More Buddhist Stuff: The Good News is...
Nov. 18th, 2004 03:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusGood Karma Made Easy
Most people don't have the time or inclination to work for world peace or feed the starving multitudes, no matter how terrific that would be. Sure, we'd like the wealth and health and results of such generousity, but it's hard to do while holding down a full-time job, raising kids, going to school and what-have-you.
There's a short-cut.
Believe it or not, because karma is generated in the mind, simply rejoicing in and being happy at the good others do makes you a participant. Yes, standing on the sidelines and cheering creates the same karma, as if you were doing it yourself.
So if you hear about someone giving out mittens to homeless people, take a minute to be happy that they're doing it. If someone wins the Lotto, spend a second or two and be glad of their good fortune - at some point they did something to earn it. This eliminates jealousy (and sometimes that's some work, let me tell you), creates a gentle, kind attitude, and - hooray - creates a great deal of good karma.
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wildernessguru isn't Buddhist, but he practices this. He's so happy that someone created those carpeted cat trees, because it's given millions of kitties so much pleasure.
There's a flip-side.
The same happens when we rejoice in the awful things that happen to people.
If we watch an execution and are glad the bastard is dead... uh-oh. Yeah. You might as well have thrown the switch yourself. When people danced after 9/11 that so many died in the World Trade Center? Ugh. The karma they created for themselves at being happy at the death of so many people. (Thank goodness it's not as bad if you don't know any better.) Because it's all in the mind.
This is a subtle thing. We're talking about motivation.
Let's say we're glad a war is over, like VJ-Day at the end of WWII, dancing in the streets. Well, if you're happy that your husband's coming home and there will be no more fighting, no more deaths -- that's a good thing.
Let's say however, you're glad the bomb was dropped at Hiroshima, because "those Japs had it coming to them after that Bataan death march." That's very different. Even though it might be the same event and look the same on the outside.
That's fairly obvious, but I caught myself this summer being glad the body count in Iraq was going up, because I hoped it would get Bush out of office. 'Oh shit' is right. Bad intentions sneak in there. There's a picayune monastic vow in the Vinaya to not watch troop movements - now I know why: it's hard not to root for one side over the other. I did better when Dick Cheney was sick this weekend; being glad anyone was sick just didn't seem like a good thing to be happy about.
Okay. So... what if you have a pragmatic attitude, i.e., "I'm sorry we had to drop the bomb, but Japan would have never surrendered otherwise"? That sounds neutral, but really that one's a mix of motivations, accumulating negative and positive karma at once. Which is what we normally do.
We spend a lot of energy on the end results we want, but don't watch our minds to see what we really create.
I thought about this because of the recent spate of abortion posts, encouraging people to give a thumbs up. I was pretty upset about it, and had to think why. Now I do detest (abhore, deplore, despise...) social engineering and utilizing peer pressure in general. It's a despicable method, regardless of who uses it. I know of Buddhist monasteries that do, and it doesn't really work: people have to act on inner principle rather than being s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d by peer pressure. *bleah*
I have to get the bad taste out of my mouth just thinking about it.
*ptooie* Yeah, really hate manipulation.
But from the Buddhist point of view, there's also the aspect of inviting people to rejoice in and thus create the same negative karma. (I've described the rather subtle view Buddhism has on abortion in the past, but the three-second version is: abortion falls under that "non-violence" thing - don't do it - but if you have, well, that's samsara for you. Life is like that. Do damage control - according to the Abhidharmakosha* how negative it is depends on the level of development of the fetus; purify it and move on.)
Now, only the individuals who responded know their motivations: was it to give support and kindness, and ameliorate the shame women feel? Well, then that would be good. But was it to encourage women to have abortions, or to be glad that this is done? *sigh* At least if you don't know it's not good, the karma isn't as strong.
*ETA: The cool thing about the Abhidharmakosha is that it describes the physical stages of fetal development with remarkable accuracy. Dated around 500 B.C., in a time where the fetus was thought to be a fully formed baby that just started small and got bigger, the Abhidharmakosha accurately depicted the fetus as going through stages "like a tadpole" "like a frog" "like a turtle", week by week, pegging the correct stage with the correct week.
In addition, it describes the mental development of the baby as dependent upon the physical stage of growth.
So while non-complex, pre-conceptual awareness of self-existence begins at conception, the capacity for experience enough to be aware of other, does not begin until around the 7th week. At that point, the baby has the faculties to experience the mother's heartbeat and be aware of 'other.' At that point, the first emotional experience occurs, which is this tremendous love for that other. Always thought that was a positive sign, that the first human tendency is love.
Most people don't have the time or inclination to work for world peace or feed the starving multitudes, no matter how terrific that would be. Sure, we'd like the wealth and health and results of such generousity, but it's hard to do while holding down a full-time job, raising kids, going to school and what-have-you.
There's a short-cut.
Believe it or not, because karma is generated in the mind, simply rejoicing in and being happy at the good others do makes you a participant. Yes, standing on the sidelines and cheering creates the same karma, as if you were doing it yourself.
So if you hear about someone giving out mittens to homeless people, take a minute to be happy that they're doing it. If someone wins the Lotto, spend a second or two and be glad of their good fortune - at some point they did something to earn it. This eliminates jealousy (and sometimes that's some work, let me tell you), creates a gentle, kind attitude, and - hooray - creates a great deal of good karma.
wildernessguru isn't Buddhist, but he practices this. He's so happy that someone created those carpeted cat trees, because it's given millions of kitties so much pleasure. There's a flip-side.
The same happens when we rejoice in the awful things that happen to people.
If we watch an execution and are glad the bastard is dead... uh-oh. Yeah. You might as well have thrown the switch yourself. When people danced after 9/11 that so many died in the World Trade Center? Ugh. The karma they created for themselves at being happy at the death of so many people. (Thank goodness it's not as bad if you don't know any better.) Because it's all in the mind.
This is a subtle thing. We're talking about motivation.
Let's say we're glad a war is over, like VJ-Day at the end of WWII, dancing in the streets. Well, if you're happy that your husband's coming home and there will be no more fighting, no more deaths -- that's a good thing.
Let's say however, you're glad the bomb was dropped at Hiroshima, because "those Japs had it coming to them after that Bataan death march." That's very different. Even though it might be the same event and look the same on the outside.
That's fairly obvious, but I caught myself this summer being glad the body count in Iraq was going up, because I hoped it would get Bush out of office. 'Oh shit' is right. Bad intentions sneak in there. There's a picayune monastic vow in the Vinaya to not watch troop movements - now I know why: it's hard not to root for one side over the other. I did better when Dick Cheney was sick this weekend; being glad anyone was sick just didn't seem like a good thing to be happy about.
Okay. So... what if you have a pragmatic attitude, i.e., "I'm sorry we had to drop the bomb, but Japan would have never surrendered otherwise"? That sounds neutral, but really that one's a mix of motivations, accumulating negative and positive karma at once. Which is what we normally do.
We spend a lot of energy on the end results we want, but don't watch our minds to see what we really create.
I thought about this because of the recent spate of abortion posts, encouraging people to give a thumbs up. I was pretty upset about it, and had to think why. Now I do detest (abhore, deplore, despise...) social engineering and utilizing peer pressure in general. It's a despicable method, regardless of who uses it. I know of Buddhist monasteries that do, and it doesn't really work: people have to act on inner principle rather than being s-q-u-e-e-z-e-d by peer pressure. *bleah*
I have to get the bad taste out of my mouth just thinking about it.
*ptooie* Yeah, really hate manipulation.
But from the Buddhist point of view, there's also the aspect of inviting people to rejoice in and thus create the same negative karma. (I've described the rather subtle view Buddhism has on abortion in the past, but the three-second version is: abortion falls under that "non-violence" thing - don't do it - but if you have, well, that's samsara for you. Life is like that. Do damage control - according to the Abhidharmakosha* how negative it is depends on the level of development of the fetus; purify it and move on.)
Now, only the individuals who responded know their motivations: was it to give support and kindness, and ameliorate the shame women feel? Well, then that would be good. But was it to encourage women to have abortions, or to be glad that this is done? *sigh* At least if you don't know it's not good, the karma isn't as strong.
*ETA: The cool thing about the Abhidharmakosha is that it describes the physical stages of fetal development with remarkable accuracy. Dated around 500 B.C., in a time where the fetus was thought to be a fully formed baby that just started small and got bigger, the Abhidharmakosha accurately depicted the fetus as going through stages "like a tadpole" "like a frog" "like a turtle", week by week, pegging the correct stage with the correct week.
In addition, it describes the mental development of the baby as dependent upon the physical stage of growth.
So while non-complex, pre-conceptual awareness of self-existence begins at conception, the capacity for experience enough to be aware of other, does not begin until around the 7th week. At that point, the baby has the faculties to experience the mother's heartbeat and be aware of 'other.' At that point, the first emotional experience occurs, which is this tremendous love for that other. Always thought that was a positive sign, that the first human tendency is love.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 05:25 pm (UTC)And yeah. You can see the ralleying as peer pressure. But it could also be what provides someone the bravery/security/etc to express how they do feel.
I guess it all has to do with the mob mentality. Or the buddy system. If going into war, always have a buddy with you. So you have a fifty percent chance of not being the target.
...
@_@ I don't want to post this because omg I feel so t00by. *posts anyways but denies it and pretends a robot did it instead*
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 06:36 pm (UTC)And yeah. You can see the ralleying as peer pressure. But it could also be what provides someone the bravery/security/etc to express how they do feel.
Yeah, it depends on the individual and what their attitude and motivation is.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 07:23 pm (UTC)I agree with Oowth, I love your Buddhist posts - they're always very informative, and I feel like I'm learning something, or being inspired.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 08:04 pm (UTC)but i do wanna know about it, so i like that you write about it in here.. makes me feel more intellectually enlightened (teehee)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 11:41 pm (UTC)Ok, ok, this is just some dark humour, dont take me seriously, and please do not yell at me :)
As far as abortions go, what can I tell you? I had a couple myself, and today I am really appreciative of the fact that my mom made me do it. If not, I would've been stuck with some cracked out babies by some cracked out fathers, and nobody's life would be good anyway. I was young and very stupid, and on some serious drugs. I am thankful that my mom was there for me, and that she was so firm on her opinions. Though, moments come, when I think "Oh, my! I am twenty six, and I have not achieved anything in life. If I had those babies, at least I would have purpose." So, who tha fuck knows. As you see, I am still kind of confused about those choices... But, at the end, I think that it was right for me not to have those kids.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-18 01:01 am (UTC)That's what is so remarkable. It should not be so accurate.
Based on that, I think he had a fairly good handle on the subject.
There's a difference between regret and shame. Regret is a gentle, wistful feeling. It's just honesty. It lifts the weight off your shoulders.
I've been faced with situations where I knew that what I was doing wasn't right, but I couldn't see a way out of it. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn't, I dunno.
I caught myself trying to make myself feel better by solidifying my reasons, justifying, hardening my heart -- and I stopped. I told myself no, I wasn't going to pretend this was right. I just said, inwardly, "I'm sorry." Then forgave myself. And did a little something to make good.
Regret, that apology, is gentle, cooling, like a soft rain. Then you can let it go. Be kind to yourself. Just the act of recognizing something is negative, that honesty, purifies a lot of the karma.
Shame is cruel, is being hard on yourself, not letting go. Only if we are ashamed do we feel a need to defend ourselves.
We're only human. This is the nature of being human to make mistakes. It's one of the things about the world that we're faced with catch-22 decisions all the time. We've had many, many lives in which we've done much worse.
"I should've" is a stupid game, because what's past is past. Just let the gentle apology come, sincere, and lift the shame like a mist. Rather than holding on by defending it and worrying about what the rest of the world might think.
Be gentle with yourself. Kindness starts with how you treat yourself.
Icarus
no subject
Date: 2004-11-18 01:15 am (UTC)It's a sign that they haven't let it go.
My comment to one post was really inappropriate then. I didn't recognize what was really going on under the surface. My reading of it was superficial.
It's so much easier to reconize that you're just human, "I screwed up, I didn't know what else to do" and forgive yourself.
Justification is a lot of hard, heavy work, and you have to gather a crowd of people to agree with you to drown out that twinge of guilt.
Better to un-twinge.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-18 08:42 am (UTC)Thanks!