Snags the computer back to post about... Buddhist stuff

[icarus]

I've been so grateful today for all those helpful skating sites that describe how to complete a Salchow jump, that I thought, what info can I post that I know a thing or two about?

Well. I was a Buddhist nun for over a decade. So, okay, helpful hints on Buddhism.

Buddhist Basics 101

Karma.

The word has filtered into the English language, but I noticed last week when Kenneth Lay died that pop-karma and what Buddhists mean by karma are two very different things.

The popular idea of karma is someone getting what they deserved, "what goes around comes around," uhn-huh, honey. It's a little like Judgment Day where someone gets punished, and we can all feel satisfied that karma will get the bad guys in the end. Instead of leaving it up to God, we leave it up to karma.

The other side of karma, much less popular in the U.S. though it's big in India, is the fatalistic "It's my karma" idea. Where you just lay down and give in to bad circumstances without trying to change them, with the mistaken idea that Karma (here synonomous with Fate) is in charge. Some (note the disclaimer) forms of Hinduism do consider karma in this way, but this isn't the Buddhist idea.

There is some benefit to this idea from the Buddhist perspective in that you're less likely to be angry and blame others -- but there the similarity ends. While accepting that nothing arises without a cause and (so there must be some past karma), you immediately get to work on creating new positive karma. You don't lie down and play dead.

Are you always broke? Okay, in a past life you must not have been all that generous.

So be generous where you can. Offer kind words. Develop a generous attitude of being happy with others' good fortune. If you see a Save The Children Fund commercial and you're a college student who can't afford to give anything -- wish that you could. Or offer a prayer (any denomination is good) instead.

All of these things are types of generousity -- words, actions (like holding the door), thoughts. You thought that {{{hugs}}} on LJ was meaningless and can't create karma? Guess again.

I'm learning a lot about generousity watching WG and his family. Their generosity is continuous. They share news stories, clipping them out and mailing them to friends who might be interested. They give away small things, hats, gloves, packs, books, always have a cookie jar for the kids or bring over a casserole for the neighbors. They do the big gestures, but as Khenpo Palden Sherab once said, "the small virtues are like a leaky faucet: pretty soon the bucket is full."

The mind is our most valuable source for positive karma. Ven. Ponlop Rinpoche said in 2001, "Most karma is generated in the mind, by our intentions."

So if we consider that good karma is created through our actions, our words, and especially by our minds, or our good, broad-minded intent to help others, then let's look back on that "what goes around, comes around" idea of karma.

If we create good karma just by saying {{{hugs}}} with the intent to offer comfort in LJ, if the mind is that powerful, then what kind of karma are we creating when we're happy someone suffers?

Ooops.

Aye, there's the rub. It's just as easy to create bad karma as it is to create good karma.

But the way we define the word karma in our culture ("Ding, dong, the witch is dead! The wicked witch, the wicked witch!") is connected with this feeling of being happy at someone's suffering.

It's because we mistake karma for divine justice. Karma isn't justice. It's cold, infallible, and it's unfair, in the same way that mother nature is unfair. As my father used to say, "Mother Nature is cruel." And one National Geographic special on wild animals (or worse yet, insects) will convince anyone of that. Sure, it's the karma of the male praying mantis to be devoured by his mate, but it sucks. Worse yet, when that creature created this karma, they had no clue it would end up like this.

If there were no way out, no way to end the cycle of karma, then it would probably be best to just ignore it, have a nice life, and create good karma for your own future comfort.

But the Buddhist idea is that there is an end to all of that. There is an end to the cycle of karma within reach. Not only for yourself, but you can help others. That end is enlightenment.

And that, my friends, is what the meditating and living a good life is for.

Comments

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful, thoughtful, and eep-provoking essay. Thank you.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Why thank you, I'm glad it was interesting. Eep-provoking? :)

Icarus

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

Definitely eep-provoking.

[abigail89.livejournal.com]

That was most enlightening. Thank you!

*hugs*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Enlightening! Yay! *laughs*

Icarus

[florahart]

And at heart, I think this is what I don't like about anon hate memes. Well, any hate memes, but generally anon is how they are. I think they hurt everyone involved: the people being hated at, and the people posting such big glaring negativity. They seem to think it's stress-relieving or cathartic or something, and I just can't get with that mindset. I think it's always harmful to self to hold onto grudges, which is whence my general approach to conflict resolution: discuss until everyone understands, and then either agree to believe each other that you simply have this difference, or, come to agreement.

None of which is to say I can't be a complete bitch. There are people who rub me the wrong way, and I sometimes say unkind or uncharitable things to or about them. And then, I feel bad about it, which to me right there demonstrates that this does harm to me even if it never even touches the other person(s) involved.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

This is very interesting, hmm. I think you're right about the hate memes. They're taking some ideas from pop psychology about not "stuffing" your anger, but even in pop psychology you don't share it all over. The intention is to get over denying the negative, admit it's there, but then do something about it. Punching pillows or whatnot that doesn't do harm.

Hatememes, where people get together and rip others, where the person can see it and be hurt or is slandered -- that doesn't even fit the pop-psych mold. In the 1970s theory you weren't supposed to do any harm. And I think most types of therapy that involve "getting your anger out" have fallen away in favor of dealing with issues.

If we didn't screw up, we wouldn't be human we'd be, oh, sitting on some lotus somewhere. My next Buddhist post should probably be about Buddhist methods to clean up mistakes. It's a four-step process: 1) admit it, 2) realize it's a mistake and will like produce bad karma -- then 3) promise to avoid it like you would if you'd just eaten poisoned food. Then 4) you do a virtuous something to make up for it. Then dedicate that good karma with the wish that others will avoid similar mistakes and achieve enlightenment.

Icarus

[mkcs.livejournal.com]

They're taking some ideas from pop psychology about not "stuffing" your anger, but even in pop psychology you don't share it all over.

There seems to be a lot of confusion in our popular culture between acceptance and approbation. It's really good to *accept* the existence of things that distress one, but this doesn't mean one should necessarily encourage them.

We seem to vacillate between denial and affirmation -- either bad stuff doesn't exist, or it's not really bad -- rather than accepting that it's there without trying to pretend that is a good thing.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

We seem to vacillate between denial and affirmation -- either bad stuff doesn't exist, or it's not really bad -- rather than accepting that it's there without trying to pretend that is a good thing.

I think this has to do with our tendency to punish ourselves with heaping piles of guilt when we've made a mistake. Rather than just saying, "Okay, I'll never do that again" we continue the mistake by heaping on huge amounts of guilt, making decisions about who we are ("I am a bad person") based on that mistake, then make up excuses ("No, I'm not! It's really his fault!") because of this guilt.

I've been noticing that guilt is really a fast-track to blame, excuses, or depression and therefore useless inactivity.

Icarus

[mkcs.livejournal.com]

I agree with you.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Oh, very well said!

Some (note the disclaimer) forms of Hinduism do consider karma in this way, but this isn't the Buddhist idea.

What's really interesting is that a lot of average Hindus - that is to say, religious yet not really well-informed and not particularly interested in being well-informed - will alternately use karma in both senses of the term depending on the circumstances, not really understanding the difference or the need to differentiate between them. Which, of course, isn't what your post is about, but I felt the need to ramble. *g*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've been running across this blurring in my Asian studies.

As I understand it, in an effort to forge a national unity out of gazillions of little Hindu sects, there has been an effort to incorporate all these Hindu philosophies into one category -- from Gandhi to Hindu Nationalist parties. It's part of the attempt to define what being "Indian" means. So Hindus who aren't really hardcore about their particular sect (which can range from monotheism to polytheism to hedonism to nihilism) are much more fuzzy on the basics of their religion(s), even if they have that picture of Ganesh in the autorickshaw.

Icarus

[ella-bane.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading this very much. Thank you for posting your thoughts on Karma. :-)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Sure, of course. Any time. :)

Icarus

[starrylizard.livejournal.com]

I've always liked this sort of philosophy. Raised as an atheist, though I tend to consider myself more agnostic, I tend to like any religious philosophy that sends positive messages in a 'think before you act' way, but doesn't dictate what you should do. This is where Christianity and many other religions, (to which my exposure has still been small, so no hurt intended to anyone) falls down.

Thanks for the explanation. I have a fascination with religion, having never truly been in one. I wander around picking out the bits I like from them all and then smooshing them altogether.

And *hugs* are powerful things. They have brought a smile to my face in times of pain and lonliness, though people often look at me strangely when I say it. Simple gestures are definitely the most powerful ones.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I've always liked this sort of philosophy.

Cool.

My family didn't set foot in a church or other religious anything until I was a preteen (mom had a run-in with a minister of the local Methodist church over "obey thy husband" early on). After that, we got the grand tour of a lot of religions. I think the only two we didn't get a taste of were Judaism and Islam.

And *hugs* are powerful things. They have brought a smile to my face in times of pain and lonliness, though people often look at me strangely when I say it.

Yeah, me too.

Icarus

[aralondwen.livejournal.com]

Very interesting post. May I ask a question? You say about karma: It's cold, infallible, and it's unfair.... I get the cold part, but why unfair? I´ve never thought about karma as unfair, quite the opposite, in fact. But, I could be very much mistaken, since my knowledge of Buddhism is extremely limited.

Sorry if this is a stupid question.

[mkcs.livejournal.com]

How can it be fair for a preying mantis, who doesn't have the mental equipment to even know what it did in a previous life, to suffer for it?

How can it be fair for someone who's never been taught any better to be punished for things they do wrong?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It's a great question.

The first reason it's unfair is that it's like a game where people are thrown in without knowing the rules. Yet you get the full consequences regardless of being ignorant (truthfully, the karma is a little lighter if you honestly don't know any better). Most people would consider that unfair.

Then also, we don't remember our past lives and what we did. So we can be hit by disease or a disaster out of blue and never know where that came from. People doing great, really working hard to live good lives find themselves hit with tough times. And people like Kenneth Lay can be harming people left and right, yet have tremendous good fortune. This disheartens the good people, and makes the Kenneth Lays think that good/bad actions don't matter.

So not only do we not know the rules, it's almost set up so that we can't know them very well. Karma is like a game of three card monty.

Then also, the results are totally disproportionate. We like to think that karma is like a teeter-totter: a nice, neat one-to-one ratio. You screw up one time, you get the same result back. But that's an oversimplification.

In reality a lot of factors are at work.

The motivation is the big one. An action done out of anger has results that are exponentially worse than the same action by mistake. A moment of anger wipes the slate on huge amounts of good karma you've done (unless your good karma has been dedicated to the welfare of others, in which case it's not yours because you've shared it). That's really bad news for me because I've a short fuse.

Then, karma has a "slot machine" quality to how it ripens. Totally random. And what can happen is different karmic results can ripen at once. Say you were a hit-man in one life, and a soldier in another. That killing karma from both lives can ripen at once. Which makes for a really bad life.

Worse yet, not only do we have the old results ripening, humans and animals (but especially human beings because we have more complex minds) are constantly making new karma. What kinds of karma do we create? Well, unless we have the tremendous good fortune to meet some sort of spiritual advisor or path and stick with it, we tend to just go with our habits.

Where do our habits come from? Our past karma! Augh.

So, using Kenneth as a hypothetical example, let's say that in a past life he was a thief and a con-artist (it's a good guess since he was in this life). But he took some of his ill-gotten gains in that life and, oh, gave it family members who were going to starve otherwise.

Now we have a really mixed bag. On the one hand, we've got the bad karma of stealing. On the other, the generousity of giving in order to save lives (with the good intention, too).

So when that good karma ripens in this life, he has all the money he could ever want. Good intentions make karma replicate exponentially, too, it works both ways.

But. He still has the bad habit of stealing. So he wastes that good karma and continues to steal. Then by stealing from a lot of people in this life by the time he finally ends up human again, he'll be poor again. And (probably) in circumstances where the only way he can survive -- you guessed it -- is to steal.

Karma is fucked, just absolutely fucked. That's why if you have a good compassionate mind, and the opportunity and inclination to do something spiritual you have to leap on it, don't delay. It's so rare.

Icarus

[aralondwen.livejournal.com]

Yet you get the full consequences regardless of being ignorant (truthfully, the karma is a little lighter if you honestly don't know any better).

Don´t know any better as in, don´t know that what you´re doing is wrong? Or as in, don´t know you´re getting bad karma out of it? Because we all know the basics of right and wrong.

Then also, we don't remember our past lives and what we did. So we can be hit by disease or a disaster out of blue and never know where that came from.

Yeah, it is hard to see all the suffering in the world when you don´t know about karma, but to me knowing made all the difference. I don´t know what I did on my previous lives, but since I accepted that any suffering comes from my previous actions, I find it easier to accept and to try to learn from it rather than just complain. Really, the concept of karma has made my life easier.

...if you have a good compassionate mind, and the opportunity and inclination to do something spiritual you have to leap on it, don't delay.

Yes, I definitely have to.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Don´t know any better as in, don´t know that what you´re doing is wrong? Or as in, don´t know you´re getting bad karma out of it? Because we all know the basics of right and wrong.

Don't realize the results. The idea of right and wrong can be a little theoretical for people. Just witness the kid who's told a thousand times not to touch the burner. He might listen. But he's ever touched something hot he'll really listen.

That's the idea of remorse in Buddhism, too. It's not guilt but a clear understanding of karma and consequences so that the person has that heart-felt "I will never, ever touch the burner again, no way."

I don´t know what I did on my previous lives, but since I accepted that any suffering comes from my previous actions, I find it easier to accept and to try to learn from it rather than just complain. Really, the concept of karma has made my life easier.

What the now Khenpo Tenzin Norgay told me is that if you accept something arises from karma, then that alone helps purify it.

Yes, I definitely have to.

Yay! Me, too.

Icarus

[nepheliad.livejournal.com]

Thought provoking post and comments, once again. Thanks for giving me something to mull over today ^^

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Icarus

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

I love it when you post this kind of thing. It really makes me wonder about how all lives are interconnected and what the purpose of life is.

Something I'm wondering about is people who perhaps create bad karma out of habit but do good things in order to counteract that. Following your Kenneth Lay example, if he gave a significant portion of the money he stole from othes to a charitable cause...how would that affect his karma? I would think that if it were a cause he truly believed in and cared about it, that would count more than if he did it merely as a tax write-off and nothing more. Perhaps that's a remedial way of looking at karma...almost like it's house points or something?

But some people do good things as part of their nature and some do them for personal acclaim or benefit. I would imagine that there's a difference in the end.

Thanks again for your post.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Whew. Karma gets complicated, so there is no way to easily answer this question.

If someone does some kind of confession and then deliberately does something to make up for a mistake, that does counteract it. (I understand that it's ideal to recognize the mistake right away and clean it up right away. If you wait a long time or cover it up *cringes* you can't purify it all the way, not by this method.)

If the good deed is done without that intention of purifying negative karma... I have to admit, I'm not sure. My understanding is that you then have both the negative and positive karma accumulated, they don't generally cancel each other out. But! (Giant disclaimer here) Karma is utterly unpredictable. Totally unpredictable. That doesn't mean that it won't cancel out, or can't cancel out.

Let me give you an example. A woman told a Lama, Bakka Tulku, about her miscarriage years before.

She said, "Oh, this is going to sound so silly, but a psychic told me that what had happened was that the being I was carrying had been in a car accident, and was in a coma. So my baby was... caught between lives... and it wasn't certain which way it would go. Then the person woke up from the coma and I miscarried."

I listened to this story, rolling my eyes at the silly things psychics tell people.

She went on, embarrassed, "That can't possibly be true, can it?"

Bakka Tulku said, "Anything is possible with karma." And my jaw dropped.

After that I tossed out any belief that I had that I knew what was going on just because I was Buddhist and had a few teachings on karma. The study on phenomena (and karma), the Abhidharma, is one of the most complicated subjects in Buddhism.

You've asked a question that's over my head. :)

Icarus

[tjstein.livejournal.com]

That is truly fascinating. Is there a prevailing belief in Buddhism as to when the soul enters the body? At birth or during gestation?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

There's a specific text in the Abhidharma that explains how the consciousness enters the egg at the moment of fertilization, and then it goes on to describe how the mind of the being then developes throughout the nine months, as the mind's capacity develops in conjunction with the body. The being has no awareness of "other," for example, until around the seventh week or so, when he/she is able to sense the mother's heartbeat.

What's remarkable is this teaching from 600 B.C. explains in detail the physical stages of fetal development as we know them today, nailing them perfectly. Our own medical science believed that the fetus was fully formed at conception and just got bigger until pretty recently.

Icarus

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thinking about this part:

But some people do good things as part of their nature and some do them for personal acclaim or benefit. I would imagine that there's a difference in the end.

Motivation is everything. If you do something for worldly reasons (a tax write-off, praise) that spoils the good.

But I wouldn't say that some people are just naturally good. Pure motivation is something to work on. Don't feel compelled to be compassionate, but are obligated to do some good (grandma told you to)? That's okay. Mumble the words, consider that it will help and you want to help, then give. There's no need for a big emotional experience.

Slowly, the good intentions increase as the habits shift and change. Slowly, it becomes more natural. At first, if it isn't a habit, of course it feels forced.

Icarus

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

What a lovely reminder. Thanks for sharing.

[harveywallbang.livejournal.com]

yeah, even though i do the funny bit when someone gets it, i say "ooooh, karma" and laugh... but i knew that wasn't really it..
to be corny, you have enlightened me, icarus :)