(Sounds of birds singing and a bell)

This world it is the way it is because we are the way we are.

(Bell sound)

And we are the way we are because there is Karma

Karma Bond to the Past and Future

(Sound of birds chirping, bells ringing, and a dog barking)

Every morning we wake up to a new day.

but every morning we also wake up to our old life.

To the life that we have created.

(forest sounds as the monk walks through it)

Last week.

Last year

Last life

This is our Karma.

We cannot escape it.

Karma Our Life

(Chanting)

Karma is a sanscrit word. It means "action".

We can easily see some of our Karma.

Let's just think what we did.

Yesterday.

Last year.

In our childhood.

Or in our last life.

If we can remember that.

What ever we did, this is our Karma.

This has become our life.

Now.

Karma Whatever we did.

The Buddhist says "Life is about suffering".

Very often we create suffering.

For ourselves

or for others. We know that.

We say bad things.

We're impatient.

We hurt.

Karma We create suffering.

We do create suffering around us.

This means we fill our own world with suffering.

How can we expect to find anything else in this world

other than suffering?

We will find exactly what we had previously provided.

We can create our own hell,

but we can just as well create heaven.

Karma Heaven or hell.

(People talking, market and traffic sounds)

Wherever we look in this universe,

there is cause and effect.

Nothing ever happens out of thin air.

This law of cause and effect also applies

to our destiny.

To the way our life evolves.

Whatever we do, whatever we even think

will have some effect on our life.

Even if just a tiny little bit.

Our thoughts and feelings

form the world within us.

Our words and actions

form the world around us.

We are constantly shaping our world.

And we are shaping our life, little by little.

Because for every cause,

there must be an effect.

Karma Cause and effect

(Birds chirping)

Whatever we do or think

shapes our world, a tiny little bit.

Be towards greed and anger

or be it towards love and kindness.

We can increase suffering in our world

or we can prevent suffering.

It is up to us.

Karma We shape our world.

So our actions directly affect our world.

Our own as well as other people's world.

Because from a Buddhist perspective all is one.

Nothing is separate. All is connected.

We are all connected.

Our own future and the future of others.

They interact like cogwheels in a clock.

They are one.

Karma All is one

(Birds continue chirping. Piano sound)

Let's see our life as a garden.

If we take good care of it,

it can be beautiful.

Obviously, this will take time and effort.

(water sound)

And obviously there are a lot of things in our garden

beyond our control.

The weather,

the seasons or maybe some other people

whose intentions are different from ours.

But, after all, we are the gardener.

We will determine what our garden

will finely look like.

Karma Time and effort

(Birds chirping and men chanting)

Our present life is created by our Karma

We cannot escape it.

Since we have created suffering in the past,

there will be future suffering too.

The future is just the echo of our past actions.

For a long time, we have been filling

the world around us with our

anger and greed.

And now it is still there.

For example, in the reactions and the feelings

of the people around us, in various situations.

The suffering we have previously created

will now create new suffering.

Karma Suffering creates suffering.

So, is there a way of actually prevent

future suffering?

Yes, there is.

Our past unwholesome Karma is like

a drop of dirty water on the bottom

of a big jar.

It is there.

We cannot change it.

We cannot remove it.

But we can add clean water.

Drop by drop. Little by little.

After some time, the jar will contain

almost perfectly clear water again.

Karma Drop by drop.

Since we cannot get rid of our

unwholesome Karma,

we need to dilute

and thereby neutralize it.

Rather than creating new suffering again and again,

we need to prevent suffering.

Therefore, we need to replace our anger

and greed with love and kindness.

We need to be in control.

By meditating we learn to be mindful.

We learn to be in control of our actions,

our thoughts and feelings.

So, finally,

we will be able to create

less suffering

for us and for others.

Karma Control instead of suffering.

Our Karma is the bond that ties us

to past suffering

and that will create

future suffering too.

If we want to be free, we need to cut

this bond.

We need to prevent the creation of

new suffering.

So our life can be better

next week,

next year,

next life.

Karma It is up to us

Everything wholesome. Nothing unwholesome. A Pure mind.

This is the past, present and future Buddhas' teaching.

A film by Jorg Dittmar

Spiritual Guidance Pra Acham Tippakorn Sukhito

Production Manager Mae Chee Brigitte Schrottenbacher

Narration Morgan Deare

Special Thanks

All Monks at Ban Sawang Jai, Kate Kamolmas Sringam, Jeffrey Wahl

Music Kosinus

Start February 2012 in Thailand at Ban Sawang Jai, Pak Chong