Karma
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(continued from the previous post)
Men and women have repeated that experiment many times over the centuries. It is in the laboratory of Buddhist practice that the Enlightened Ones, the Arahants, arise. The Arahants are the ones who have done the experiment and found the result. That's why Buddhism always has been the scientific way. It is the way of finding out for your self the truth of Enlightenment.
Buddhism is also the scientific way of discovering the truth about happiness, what most people are interested in. What is happiness? Some students from our local Islamic school came to visit our monastery a short while ago. I performed a little party trick for them, which was also an illuminating way to demonstrate the existence of the mind. I was trying to explain Buddhism, so I asked them:
"Are you happy? Put your hands up if you are happy now".
At first there was no response. Then one person responded and raised their hand.
"Oh! You're all miserable?" I said "Only one person, come on! Are you happy or not?"
More students put there hands up.
"Okay, all those people who put their hands up saying they are happy, with your index finger can you now point to that happiness? Can you give it coordinates in space?" They couldn't locate that happiness.
It's hard to locate happiness, isn't it? Have you ever been depressed? Next time you are depressed, try to point to that feeling with your index finger! You will find that you cannot locate depression, or happiness, in space. You cannot give it coordinates, because these things reside in the mind, not in the body, not in space. The mind is not located in space. That's why after a person dies, if they become a ghost they can appear all over the world immediately. People sometimes ask me, "How can that happen?" How can a person who dies, say in New York, appear immediately in Perth? It is because the mind is not located in space, that's why. This is why you cannot point to happiness, you cannot point to depression, but they are real. Are you imagining the happiness? Do you imagine the depression? It's real. You all know that. But you cannot locate it in three dimensional space. Happiness, depression, and many other real things, all live in mind-space.
The mind is not in the brain, it's not in the heart. We have seen that you could have no brain but still have a mind. You could take out your heart, and have a bionic heart, or a heart transplant, and you would still be you. This understanding of the mind is why Buddhists have no objection at all to cloning. You want to clone me, go for it! But don't think that if you clone Ajahn Brahm that you'll be able to have one Ajahn Brahm who goes to Singapore this evening, another one who stays in Perth for next Friday night's talk, plus one who can stay in Bodhinyana monastery, one who can go to Sydney, and one who can go to Melbourne. If you clone me, the person who looks like me will be completely different in personality, knowledge, inclination, and everything else. People clone Toyota cars in the same way. They look exactly the same but the performance really depends on the driver inside the car. That's all cloning is, it's just a replicating a body. Sure it looks the same, but is the body all that a person is? Haven't you seen identical twins? Are identical twins the same personality? Have they got the same intelligence? Have they got the identical inclinations? Do they even like the same food? The answer is usually no.
Why do people have this problem about cloning? Clone as much as you want. You are just creating more bodies for streams of consciousness to come into. Those streams of consciousness come from past lives. What's the problem? You would never be able to predict the result. Suppose you took Einstien's brain, extracted some of his DNA, and cloned a new Einstien. He might look the same, but I guarantee he won't be half as clever.
If people want to proceed with stem cell research, which is going to help humanity, then why not? In stem cell research there is no 'being' involved. The 'being' hasn't come in yet. In Buddhism, it is understood that the 'being' descends into the mother's womb at any time from conception until birth. Sometimes it doesn't even go into the womb at all and the foetus is stillborn. The objections to stem cell research are dogmatic, unscientific, and uncompassionate. They're foolish as far as I'm concerned. I think sometimes that I would tear my hair out if I weren't a monk.
If you want to look at the scientific evidence for rebirth, check out Professor Ian Stevenson. He spent his whole life researching rebirth on a solid scientific basis at the University of Virginia.[4] Chester Carlson, the inventor of xerography, (encouraged by his wife) offered funds for an endowed chair at the University to enabled Professor Stevenson to devote himself full-time to such research. If it weren't for the fact that people do not want to believe in rebirth, Dr. Ian Stevenson would be a world famous scientist now. He even spent a couple of years as a visiting fellow of Magdalene College in Oxford, so you can see that this is not just some weird professor; he has all of the credentials of a respected Western academic.The 'evidence' of rebirth is circumstantial, based on research about NDE - near death experience. The authority you quoted has also been debunked by other equally eminent researchers.
This obviously shows you have done no research at all about rebirth. Evidences of rebirth has nothing to do with near death experiences. Please go read into the case studies of those rebirth cases and the tracing back of the rebirths. Also it is something that has happened in a large number of people, much more than enough to be evidence. (and also, if you take meditation into account, it is something reproducible in EVERYONE if one does the experiment accordingly to instructions and does his meditations)
Rebirth can be proven in many ways, such as by tracing memories to factual locations and existence of certain things that was being remembered. For example a child can remember about all sorts of world war 2 stuff, his own identity/name, etc, without having told anything about it from young. And all these are later found out to be true. (see Boy remembers Past Life Being Shot in WWII) And this is just one out of many many examples.Originally posted by TheGoodEarth:
And like I have so clearly explained in the previous post, not everything is as obvious as gravity, and also, there are not many conditionings (i.e religious and social conditionings) that will prevent someone from not wanting to accept gravity (which anyway was already obvious since ancient times), unlike something like 'the Earth was round' which was a relatively more recent discovery.
The bottom line I am trying to say is this: if it is real and it exists - there is no need for extensive researches, experiments, discourses and even arguments! [b]Have you heard of people arguing over the existence of gravity?[/b]
This is precisely why people just hundreds of years ago thought that the world is flat, and that planet Earth is at the center of the solar system. Please read my post clearly before posting.
And like I said, when evidences are presented so clearly to everyone, people will still go denying and thinking that the world is flat, or that planet Earth is at the center of the universe, even though Galileo has already clearly pointed out the evidences through his telescope. It can take many years or even hundreds of years for something to be finally accepted, if the layers of dogmatism, social and religious conditionings, are deeply rooted in people's understandings of the world. -
AEN, what makes a clone a duplicate of the original person?
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You can't duplicate his consciousness and personality.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:AEN, what makes a clone a duplicate of the original person?
You can only duplicate his body. -
If I duplicate his exactly mental physiology and chemistry, I can duplicate his consciousness...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:You can't duplicate his consciousness and personality.
You can only duplicate his body. -
If you meditate there will be a time when you realise that the mind is not a side effect of the brain, then you will know what Ajahn Brahmavamso meant.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:If I duplicate his exactly mental physiology and chemistry, I can duplicate his consciousness...
Meanwhile if you like, go experiment in cloning and see the results you can get.
Even a brainless boy can have more IQ than you.
http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=105
The Boy with No Brain
This is a well known case that throws a challenge to modern science. It's the case of Professor John Lorber and the student with no brain.[1] Professor Lorber was a neurologist at Sheffield University who held a research chair in paediatrics. He did a lot of research on hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. The student's physician at the university noticed that the youth had a slightly larger than normal head, and so referred him to Professor Lorber, simply out of interest. When they did a brain scan on the student they saw that his cranium was filled mainly with cerebrospinal fluid. The student had an IQ of 126, had gained a first-class honours degree in mathematics, and was socially completely normal. And yet the boy had virtually no brain. This is not just a fabrication; research has found other people with no brains. During the first world war, when there was such carnage in the trenches of Europe. Soldiers had their skulls literally blown apart by bullets and shrapnel. It is said that the doctors found that some of the shattered heads of those corpses were empty. There was no brain. The evidence of those doctors was put aside as being too difficult to understand. But Professor Lorber went forward with his findings, and published them, to the great disturbance of the scientific community. Billions of dollars are going into research on the brain. Current views hold that imbalances in the brain are causing your depressions, your lack of intelligence, or your emotional problems. And yet here is evidence that shows you don't need much of a brain to have an excellent mind.
A doctor friend in Sydney discussed this case with me once. He said he'd seen those CT scans, and confirmed that the case was well known in the medical community. He explained that that boy only had what was called a reptilian brain stem. Usually, any baby born with just a reptilian brain stem, without the cortex and the other stuff, will usually die straight away or within a few days after birth. A reptilian brain stem is not capable of maintaining basic bodily functions such as breathing, heart or liver. It's not enough to keep the higher brain functions going. It's not enough for speech, not enough for intelligence, certainly not enough for being an honours student in mathematics. This doctor said, "Ajahn Brahm, you wouldn't believe the problem that this is causing in my field of science. It shatters so much past research. It is challenging so many drug companies that are making billions of dollars in profits". Because dogmatic scientists can't understand how a person with virtually no brain can be intelligent, they are just burying the findings at the back of the filing cabinet, classifying it as an anomaly. But truth just won't go away. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Either that or AEN is hiding in a well for nearly 2 decades. Ajan Brahm would probably had heard of an Israelis girl with half a brain. Her IQ level was last recorded at around 120 however she is living a normal life and enjoying. Unknown to many, a human brain does have back-up neural wiring cells and thus the boy with virtually no brain can still survive and lead a normal life. Just for an experiment, how about AEN volunteers for a half-brain lobotomy to prove that it is true that he can survive without a brain?
If you meditate there will be a time when you realise that the mind is not a side effect of the brain, then you will know what Ajahn Brahmavamso meant.
Meanwhile if you like, go experiment in cloning and see the results you can get.
Even a brainless boy can have more IQ than you. (pun intended)
http://www.bswa.org/modules/icontent/index.php?page=105
[b]The Boy with No Brain
This is a well known case that throws a challenge to modern science. It's the case of Professor John Lorber and the student with no brain.[1] Professor Lorber was a neurologist at Sheffield University who held a research chair in paediatrics. He did a lot of research on hydrocephalus, or water on the brain. The student's physician at the university noticed that the youth had a slightly larger than normal head, and so referred him to Professor Lorber, simply out of interest. When they did a brain scan on the student they saw that his cranium was filled mainly with cerebrospinal fluid. The student had an IQ of 126, had gained a first-class honours degree in mathematics, and was socially completely normal. And yet the boy had virtually no brain. This is not just a fabrication; research has found other people with no brains. During the first world war, when there was such carnage in the trenches of Europe. Soldiers had their skulls literally blown apart by bullets and shrapnel. It is said that the doctors found that some of the shattered heads of those corpses were empty. There was no brain. The evidence of those doctors was put aside as being too difficult to understand. But Professor Lorber went forward with his findings, and published them, to the great disturbance of the scientific community. Billions of dollars are going into research on the brain. Current views hold that imbalances in the brain are causing your depressions, your lack of intelligence, or your emotional problems. And yet here is evidence that shows you don't need much of a brain to have an excellent mind.
A doctor friend in Sydney discussed this case with me once. He said he'd seen those CT scans, and confirmed that the case was well known in the medical community. He explained that that boy only had what was called a reptilian brain stem. Usually, any baby born with just a reptilian brain stem, without the cortex and the other stuff, will usually die straight away or within a few days after birth. A reptilian brain stem is not capable of maintaining basic bodily functions such as breathing, heart or liver. It's not enough to keep the higher brain functions going. It's not enough for speech, not enough for intelligence, certainly not enough for being an honours student in mathematics. This doctor said, "Ajahn Brahm, you wouldn't believe the problem that this is causing in my field of science. It shatters so much past research. It is challenging so many drug companies that are making billions of dollars in profits". Because dogmatic scientists can't understand how a person with virtually no brain can be intelligent, they are just burying the findings at the back of the filing cabinet, classifying it as an anomaly. But truth just won't go away.[/b] -
Don't lobotomise AEN lah! You know people in southern China have already done that - they sucked the brains out of live monkeys, and the monkeys went on to discover the Planet of the Apes.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Either that or AEN is hiding in a well for nearly 2 decades. Ajan Brahm would probably had heard of an Israelis girl with half a brain. Her IQ level was last recorded at around 120 however she is living a normal life and enjoying. Unknown to many, a human brain does have back-up neural wiring cells and thus the boy with virtually no brain can still survive and lead a normal life. Just for an experiment, how about AEN volunteers for a half-brain lobotomy to prove that it is true that he can survive without a brain? -
The brain is an important organ but it does not 'create' the mind. Mind/Awareness is not a side effect of anything --Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Either that or AEN is hiding in a well for nearly 2 decades. Ajan Brahm would probably had heard of an Israelis girl with half a brain. Her IQ level was last recorded at around 120 however she is living a normal life and enjoying. Unknown to many, a human brain does have back-up neural wiring cells and thus the boy with virtually no brain can still survive and lead a normal life. Just for an experiment, how about AEN volunteers for a half-brain lobotomy to prove that it is true that he can survive without a brain?http://www.parama.com/html/process_enlightenment.html
So the body still feels pain?
No! The body is oblivious to pain. The body has never felt anything! The body is an appearance in Awareness. The contrast that happens gives rise to “I am-consciousness” in relation to the body. When any form of experiencing happens it is of this consciousness, NOT the body.
But, if you cut a finger, it bleeds. If you eat too much, the stomach bloats and feels uncomfortableÂ….
Consciousness is the animation of the body. You cut a finger and it bleeds. This is a product of that animation. Your stomach bloats, and this animation is also due to Consciousness. The body is, and always has been, an inanimate object, animated by Consciousness! The body is no different to a glove puppet without a hand in it. Consciousness is the hand, as it were, that animates the body. The body doesnÂ’t feel this animation.
Seeing, feeling, hearing, and smelling are attributed to the sense organs. These organs don’t have any experience whatsoever. They are inanimate objects animated by consciousness—the manifest expression of You. Do you “get” that?
Yes, but the mind still has thoughts about what you see and feel and experience?
No! The mind doesn’t have thoughts. The mind doesn’t experience thoughts. The mind is thoughts, a whole parade of them. The mind is a reflection of the animating principle—You. Only You, the animating principle, can be said to have, and experience, thoughts. The body does not cause it’s own animation, and cannot feel it. The mind doesn’t cause it’s own animation, and cannot think or experience thoughts.David Carse:
...Look, it's all so incredibly simple. There is no one here. This is not a figure of speech. I mean there is truly no one here, no person, no individual speaking to you. You look at me and think there is a person here talking to you, trying to tell you something. I assure you, there is not. Look at me. If there were not Consciousness streaming through this body, what would be here? What would this body be if Consciousness were not here? A corpse, of course! Dead matter. There is nothing else here. There is only the appearance of a body, and Consciousness which animates it. You, along with the rest of the world, have assumed that there is a discreet individual person here: that the Consciousness which is the animating force here is an individual consciousness, unique to this body and separate from the consciousness in other bodies.
This is based on appearances: there appear to be separate bodies, so the assumption is that there are separate consciousness-es. The belief in this assumption blinds you to seeing What Is, and is also the cause of your experience of this life as disquieting, confusing, unhappy, and generally full of fear and suffering. But it is not the case. There is in no way an individual sitting here talking to you. This body is nothing, an appearance in the dream. All there is is Consciousness, and it is Consciousness which is streaming through this appearance.
There is nothing here that exists in and of itself. What we call the human being is not an independent being, not an originating mechanism, not a transmitter. It is a relay station, a pass-through mechanism for Consciousness, the One Consciousness, All That Is. That is what I am, talking to you. And it is the same One Consciousness listening to this, looking back at me out of those eyes you call your own. What I am when I say 'I Am' is exactly the same as what you are when you say 'I Am.'....Ajahn Brahm:
...I gave a simile to a monk the other night. Imagine an Emperor who is wearing a long pair of trousers and a big tunic. He's got shoes on his feet, a scarf around the bottom half of his head and a hat on the top half of his head. You can't see him at all because he's completely covered in five garments. It's the same with the mind. It's completely covered with sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. So people don't know it. They just know the garments. When they see the Emperor, they just see the robes and the garments. They don't know who lives inside them. And so it is no wonder they're confused about what is life, what is mind, who is this inside of here, were did I come from? Why? What am I supposed to be doing with this life? When the five senses disappear, it's like unclothing the Emperor and seeing what is actually in here, what's actually running the show, who's listening to these words, who's seeing, who's feeling life, who this is. When the five senses disappear, you're coming close to the answer to those questions.
What you're seeing in such deep meditation is that which we call "mind," (in Pali it's called Citta). The Buddha used this beautiful simile. When there is a full moon on a cloudy night, even though it's a full moon, you can hardly see it. Sometimes when the clouds are thin, you can see this hazy shape shining though. You know there is something there. This is like the meditation just before you've entered into these profound states. You know there is something there, but you can't quite make it out. There's still some "clothes" left. You're still thinking and doing, feeling the body or hearing sounds. But there does come a time, and this is the Buddha's simile, when the moon is released from the clouds and there in the clear night sky you can see the beautiful full disc of the moon shining brilliantly, and you know that's the moon. The moon is there; the moon is real, and it's not just some sort of side effect of the clouds. This is what happens in meditation when you see the mind. You see clearly that the mind is not some side effect of the brain. You see the mind, and you know the mind. The Buddha said that the mind released is beautiful, is brilliant, is radiant. So not only are these blissful experiences, they're meaningful experiences as well.
How many people may have heard about rebirth but still don't really believe it? How can rebirth happen? Certainly the body doesn't get reborn. That's why when people ask me where do you go when you die, "one of two places" I say "Fremantle or Karrakatta" that's where the body goes! [3] But is that where the mind goes? Sometimes people are so stupid in this world, they think the body is all there is, that there is no mind. So when you get cremated or buried that's it, that's done with, all has ended. The only way you can argue with this view is by developing the meditation that the Buddha achieved under the Bodhi tree. Then you can see the mind for yourself in clear awareness - not in some hypnotic trance, not in dullness - but in the clear awareness. This is knowing the mind
Knowing the Mind.
When you know that mind, when you see it for yourself, one of the results will be an insight that the mind is independent of this body. Independence means that when this body breaks up and dies, when it's cremated or when it's buried, or however it's destroyed after death, it will not affect the mind. You know this because you see the nature of the mind. That mind which you see will transcend bodily death. The first thing which you will see for yourself, the insight which is as clear as the nose on your face, is that there is something more to life than this physical body that we take to be me. Secondly you can recognise that that mind, essentially, is no different than that process of consciousness which is in all beings. Whether it's human beings or animals or even insects, of any gender, age or race, you see that that which is in common to all life is this mind, this consciousness, the source of doing.... -
hi ,im new .just wanna ask is there really a karma for bad people?cos i know someone did terrible things but didnt got her karma.and she seem nothing had happened.I cant figure out what to do. -
Karma is about cause and effect but the effect of karma must meet the environmental conditions for it to come into effect. That's my 2 cents understanding of Buddhist Karma which is different from Hinduism Karma.Originally posted by bad egg: hi ,im new .just wanna ask is there really a karma for bad people?cos i know someone did terrible things but didnt got her karma.and she seem nothing had happened.I cant figure out what to do. -
The brain is an important part of the thought process.Originally posted by An Eternal Now: -
Thought process is simply a thought process, brain is brain. If brain is thought process, then one can simply read the contents of your mind from your brains.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:The brain is an important part of the thought process.
Two different irreducible elements, though brain reflects it in brainwaves. -
I actually answered a similar question recently.Originally posted by bad egg: hi ,im new .just wanna ask is there really a karma for bad people?cos i know someone did terrible things but didnt got her karma.and she seem nothing had happened.I cant figure out what to do.
What herzog_zwei said is correct, that a karmic cause will only ripen when it has met with conditions. Yin (cause) + Yuan (conditions) = Effect (guo), conditioned arising.
That means, it can only ripen in a few decades, or in future lifetimes.
Similarly a harmless person who suffers in this life for apparently no reason may have a karmic cause from a previous lifetime.
So, there is a saying... if you want to know your previous life, simply look at what is present. If you want to know your future lives, simply look at what you are doing. -
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol5no1f.htm
Good Begets Good
By Venerable Shen-Kai
Buddhism teaches that, 'Good deeds shall be rewarded with good, and evil with evil.' However, there are devout Buddhists who have done many good deeds and yet their lives are full of sorrows and sufferings. On the other hand, there are people who have committed all sorts of evil. Yet, they go unpunished, their lives are without a hitch and they have all their wishes fulfilled. What is this all about?
The past, present and future are called the Three Periods. Any discussion on cause and effect needs to consider the Three Periods. Even the slightest movement of a finger has a past, present and future. It will become obvious when we consider the filming of a movie. One move of the hand and the many frames of the movement are recorded by the camera. If any three frames are picked randomly, they are all separated by the past, present and future. The characteristic of time is a continuous process of past, present and future.
Extending the time scale, where you are now is the 'present'. Just now when you arrived is already 'past'. When you leave here in a little while, it is the 'future'. If you consider your departure from here to be the 'present', then right where you are now is the 'past'.
We can easily know the events of yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is also not too difficult to know the events of the last year, this year and next year. We may not be able to know the events of the distant past, such as before our conception, or after our death from our previous life. People need to be well cultivated to know this. If one cultivates well in this life, then naturally there will be good effects in his next life; but if one cultivates well and yet faces many adversities, then it is the result of negative karma that has been committed in the past. This may be last year, the previous life, many lives before, or many kalpas[1] ago.
Once we understand Jen Chen Buddhism we will know how to be truly free and liberated. The Diamond Sutra states: "There is no ego form, no human form, no sentient being form, and no age form."[2] The 'age form' refers to the 'time form', that is the characteristic of time. If there is no 'age form', then there is no 'time form'. If there is no 'time form', then we depart from the four forms altogether. To achieve the no 'age form' we must abide by what the Diamond Sutra states: "The mind of the past cannot be grasped, the mind of the present cannot be grasped, the mind of the future cannot be grasped."[3] If we can detach from these Three Minds, eradicate the four forms, then we immediately attain liberation, peace and happiness.
Notes
1. Kalpa
A long period of time; an age. 1 small kalpa = 16.8 million years; 1 medium kalpa = 336 million years; 1 great kalpa = 1.344 billion years.
2.
The four forms
Form - Characteristics;
(i) Everybody has an ego, this is the ego form.
(ii) When we see another person, we perceive the human form.
(iii) When thoughts arise in our mind, we perceive the sentient being form.
(iv) The continuity of these thoughts through time, gives rise to the age form. The four forms are merely an aggregation of various elements, and with their disintegration they cease to exist; therefore they have no ultimate reality of their own.
3. The past is gone and cannot be grasped.
After this moment, the present becomes past and also cannot be grasped. The future is not here yet and therefore cannot be grasped too. Therefore there is no need to attach to these Three Minds, for they do not have an ultimate reality of their own. -
didnt have time to read all things..
just one thing.. i believe in karma but any idea how to avoid it.. lets say our past lives are bad .. and their karma fall to us.. so wat can we do.. cant avoid ? -
No, through practise we can avoid much, or lessen, our past karma so that it does not ripen as strongly as it would have been.Originally posted by Zarks:didnt have time to read all things..
just one thing.. i believe in karma but any idea how to avoid it.. lets say our past lives are bad .. and their karma fall to us.. so wat can we do.. cant avoid ?
However if the effect has already ripen, then we have to practice acceptance and being liberated in the midst of the ripening of conditions.
One of the ways is through sincere repentance, http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol6no2c.htm
Repentance is a demonstration of wisdom
Repentance is a demonstration of wisdom
To repent means to confess to our wrong doings committed by way of our body, speech and mind, and not to repeat such negative actions from this day on. If we say that we are repentant about what we have done, said or thought, and yet repeat those actions, then that is not repentance.
When we repent, it has to be done sincerely. It is not done by a simple recital of the Repentant Verse:
All the evil karma that I have committed in the past,
Arising from my aeons of greed, anger and ignorance,
Committed by my body, speech and mind,
Now I repent before the Buddha.
More importantly we must have a remorseful mind, a sense of shame and sincerely repent.
The Humanity Vehicle Buddhism advocates the Repent Method as an important method of cultivation. In this world it is only the clever people who know and admit their mistakes, but only the wise who know and repent their wrong doings.
The Repent Method that the Humanity Vehicle Buddhism advocates is that the moment people realise that they have committed a wrongdoing, they should repent spontaneously. It is not necessary that people repent only before the image of the Buddha, for it is not always convenient or possible to find one when a person realises his wrong doings and wishes to repent. While sitting here, you can also repent as long as you feel the Buddha in you. When people repent sincerely or even to the extent of bursting into tears, then that is true repentance. It is of course a good thing if the repentance is carried out according to a religious ritual. However, genuine repentance does not need to subscribe to any fix form or time. The best thing to do is to repent spontaneously. Moreover, when we are promoting the Repent Method across the world, it would not be practical if people can only repent in a fixed form or a fixed venue. The Dharma-nature is everywhere in space and the Buddha is omnipresent. When we understand this truth, we can then repent spontaneously at anytime and at any place, and be spontaneously pure and be with Buddha.
People generally feel that they can repent for those wrong doings that they can remember having committed in this life. They have no idea about those that were committed in their past lives and therefore they don't know what to do. When Buddhism speaks of repentance, it means repenting for all the wrongs committed in the aeons of our many past lives.
Each and every one of us has eight consciousness'. In addition to the six sense-consciousness', namely, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, there is the seventh and eighth (alaya-vijnana) consciousness. (The sixth, seventh and eighth consciousness' are also called mind-consciousness'). The eighth mind-consciousness is the planting field of the mind. The seeds of all affairs, virtuous and evil, of our aeons of many past lives are planted here. When the virtuous seeds encounter virtuous conditions, they sprout, grow, flower and bear virtuous fruits. Similarly, when the evil seeds encounter evil conditions, for example, gambling, drinking alcohol, bad company, etc., they sprout and grow, causing people to commit evil deeds that result in evil consequences and suffering.
Since the field of the eighth sense-consciousness contains countless virtuous and evil seeds, it is necessary that people are repentant about their evil karma. There is also no need to be attached to the virtuous karma. We will be able to become pure and liberated when we distance ourselves from both the virtuous and evil karma that we have committed.
It may appear odd that while people should repent their misdeeds, yet they should not be attached to the good things that they have done.
If we continue to hold at heart the good things that we have done, that is not being liberated. At the very most, because of the immense blessings one may be reborn in heaven in the next life. However, as soon as those blessings are exhausted they will be caused to be reborn in a lower realm. A Chinese proverb says, "It is not necessary to make known the good things one has done." In this regard, Buddhism advocates that when performing an act of giving, one should not bear any notion of who is the giver, who is the receiver and what is the gift. One simply maintains a pure mind.
If people are not repentant for the evil seeds that they have planted, and do not seek liberation, then in future, when the seeds sprout they may be enough to cause them to fall into the realm of hell. Thus we learn and practise the Buddha's teachings, to surpass heaven and hell, or even to be free from transmigration in the six realms of existence (human, heaven, asura, animal, hungry ghost and hell). First and foremost we must repent with deep regret, be pure and liberated. Only then is it the ultimate.
The proper way to repent
The proper way to repent is to recite the Repentance Verse, and at the same time sincerely repent according to the meaning of the words contained therein until your mind is completely pure and you manifest the nature of that purity. However, this may become a mere formality if one is not genuine in one's heart and does not commit wholeheartedly to turning over a new leaf. Some people repent with thoughts of greed for blessings or of lessening the effects of their negative karma. Once such thoughts arise, then the repentance will have no effect. Thus the purpose of repentance is defeated. The most appropriate way is to repent at the very moment you realise that a wrongdoing has been committed, and then resolve not to repeat that. This is true repentance. People must have awareness and correct their wrongdoings at all times.
The attitude in repenting
People must genuinely feel repentant when they repent and this would be most effective. If a person is casual in his attitude towards repentance, then there is no effect. For example, if a person has done another wrong and he sincerely apologises, then the offended party would have no problem at all in accepting his apology. On the other hand if he says 'sorry' casually and walks away, then nobody will heed his apology. Thus, with what frame of mind should one repent? With sincerity and with true repentance, and one can be sure that the repentance will be accepted. -
And who claimed that we cannot read the thoughts from a person's mind?Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Thought process is simply a thought process, brain is brain. If brain is thought process, then one can simply read the contents of your mind from your brains.
Two different irreducible elements, though brain reflects it in brainwaves. -
hmmm ...... somehow I got this feeling I can read HZ's mind. He will call me a pile of crap.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:And who claimed that we cannot read the thoughts from a person's mind? -
The fact that is you cannot read thoughts from brainwaves or by looking at the brain itself.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:And who claimed that we cannot read the thoughts from a person's mind? -
Technically, Israel is still working on it. However, it is still a complicated matter. If we interlock the neuron from a synapse of a person to another similar synapse of another person, we should be able to know the thoughts of the first person.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:The fact that is you cannot read thoughts from brainwaves or by looking at the brain itself. -
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OKOK no more insults!! back to topic.
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karma may be in effect in the present. But to lessen the bad effect, does doing good deeds help? and also what is the difference between buddhist karma, and hinduism karma?Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I actually answered a similar question recently.
What herzog_zwei said is correct, that a karmic cause will only ripen when it has met with conditions. Yin (cause) + Yuan (conditions) = Effect (guo), conditioned arising.
That means, it can only ripen in a few decades, or in future lifetimes.
Similarly a harmless person who suffers in this life for apparently no reason may have a karmic cause from a previous lifetime.
So, there is a saying... if you want to know your previous life, simply look at what is present. If you want to know your future lives, simply look at what you are doing.