EVEN A CHANCE MEETING
If you were to ask a young couple where they met for the first time, they
may answer that they happened to meet on a journey or while she was waiting
for the bus, she was standing in front of him in the queue.
I am interested in the use of this word, "happen." "Happen" in this sense means to occur by
chance or by lack of necessity. However
in Buddhism, it is said that even a chance meeting is due to the Karma of a
previous events. Karma is a force
created not only by our actions, but also by those of our previous lives as
well. According to this belief, all our
daily happenings in this present life are inevitably controlled by this
Karma. It determines our destiny. In other words, whatever appears to 'happen'
in our present lives does not just happen in the true sense of the word, but
occurs because of this Karma.
There are five billion people in the world. How many of them will have any
sort of relations or contacts with in your life? I think if you were to count the number of
people who attended one's funeral, which would be a fairly representative
figure, it will be approximately two hundred according to statistics. We only become acquainted with two hundred
people out of more than five billion in each of our lives! Do you not feel inclined to think that these
two hundred relationships are formed for some compelling reasons, not by mere
chances alone? If you do feel this way,
then you must try to maintain these relationships for as long as possible with
all your kindness. If not, Heaven (your
Karma) may punish you for it.
