Question About Kharma

[Guest]

I've heard different explanations and definitions about Kharma. One says it's all about your past life. Another suggests that if you do good deeds they come back to you and if you do bad things that comes back to you too. IN reality this doesn't seem to work as bad things happen to good people. Just curious on peoples thoughts on this.

Laura

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Laura,

Karma is energy created by ones actions-past and present[including ones past life]…From a ‘Buddhist’ perspective ‘life’ and the universe are a continuum of karmic events…and Nirvana is when we finally put an end to our cravings which is the cause of the karmic energy that produces ‘rebirth’…

The Buddha...

"Even an evil-doer sees good as long as evil ripens not; but when it ripens, then he sees the evil results. "

"Even a good-doer sees evil as long as good ripens not; but when it bears fruit, then the good one sees good results. "

'Venerable Manhinda' [a Malaysian Buddhist Monk] on 'Karma and Rebirth'

Understanding how Karma functions…

“The actions which we perform, may not necessarily give rise to immediate effect. Some actions may give rise to results only after some time, some give rise to results within this lifetime; some may only ripen in the next life; and still some others may ripen in successive births.

This phenomena can be compared to the germination of seeds. The seeds of some plants germinate very quickly; some may take a longer time. Alfafa seed, for example, grows almost immediately, within 2 or 3 days, but the seeds of mango or avocado plants may take quite some time to germinate.

So, when a kind and virtuous person suffers, he suffers not because of the good or wholesome deeds which he has done. He suffers because of certain evil or unwhole¬some actions which he has done in the past; either in the immediate past or the more remote past, i.e. in his previous births. Although he might have forgotten about the actions which he had committed, the actions have not forgotten him!

That is how we explain why some good people may encounter various misfortunes and sufferings. And on the other hand, how a wicked and cunning person may be enjoying his life!”

I hope that I’ve sheds some light on what karma’s all about from a Buddhist’s perspective…It's not really good actions V evil actions...It's just the unbias Universal law's way of balancing out the energies-in an attept to creat universal harmony...

One interesting thing about ‘karma’ and the ‘transgender’…Many Thais believe to be born ‘transgender’ is due to ones ‘past life’….In ones past life, one committed ‘adultery’…and the karmic effect produced by this act is we are reborn ‘transgender’…But wait there’s more…They also believe that at one stage of our ‘many rebirth’ all people will commit adultery and ‘ALL’ will have the experience of being ‘transgender’… Hence why Thai people as a whole are more tolerant and accepting of their somewhat large open ‘transgender’ population [and people as a whole in general]…

Metta Jendar

[Guest lisa49]

One good turn deserves another.

[Guest Amanda L Richards]

HI All,

I have been practising Tibetan Buddhism for five years now and of all the people that I have met or heard from on the subject, Jendar, your explanation of karma or Kharma or kamma, was the most accurate by Buddhist true definitions.

The Tibetan describe karma simply as that of all the energy resulting from volition are impregnated with potential. Then when in a future life time, there are going to be certain conditions present that cause that karma to germinate.

Another clearer example that was given me was that if you abuse your wife in this life in some future life, you will be reborn as a woman and you will be the abused wife, also if you are stingy with everything in this life a future life you will be born with limited means to survive, money, health etc etc.

This is a subject I have been reluctant to reveal to people since I have had so much slack about my path in spirituality. I have learned to sort of keep it quiet untill someone else opens the door. So forgive me if I seem imconplete with my reply.

I hope that helped a bit.

Amanda L

[Sally]

As I understand Kharma it really fits quite well into all religions and spirituality. I have never run across a religion that says do bad things and you will be rewarded. Maybe I haven't studied enough?

Reincarnation is a topic that has always fascinated me and I have always wondered why Christians (the religion that I am most familiar with) feel that reincarnation is a pagen belief when so many refer to themselves as 'born again Christians', baptism is a sybolic rebirth and the transition to the after life is also refered to as a rebirth.

Our biggest problem is trying to understand an infinite universe with finite minds.

I live by my favorite bible passage, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", we used to call that the 'golden rule' and that is a formula for good Kharma in my book.

Sally

[Guest Kelly Ann]

it's been awhile...but as I remember it Budda was born with all the wisdom that humanity had to bestow upon him...as he was in 'gestation' for something like 80+ years,I could be wrong here, but when he was delivered he was PERFECT in his wisdom. I have never heard a Buddist deliver a put-down 'persay' but I HAVE heard them end an abusive diatribe instantly...and with a smile...it was sooo perfect I thought I was dreaming (-; I'm not a Buddist just somewhat of a dilettane of what is righteous. If Karma...(and isn't that actually Hinduism having to do with Vishnu?) is 'what goes 'round will come 'round' does that not make it somewhat akin to the Yin and Yang of Tibetian Buddism. HEY I'm an amature...just asking...but I wrap my arms around all spiritual beliefs even if I might not agree with all of it. Peace,happiness and Rock 'n roll, OO Kelly Ann

[Guest Gallium 67]

I've always believed in Karma and if something bad happens to me I always say, "I must have done something bad in my past life to deserve this.". lol. So I do my best to try to be good, but I have my moments where I don't do such nice things. But that's part of being human, no?

I should really take up this buddhism thing, since it seems more comfortable and relaxed than christianity or catholics etc etc. (I actually don't have a set religion as of right now.)

Thanks for the info guys/girls.

[Guest Elizabeth K]

KHARMA - I see the explaination by Jendar and the others, and it is really about all that can be said about Kharma, from the true meaning of the word. GREAT EXPLANATION, great students and practiononers of Buddism, obviously!

As a child of the sixties 'kharma' was a catch phrase and it expressed most of the meaning that our sweet Jendar explained to us, but it seemed to extend into a moral lession of universal bad and good, and an explanation of why bad things happened to people (they must be living out punishment for something - bad Kharma - in a previous life). The question of bad things happening to good people was inferred, but the idea of good things happening to bad people was much fuzzier back then, if not actually ignored.

And amazingly, kharma was thought of as kind or a savings account, where if you could save up enough, you could return in the next life as something much better, or at worst pay off your debts from a previous incarnation. Nobody wanted to come back as a cockroach, although we expected some people probably would.

And all this was predicated on the idea of reincarnation. Now it gets a bit controversial - I sincerely regret if I trample on anyone's toes here. If you bear with me you will see I leading toward something that might help us understand ourselves as gender dysphoric.

REINCRNATION - Now there is a topic! Even non-Buddist have been wrestling with this for centuries, Christian, Judian, Muslim, and Pagan - and others. The Christian belief, the one I am most familiar with, is very conflicted with this. The everlasting life, for example, in the back part of the New Testament, is revealed to come only AFTER the return of Jesus Christ. So why do we pray to the Saints, and for the salvation of our beloved deceased - if they aren't in heaven yet - or am I missing something? I know I exaggerate and it is only to belabor a point, the Bible tells us many things, but is sometimes a bit ambivilant to us non-scholars.

So do we come back or what? Do we go to a better place when we die or just wink out? I say - stay tuned for later developments. I have a better question - where were you before you were born?

Reincarnation answers these questions, very neatly. Is it a Christian belief? It doesn't seem so - I donno.

I am Christian and believe in Jesus as a Savior - He came when He was really needed and pulled us out of the fire, so to speak... thats just me. I also believe in the Creator, rather than any named God, Goddess, Allah or any of the unnamable God of the Jewish faith. And that is not even touching on the other major beliefs... thats just me again.

But I also believe in reincarnation and Kharma - I am an old soul - I have so many memeories of my past - and I keep them to myself. I also believe in a form of ancestor worship - I have visits from my beloved deceased, in dreams, and I keep that to myself... me again people. And I cannot be an athiest, because I believe I am here, and it is wonderful to be alive. I cannot be agnostic because I am so 'opiniated' - I don't have the patience to say, 'lets just see.'

Hey- try one of these 'opinions' out.

I believe one of our problems as transgender is we have been the opposite gender of what we are now in so many incarnations, we can hardly function in the body we are in now. Wild? What were we thinking when we were chosing to return? "Hey, looks better on that other side of the fence?" YIKES what were we thinking?

Next time I'm gonna be sure to remember I have and will always have a female soul - no more cross-soul body changing for ME - HA!

Crazy Liz

[Guest androgynous]

There is popular Buddhism and there is Buddhism that is closer to the original Buddha. The popular believe, -like also the Buddhist monks believe- is a reprisal. But that is as true as popular understanding of Christianity: It's mere cultural determined. So most monks are Buddhist because their parents were one, it's like being born into a religion and do the cultural thing you learned in your society, that doesn't mean it's closer to the truth of it.

Here is a very good explanation by Alan Watts, the Guy who was responsible for bringing most of the knowledge to the U.S. in the late sixties being seventies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xygc71GoW4

Enjoy!

[Guest madelane]

Hi all

Karma is mentioned in the Christian Bible as well, in fact in all the various scriptures.

In the Bible there are two....Old Testament.....'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' and 'as you sow so shall ye reap'.

Even science refers to it as 'for every action there is a opposite and equal reaction'.

This is simplistic of course for there is no way that Kharma can be analysed much less understood at our level of conciousness.

Masters all will tell you to not think about it too much as you will find no answers.

Sadly people do not actually realise the effects that Kharma has for every action thought and deed must be paid for at some point in time be it good or bad (in our perspective) and unless you are fortunate enough to find a Master to guide you out of this domain the circle of 84 continues unabated.

This is not negative for the time will come when your yearning to go home will become so strong that you will be drawn to one who can guide you on the path.

Love

Madelane

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

Hi all

'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth'

Madelane

That expression, from what I have heard and read is not one of vengence in kind, but one of moderation. Dont take more than an eye for an eye.. ie not swatting bugs with baseball bats.

[Guest April63]

That expression, from what I have heard and read is not one of vengence in kind, but one of moderation. Dont take more than an eye for an eye.. ie not swatting bugs with baseball bats.

yes, that's true. it's also about justice. that justice needs to be served.

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora all,

Gandhi once said [well not in these exact words] “An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth-pretty soon the whole world will be blind and having to s uck food through a straw!” well you get the gist of what Gandhi meant…

The Christian concept on Karma differs greatly from the Buddhist one…The Sanskrit word Karma [or in Pali Kamma] in it’s literal sense just means ‘action’ and as logic will confirm for every action there ‘must’ be a re-action=the universal law of ‘cause and effect’…Thoughts begets words and or deeds/actions-so the personal karma that Buddhists are concerned with stems from intentional thought…

So in a nutshell…[being a vegetarian I am what I eat and I eat lots of nuts which makes me somewhat nuts-hence all the nutshells I tend to put things into-recycle recycle recycle]

“Now one should really be aware of ones thoughts and try to take heed-

for an unwholesome thought could produce an unwholesome word or deed-

So you must face the consequences of all what you think and do-

before long like a boomerang this unwholesomeness will come right back at you !”

Don't say I didn't warn you

Metta Jendar

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

Kia Ora all,

"Now one should really be aware of ones thoughts and try to take heed-

for an unwholesome thought could produce an unwholesome word or deed-

So you must face the consequences of all what you think and do-

before long like a boomerang this unwholesomeness will come right back at you !"

the closest I can come to this in western thought is the Wiccan 3 fold rule, what you do to others will come back to you 3 fold. That is good or evil.

[TassieTiff]

OK... Let me summerise what I have just read.

Karma is a Bank Account where good deeds are a deposit

Bad deeds are a Withdrawl..... AND the bigger the Balance is more 'CREDITS' that your Next Persona will inherit ... Right ?

[Guest Zenda]

Kia Ora Tassie,

In the rhyme I was just referring to 'unwholesome' thoughts words and deeds...but as far as Karma goes[the universal law of cause and effect] wholesome thoughts produce wholesome words and or deeds[which are deposited into the Karma bank-the more wholesomeness one deposits the bigger the bank balance] and some time in the future near or far[from a Buddhist perspective we experience rebirth on a number of occassions-depending on our personal karma]we will reap the benefits-well in 'reality' all that really happens is the un-bias universe just balances out the karmic energies that we have produced[and continue to produce]...

Most importantly karma according to Buddhists has nothing to do with some supernatural being dealing out rewards and punishments-it's just the natural law of cause and effect...of which we all have some control over...

I hope this sheds some light on Karma according to Buddhism...

Kia Ora Joanna,

The Wiccan concept of karma also differs greatly from the Buddhist concept...According to Buddhism one only gets back what they put in...hence the universal law of cause and effect..."For every action there's a re-action [to equal]!"

Metta Jendar