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Karma and Nirvana
I haven't been able to find a clear definition or explanation of these concepts. From what I've gathered, Karma can be accumulated in both positive and negative fashions. Positive karma attracts and promotes positive action, and vice versa.
Am I erring already? If so please correct me, if not please expound on the subject.
Nirvana is a state achieved by one who has fulfilled totally the eight-fold path, and therefore has freed his or herself from all suffering. This "enlightened" being then transcends existence. Yes?
Am I erring already? If so please correct me, if not please expound on the subject.
Nirvana is a state achieved by one who has fulfilled totally the eight-fold path, and therefore has freed his or herself from all suffering. This "enlightened" being then transcends existence. Yes?
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I am obviously a novice when it comes to Buddhism, so I am not sure how what I believe on the subject fits in with the traditional beliefs. But, in my (admittedly uneducated when it comes to Buddhism) opinion the question of whether or not an experience is "really real" is meaningless. For all practical intents and purposes, reality is subjective.
As in, all suffering is fully deserved?
Because that sounds an awful lot like one of the doctrines that made me turn away from Christianity, the doctrine of universal punishment and original sin.
God.
Random.
There is only one that is right.
The present is the result of past deeds. The future is the result of present deeds.
For example, a man is walking his dog one day and a lunatic beats him to near-death with a baseball bat for no apparent reason.
Obviously something caused this to happen, but does the cause have to be the one who is suffering? Did his own "negative karma" cause this event?
The rest depends on whether you believe in existence beyond this one
I'm not saying it's right, but it is the common belief there.
I don't know what is right. I have yet to see any prove it one way or the other. I just see a lot of western Buddhists making assumptions.
In the Suttas, the Buddha defines kamma as intentional actions of body, speech and mind (AN 6.63) that have the potential to produce certain results, which, in turn, have the potential to produce pleasant, painful or neutral feelings (AN 4.235). The word itself simply means 'action.'
Pragmatically speaking, actions are deemed 'unskillful' (akusala) if they lead to to self-affliction, to the affliction of others or to both. Actions that don't lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others or to both are deemed 'skillful' (kusala) (MN 61). Therefore, the distinction between skillful and unskillful actions is based upon how their results are experienced—not only by ourselves, but by others as well.
In my understanding, kamma is essentially presented as a natural, psychological process in which there's a cause and effect relationship between our actions and how they're experienced; a process whereby causes produce effects, where actions condition potential experiences.
As for nibbana, it's defined in the Suttas as the end of dukkha (suffering); the extinction of craving (AN 10.60); the extinguishing of greed, hatred and delusion (SN 38.1). Beyond that, it's open to interpretation.
However, what makes karma unique is that it involves intentional action, an agent. The natural casual processes operating in the world cannot be termed karmic if there is no agent involved. So in order for a casual process to be karmic, it must involve an individual whose intention would lead to a particular action.
Actions which produce suffering and pain are generally considered negative or non-virtuous actions. Actions that lead to positive and desirable consequences, such as experiences of joy and happiness, are considered to be positive or virtuous actions. There is a third category of actions which leads to expereiences of equanimity, or neutral feelings and experiences, these are neither virtuous or non-virtuous.
In terms of the actual nature of karmic actions themselves, there are two principal types: mental acts-actions that are not neccessarily manifested through physical action - and physical acts, which include both bodily and verbal acts. From the point of view of the medium of expression of an action, you can distinguish actions of the mind, of speech, and of the body. To add, in the scriptures you can find discussions about karmic actions which are completeley virtuous, completeley non-virtuous, and those which are a mixture of the two. Probably most of the actions that we undertake and probably a mixture of the two.
If you break down a single karmic action, you can can see that there are several stages within the event. There is a beginning, which is the stage of the motivation or intention; there is actual execution of the act; and then there is the culmination or completion of the act. The intensity and force of a karmic action vary according to the way each of these stages is carried out.
So take the example of a negative action. If, at the stage of motivation the person has a very strong negative emotion like anger, and then acts on impulse and carries out the action, but immediately afterwards feels deep regret for the action he has committed, all three stages would not be completeley fulfilled. Consequently, the action would be less powerful compared to an instance where the person had acted out all stages completely with a strong motivation, actual execution, and a sense of taking pleasure or satisification from the act committed. Similarly, there could be cases where the individual may have a very weak motivation but circumstances force him or her to actually commit the act. In this case, although a negative act has been committed it would be less powerful than in the first example, because a strong motivating force was not present. So depending on the strength of the motivation of the actual act, and of the cmpletion, the karma produced will have corresponding degrees of intensity.
The scriptures speak of 4 types of karma: karma which is accumulated but not carried out, karma which is carried out but not accumulated, karma which is both carried out and accumulated, and karma where there is an absence of both accumulation and the actual execution of the act. It is important to understand the significant of this point, and to appreciate that since there are different stages to every act, karmic actions themselves are composite, and their quality can be characterized as the cumulative result of each of their composing factors. Once you appreciate this, then whenever you have the opportunity to engage in a positive action as a buddhist, it is important to ensure that the initial stage, your motivation is very strong and that you have a strong intention to engage in the act. When actually carrying out the act, you should ensure that you have given it your best, and you have put all of your effort into making the action successful. Once the action is performed, it is important to ensure that you dedicate the positive karma that you have thereby created towards the weel-being of all beings as well as your own attainment of enlightenment. If you can reinforce that dedication with an understanding of the ultimate nature of reality, then it would be even more powerful.
Even though there are many types of negative actions, they can be summarized into 10 negative or 10 non-virtuous actions. There are 3 actions of the body, 4 of speech, and 3 of the mind. The 3 bodily actions are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; the 4 negative actions of speech are lying, engaging in divisive speech, using harsh words, and engaging in senseless gosspip; and the 3 negative mental actions are covetousness, harboring harmful thoughts and intentions, and hlding wrong views.
When you look at the evolution of the physical universe at large, we cannot say that the natural proccesses of cause and effect are a product of karma. The processes of cause and effect in the natural world takes place regardless of karma. Nevertheless, karma would have a role to play in determining the form that the process takes, or the direction in which it leads. So at what point in the casual process does karma come into the picture? If you refer to your own personal experience it may be easier to understand. Experience may show that for example actions that you do in the morning will have a continuing effect even in the evening. It will have had an impact upon our emotion and our sense of being so even though it was committed in the morning as an event that is finished, its effects still lingers on in our mind. The same principle operates with karma and its effects, even in the case of long-term karmic effects. According to buddhism the impact of karma can be felt over successive lifetimes as well as our present life.
If you talk about about gaining the perfect wisdom of a buddha, you should not think that you need to create qualities in ourselves that are not there already, and acquire them from somewhere outside of us. Rather, you should see perfect buddha wisdom as a potential that is being realized. The defilements of the mind hamper the natural expression of that potential which is inherent in our consciousness. It is as if the capacity for unobstructed knowledge is there in our mind, but the defilements obscure and hinder it from being fully deveolped and expressed. However, once our understanding of the mind is informed by the idea that the essential nature of mind is pure luminosity and mere experienc, or the sheer capacity to know, we can then conceive of the possibility of eliminating these afflictions comletely.
If you accept that liberation is possible then you should go on to understand that it can be characterized into 4 features. The first feature describes it as the true cessation of the continuum of afflictions. According to the second feature, liberation is true peace, the state of total tranquility where the individual has attained complete freedom from all defilements of the mind. It is described in the third feature as totally satisfying, because one has reached ultimate satisfaction. Fourtly, it is described as definite emergence, in the sense that one has definitely emerged from the process of unenlighted existence.
Karma explained in this way is much more understandable than most of what I've read. Sometimes people seem to be intentionally vague when describing it. Your coherent interpretations are quite a relief. Thanks again Tom for the source, I'm eager to read it.
The Dalai Lama has many books out there, and I personally find his writings very inspirational and of good quality. He has a big heart full of compassion and if anybody knows the dharma IMO he is somebody to listen to.
Good luck with your practice, of course as you everyone here will be happy to answer and questions you may have.
He's a veritable font of information - and if he don't know - you can bet he'll research until he does....
With regard to @ThailandTom's contribution, I find his contribution stunning and frankly, laudable.
If @Student, you had known and spoken to him even just a few months ago, his comprehension, attitude and opinion would have been somewhat different.
You would be hard put to recognise him, and consider the two contributors one and the same.
I really do take my hat off to you Tom - the transformation is commendable - to say the least....
:clap: