“The length of time required for each person’s symptoms to ease varies, for everyone carries different karmic imprints from past lifetimes. These physical manifestations are the outward fruition of karmic causality. Since each being has created different karmas in bygone lives, the duration of karmic retributions differs accordingly. Karmic forces always require time for sentient beings to experience physical hardships, so that evil karmas may gradually be worn away and eliminated.
“Many mortals are unable to witness the various precept violations they committed in past lifetimes. They only observe the adversities and karmic retributions unfolding in this present life, which gives rise to discontent and complaints toward life, people and circumstances around them. This phenomenon mostly arises because people fail to thoroughly understand that karmic retribution spans three lifetimes, leading them to develop all sorts of misunderstandings and erroneous views. Misunderstandings between people in society also emerge in this way.
“When encountering adversities and frustrations in life, the first thing one ought to do is reflect inward: why others live smoothly while misfortunes befall only oneself. One should recognize that this signifies the manifestation of one’s karmic obstacles. Hence, we must first repent our own karma, reform our daily conduct, and conduct all affairs in accordance with the Dharma principles. Even if one lacks sufficient capability, doing one’s utmost to act properly is complete and faultless in terms of cause and effect. The karmic laws of the netherworld are forever impartial and strict.
“If a pregnant woman smokes, it weakens the innate immunity of the foetus, impedes normal brain development, and directly impairs the functions of the foetus’ internal organs. Children born to smoking mothers possess weak immunity. They are prone to colds, fevers and respiratory ailments such as coughing. They also tend to have irritable tempers, poor concentration during study, and easily become distracted.
“When any living being gestates within the mother’s womb, it is the formative stage of its innate constitution — the period wherein the physical body for its next lifetime takes shape. Before a soul enters the womb, the quality of blessing rewards for the coming life is already predetermined. Although this represents fixed karma set from the beginning, one’s good or evil conduct and habits acquired after birth can bring transformation; one’s destiny can be elevated or degraded accordingly.
“The ten months of gestation are of vital importance. If a mother smokes during pregnancy, the foetus will suffer inherent deficiencies. The severity of these deficiencies depends on how frequently the pregnant woman smokes. By contrast, if an expectant mother nurtures wholesome thoughts and conduct as prenatal education, she lays a sound innate foundation for the child’s decades of life ahead. All sentient beings who have the karmic affinity to encounter this writing possess blessings. May everyone pass this message on and share it with others.
“If an expectant mother observes pure conduct throughout the ten months of gestation, that is, refraining even from legitimate marital sexual intercourse, abstaining from smoking and alcohol, maintaining a pure vegetarian diet, reciting the Buddha’s name, and keeping a peaceful mind, this brings tremendous benefits and support to the foetus’s head development, the growth of all internal organs, as well as the shaping of its temperament after birth. Though vegetables in the mortal world may carry pesticide residues, they are still far preferable to the many drawbacks of meat-eating, and help avoid forming negative karmic connections with other sentient beings. I shall not elaborate further on the benefits of vegetarianism; many books concerning its benefits are available in the mortal realm for reference.
“Children conceived by vegetarian mothers are known as womb-born vegetarians. Such children generally surpass those conceived under a meat-eating diet in wisdom and enjoy better physical health. Most importantly, the radiance of their innate spiritual nature can be well preserved.
“The radiance of everyone’s innate spiritual nature gradually becomes tainted after one is incarnated into the human world. If smoking by a pregnant woman causes inherent deficiencies in the foetus, the child will need far more time and favorable causes and conditions to remedy such innate insufficiency after birth.
“Smokers not only diminish their own blessings and shorten their lifespan. If a smoker consistently subjects nearby non‑smokers to direct second‑hand‑smoke inhalation over a long period, such a smoker shall also suffer additional depletion of blessings. By directly harming other people’s health, the smoker acts in a way that harms others, brings no benefit to themselves, and diminishes their blessings.