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Is there such a thing as neutral Karma?

BuddhaGirl02BuddhaGirl02
edited April 2010 in Buddhism Basics
Hi everyone. Is there such a thing as neutral Karma or am I just totally misunderstanding the concept altogether here? I am thinking that there is not such a thing as neutral Karma but I am not entirely sure.

Comments

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    yes there is.

    There is negative action, positive action and neutral action.
    To use extremes, negative action would be to pick up a book and batter someone over the head with it.
    Positive action would be to pick up a book and read it to a person who is blind.
    neutral action would be to pick up a book.

    There is a kammic consequence to each of those, which follows suit.

    AFAIaA.....
  • BuddhaGirl02BuddhaGirl02
    edited April 2010
    federica wrote: »
    yes there is.

    There is negative action, positive action and neutral action.
    To use extremes, negative action would be to pick up a book and batter someone over the head with it.
    Positive action would be to pick up a book and read it to a person who is blind.
    neutral action would be to pick up a book.

    There is a kammic consequence to each of those, which follows suit.

    AFAIaA.....

    Oh okay. Thanks Federica! :)
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Karma is relative. So if your motivation is to have an enjoyable life and you love ice cream it is good karma that you live a block away from an ice cream store.

    If your motivation is to avoid suffering it is good karma to be a human able to understand buddha's teachings. Good karma to avoid negative things that disturb you and discourage you.
  • MatSaltedMatSalted
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaGirl02 wrote: »
    Hi everyone. Is there such a thing as neutral Karma or am I just totally misunderstanding the concept altogether here? I am thinking that there is not such a thing as neutral Karma but I am not entirely sure.

    If you think in terms of karma as being simply this "good actions have good effects, bad actions have bad effects" then I guess there could be neutral karma.

    I cant think of examples, whereas I can for good and bad karma, so maybe its not very common.

    What would examples of neutral karmic pairs be?
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited April 2010
    I gave an example.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited April 2010
    neutral karma would be that you have dangling versus connected earlobes. It doesn't hurt you and it doesn't help you.
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited April 2010
    BuddhaGirl02 wrote: »
    Hi everyone. Is there such a thing as neutral Karma or am I just totally misunderstanding the concept altogether here? I am thinking that there is not such a thing as neutral Karma but I am not entirely sure.

    Perhaps. Generally speaking, unintentional actions can be considered indeterminate or neutral in that they have no kammic consequences (i.e., they don't cause pleasant, painful or neither-pleasure-nor-pain feelings to arise). What constitutes a neutral action, however, is debatable.
  • FoibleFullFoibleFull Canada Veteran
    edited April 2010
    Karma is not like a school teacher, where your make an effort and that effort is assessed and a result is handed out. It is not mysterious nor out of our control.

    Karma is, simply, an imprint you make on yourself. You could call it a "habit", or a habitual way of responding that you yourself create. You are responsible for the imprints you make, and you live the results of those imprints.

    Example: Let's take anger ....
    If you have an angry thought, you reinforce "angry thoughts" inside yourself. The stronger your imprint for "angry thoughts", the more likely you will respond with an "angry thought". And the more likely it is that you will subtly carry yourself in a way that attracts those who want to play "angry thoughts" with you. In Buddhism, those with strong "angry thoughts" live in the "hell realm" (or will be reborn in it, if rebirth is your thing). What you draw to you in life, where you find yourself in life, is a sum of your imprints, of your karmas.

    This is why Buddhists strive to not only avoid angry thoughts, but to actually cultivate the opposite ... loving-kindness, patience, tolerance.

    And so it is with the quality of ALL our actions and thoughts. We form these imprints, these habitual ways of being, and that in turn creates the quality of our life. And, yes, we can change our karma, although it doesn't change overnight.
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