily. Good people are like the orchid; you do not see it grow, but actually it is growing everyday. If you do evil deeds, do not imagine no one will find out. You cannot escape from cause and effect or even your own conscience.
So do not worry about not getting good results for the moment. Just look at the flowers and grass in the garden. It seems you cannot see them grow, but bit by bit, they come to full blossom. There is a saying which goes, “When one is kind others take advantage of him, but the heavens will not. When one is evil people are afraid of him, but the heavens are not.” So we do not have to be too
calculating about gain and loss for the moment because karma works across three lives, past, present and future, never failing.
In ancient China, a young man went to the capital to take a civil examination. When the examiner was correcting his paper, he noticed that one of the characters was missing a dot. However, as he was about to deduct points from the exam score, a group of ants gathered at the place where the dot should be as though trying to hide the error. The examiner tried to shoo the ants away. As soon as he used his hand to brush them away, another group of ants gathered at the same place. He was surprised and asked the student if he could explain this phenomenon. The student then told him that once while he was studying, he noticed a group of ants searching for food, not only did he not brush them away, but out of kindness, he fed them a candy.
As you can see, his kindness to the ants was rewarded; cause and effect never fail.
