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Good Karma
Some months a go, while chatting to a friend, the topic of Karma popped up.
The person I was talking to was explaining how she believed that she had good karma because she was naturally kind, good looking, mentally and physically healthy, was married to a man she loved, had a job that she enjoyed and had a nice temperament.
She went further to explain that because she was nice, then nothing bad would ever happen to her.
Almost as if she had attained a state of transcendence from the material plane.
I found this notion quiet interesting and after pondering it, I came to the conclusion that she was very nieve and perhaps quiet arrogant, in a charming young person type of way. (she is only in her early to mid 20's).
And although I believed that she was a very nice person indeed, I believe that her good deeds are not enough to protect her from the negative effects from the net of cause and effect that connects us all.
I thought that at some point in her life, she would likely be subjected to suffering in one form or another.
I tried to explain this notion to her, but she found the idea very disturbing and offensive and refused to believe in the possibility that she could possibly be subjected to any negative effects.
I then asked her how is it then possible, for some one as noble and spiritual as the Dalai Lama, who I believe is a very spiritual and well controlled individual, to suffer negative effects of cause and effect that caused much suffering during his own life time.
This in one area of Karma that I do not fully understand.
I think the term Karma is often misunderstood and used out of contex.
I also believe that to fully believe in karma, from one life to the next, then one must fully believe in reincarnation.
Of which, one must, in my opinion, have full complete knowledge of the full workings of both to fully comprehend how it works.
Anyway, any one have any thoughts why "bad things happen to good people"?
or are the bad things only appearing to happen to the Dalai Lama, and he is just playing out his part while remaining detached in a state of complete transcendence?....
or. is the Dalai Lama enduring the bad effects that are happening to him, in a heroic mission to elevate all existence above samsara into nirvana?
Please, feel free to share your thoughts.
Eternally grateful for all contribution.
The person I was talking to was explaining how she believed that she had good karma because she was naturally kind, good looking, mentally and physically healthy, was married to a man she loved, had a job that she enjoyed and had a nice temperament.
She went further to explain that because she was nice, then nothing bad would ever happen to her.
Almost as if she had attained a state of transcendence from the material plane.
I found this notion quiet interesting and after pondering it, I came to the conclusion that she was very nieve and perhaps quiet arrogant, in a charming young person type of way. (she is only in her early to mid 20's).
And although I believed that she was a very nice person indeed, I believe that her good deeds are not enough to protect her from the negative effects from the net of cause and effect that connects us all.
I thought that at some point in her life, she would likely be subjected to suffering in one form or another.
I tried to explain this notion to her, but she found the idea very disturbing and offensive and refused to believe in the possibility that she could possibly be subjected to any negative effects.
I then asked her how is it then possible, for some one as noble and spiritual as the Dalai Lama, who I believe is a very spiritual and well controlled individual, to suffer negative effects of cause and effect that caused much suffering during his own life time.
This in one area of Karma that I do not fully understand.
I think the term Karma is often misunderstood and used out of contex.
I also believe that to fully believe in karma, from one life to the next, then one must fully believe in reincarnation.
Of which, one must, in my opinion, have full complete knowledge of the full workings of both to fully comprehend how it works.
Anyway, any one have any thoughts why "bad things happen to good people"?
or are the bad things only appearing to happen to the Dalai Lama, and he is just playing out his part while remaining detached in a state of complete transcendence?....
or. is the Dalai Lama enduring the bad effects that are happening to him, in a heroic mission to elevate all existence above samsara into nirvana?
Please, feel free to share your thoughts.
Eternally grateful for all contribution.
0
Comments
Maybe its true, maybe this is the result of past good kamma.
I think about the good fortune I have had in my own life, I was fortunate enough to be born in a country free from war, poverty, with good living conditions and even though I have experienced a little bit of dukkha I have even had the good fortune to come in contact with Dhamma when I probably needed it the most. I believe this all could be the results of good kamma. And yes, I do believe in rebirth.
I would agree, it is naive to believe that no harm can come to her. Has she never been sick in her life? Does she not age? Does she believe that she will live forever? Does she believe her loved ones will always be there for her? That her good looks will last forever? That she has "job security"?
This is true and no doubt she has experienced dukkha in some form or another already. The problem is delusion; we want to believe that "life is good" so we tend to leave the unpleasant stuff in the closet and show off all our nice stuff to our friends when they come to see us.
Unfortunately many people don't want to hear the truth, they aren't ready for it. The truth does not always sound pleasant, especially if we cling to untruth as truth. It is part of our practice though to try not to say things which people don't want to hear, even if its true.
Part of Right Speech is saying what is true and you have done this well. There is also the aspect of Right Speech which is not to speak if it is unpleasant or unwelcomed. This can sometimes be hard to gauge and I am far from perfect at this. Your motivation was pure though, you wanted to help her, and who knows, maybe some time in the future when she is experiencing Dukkha she will think back to what you said and the Dhamma seed that you had planted will grow.
But next time you talk to her I would recommend not talking about Dhamma unless she asks about it. This is something I personally have some difficulty with; refraining from Wrong Preach.
The fact that the Dalai Lama was born means he is still subject to Dukkha, the same as everyone else.
Past kamma is not the sole reason that sentient beings experience Dukkha. It may or may not be in any particular instance but, again, it is birth which means we are going to experience Dukkha in this life, whether or not that Dukkha is the result of negative kamma or "s**t happening".
I am inclined to agree
I disagree, if there is knowledge then it is not a belief, it is knowledge. I have a belief in kamma and rebirth, I do not know for certain.
They were born.
Ask the Dalai Lama.
You're welcome.
The belief that no dukkha can come to you is, to my way of thinking, one of the deepest forms of delusion to the nature of reality. In cases like the above, it always makes me sad for those who cling to the delusion that death (or any kind of dukkha) is not real.
Mtns
The object of Buddhism is to face reality - not deny its existence. You cannot 'lift' yourself out of samsara by denying reality.
We suffer because we cling to that which is pleasant and avoid things which are rather unpleasant. This cannot lead anywhere but to the continuation of samsara.
While your friend might be enjoying some karmic goodness one must realise that all dependent things are changeable. Denying the possibility of change is denying reality that all entities are 'dependent arising' and are therefore temporary.
This life is temporary so it is best to make beneficial use of what we have to ensure that we have a good rebirth.
I think this is why the Buddha devised his method for transforming the net of cause and effect in order that that we as a collective can transform the negative or damaging causes of bad effects in the web of life, from bad to good or neutral.
This is where meditation comes in I guess. As it modulates the nodes from damaging to good or ideally neutral. I also guess that this is why many Monks are celibate. As this is the only way to put a stop to reincarnation in physical forms.
I believe all good action has the potential to have good effects.
Not completely sure if this is true about right speech.
I think that in the scriptures it is written not to use abusive speech.
This is different than imparting information on knowledge to people who may not be receptive to what you have to say.
When such information is given it is often shaped by the listeners perception, this can not be controlled by the one who is speaking.
One can only look after ones own part/motivation.
If what is said is then found unpleasant due to delusion / aversion, even though the information was given with intention of liberating.
Then the damage is caused by the listeners perception and not by the one giving the information.
PS. when I spoke to the person in question, she was a self proclaimed Buddhist who was open to discussion on Dharma/Buddhism.
I wasn't so much preaching, just trying to explain the fundamental theory behind Buddhism. I.E. The 4 Noble Truths. etc.
Which I believe the girl I was speaking to didn't really fully understand.
I dont talk about buddism otherwise.
On many occasions things that happen to us derive directly from our actions, and usually the form these 'fruits of our actions' take corresponds to the nature of our actions. We do good, we receive good, we do bad, we receive bad.
But things aren't ever that simple, the world isn't an ordered place where every action has a clear and obvious set of consequences. Sometimes our actions may be of the purest intent, but when processed in the mind of someone else who is mentally unstable they can be distorted into something else entirely, and because of the delusory nature of this other persons interpretation, their actions toward us will not derive from our intent and so will not be reflective of it.
And sometimes, we just wander into events that are completely beyond our sphere of influence and may become innocent victims of unthinking natural disasters, or of other people's misguided actions.
In other words, sometimes bad things happen to good people because, even though we'd like to think otherwise, we aren't the centre of the universe and the source of all action.
I kind of view things in a similar way.
I see the whole universe as one big net of matter/energy/and human interactions, with the net made up of individual component parts or compound parts, with many of these parts constantly changing their compound make up due to the constant flux of cause and effect.
And each part or compound part being connected to many other parts directly, and all parts indirectly.
Therefore, if one component part or compound part causes an event, then the effects of that event is seldom isolated and always has an effect on many other events, with some events triggering a chain of ricochet effects which in turn have the potential of triggering more events and some times even multiple simultaneous effects.
I mean, when I say complex, I really do mean super massively complex.
For example, if you use science to explain the make up of the physical universe, you could zoom down to the smallest known measurable denominator such as the atom, which is the main basic component part that makes up all known matter. You could then go on to explain each item in the universe that is made from matter.
Now, think of how many items there are. more than lots, i can tell you.
Now, take each atom in the Universe of existence and track it even during a short period of time.
Track when the item is bonded with other items to make more dense or less dense matter and track every possible interaction and its connecting interactions with other molecules etc.
And you will get a picture as to how complex this equation is.
Now, if you approach human interactions, you can do the same.
With each human being represented as a highly complex formula that is also in constant flux, with billions of processes being performed within an individual human being per second.
Track the complete individual human, individually and in contex in the way that that individuals evolution effects other people, past, present and future.
Now, do this for all living things.
Add this to the net of physical matter (as we humans are effected by the physical world).
And we have a glimpse into the magnitude of complexity that is known as the net of cause and effect.
And whats interesting about the net is that its interactive! So we as individuals can modulate the net to clean it up so to speak, but only the the nodes that we are connected to and only within our limitations.
So. Taking into consideration the complexity of the net of cause and effect that we are all connected too, it is quiet likely that many things happen to us during our lives that we have not only no control over but have done nothing to cause.
So, when something bad happens to you out of the blue, it is my opinion that the cause isn't always your bad karma. Sometimes it may even be bad effects caused by someone you know or even someone you have never even met.
So, the next time something unpleasant happens to you and some stoned hippy tells you in a smug way that its your bad karma.
Just ignore them.
:-)
But like you say, its limited. Or rather I tend to think of it as diluting, eventually the effects of our actions become so dilute that they become "homeopathic" i.e. negligible.
I know that if we are mindfull in our efforts, we can intentionally position ourselves in the network that has greater effects on the net.
Some individuals are naturally in such positions with out effort. However, if you are mindful, it is possible to manoeuvre your self into a better connected position.
For example, buying a computer and dsl will give you greater options of communication (and options to modulate nodes - or, influence/transform people and the world).
I personally call the positions that these connected people are in as "nodes of power". Some being more potent than others.
One example of a mode of power would perhaps be people who work in any Government. These people all have the oppertunity to create causes that effect not only the people around them, but all the people in their country and then indirectly, the people in other countries as well. Not only during the present, but for the future as well. (until that part of the net is modulated into something different).
So, the old saying that i am only one person, and i cant change the world is redundant really.
What i have written with regards to the net of cause and effect isn't new,
it is one of the fundamental beliefs behind much Buddhist thought. although,
many Buddhists aren't even aware of its existence let alone understand it.
The following is taken from wikipedia:
Indra's net (also called Indra's jewels or Indra's pearls) is a metaphor used to illustrate the concepts of emptiness,<sup id="cite_ref-Jones_2003_16_1-0" class="reference">[2]</sup> dependent origination,<sup id="cite_ref-Lee_2005_473_2-0" class="reference">[3]</sup> and interpenetration<sup id="cite_ref-Odin_1982_17_3-0" class="reference">[4]</sup> in Buddhist philosophy. The metaphor of Indra's net was developed by the Mahayana Buddhist school in the 3rd century scriptures of the Avatamsaka Sutra, and later by the Chinese Huayan school between the 6th and 8th century.<sup id="cite_ref-Jones_2003_16_1-1" class="reference">[2]</sup>
Buddhist concepts of interpenetration hold that all phenomena are intimately connected; for the Huayan school, Indra's net symbolizes a universe where infinitely repeated mutual relations exist between all members of the universe.<sup id="cite_ref-Cook_1977_2_4-0" class="reference">[5]</sup> This idea is communicated in the image of the interconnectedness of the universe as seen in the net of the Vedic god Indra, whose net hangs over his palace on Mount Meru, the axis mundi of Vedic cosmology and Vedic mythology. Indra's net has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex, and each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels.<sup id="cite_ref-Kabat-Zinn_2000_225_5-0" class="reference">[6] "
</sup>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra%27s_net
Karma or the law of Karmic retribution relates to this concept.
Although I did not invent the metaphor / concept, I may have used terminology that makes more sense to my technical or information/music technological mind set...