Suffering, Compassion, and Karma

January 24, 2003

If people suffer because of past wrong-doing, if we see someone suffering, should we help them? Or let them suffer, so as to burn away their karma?

How about in a bigger sense? There have been many examples of the mass torturing of a people by another people or person. (Holocaust, Rape of Nanking, Stalin's Executions) Were all these people suffering because of past sins? If we had the power to stop these evil acts, should we have? Or, according to the law of karma, did these people deserve to suffer?

Personally, I believe Karma isn't 100% personal. I believe your past or present wrongdoing can cause suffering which can spread to others. It's like pollution. It harms you, as well as those around you. Like, we're all in the same boat. When one does somethnig wrong, we all suffer.

Another way I look at reincarnation. At some part of our cycle of lives, our wrongdoing has caused our souls to be enrusted with spiritual dirt. And the only thing that can gromd that dirt away is to drop the soul into an abrasive atmosphere, that is, life. But the dirt is actually made up of different types of dirt. The dirt of lust, the dirt of gluttony, the dirt of anger, and so on. And each type of dirt can only be ground away by a certain type of abrasive. Maybe by the very wrongdoings they performed in an earlier life. A person who performs violence against others accumulates violent dirt. And this dirt can only be ground away when the soul is dropped in a life where the person becomes the victim of violence.

This is why I see different people being of different temperances, having different desires, and subject to different temptations.

A person can be tempted by lust daily, but have no temptation to hurt another or accumulate riches. This just means this soul has been cleaned of his violent and greedy dirt, but not his lustful dirt.

This view has helped me alot in my daily trials. Previously, when I was wronged by another person, or forced to be in an environment with a sometimes irrational person, I would get resentful. Now I think, their abrasiveness is asctually grinding some of the dirt off of my soul.

Any thoughts?

Bill

Jahnava Nitai Das · January 25, 2003

I moved this post from the Letters forum to Spiritual Discussions forum so that it could get more responses.

theist · January 25, 2003

There is a lot in your post bill but i will only comment on a small portion.

If people suffer because of past wrong-doing, if we see someone suffering, should we help them? Or let them suffer, so as to burn away their karma?

I take the example of someone walking down a lonely road and he happens upon someone by the side of it dying of thirst. He has water. Should he share or let that person die because its his karma?

I think he should share. That could also be considered the thirsty man's karma to receive aid at that last instant. He may be laying there in such a fix needing to learn to appreciate the effects of mercy, one person to another. So many different things we can imagine but they are all really beyond our present perview.

What would the karmic reaction be that came to the one who just walked on by and ignored the man's plea for water? Could he expect to be in a similar situation in the future? Wanting some water, some mercy, and none but a non-caring man came his way, saying perhaps, "its just your karma" as he passed him by?

Best to do unto others as we would have them do unto us and let the gods sort out the details.

Acts of sacrifice, charity and penance are not to be given up; they must be performed. Indeed, sacrifice, charity and penace purify even the great souls. Bhagavad-gita 18.5

This doesn't mean we have an obligation to provide heroin to an addict because he appears to be in need. We must maintain our intelligence.

The Krsna conscious person would give the water to satisfy the man's bodily thirst and while doing that share some of the living waters that he also carries(embodies) from the eternal realm.

He would recognize the thirsty man's need for spirit even if the man himself did not.

The devotee wants to see everyone benefited materialy and spiritualy.

Coyote · January 25, 2003

I agree with the karma not being 100% personal. You also are affected by national karma, region karma, race karma, family karma etc. I think the Bible refers to something to this effect "The sins of the fathers...."

It is alot like when a mirror breaks each piece has the whle picture.

Sometimes I wonder about the USA karma-how this country was built by slavery and now most Americans are enslaved by debt.

Also on karma & reincarnation, the ancients had an amazing philosophy that kind of ties in with later Buddhist philosphy. It is worth studying vasanas.

Somewhere I have an writen document with a beautiful explaination and insights into vasanas by an Acharaya of Kalki Bhagavan. He was a nuclear scientist at one time and the writing reminds me very much of quantum theory. If can find it I will post more however do not want to misquote.

How vasanas impact a being was likened to a cosmic flower that only a being can smell and the person will be compelled to keep acting on that vasana. I was thinking how in stories about those that compulsively kill or steal or those who are compulsively generous or good.

It also went into how present life likes and aversions are related to future life vasanas.

madhav · January 25, 2003

very good response, theist prabhu.

life provides oppertunites to do good to other lives and accumulate punya. however the help provded should give chance to the receiver of help to progress spiritually.

any help that drags the receiver away from god is not help.