The Patience of Growing Good Deeds : หน้า 130/207

After three or four months, although there is still no banana to consume, there will be banana leaves that we can use for wrapping. After eight or nine months, there is yet no banana to eat, but there will be banana blossoms to eat with condiments. After we have been watering and turning the soil for a year, then we get to enjoy bananas. A banana plant is one of the easiest plants to grow, and yet it takes 12 months before we get to enjoy the yield. Similarly, favorable outcome of good deeds also take time to come to fruition. So when someone complains that he has pursued the right objective, exerted the fullest effort, and kept within bounds, and yet has not seen the fruit of his good deeds, then he must be told to be patient. 2. Locality Take for example the banana tree that grows next to a big water jar as opposed to one that grows in a dry area. The one next to the jar will receive water each morning as the landowner wakes up and splashes his face. After each meal, when the dishes get washed, that banana tree receives water. Whenever someone bathes, or the maid washes clothes, whenever the water is dumped on the ground next to the jar, the tree benefits. It will grow faster than others since it happens to be near the water source. The Warm Hearted Family 258 How Good Deeds Can Bring Good Outcomes It is the same when we carry out good deeds. If the locality is conducive the outcome will materialize sooner than it would in a less favorable locality. A word of caution, we should know the mentality of the people around us. Initially, they may give us moral support. But once we advance too far and too fast, they may turn antagonistic, and try to bring us down. So when we are doing something worthy, we have to pay attention to timing and locality, and adjust our actions accordingly. If we believe firmly in the Law of Kamma, we will hold ourselves back from doing bad deeds even when nobody is watching, and embrace doing good wholeheartedly at any opportunity. **Why do some people doubt that good deeds will bring good outcomes?** We know that when someone does a good deed while meeting the criteria, good outcomes will be realized. This will encourage him to do more good. On the contrary, if he does something bad even while meeting the three criteria, it is certain that he will receive bad outcomes. If we look closely, we will realize that we often have not kept full account of the bad deeds which we have committed