past lives/future lives explaining karma tic past

paska

what karmatic causes of past/future lives would my situation be. i have complex ptsd, i been abused, raped people miss treating me because i am male to female transsexual woman no a woman with a past. my last boyfriend i overlooked who he was and his doing and feel in love well bad things happened to me. but deep down i feel like i had good past lives, past lives in dhamma.

Rhodian

I have rheumatism, skin ilness, a personality disorder and probably a bad past that still chases me. I thought I must have been a nazi, but we have internet. We have a roof above our head I assume, so I think.... I am still doing good, could have been born in a place in which they well.... War zones in which you do not get abused once and see your own family get... It's to horrible to even describe here on a forum.

But statisticly in history there have always been wars. I am quite sure in a previous life I have fought in a war wether it was 500 BC or after the common era, there has been so much bloodshed, I must have bad things on my consciousnes wether it was stealing, thieving partaking in wars or whatever.

Though the question should not be what did I do in a previous life? The question should be what can I do with this life? You came on this forum and opened up hopefully to the teachings of the buddha that itself is a blessing.

Dakini

OP, there are teachings in some Buddhist traditions that say you can divine something of your past life by your current life circumstances. However, that's very controversial from a pan-Buddhist perspective. It comes across too much as blaming-the-victim, and thus, isn't constructive, IMO. The main thing is to learn from your mistakes in the current life, and if there's any healing to be done (for ex., from childhood trauma of some sort, not to mention--recent trauma), to do that work, which is key to making healthy decisions.

Also, they say you can plant the karmic seeds for a better future lifetime by practicing compassion towards others. However, I would say that before one can do that skillfully, one needs to do one's self-healing work first.

Best wishes, and blessings.

federica

@paska said:
what karmatic causes of past/future lives would my situation be. i have complex ptsd, i been abused, raped people miss treating me because i am male to female transsexual woman no a woman with a past. my last boyfriend i overlooked who he was and his doing and feel in love well bad things happened to me. but deep down i feel like i had good past lives, past lives in dhamma.

>

I will be more blunt than even @Dakini‌ or @Rhodian‌:

Pointless speculation, totally useless conjecture, and not to be thought about.
Do not focus on what you cannot change.
Concentrate on this life, and on what you can.
It doesn't matter. What matters is that you live well, now, to the best of your ability.
To think and dwell on a past you can never know about, is utterly fruitless and a total waste of time.

Buddhadragon

The past is over.
What can you do now?

The present moment empowers you.
The past can leave you powerless.

Which do you prefer?

Rowan1980

I agree with the notion that you cannot change the past and can only focus on the here and now. I'm definitely with @Dakini‌ in that deducing possible past actions based on current karmic ripenings does have a flavor of victim-blaming to it. I wonder how much it's used to promote obedience in people, but that's another subject entirely.

Personally, as a person who IDs as queer in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation, I don't even think about what, if any, karmic actions would have resulted in being who I am. **shrugs** If someone is cruel to you because you're trans, have survived sexual assault, etc., then that's on them. The only thing you CAN control is how you choose to respond to it.

Buddhadragon

Just think about it for a moment, @paska: if anyone could present you with a detailed account of your past lives, what difference would it make in the choices you can do now?

If your past lives were a total mess, will you sit cross-legged and do nothing about your your present, just because you think you have found the justification for all the bad things that happened to you?
Buddhism is not deterministic.
We can always change the course of our history.

Shoshin

@paska, what's done is done and can not be undone, but.....

Ultimately the only thing that really matters is now....And finding peace within...

Here's a couple of links which may be of help....

Overcoming Fear & Anxiety (Sogyal Rinpoche)

http://shambhalatimes.org/2014/12/ 22/gender-identity-in-shambhala/

Buddhadragon

@paska: I can't begin to tell you how much it hurts me all the awful things you've been through.
Abuse, rape, mistreat...
Nobody deserves to be put through so much pain. You did not deserve what happened.
To put it politely: dukkha happens.
And you don't need to think that because bad things happened to you before, your whole life is doomed to be a succesion of more pain to come.
You have the right to be happy, but happiness does not always simply happen.
You can help materialize it.
Try to focus on the things that depend on you to help the good take place, and the bad not to happen again.

lobster

@paska said:
but deep down i feel like i had good past lives, past lives in dhamma.

Cool.

How do we work with that? What is your plan?

For now I ask others to dedicate merit and practice to you. To do puja and send metta (love) and bodhicitta (goodwill). As if I needed to remind . . .

I will be doing mantra for you.