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Re: karma?
"if something bad happens to someone, it's because of their bad karma from this or a previous life."
Zen master Shakespeare once said
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so”
This also applies to karma and how one perceives the results of one's actions,,,.Bearing in mind good and bad are relative
Pyrrhonism holds that good and evil do not exist by nature, meaning that good and evil do not exist within the things themselves. All judgments of good and evil are relative to the one doing the judging.
Shoshin1
Re: karma?
The explanation that changed my mind on the subject from someone who did believe in karma as all encompassing was that just because someone's current suffering came about from past actions doesn't mean they aren't worthy of compassion and help. Helping them would also be their karma.
I think I'd also ask if there isn't something else at work here? Most people wouldn't think that one idea is morally bankrupt and abandon the whole project. Are there other factors that led you to believe the way you do now and subsequent to that you now look on Buddhism with an unfavorable lens?
person
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@Kotishka
....also....I began to study Dogen today.... Bendowa.....haiya..... ! There will be many posts coming up soon....!
Although Dogen purists would be offended by what I write here....
I thought Bendowa is largely Dogen's marketing proposal for why his teaching was superior to any of his contemporaries of the time. While I am sure Bendowa provided much initial motivation & comfort for many of his followers, the adversarial flavor of it, seems like a dangerous flirtation where one's worldly attachments are in danger of only getting exchanged for spiritual equivalents of the same.
Yes, it also includes beautiful representations of truth, & the practices of those days were historically combative, & this might have also been Dogen's true Koan, but I think that Bendowa, on its own, compounds as many delusions as it addresses.
I'll be interested to hear what your studies of it are.
how
Re: Respecting one’s elders
There is a generality to "Respect our Elders"
as with all such generalities, there are exceptions.
Respect for one's parents for having brought you into this world does not mean you must respect acts of cruelty, meanness or disregard for others.
In this regard, those who torture their children would not be looked upon as elders and certainly not elders worthy of respect.
the concept is, however, that we respect others (and ourselves) as beings capable of great good while we must accept that we also have the potential of great evil. it is the endevor to be and do good, embodies in the concepts of right thoughts, deeds, words, etc., from which rises the concept and ideal of respect for our elder, our neighbores, our fellow beings. it is the concept of respecting the begger on the street, as a human being, regardless of circumstance.
Peace to all
Lionduck
Re: Respecting one’s elders
Many, many years ago, a neighbour, who had been carer to her mother for a good 15 years, finally faced her mother's last days at home, where she died. Not knowing what to say or do (I was a wet-behind-the-ears teenager) I bought her a little rose bush, in memory of her mum - which I actually watched her carry to the dustbin, and hurl it in with an angry flourish.
Naturally, I was shocked, but in those days, (we're talking 50 years ago!) I was definitely not one to challenge or argue with someone adult, so although hurt and upset, I tried to let it go.
A few days later, we met in the street, and she thanked me for my gift, and must have realised from my reaction, that I knew she'd thrown it away, so after a short Q & A, she went on to explain that her relationship with her mother had been one of almost a slave to a mistress. Her mother had always treated her abominably, and had instead favoured her older brothers shamelessly. In spite of everything she had done for her mother, there was absolutely no provision made for her in the Will, and her house, goods & chattels and considerable sum of money was left divided between her two boys. She had been left homeless, and penniless.
It was an absolute blessing that her two brothers subsequently drew up an agreement to allow her to live in the house indefinitely, rent free, and they would deal with all household finances 50/50.
So while she had absolutely NO respect for her mother, and a deep and abiding resentment, her two older brothers proved to be eminently respectful - and respectable gentlemen.
So, "respecting your elders" is very much a universal recommendation. But it's occasionally hard to implement.
What we have to remember is that Respect your elders, and, as we are encouraged in the 10 Commandments, to "Honour thy father and mother", nowhere is the word 'Love' mentioned.
Respect and honour are a recognition that these people have had to put in hard graft to get you to where you are today. Consciously, or unconsciously, by accident or by design, our parents make us who we are, and we make choices through experience. So honouring and respecting is good for us too.
federica
Re: karma?
@opiumpoetry said:
Many Buddhists view karma as "if something bad happens to someone, it's because of their bad karma from this or a previous life." I now realize that such a belief is heartless and cruel. That is why I recently renounced Buddhism and now follow the teachings of Jesus.
Personally, I feel it's a great shame that you have chosen to evaluate a Philosophical Religion that came about 500 years or so before Christ's birth, and have dismissed its entire history, interpretations, mass of teachings, and meanings, for the fault of one misquoted and misunderstood view.
For my part, having been brought up as a Roman Catholic for the best part of 45 years of my life, and having been educated thus-wise, I have embraced Buddhism wholeheartedly - not always as a good Buddhist, mind! - but I continue to appreciate much of what the New testament teaches and illustrates, and find much of its content worthy, and valid.
Who was it said. "Judge not, that ye be not judged"....? 
federica
Re: Respecting one’s elders
Hello. It sounds like you experienced a standard Buddhist talk in a traditional Asian Buddhist centre that is family orientated. Respecting parents is about children having gratitude for the care & sacrifice the parents provided . If your parents did not provide care to you there are no strong grounds for such overt respect. Instead, you can cultivate compassion towards your parents, trying to understand why they had such personal problems.
Having said this, there is nothing wrong or "excessively authoritarian" with the Buddhist centre you attended. What is out of the ordinary is your personal circumstances. I suggest you think about attending some social activities at this Buddhist centre where you may experience hospitable family gatherings; such as attend the days where people make food offerings to the monks. If you hang out with some nice hospitable families, you may start to respect some of those hospitable parents.
Aboud
Re: karma?
Those who attribute the results of everything to Karma are suffering under a simplistic misunderstanding of the Dharma.
Within Buddhism, the operations of the universe divide up into five laws, with
the law of karma only being one of those laws. Much is attributed to those other 4 laws.
(1) the laws of the physical world – that the world is not answerable to one’s will;
(2) the laws of the organic world – that all things flow;
(3) the laws of morality – that karma is inexorable;
(4) the law of the Dharma – that evil is vanquished and good prevails;
(5) the laws of mind – that of the will to enlightenment.
The purpose of teaching about karma is not for an assignment of blame upon anyone as much as it is a teaching showing that the consequences of all of our moral decisions potentially affecting everyone to such a degree that not even death offers an escape from its inertia.
Much of it's teaching is about fostering the naked examination of our own hearts and minds so that we can work at minimizing the possible arisings of our own heartlessness or cruelty.
May the followers of your newly chosen religion, continue to pass the same level of scrutiny and judgment that your Buddhist acquaintances, couldn't.
how
Re: karma?
“Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7.
Karma is also acknowledged in Christianity, they just haven't given it a name, elaborated much in the way of teachings about it, or extended it to cover multiple lifetimes. I suspect it is pretty much a universally acknowledged principle in other religions, and in societies in general.
To regard Karma as being "good" or "bad" I think tends to be an unfortunate and unnecessarily dualistic. oversimplification. Whatever we do now will most certainly affect our lives and our minds in the future - that's inescapable. Will that effect accord with our desires and what we imagine to be our needs, or trash our desires and show us something else, something previously undreamed of? It is fascinating to watch it unfold, like the Lotus blooming. Is the Lotus ugly, or beautiful? It depends on how we have constructed it, and also upon the way we choose to view it.
Fosdick
Re: Just for fun: the random, useless announcements thread!
@FleaMarket said:
This year has been a bit of a welcome oddity. Many people around are landscaping to drought resistant options, and organizations have restricted water use on grassy areas with more restrictions coming. I believe everyone is coming around to the direction. I'll be happy to see the grass out front change when it does though not sure what it will be yet. Open to suggestions.
Drought resistant herbs, meadow, chamomile lawn, miniature forest, gnome/buddha/sculpture sanctuary, pot garden, weed sanctuary, rock garden … dependent on circumstances 😁😌🙏🏽
lobster