Someone asked: the fruiting of merit and demerit follows a timeline — but is it possible for them to jump the queue in bearing fruit?

Jumping the Queue Through Focused Attention

Jumping the queue is possible, but it requires focused attention; without focus it can't be done. In truth, merit and demerit are laid out on the timeline of life from birth, but creating causes in the present makes new merit draw old merit in along with it. So if we focus in each moment — whatever result we want, we focus on that — because the mind is a wish-fulfilling element; it dwells wherever we place our focus. Create the cause, then focus on the result you wish to arise.

It Requires Effort

Everything requires effort. When focus is joined with effort, anything can jump the queue; but without effort it cannot be done. The Buddha said that a person overcomes suffering through effort. Just keep up the effort, and what we thought would be slow, or wondered whether it would ever come, can indeed come about.

The Result Can Only Occur When the Measure Is Full

But the result can only occur once the cause has been completed in full measure. If it isn't full, it cannot occur — like having money to buy something priced at a hundred baht but holding only ninety-eight or ninety-nine; not yet full, so you can't buy it. If we let it go, not caring to complete the cause quickly, we simply have to wait. Whenever we create the cause to its full measure, it becomes full, and then it can bear fruit.