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Thai versus Western style karma
vinlyn
Colorado...for now Veteran
Having been raised (so to speak) on Thai Buddhism since the late-1980s, melding that with postings here on this forum, one of the most interesting lines of discussion has been about kamma.
Recently I was confronted with a good example of how Thais view kamma. My Thai ex blames himself for our breakup (which is a reasonable view of what happened) and for something that happened after the breakup (also a reasonable view of what happened), although at least half of the reason I left Thailand were the riots and the political situation. But the key here is that he blames himself, and believes he has created negative kamma for himself that will result in his death during upcoming open-heart surgery.
Here is my key point -- he sees kamma as punishment for bad behavior, and that the nature of the punishment is unrelated to the action that created the negative kamma. It's more like an external action is taken against him.
That is not unlike, quite a few years ago, when a Thai friend who lived here in the States, accidentally knocked his Buddha to the floor while cleaning. He had a serious heart condition and predicted knocking the Buddha on the floor -- even accidentally -- would result in a fatal heart attack. Oops...within days he did have a fatal heart attack. Go figure.
I think what we see more here in the West is that if you earn negative kamma, you will suffer something more direct. For example, if I cause a break-up, I will be unhappy or feel guilty about it.
It's sort of like the difficulty we have seeing the negative results of our eating habits. For example, I had a small pizza last night...cholesterol that will someday affect me. On the other hand, I stopped eating chocolate immediately when I learned that within minutes after eating it, it would give me heart palpitations.
Interesting to note the differences between the two views of how kamma works.
Recently I was confronted with a good example of how Thais view kamma. My Thai ex blames himself for our breakup (which is a reasonable view of what happened) and for something that happened after the breakup (also a reasonable view of what happened), although at least half of the reason I left Thailand were the riots and the political situation. But the key here is that he blames himself, and believes he has created negative kamma for himself that will result in his death during upcoming open-heart surgery.
Here is my key point -- he sees kamma as punishment for bad behavior, and that the nature of the punishment is unrelated to the action that created the negative kamma. It's more like an external action is taken against him.
That is not unlike, quite a few years ago, when a Thai friend who lived here in the States, accidentally knocked his Buddha to the floor while cleaning. He had a serious heart condition and predicted knocking the Buddha on the floor -- even accidentally -- would result in a fatal heart attack. Oops...within days he did have a fatal heart attack. Go figure.
I think what we see more here in the West is that if you earn negative kamma, you will suffer something more direct. For example, if I cause a break-up, I will be unhappy or feel guilty about it.
It's sort of like the difficulty we have seeing the negative results of our eating habits. For example, I had a small pizza last night...cholesterol that will someday affect me. On the other hand, I stopped eating chocolate immediately when I learned that within minutes after eating it, it would give me heart palpitations.
Interesting to note the differences between the two views of how kamma works.
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Comments
Views, perceptions, down to how attention and intention communicate all at once = equals experience.
On a gross level we can say karma is action which is produced and producer of cause/effect. But when we study emptiness we realize that everything is the cause and everything is the effect thus in many ways karma is impossible to understand in its fullest implications.
The karma we use in buddhist is much more microscopic. We connect dots which are helpful to practice and life. Because karma is empty imputation is how it functions in the sphere of everyday life.
Thus karma is different for everyone, but similar in that sentient beings project their world, whereas buddhas no longer construct the world thus karma no longer has footing.
Hhhmm
I doubt @I_AM_THAT meant to infer this but..
While it may be good to not say or not do something, not responding when it may be good to do so equally causes Karma.
The examination of Karma help us understand our relationship to suffering and remains one of the most practical teachers on the efficacy of mindfulness.