I have doubts that my past actions can affect my future. Can you say something about how karma works? First, we need to understand that nothing arises from nowhere and at random, but develops through a series of interconnected events. Take a piece of paper. It’s made of wood from a tree. The tree grew from a seed. If any of these links were missing, there would be no paper. All phenomena exist in the same way.
Our present cir*****stances are the same. They are part of an ongoing process of intertwined events that are both the result of the preceding event and the cause of the next. If situations could develop at random, with no connection to the past, then even a rice seed could produce wheat or an elephant could give birth to a dog.
To continue, the Buddha observed that mental, verbal and physical acts that challenge the false notion of an independent self (ego), such as generosity and goodwill, produce pleasant and favourable results. These are like solid bricks. In contrast, those that preserve the idea of an independent self, such as greed, hatred, attachment, jealousy, pride or delusion, are the bricks that lay the ground for future hardship.
Some people may argue that, because these karmic traces cannot be perceived, they do not exist. This is a mistaken understanding. Rather than determining their existence, based on limited audio or visual perception, we should consider them like the potential for sound to resonate from vocal chords or for ice to form in water. We cannot hear the sound nor see the ice, but when stirred by external forces they manifest. In the same way, when karmic seeds meet conducive cir*****stances, a situation arises according to the nature of the seed.
Let us look at another example. As a youth, you exercised regularly and had a healthy diet. Now you are a middle-aged office worker, who likes to eat salty food and put his feet up in front of the TV. Even though this lifestyle is unhealthy, you will still reap the benefits of your previous good habits, though they diminish in time.
As a supplement to this answer, I’d like to address a common misunderstanding about karma. Many people confuse karma with predestined fate. The difference is that with predestined fate, there is no free will.
The following example illustrates this distinction. Some people are in a small boat on the ocean and a strong wind is blowing, which threatens to capsize the vessel. These cir*****stances arose because of the past actions of those on board, and are presently unalterable. Nevertheless, according to the laws of karma, the people have a choice in how they respond to the situation and what they do will determine their future. As a Buddhist saying states, if you want to know what you did in the past, look in a mirror. If you want to know what you will be in the future, look at your present action. Source: Kuenselonline
