Now - Karma

[Celtaur]

Alan watts explains that although we are determined by prior causes, these causes by no means explain or control our behavior. In order to become free then, we must realize that in actuality, each of our present moments really starts NOW.



See his other video on Nothingness here.

[MagicaLight]

Thank you, Celtaur

It is very interesting video.

[ShadowFox]

Video is gone, Celtaur.

I was browsing through threads looking for something related to karma, and found this one.

Things have been happening lately in my life that have made me question the validity of karma, and how bad things happen to good people, and how selfish people seem more blessed than the rest..

Somehow I feel like withdrawing from a cold dog-eat-dog society that has little compassion for others or the intention to help others over self-centeredness.

Just expressing what I've been feeling lately.

[Echo]

The question of karma is a vexed one and many people pose the same questions, Shadowfox. My own partner is a very pessimistic person and finds it difficult to grasp why bad things happen to good people, wondering what he (or they) must have done in a past life to deserve what is happening to them.

For me, I don't see karma as working like that. I do feel there is a balance to the good and the bad that we do, life after life. Not in the sense that if you knocked me over the head when we were cavemen together, that I would have to do the same to you at some stage Perhaps I might be given the opportunity to do so.. but the choice of whether or not to act upon it is mine. I do think there is some reckoning akin to the scales of Maat, where the heart is weighed against the feather of truth... we have to find that balance within ourselves.

When 'bad things happen to good people', I think perhaps we are missing the point. Perhaps these good people have advanced a little way along the Path of Light and are being given opportunities consummate with their level of understanding.

When you teach a child to read, you give him a picture book, filled with simple, familiar images, and perhaps a word or merely a letter to learn. To the child's understanding this is a hard task.. he will recognise the image of an apple and understand that it represents the fruit itself.. but how does he grasp that the squiggle that we know as 'a' is the first letter of its name? How does he grasp the mere concept of the written word? Yet, thirty years later, that same child would gain nothing from that picture book, and may be reading Shakespeare or Blavatsky.. or even Iamblichus in the original Greek script. Experience and understanding having grown, he needs something more than an alphabet picture book to learn from.

I think the same is true on the inner levels, and the more we progress, the harder it may seem from the outside. The soul has greater wisdom than the conscious mind, and realms of experience we only dimly percieve. The trials and tribulations we experience may simply be the gifts we have needed to enable us to take another step forwards, another step up the ladder towards the Light.

Look at the tales of the Lightbringers.. of the holy ones who come to teach, of the beautiful souls who touch the hearts of humanity. How many of them have sailed peacefully thorugh life without problems? Mandela, Ghandi, Jesus, Gautama, Osiris... all have suffered.

It seems to me that we are steel in the making.. needing the fire of the furnace of experience to temper our metal and make a pure, clean blade. The bad things may be seen as opportunities to grow in understanding.

It may also be that, with lifetimes of experience behind us, we are stronger than we consciously think and have, perhaps, chosen a harder Path in order to arrive at our destination a little quicker.

If one imagines life as a great, vast tapestry, with each of our lives a single strand of a thread, all interwoven, then we, as part of that tapestry, could not know the design. One would need to rise high above it in order to see the true pattern and where each of the threads fits into place, each one necessary to the beauty and integrity of the design.

[Chaldean Shaper]

Video is gone, Celtaur.

I was browsing through threads looking for something related to karma, and found this one.

Things have been happening lately in my life that have made me question the validity of karma, and how bad things happen to good people, and how selfish people seem more blessed than the rest..

Somehow I feel like withdrawing from a cold dog-eat-dog society that has little compassion for others or the intention to help others over self-centeredness.

Just expressing what I've been feeling lately.

The moral sciences are tricky.
Morals, I don't believe need to be heavily preached; though moral teachings need to be available to those who'd seek them, or affirmations of them.
As to withdrawal, well that's why you're here.

[Celtaur]

That's one thing I dislike about youtube, the video's come and go so frequently, I wonder what the point of them having the embed feature available to the public is.

Somehow I feel like withdrawing from a cold dog-eat-dog society that has little compassion for others or the intention to help others over self-centeredness.

I understand that feeling. I don't watch the news for that reason. I just find their focus is too trashy. I've become quite an elitist in that regard some might say but I rather say that I'm becoming a discerning consumer. I know what's not helpful for me so I leave it behind, and do my best to keep my focus on things that inspire me, keep me growing. I think we are all becoming more aware of this problem you mention in the self-centered, dog-eat-dog world. In the west it's actually considered the way to freedom it seems and what capitalism encourages, but it has it's damaging aspects often overlooked by many who are stuck in that self-centered neediness.

I don't think it's necessary to withdraw though, I think actually it can provide opportunity and clarity. It provides that awareness and reflection of who the self is, when we know what we do not like to be surrounded by or subjected to. For me, I find that by moving away from the things that emphasize the dog-eat-dog world, lets me find more of the things I do like. It provides an opportunity to refine choices and go after those things that are more fulfilling.

Take tv as a simple parallel. There's a number of people I know that are watching this new trashy program about celebrities living on an island, one of those competition reality game shows. I avoid it like the plague. I keep telling these people I know, that it's just trash and I don't feel like wasting my time. The amazing thing is, it's on 2 hours 4 nights in a row during the week! That's 8 hours a week sitting down watching people argue, yell and compete in a dog-eat-dog competition. That's insane, ridiculous, wasteful of my precious time. Complete trash in my opinion. I can't be bothered. However, by avoiding that, it gives me the opportunity to think about other programs that may be useful. I've been enjoying a Dancing program and a photography program. Those are things I find inspiring, and expose me to learning through entertainment. To me it's a completely different league of experience and one that I can recognize as worthy of my down-time relaxing giving me the opportunity to learning at the same time.

So although the world can be full of things that don't resonate with us, there can be things out there that do, and knowing what we don't like opens the door for refining what feels right to us. We can expose ourselves to new things that make us feel more fulfilled, happy, inspired and growing into our own. I think in life we are frequently exposed to, and conscious of, that which we are not, which affirms that which we are.

[mousie]

Found this today online:

Karma means action. It refers to the intentional deeds we do with our body, speech and mind through action, talking and thinking. Karma is the law that every willed deed, given the conditions, produces a certain effect. How does Karma Work?

All deeds leave imprints or seeds on our consciousness, which ripen into our experiences when the appropriate conditions come together. For example, if we help someone with a kind heart, this action leaves an imprint on our mindstream. When conditions are suitable, this imprint will ripen in our receiving of help when we need it.

Karmic seeds continue with us from lifetime to lifetime. However, if we do not create the cause or Karma for something, we won't experience that result. If one doesn't plant a certain seed, that plant will not grow.

According to the seed that is sown, So is the fruit you reap. The doer of good will gather good result, The doer of evil reaps evil result. If you plant a good seed well, Then you will enjoy the good fruits.


The Effects of Karma
Karma affects our future rebirths and influences what we experience during our lives: how others treat us, our wealth, social status etc. Karma also affects our personality and character: our talents, strong personality traits and habits. The kind of environment we are born into is also influenced by Karma.

We are according to what we have done. We will be according to what we do.


Different kinds of Karma
If an action brings pain and misery in the long term for oneself and others, it is unwholesome or negative Karma. And if it brings happiness, it is wholesome or positive Karma. Actions aren't inherently good or bad - they are only so according to the results they bring. Whatever happiness and fortune we experience in our lives comes from our own positive actions, while our problems result from our own negative actions.

You are responsible for everything. There is no one that decides the "rewards and punishments" for what we do. We create the causes of our actions, and we experience their results. We are responsible for our own experience. The Buddha discovered the law of Karma- He did not create it. By teaching us the law of Karma, the Buddha shows us how to work within the functioning of cause and effect in order to experience happiness and avoid pain.


Is Everything Subject to Karma?
The law of Karma does not apply to "mindless" actions such as walking, sitting or sleeping. Such actions do not produce effects apart from the actions themselves. However, Karma applies to the thoughts the person is thinking when he is doing them. Similarly, accidents are considered neutral action (Karma) because they are unintentional. However, we should always work towards increasing our mindfulness so that accidents will not occur.

When we see dishonest people who are wealthy, or cruel people who are powerful, or kind people who die young, we may doubt the law of Karma. But many of the results we experience in this life are the results of actions in previous lives, and many of the actions we do in this life will only ripen in future lives- this is called long-term Karma. (Short-term Karma is that which show results within a short term of time.)

The wealth of dishonest people is the result of their generosity in past lives. Their current dishonesty is however, leaving karmic seeds for them to be cheated and to experience poverty in future lives. Likewise, the respect and authority given to cruel people is due to positive actions they did in the past. In the present, they are abusing their power, thus creating the cause for future pain. Those who die young are experiencing the result of negative actions such as killing done in past lives. However, their present kindness is planting seeds or imprints on their mindstreams for them to experience happiness in the future.


Ways to purify Negative Karma
Purification is very important as it prevents future suffering and relieves guilt. By purifying our minds, we are able to be more peaceful and understand the Dharma better.

The four opponent powers used to purify negative imprints or seeds are:
1.Regret
2.Determination Not to Repeat the Action
3.Taking the Threefold Refuge and Generating Compassion towards Others
4.Actual Remedial Practice (Any Positive Action- including Meditation and Chanting)

The four opponent powers must be done repeatedly. As we have done many negative actions, we cannot, expect to counteract all of them at once. The stronger the four opponents powers are, the firmer our determination not to repeat the action and the more powerful the purification will be.


Does Karma Influence Whom We Meet?
Yes- but this does not mean that relationships are pre-determined. We may have certain karmic predispositions to feel close to or to have friction with certain people. But, this does not mean that our relationships with them must continue along the same lines. If we are kind to those who speak ill of us and try to communicate with them, the relationships will change - creating positive Karma that will bring happiness in the future.

We are not karmically bound to others- there are no special people who are the one and only one for us. Since we had many past lives, we have had contact with every being sometime before. Our relationship with any particular person also changes constantly. However, past karmic connections can influence our present relationships. For example, if someone has been our spiritual mentor in a past life, we may be drawn to that person in this lifetime, and when he or she teaches us the Dharma, it may have a very strong effect on us.


If Others Suffer Due out of Negative Karma, Can We Help Them?
We know what it is like to feel miserable, and that is exactly how others feel when they are experiencing the results of their own destructive actions. Out of empathy and compassion, we should definitely help! Though others created the causes to experience their difficulties, maybe they also created the cause to receive help from us! We are all alike in wanting happiness and trying to avoid pain. It does not matter whose pain or problem it is- we should try to relieve it. For example, to think, "The poor are poor because of their own past lives' miserliness. I would be interfering with their karma if I tried to help", is a cruel misconception. We should never rationalise our own laziness, apathy or smugness by misinterpreting cause and effect. Compassion and universal responsibility are important for our own spiritual development and for world peace.


Karma can be change from you
Karma is not inflexibly fixed- it does not mean fate or pre-determination. Intentional actions will at some time or other produce their effects under certain conditions. Though people in their present lives are experiencing the effects of their past actions (Karma), it is possible to change or reduce the effects of these past actions through present actions, which affect the immediate future and future lives. Understanding the law of Karma helps one realise that we are whatever we make ourselves to be. Our are entirely responsible for our destiny.

Very interesting, answers a lot of questions for me.

I strongly believe in Karma. I believe people are drawn to each other, but not destined to complete the journey together at times. I believe you sow what you reap. I believe good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people, always with good reason. Nothing is without cause, and no cause is without effect.

I'm not a Buddhist, I've just always believed the age old saying "do on to others as you would have others do on to you" in a sense that you get what you give, every single time, without fail!

[Shunyata]

Greetings all. I respect your insights, if I may I’d like to share my perspective with you.

@ mousie: please take your article with a grain of salt, it has some pearls in it but it puts too much responsibility on what happened in a previous life. It says “The wealth of dishonest people is the result of their generosity in past lives. Their current dishonesty is however, leaving karmic seeds for them to be cheated and to experience poverty in future lives.” I cannot support such theory, it is very irresponsible.

Good and evil are not so. They only are if we say they are. If we say someone’s dishonesty is evil we fail to see the chain of events in their current life that led them to feel the need to lie about whatever it is they are lying about. Underneath they have the same need and desire for love that we do they are just afraid to show it.

Let me share something with you. These are the words of the sixth patriarch of Zen, Hui-Neng. The ideas of Reincarnation and Karma come from the east and I find people too often develop ideas about what they really are without looking to the sources of these ideas.

Hui-Neng said:”Briefly put, your past lives are simply the deluded mind of your previous thoughts, and your present life is simply the enlightened mind of your subsequent thoughts. Use the enlightened mind of your subsequent thoughts to reject the deluded mind of your previous thoughts so that delusions have nowhere to cling. Thus, it says the moment your deluded thoughts are eliminated, the bad karma of your past lives is wiped away. And when bad karma is not created, you realize enlightenment”

There is an incessant stream of thoughts in your head. When that stream is abandoned for stillness, then you will know what the ancients meant by “reaching the point where no new Karma is created” whether or not there is past or future lives is irrelevant to NOW. NOW is where we live. If our thoughts are in the past then we miss NOW. If our thoughts are in the future, we miss NOW. NOW there is no Karma, nor Good, nor evil, there is only what is. NOW we can see the world without hating it, without needing to withdraw from it. NOW is OK. There’s nothing wrong with NOW when we don’t label it. NOW is waiting for you.

In brotherhood and with deep respect,
Shunyata

[mousie]

Shunyata,

Thank you for the more detailed reply. I must admit that when I had read this article initially, I was only approaching the shore of the ocean of knowledge available out there. Upon studying the concept of living in the now, not just today, but this very moment, I have found peace. And in saying so, I must add, I believe your theory to be correct, merely due to the fact that since living in this precise moment, realizing my attachments and emotions in this precise moment, I am able to act in such a way as to show compassion to others and to myself, and have found more and more good Karma coming my way. It's as though when I released my attachments and resentments to my areas of my past, that the Karma accompanying it has also been released.

Unfortunately, I have been slacking as of late on my meditative practices and have found that the mental static has once again returned and living in the moment has been very difficult. Walking meditation has become few and far between as I find myself once again being consumed by the consumerism and demands of parenting. Even now as I am typing this, my father is yapping my ear off with negativity, and I am trying to be mindful of my emotional state.

When so many people are negative, cussing and talking about violence and hatred, how do you remain in a state of peace? Even when trials and tribulations came across my path before, I was able to approach them mindfully and with compassion and I am able to release my own negative emotions. But, as we all know, we are unable to erase the negativity from anyone else. So, in such a situation where you are unable to break away from these bonds with certain individuals, how can we remain in a state of calm? I tell you, there are times I want to scream at the top of my lungs "shut up! just shut up!" but I release that emotion as well and attempt to just live in the present moment and provide an example. It's very difficult to do at some times. Any advice?

[Celtaur]

Shunyata,

Unfortunately, I have been slacking as of late on my meditative practices and have found that the mental static has once again returned and living in the moment has been very difficult. Walking meditation has become few and far between as I find myself once again being consumed by the consumerism and demands of parenting. Even now as I am typing this, my father is yapping my ear off with negativity, and I am trying to be mindful of my emotional state.

When so many people are negative, cussing and talking about violence and hatred, how do you remain in a state of peace? Even when trials and tribulations came across my path before, I was able to approach them mindfully and with compassion and I am able to release my own negative emotions. But, as we all know, we are unable to erase the negativity from anyone else. So, in such a situation where you are unable to break away from these bonds with certain individuals, how can we remain in a state of calm? I tell you, there are times I want to scream at the top of my lungs "shut up! just shut up!" but I release that emotion as well and attempt to just live in the present moment and provide an example. It's very difficult to do at some times. Any advice?

I totally get it. I find myself in this position regularly too in terms of finding balance with the external world and the inner world. It's not always easy balancing things that are going on around us with our personal vision for ourselves. I think this is part of it too... when we want to have a sense of peacefulness for ourselves we create an idea, or image around how things should be, or could be in our ideal state. This gives us the opportunity to clear space in our lives to get to that point, but I know what you mean. We aren't always able to have that clear space, there's just so many external factors. Then we get attached to the idea of what we would like in the midst of all that ruckus out there. So then it comes back to attachment to our idea's of how things should be, and accepting what is. Who wants to put up with negativity all the time from others emotional instability and lack of respect for others? Not me. But, by focusing our thoughts on comparing what it is to what could be, can create a problem in our experience in the now by attaching too strongly to the thoughts "the grass is greener on the other side" thing. However, although now is all there really is, at the same time we know there is a future coming along that will be the now, and making some plan of action is sometimes necessary. It's like a dance of time, or the thoughts about time, and finding balance in it.

I remember when I was younger, living with a roommate that had a lot of friends that were all about partying. I used to have so many people in that tiny apartment climbing the walls, drunk, stoned, music blaring at all hours of the night, messes, spills, loud yelling, fights, disrespect. There ended up being so many people that were friends of his friends, and even strangers in my house. I would come home from work and there would be people in every room of the apartment, even my bedroom which I had locked before leaving for work that day. It was awful. I got tired of fighting with my roommate and finally decided if I was going to get rid of all this, I'd have to get rid of him. I did. As much as he didn't want to move back home, he had to. It wasn't easy, but I had to take a stand for what was acceptable in my life and what wasn't. I decided to make a change, that wasn't easy because I depended on having a roommate to pay the rent. But then I realized, I could find another roommate, and hopefully things would be better.

Well I did get another roommate, a woman about 10 years older than me, but she was wild too. Lots of partying late at night, but it would be only her and whoever she was having liaisons with, so it was definitely a step up from having 10-20+ people running around my house like monkeys. At that point I wasn't at my ideal place of peacefulness, but I was working on it and I took what I could get at the time. I have a pretty high tolerance level, but things can only go so far. I'm still friends with the latter roommate, good friends actually. We lived together for a couple years before I moved to another place.

I found that when I moved in just me and my significant other, it became a different dynamic. There was quiet when there needed to be, respect for space and so on.

Life is about relationships, and we have to deal with all different types of personalities and situations. I can get pretty riled up sometimes when my buttons are pushed, but luckily there's a lot of "secret codes" before those buttons finally get pressed. As a Taurus, I am pretty laid back, but from time to time that Taurean energy goes full steam ahead. Luckily I've tamed that and put it to short bursts on a very rare occasion, like a sprinter. Finding myself with the goal of inner peace helps. I am now in a life situation, for the most part that is more balanced, but it took a while to arrange things to get to this point. It took effort and knowing how I wanted things.

I think we attract situations into our lives that provide us with opportunities. With your situation, people yelling all the time, you are finding out more about yourself. You can see what you don't want in your life as a defining principle for what you do want, and that's good. You are showing that you have drama in your life and it's not for you, you don't want to take part in it and escalate that type of behavior. You're steps ahead of many who are so caught up in the toxic behavior they become part of it unknowing they don't want it. I know some people from my past who would feed off this type of thing and would instigate it on purpose. That's something I never got. There's a lot of people out there like that. They feed off the drama, as if it gives them a sense of importance, of being a part of things, of being in control.

When you mention these people speaking of violence and hatred it's concerning. Are they speaking from a place of prejudice? That is really a sad place they are coming from and could explain their behavior. Prejudice is born from a lot of pain and a persons feeling inferior and weak. There's a lot of emptiness coming from people like that, and their doing whatever they can to make themselves feel better, but they are going about it in a destructive way, that ultimately returns back to themselves.

I hope to hear more about how you work to overcome the obstacles and that you find peace in the process.