In Western cultures, when a child loses their parents, itâs seen as tragic â and purely accidental.
Bad luck. Bad timing. Just the randomness of life.
But in Buddhism, thereâs another layer.
Not to judge. Not to blame.
But to understand.
The Buddha taught that what happens to us in this life isnât random â itâs a result of causes from before.
Yes, even becoming an orphan.
Letâs be honest:
The law of karma is not fair.
In fact, it can feel cruel.
You might wonder: âWhat did I do to deserve this? I donât remember anything.â
Exactly. Because in Buddhist teaching, causes donât always come from this life â they can come from past lives, where weâve forgotten what weâve done.
Sometimes, just a small harmful action, like separating a baby animal from its mother, can create the seed for a future life as an orphanOrphan-NotRandom.
Is that fair? No.
But itâs the law of cause and effect â not personal revenge, not divine punishment. Just how nature works in the moral universe.
And the Buddha saw this.
He saw the deep cruelty of it. And instead of turning away, he chose to teach us:
âThis is how the game of life works.
If you donât know the rules, youâll suffer over and over.
But if you learn them â you can change your path.â
You didnât choose your childhood.
But you can choose what kind of adult youâll become.
You can:
Choose to be kind â even if no one showed you kindness.
Choose to create a family of care â even if yours was broken.
Choose to stop passing pain forward â and start planting compassion.
This is where Buddhism gives hope.
Karma isnât about guilt. Itâs about growth.
The past explains where you are.
The present shapes where youâre going.
Think of life like a complex game.
You didnât choose your starting level.
But once you understand the mechanics â you can play smarter.
The Buddha taught:
Learn what creates suffering (like harming others, anger, selfishness)
Learn what builds peace (like generosity, patience, wisdom)
Donât repeat past mistakes
Do good â not just for others, but for your own future mind
Karma isnât instant.
But itâs cumulative.
This is important.
If youâve lost your parents, or grown up with abandonment, hardship, or neglect â it doesn't mean you're cursed.
It doesnât mean you're worse than anyone else.
It means youâre living out the consequence of past causes, but you now have the power to plant new seeds â for yourself and others.
And no one can take that power from you.
If karma were lenientâŠ
If pain didnât follow crueltyâŠ
If every life started from zero, clean and clearâŠ
Then maybe the Buddha wouldnât have taught at all.
But he saw the truth â that life can be painfully unfair, and deeply confusing.
So he chose to teach out of compassion.
To help us stop spinning in cycles of suffering.
You donât need to remember your past life.
You just need to live this one wisely.
Because from this moment on â the pen is in your hand.Â
Source in Thai: https://kalyanamitra.org/th/article_detail.php?i=9872Â