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Does all karmic debt need to be paid for a person to reach nirvana?
Ren_in_black
Georgia Veteran
If so, is this written somewhere, or is it something that's been sort of understood through the logic of the teachings?
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It is written in many places, where have you found it?
Do you recommend basic intelligence and search practices as a prerequisite to starting the day?
I do!
Perhaps..
The degree to which any karmic dept is addressed is the same degree to which Nirvana's graces are manifested.
and/or....
If a person is just a temporary cab ride of Karmic inertia, what is that person that reaches Nirvana when that karmic inertia becomes inert?
@how is it not so that one’s tendencies and habits are the source of ones karma, and that without addressing those we will not reach a point of all karma being resolved?
I have read that beyond a certain advanced stage on the path one ceases to generate further karma…
In the time before the Buddha's enlightenment, perhaps lifetimes, did the man Shakyamuni have karmic debt? If you say yes which seems reasonable to me then how did Buddha overcome that debt? I don't know the answer, but did the Buddha have a different potential than everyone else to become a Buddha? Or can anyone do what Buddha has done? Did the man Shakyamuni have a smaller debt or a greater power to overcome? Or do we have the same potential?
Potential yes but karma/circumstances/capacity are different.
Jeffrey I think you've hit the actual core of my question.
And if the answer is no, then what are we even doing here?
This particular idea is not found in Pali Canon and is associated more with the Jain’s view or karma, e.g., see MN 101 and MN 136 and Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s study guide on the topic.
How do you explain the value of selflessness to the selfish?
or life's potential freedoms to the habitually enslaved,
or sufferings cessation to the cravings we love?
As far as past actions, there are teachings that present skillful actions can help mitigate the results of previous unskillful actions but cannot fully eliminate them (SN 42.8). In other words, there are some consequences that may arise even if one does a lot to counteract them. And awakening changes the logic, although one can still experience the effects of past actions, but their relationship to them will be different and the creation of new karmic results is no longer an issue. St. Maximus explains it well, I think, in Opuscula theologica et polemica (albeit from a Christian perspective), when he writes, “A perfect nature has no need of choice [i.e., intentional actions or karma], for it knows naturally what is good. Its freedom is based on this knowledge." And the noble eightfold path is what can help us get there (SN 35.145).
I have read somewhere? about a shift in perspective. You stop worrying that karma will come to fruition and hurt you. Because karma will come to fruition eventually. And the shift is to worrying about stopping creating new bad karma, rather than worrying about past karma coming to fruition.
As one of the most karmically selfish (or at least shellfish) person here:
I am kind because it serves me well
I follow the best course of action for the time, place and people
I iz good for Nothing but Nothing is good for me
So emptiness is NOT Nihilism (whats the point) but an emptying into others directions and needs.
Have a great day everyone. Karma allowing.
https://www.buddhistdoor.net/features/compassion-and-meaning-moving-beyond-nihilism/