Post by bluefedish on May 8, 2008 8:54:46 GMT -5
The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same.
The Law of Karma (an unbending and impersonal rule of the universe), we get what we deserve in every life. Our good and bad deeds produce good and bad results from lifetime to lifetime. With karma, there is supposedly no unjust suffering, because no one is innocent. All suffering is deserved on the basis of bad karma. The baby born without legs deserved it, as did the woman who was raped. We all carry our karma into each life. There is no grace, no forgiveness, no mercy. Not only is this is not good news for those burdened down with the weight of a troubled conscience, but karma also conflicts with our moral sense that some suffering is undeserved and deserves our pity and our actions to alleviate it.
Similarly, the Egyptian goddess Ma'at (the divine judge) played a similar and impartial role meting out justice in a manner very similar to karms; Ma'at couldn't be appeased by faith or regret - an action don was dont, with no space for the more recent theistic concept of grace.
Parallels may also be found in the Greek goddess Ananke (Necessity, Inevitability, or Compulsion), who was the mother of the Moirae (Fates) and dealt out one's "heimarmene" (allotted portion) strictly according to one's actions both in this life and in previous incarnations, and in Germanic Wyrd.
Why Believe in Karma?
If we chose to ignore the workings of karma, we tend to create many problems for ourselves. For example, if we like to have something expensive, but we can't afford it, it becomes very tempting to steal. If we are smart and attentive enough, we may never be caught stealing. However, by stealin, we create problematic situations for ourselves in the future, like poverty, or being the victim of robbers. Therefore, if we chose to ignore karma, the results of our actions will still haunt us.
Two of my personal favourite reasons to believe in karma, are that it represents ultimate justice as everyone will harvest the results of their actions, and even if karma would not exist, as long as I try to avoid negative actions, the world would be a better place to live in for everyone anyway.
Science itself comes with another argument for karma. In physics. like every other Western science, there is a direct causal relationship between action and reaction.
How Karma Works
An intention is a mental action; it may be expressed through either physical or verbal actions. Thus, action, or karma, is of two types: the action of intention and the intended action. The action of intention is the thought or impulse to engage in a physical or verbal act. The intended action is the physical or verbal expression of our intention. Karma actually refers to the action of intention but in general usage it includes the intended action and the seeds that are left in the mind as a result.
How do we accumulate karmic seeds? Every physical and verbal action is preceded by mental activity. Goodwill motivates a kind gesture; ill will motivates nasty words. Ill will is the intention to cause mental, emotional or physical harm. Thus, before and during a bad action, ill will is present in our mind. The presence of ill will before and during this act has an impact and influence on the mind due to which a certain potential is left behind. This potential is a karmic seed, a seed planted in our mind by physical, verbal or mental action. The strength or depth of this seed is determined by a number of factors, including how strong our intention is, whether we clearly understand what we are doing, whether we act on our intention and whether the physical and verbal action is completed.
Seeds will remain in the mind until they ripen or are destroyed. Seeds left by negative mental events and actions can be destroyed by the four opponent or antidotal powers. The most important of these four powers are regret for the negative act and a firm resolve not to act that way again in the future. Seeds left by positive mental events and actions can be destroyed by anger.
Even if we do not act on a negative intention, a karmic seed of diminished potency is still left in the mind. This incompleted seed is easier to remove. If it is not destroyed, a negative seed will eventually produce an unpleasant and negative effect while a postive seed will produce a pleasant and positive effect. Karmic seeds do not go to waste even after one hundred aeons. They will come to fruition when the time comes and the conditions assemble.
The Four Laws of Karma
1. Results are similar to the cause. Example: When I cause other people harm, I will harvest suffering myself. It's important to note here that "positive" actions are defined as actions that have happiness as a result; "negative" actions are defined as actions that lead to suffering as a result.
2. No results without a cause. As is obvious within science, things don't just appear out of nothing.
3. Once an action is done, the result is never lost. Similarly as above, things don't just disappear into nothing.
4. Karma expands. Once we have an imprint of an action in our mind, it tends to be habit-forming. As is often said in wars for example, killing the first enemy is tough, but after a handful, one quickly loses count and it becomes "normal". Also psychology often stresses a similar point when e.g. explaining actions of adults from their childhood experiences.
What Decides the Severity of the Results?
The severity of the results of our actions depends on various factors:
1. Our intention or motivation - the intention is the most important aspect by far, as karma is mainly connected to the intention of the action, be it positive or negative.
2. The nature of the action: obviously, gossiping is less severe than killing.
3. The actual deed: whether we kill in self-defence or sadistically torture someone to death does make a difference, usually this directly related to intention.
4. The basis or object: it does make a difference whether we kill our mother or an ant.
5. Repetition; how often do we repeat the action, which reinforces the habit, and makes even killing feel less negative.
6. Doing the reverse: if we always behave negatively to others and never try to do any good, consequences will be severe.
How we experience the result of an actions does depend on our other actions in life. For example, if we experience the result of being hungry for a day, there is a huge difference whether we experience this as a malnourished person in a hopeless situation, or as a healthy fast for an obese person.
To Remove Previous Negative Karma
Nobody likes to suffer, so we all like to rid ourselves of negative karmic potential.
There are several possibilities, and in fact we may need to try and apply all of these methods as much as we can:
* To avoid having negative thoughts that lead to negative actions in the future, we need to observe and control our own thoughts and behaviour, and destroy our negative attitudes.
* Similarly, we can observe/study (meditate) our own mind and encourage positive thoughts that lead to positive actions.
* We can avoid negative karmic seeds to ripen by purification. Although this doesn't eliminate the negative karmic actions, it can avoid the results to occur.
* Ultimately, when we realise emptiness directly, and remove all our delusions, we're not under the control of past karma anymore.
Selected Sources:
everystudent.com/wires/reincarnation.html?gclid=CJiy9ZD9lpMCFRW5GgodUE4ohA
buddhism.kalachakranet.org/karma.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
The Law of Karma (an unbending and impersonal rule of the universe), we get what we deserve in every life. Our good and bad deeds produce good and bad results from lifetime to lifetime. With karma, there is supposedly no unjust suffering, because no one is innocent. All suffering is deserved on the basis of bad karma. The baby born without legs deserved it, as did the woman who was raped. We all carry our karma into each life. There is no grace, no forgiveness, no mercy. Not only is this is not good news for those burdened down with the weight of a troubled conscience, but karma also conflicts with our moral sense that some suffering is undeserved and deserves our pity and our actions to alleviate it.
Similarly, the Egyptian goddess Ma'at (the divine judge) played a similar and impartial role meting out justice in a manner very similar to karms; Ma'at couldn't be appeased by faith or regret - an action don was dont, with no space for the more recent theistic concept of grace.
Parallels may also be found in the Greek goddess Ananke (Necessity, Inevitability, or Compulsion), who was the mother of the Moirae (Fates) and dealt out one's "heimarmene" (allotted portion) strictly according to one's actions both in this life and in previous incarnations, and in Germanic Wyrd.
Why Believe in Karma?
If we chose to ignore the workings of karma, we tend to create many problems for ourselves. For example, if we like to have something expensive, but we can't afford it, it becomes very tempting to steal. If we are smart and attentive enough, we may never be caught stealing. However, by stealin, we create problematic situations for ourselves in the future, like poverty, or being the victim of robbers. Therefore, if we chose to ignore karma, the results of our actions will still haunt us.
Two of my personal favourite reasons to believe in karma, are that it represents ultimate justice as everyone will harvest the results of their actions, and even if karma would not exist, as long as I try to avoid negative actions, the world would be a better place to live in for everyone anyway.
Science itself comes with another argument for karma. In physics. like every other Western science, there is a direct causal relationship between action and reaction.
How Karma Works
An intention is a mental action; it may be expressed through either physical or verbal actions. Thus, action, or karma, is of two types: the action of intention and the intended action. The action of intention is the thought or impulse to engage in a physical or verbal act. The intended action is the physical or verbal expression of our intention. Karma actually refers to the action of intention but in general usage it includes the intended action and the seeds that are left in the mind as a result.
How do we accumulate karmic seeds? Every physical and verbal action is preceded by mental activity. Goodwill motivates a kind gesture; ill will motivates nasty words. Ill will is the intention to cause mental, emotional or physical harm. Thus, before and during a bad action, ill will is present in our mind. The presence of ill will before and during this act has an impact and influence on the mind due to which a certain potential is left behind. This potential is a karmic seed, a seed planted in our mind by physical, verbal or mental action. The strength or depth of this seed is determined by a number of factors, including how strong our intention is, whether we clearly understand what we are doing, whether we act on our intention and whether the physical and verbal action is completed.
Seeds will remain in the mind until they ripen or are destroyed. Seeds left by negative mental events and actions can be destroyed by the four opponent or antidotal powers. The most important of these four powers are regret for the negative act and a firm resolve not to act that way again in the future. Seeds left by positive mental events and actions can be destroyed by anger.
Even if we do not act on a negative intention, a karmic seed of diminished potency is still left in the mind. This incompleted seed is easier to remove. If it is not destroyed, a negative seed will eventually produce an unpleasant and negative effect while a postive seed will produce a pleasant and positive effect. Karmic seeds do not go to waste even after one hundred aeons. They will come to fruition when the time comes and the conditions assemble.
The Four Laws of Karma
1. Results are similar to the cause. Example: When I cause other people harm, I will harvest suffering myself. It's important to note here that "positive" actions are defined as actions that have happiness as a result; "negative" actions are defined as actions that lead to suffering as a result.
2. No results without a cause. As is obvious within science, things don't just appear out of nothing.
3. Once an action is done, the result is never lost. Similarly as above, things don't just disappear into nothing.
4. Karma expands. Once we have an imprint of an action in our mind, it tends to be habit-forming. As is often said in wars for example, killing the first enemy is tough, but after a handful, one quickly loses count and it becomes "normal". Also psychology often stresses a similar point when e.g. explaining actions of adults from their childhood experiences.
What Decides the Severity of the Results?
The severity of the results of our actions depends on various factors:
1. Our intention or motivation - the intention is the most important aspect by far, as karma is mainly connected to the intention of the action, be it positive or negative.
2. The nature of the action: obviously, gossiping is less severe than killing.
3. The actual deed: whether we kill in self-defence or sadistically torture someone to death does make a difference, usually this directly related to intention.
4. The basis or object: it does make a difference whether we kill our mother or an ant.
5. Repetition; how often do we repeat the action, which reinforces the habit, and makes even killing feel less negative.
6. Doing the reverse: if we always behave negatively to others and never try to do any good, consequences will be severe.
How we experience the result of an actions does depend on our other actions in life. For example, if we experience the result of being hungry for a day, there is a huge difference whether we experience this as a malnourished person in a hopeless situation, or as a healthy fast for an obese person.
To Remove Previous Negative Karma
Nobody likes to suffer, so we all like to rid ourselves of negative karmic potential.
There are several possibilities, and in fact we may need to try and apply all of these methods as much as we can:
* To avoid having negative thoughts that lead to negative actions in the future, we need to observe and control our own thoughts and behaviour, and destroy our negative attitudes.
* Similarly, we can observe/study (meditate) our own mind and encourage positive thoughts that lead to positive actions.
* We can avoid negative karmic seeds to ripen by purification. Although this doesn't eliminate the negative karmic actions, it can avoid the results to occur.
* Ultimately, when we realise emptiness directly, and remove all our delusions, we're not under the control of past karma anymore.
Selected Sources:
everystudent.com/wires/reincarnation.html?gclid=CJiy9ZD9lpMCFRW5GgodUE4ohA
buddhism.kalachakranet.org/karma.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma
