Buddha’s Teaching on the Two Kinds of Mistakes Now and Future Life | Karma and Result
Numbered Discourse 2.1 Mistakes Sometime ago in old India. I heard this story: Once, the Buddha was staying near Savatthi, in Jeta’s Grove at Anathapindika’s monastery. He gathered the monks and said, “Monks!” “Yes, Sir,” they answered. Then, the Buddha shared this teaching: “There are two kinds of mistakes you should be aware of. What are they? Mistakes with consequences in this life, and Mistakes tied to future lives. Let’s talk about the first kind— the Mistakes with consequences in this life. Imagine you see a criminal, who has done bad thing such as stealing or killing, caught by the authorities. They’re punished harshly: whipped, beaten, or worse—hands or feet cut off, ears or nose removed, or even gruesome tortures like being burned, impaled, being put into jail, or executed with capital punishment. You think to yourself, ‘If I did something like that, the same result could happen to me.’ That fear stops you from stealing or harming others. That’s what I me...