The Central Conception of Buddhism and the Meaning of the Word "Dharma" c19.s1.7

c19.s1.7

(4) *Because of the production of a result (by former deeds).*—If the past did not exist, how could a deed, good or bad, attain, after some lapse of time, its fruition, since, at the time when the latter appears, the cause which has produced retribution is gone. (A former deed, good or bad, does exist in reality, because, when it becomes ripe, it produces fruition, just as a present one does.)