Karma: Do people have it coming?

Question: “Hi there, big fan of your blog. I’m a life long Hindu, and lately I’ve been struggling with rationally arriving at the conclusion that all actions and reactions are a part of an overarching karmic system, specifically because of the seemingly meaningless deaths and illnesses of innocent people, specifically young children that are the victims of violence and/or fatal diseases. Does a karmic system imply that these individuals somehow had it coming in the grand scheme of the universe?”

Thanks for being a fan! Glad you enjoy it 🙂

Yes and no. It might sound like a horrible and cruel thing to agree to or believe in, but the saying “everything happens for a reason” is true in the case of Karma. Death and disease doesn’t just happen to individuals, but whole countries too. Tibet is a great example. As a Buddhist country you would think all it does is gain good karmic merit and deeds, but even the His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that it was Tibetan karma accumulated over the centuries that caused such a huge karmic effect, because there is individual karma and group karma; so it would of been group karma for the deaths during the Chinese invasion, but individual karma for people’s own deaths or suffering.

There’s a story of a monk, whom long ago knew he was born at the time he was because someone was going to kill him, because he had killed that person in a past life. He was an honorary monk of a king; being at the king’s side and preaching the Law to him. One day, the man whom would kill the monk charged at him, but the king had his guards stop the man before he could attack. The monk told the king to let him be because he already knew his fate and he knew he had to “pay back.”

So even when people are innocent, guilty, young, old, rich, poor – if you believe in karma and past lives, then it’s easier to understand that the person whom would harm/kill us could of been someone we’ve previously harmed or killed and we’re just paying back for our negative karmic actions. Every cause has an effect; and when it comes to karmic effect, it doesn’t always happen in this lifetime – it could come back to us in any of our future lives.

Karma works in different ways though. I heard a story from a monk that when he was in college, him and his friend rented the basement from this old married couple. The husband was a hunter and their home was full of animal heads hanging on the walls, and furs made blankets and covers. They had one child whom had died. The monk later realized that their child was taken away because the husband was taking away (killing) dozens of children away from their families.

Our karma reborns us in specific places for specific reasons. Bad past karma will have you ended up in a poor, third-world country, or with some kind of misfortunate disease or illness. Good past karma will reborn you in a nice place, to a nice family, living a nice life. So whether we have a good or bad life depends on our past karma, however, we must take the opportunity in our present life to better ourselves and accumulate good merit so that our next life will be a much better one.

 

Smile and be well!

The Eight Antidotes

These are the Eight Antidotes (Pratipakṣa) to the Five Faults of meditation.

The Five Faults

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Five Faults (ādīnava) are factors in Samatha (calmness and stillness of the mind) meditation. The Five Faults identify obstacles in the meditation practice, and the Eight Antitodes are applied to overcome these obstacles. Though mainly a Vajrayana practice, these still apply to everyone’s meditation practice and would be helpful to everyone to know, use, and overcome.

The Bodhisattva Path

Question: “I hope you don’t mind if I ask you about the Bodhisattva path. I want to understand it. Isn’t it scary to think that you might stay in samsara for a really long time, maybe forever? And also, how does a person that is not enlightened help others become enlightened? And what exactly does a Bodhisattva do? Thank you.”

First, what is a Bodhisattva? It is a person who delays their own Enlightenment (depending on the tradition) and entrance into Nirvana in order to help all sentient beings become Enlightenment first. In Vajrayana (TIbetan Buddhism), there are three kinds of Bodhisattvas: King-like Bodhisattvas, those who become Enlightened first then help others find Enlightenment; Captain-like Bodhisattvas, those who become Enlightened with the sentient beings/people the Bodhisattva has been teaching; and Shepard-like Bodhisattvas, those who become Enlightened after all sentient beings have become Enlightened first.

And yes, at first it might be a scary thought to think about being stuck in Samsara for what could be forever, but eventually when you realize Emptiness, that thought will never occur again. At least think of it this way: Because you’re a practicing Buddhist, an aspiring Bodhisattva, at least your future lives will be much better (depending on your past and present Karma). But from a mundane point-of-view, your body isn’t going to be here forever – it’ll only be alive for as long as that life will be breathing, so there’s not any of that “Oh I’m going to live forever!” thoughts. You, in this body, will not be living forever, nor will you even know of any of your future lives, so there’s really shouldn’t be any worry about living in Samsara forever. Instead of worry about that, know and feel the great realization of all those you can help find Enlightenment. Know that you can end the suffering and cycle of Samsara for so many others! That should be a great feeling, not a scary one!

So for us non-Enlightened beings, we can take the Bodhisattva Vows. The vows are “don’t” rules, but they also tell you how you can help others. By being a Bodhisattva, you’re essentially a teacher of the Dharma. Some live the monkhood life as Bodhisattvas (total dedication). For laypeople, many laypeople that I’ve met or know of teach Dharma sessions as part of their Bodhisattva duties, others teach meditation or are members of a temple or monastery (teaching, learning, or doing other duties and activities). Your overall job duty as a Bodhisattva is to help liberate others and lead them to Nirvana. This happens over the course of many, many lifetimes obviously. You might not Enlighten anyone in this lifetime or the next, but just by showing them the way to liberation might bring them to Enlightenment in their next life – and the same goes for you, because whenever you’re teaching others, you’re also teaching yourself! The Bodhisattva path is a beautiful and fulfilling path, and should be everyone’s aspiration if practicing Mahayana.

Smile and be well!

Compassion and Wisdom

There are two qualities the Buddha taught to realize Enlightenment: Prajña (Wisdom) and Karunã (Compassion). In a general sense, the two seem completely different and have nothing to do with each other; one being intellectual and the other being emotional. But in Buddhism both are needed to work together and understand each other. You need wisdom to cultivate compassion, and compassion to cultivate wisdom.

Ideally in Buddhist practice, one practices selflessness to help alleviate suffering wherever we may see it. Sometimes it might seem impossible to do so, but it’s important to at least try. Compassion is more than just being a nice person. Some people try to be nice because they expect something in return, but that’s not very wise is it? If you have that mentality of gaining something or receiving something for being nice, then it’s not compassion and you are not wise. To be compassionate is to rid the idea of “me” and “self.” True compassion does not expect anything in return, not even a ‘thank you.’

His Holiness the Dalai Lama wrote in The Essence of the Heart Sutra: “According to Buddhism, compassion is an aspiration, a state of mind, wanting others to be free from suffering. It’s not passive — it’s not empathy alone — but rather an empathetic altruism that actively strives to free others from suffering. Genuine compassion must have both wisdom and lovingkindness. That is to say, one must understand the nature of the suffering from which we wish to free others (this is wisdom), and one must experience deep intimacy and empathy with other sentient beings (this is lovingkindness).”

Compassion takes practice. It’s not something you can develop overnight. If you’re a person that expects a reply when you say ‘hello’ or ‘thank you,’ then you’re going to cause yourself suffering because you’re being attached to the expectations and rewards of giving and receiving. Your goal is to be selfless. To act in a selfless way to help others – to help others before even thinking about it is true compassion. The thought “I want to help them” should always arise and be present. If you’re thinking “I should help them,” then you’re on your way to great compassion.

Compassion and wisdom can be cultivated and developed with meditation. It’s also importan that we understand our own suffering in order to help with others’ suffering. This isn’t being selfish. We usually see altruism, concern for others before oneself, as being the opposite of selfishness, concern for oneself before others. Buddhism does not see it as either one or the other but rather as a blending of the two. Genuine self-concern will gradually mature into concern for others as one sees that others are really the same as oneself. This is genuine compassion.

Always try to be compassionate. Stress compassion to others that you see are not being compassionate. Compassion not only helps others, but it also helps you. It’ll give you joy and understanding that you helped relieve some suffering from others, and that you’re one step closer to Enlightenment. Mediate on what it means to be compassionate. Rid the ideas that you feel you need to get anything in return or any rewards for being compassionate.

A kind of meditation to develop compassion is called Tonglen. It is a meditation practice practiced in Tibetan Buddhism. The basic practice of this meditation is to take in the suffering of others and of the world on the ‘in breath’ and exhaling peace and joy on the ‘out breath.’ A short pause in between the in and out breath to “convert” that suffering into joy and happiness is sometimes practiced. This, however, doesn’t mean to burden yourself with the misery of the world, but simply to acknowledge and be aware that there is suffering in the world. This helps bring peace of mind and help you realize that everyone is suffering and that everyone deserves compassion to help ease their suffering.

Smile and be well!