The Principle of Practice Learned from Autumn's Harvest

The sky is high and clear, and the wind has turned cool. The crops in the fields and paddies are autumn's harvest — the fruit of seeds sown in spring that withstood summer's sun, rain, and wind. Autumn's fruit did not suddenly appear in autumn; it is the result of the seed, sunlight, rain and wind, the soil, and the farmer's care, all working together.

In Buddhism, the seed is seen as cause (因, in), the sunlight, rain, wind, and soil as conditions (緣, yeon), and the fruit that arises when cause and conditions meet as effect (果, gwa). The words, thoughts, and actions I engage in today all become seeds as well. Good thoughts, words, and actions become seeds of wholesome karma, while words and actions driven by greed, anger, and delusion become seeds of suffering. Karma is not a fixed fate — it is the seed you are planting right now.

Practice is not doing nothing; it is tending the field of the mind, staying awake to notice what seed you are planting right now. Just as you pull weeds, give water, and let the sunlight in, even if one or two sessions of seated meditation or aspiration do not produce an immediate result, you must press on steadily in practice until the causes and conditions ripen.

The teacher's own vow to transmit the Dharma, once planted, met countless people and conditions and has grown into today's harvest. To carry a harvest forward is not to rest in pride over the fruit, but to replant the new seed within that fruit for the next generation. Sharing good fruit and leaving behind good seeds — this is how conditions, vow, and the transmission of the Dharma are carried on.