Is Your Karma good or bad

[Guest guest]

Respected elders,

 

I came acros this article forwarded by a friend. I

hope you enjoy this article. I have included my query

at the end of this article. Hope you clarify my naive

question .

 

 

Is Your karma Good or Bad

 

A Buddhist saying goes, "To endure suffering is to end

suffering; To spend blessings is to end blessings."

What the saying means is that to gladly experience

unavoidable suffering is to exhaust bad (unwholesome

or negative) karma, which also makes way for the

fruition of good (wholesome or positive) karma. Viewed

this way, suffering becomes a blessing instead. Vice

versa, to experience well-being without creating more

good karma (or merits) is to exhaust our limited good

karma. Viewed this way, spending our blessings makes

way for the fruition of bad karma. In these two ways,

it becomes "good" to experience the bad, and "bad" to

experience the good. No, this is not a twisted

masochistic attitude. It is a simple but powerful

thought-transformation practice to motivate us to

cultivate more good karma without complacency or

attachment, and to have no aversion towards any

inevitable fruition of bad karma.

If you are reflect deeper on the saying, it also means

that karma is empty of any fixed characteristics -

there is ultimately no such thing as "good" or "bad"

karma. What matters is how we view our ripening karma,

how we deal with it and what new karma we create here

and now. Habitually, one labels one's karma as "bad"

the moment one suffers, and labels one's karma

as "good" the moment one enjoys a favourable state.

But whether one chooses to see suffering

as dissatisfactory (bad) or well-being as enjoyable

(good), is entirely up to one's attitude in the

moment. It is of course totally alright to enjoy

well-being, but the wise would be simultaneously

mindful that this momentary enjoyment is not at the

price of becoming increasingly complacent and attached

- a price which might have to be dearly paid for in

future.

A powerful example of the empty nature of karma is the

2004 Asian tsunami tragedy, which has claimed about

280,000 lives to date. It was labelled by many as the

result of massive fruition of collective bad karma. In

truth, the karma involved cannot be specifically

labelled bad or good. This is because as much as the

tsunamis might have wrecked lives, they have also

taught the the survivors and the world at large on the

importance of human unity, respect for nature, the

fragility of life, and countless other invaluable

universal lessons. Thus, the tsunamis were essentially

empty of any fixed characteristics or intentions; they

were simply natural reflections of the changing nature

of karmic cause and effect at play.

When we realise the emptiness of karma, we become free

of karma's trappings. Yes, even past committed karma

is not fixed. If past karma were to be solidly

immutable, there would be absolutely no point in

practising repentance to change our otherwise fixed

destinies. Having understood and made peace with the

law of karma, we will naturally abide in an

ever-equanimous state of mind, which allows us to

graciously accept anything that happens to us, be it

so-called "good", or "bad", which are mere mental

labels resulting from our attachment to "good"

experiences and aversion to "bad" ones. So... is your

karma "good" or "bad" today? Not too "bad" I hope :-] 

 

Respected elders,

It is said that ' Man proposes and god disposes". Then

how is it that our karma which is due to our deeds

influences our destiny.

1.Is it that destiny and God are two different

entities and one cannot influence the other. or

2.Is it that destiny has more a strong influence or

3.Is it that god can change our destiny if He wants

(he can even take a sinner to moksha)

4.Is it that god and destiny are the same

 

If it is only God's Will, then why should one bother

about karma. He can liberate us from karma if He wants

to or He may not liberate us from karma if He doesnt

want to.

 

My questions may sound naive as i am only a novice.

but I hope you will clarify them nevertheless.

 

nivrutta