Sirs,
Having read many Buddhist literature recently after having read many Hindu philosophies I don't understand many things.Christianity is vague and doesn't go deep,so it's not included.Hopefully some one can clarify it.
1) "Kamma being a form of energy is not found anywhere in this fleeting consciousness or body. Just as mangoes are not stored anywhere in the mango tree but, dependent on certain conditions, they spring into being, so does kamma. Kamma is like wind or fire. It is not stored up anywhere in the Universe but comes into being under certain conditions."
~ K Sri Dhammananda
I also wrote recently: So you see dependent origination Directly, not just as an
inference, but you see ignorance in action - what does ignorance
means? What does karmic propensities mean? Many of us think of
karmic propensities and ignorance as being some kind of ghostly,
hidden, almost mystical force hiding somewhere and affecting our
lives from a hidden 'subconscious' component of consciousness
stored away from sight. That is having an inherent view, a
self-view of ignorance and karmic propensities. We need to directly
See that cause of suffering and that suffering as the total
exertion of our experience in seamless
dependencies. - http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2014/05/early-buddhisms-model-of-enlightenment.html
Also see what I wrote: http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2013/11/total-exertion-of-karmic-tendencies.html
2) No one 'forced' you into anything - things arise due to dependent origination, there is no creator. There is nothing pre-written by someone or something.
Ignorance manifest due to taints, and taints arise due to ignorance, so it is a cyclic momentum.
Excerpt from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.009.ntbb.html:
64. Saying, "Good friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma?" — "There might be, friends.
65. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance, in that way he is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma.
66. "And what is ignorance, what is the origin of ignorance, what is the cessation of ignorance, what is the way leading to the cessation of ignorance? Not knowing about suffering, not knowing about the origin of suffering, not knowing about the cessation of suffering, not knowing about the way leading to the cessation of suffering — this is called ignorance. With the arising of the taints there is the arising of ignorance. With the cessation of the taints there is the cessation of ignorance. The way leading to the cessation of ignorance is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view... right concentration.
67. "When a noble disciple has thus understood ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance... he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma."
68. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the Venerable Sariputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma?" — "There might be, friends.
69. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.
70. "And what are the taints, what is the origin of the taints, what is the cessation of the taints, what is the way leading to the cessation of the taints? There are three taints: the taint of sensual desire, the taint of being and the taint of ignorance. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of the taints. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the taints. The way leading to the cessation of the taints is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.
71. "When a noble disciple has thus understood the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma."
That is what the Venerable Sariputta said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Venerable Sariputta's words.
3) First of all realizing the emptiness of self and phenomena does not mean they cease immediately, but rather their nature is 'empty' even when they are manifesting. In hearing a sound, there is no hearer just sound, sound is vivid luminosity and even sound is dependently arisen, empty and non-arising.
Also, what you asked is an inappropriate question. This is because, as Sariputta explains,
[Sariputta:] "The statement, 'With the remainderless stopping & fading of the six contact-media [vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, & intellection] is it the case that there is anything else?' objectifies non-objectification.[1] The statement, '... is it the case that there is not anything else ... is it the case that there both is & is not anything else ... is it the case that there neither is nor is not anything else?' objectifies non-objectification. However far the six contact-media go, that is how far objectification goes. However far objectification goes, that is how far the six contact media go. With the remainderless fading & stopping of the six contact-media, there comes to be the stopping, the allaying of objectification.
- http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.174.than.html
The mind is very quick to grasp on something. It wants something to exist eternally, be it 'Brahman', 'Awareness', etc. This craving and objectifying/subjectifying of metaphysical entities is mental proliferation itself and will prevent freedom. This will prevent letting everything go.
4) Karma is intentional action, therefore, if there is intention to kill arising from the defilement of aggression, that in itself is very unwholesome karma. Unwholesome karma results in unwholesome consequences or rebirth, that is how rebirth works - the ripening of karmic actions.
If a baby presses the trigger and hurts someone because he thinks it is a toy and the parents didn't put the gun in its proper place, then it is not an action with the intention to harm others. Karma IS intentional action. Therefore if you step on ants unknowingly while walking down the road, it is a neutral action.
Christianity is vague and doesn't go deep,so it's not included
Are you kidding me!!?
Originally posted by Ohbingo001:Christianity is vague and doesn't go deep,so it's not included
Are you kidding me!!?
I have read the 'present version' of Bible and it goes like.
Creation:God created world in 6 days and 2 humans named adam(from mud) and eve(from a rib of adam).
Why do bad things happen to good people?Because God willed so.
What is cause of suffering?: Eve ate an apple of knowledge and sinned
What happens after death? Good people go to heaven,bad to hell and in between to purgatory.
Do animals have souls? Do as you please with animals since God made world as a play ground for man.
How is the universe structured?: Earth is center of universe and kill everyone who says otherwise.
In between there are some subtle references to Karma 'you reap what you sow' and such. Other wise it is so vague and too simplistic to match the understanding of people at that times.Original preachings or fully released 'dead sea' scrolls could be interesting.
@Eternal now:Thanks will take some time to read and really understand.
Actually what happens after death is even more simple than what you described. (as understood in mainstream Christianity)
Christians go heaven, non-believers go to hell.
Sirs
The mind is very quick to grasp on something. It wants something to exist eternally, be it 'Brahman', 'Awareness', etc. This craving and objectifying/subjectifying of metaphysical entities is mental proliferation itself and will prevent freedom. This will prevent letting everything go.
In Buddhism the Brahman or awareness is replaced by the concept of emptiness,no?
What is the mention of rainbow liberation that is mentioned in some Buddhism?The body becomes small and small and the nails are left behind.Is this also the real liberation as Buddha said?And same as well?
Reading about Tibetean Buddhism, there is a mention of Bardos which happens after death. As I understood if at that time one thinks of it as un real, he can be liberated. Is it also the same liberation Buddha speaks of?Isn't that an easier path?
I still have the difficulty to understand the very basics.I understood it was an imponderable according to Buddha to try to understand the beginning of Samsara. Leaving that aside for the moment, if one is engaged in normal life, he has seeds of Karma affecting his life and subsequent rebirths and this wheel goes on and on.Unless he takes refuge in Dharma. If he does so then he can be liberated if he follows the path. I get the feeling that this is like a well programed computer game where one can continue to play like a characyter in the game(normal life) and exploiting a bug/hack(spiritual path), he can get out of it. What Neo in Matrix says to people of Zion, you might be liberated from sensual world of Matrix,but you are still within the program. As the creator designed it. Hopefully some one understands this.
Thanks!
Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:Sirs
The mind is very quick to grasp on something. It wants something to exist eternally, be it 'Brahman', 'Awareness', etc. This craving and objectifying/subjectifying of metaphysical entities is mental proliferation itself and will prevent freedom. This will prevent letting everything go.
In Buddhism the Brahman or awareness is replaced by the concept of emptiness,no?
If Karma is an energy as it was mentioned,how does it leave a mind stream at death and comes to the another one during next re-birth?
What is the mention of rainbow liberation that is mentioned in some Buddhism?The body becomes small and small and the nails are left behind.Is this also the real liberation as Buddha said?And same as well?
Reading about Tibetean Buddhism, there is a mention of Bardos which happens after death. As I understood if at that time one thinks of it as un real, he can be liberated. Is it also the same liberation Buddha speaks of?Isn't that an easier path?
I still have the difficulty to understand the very basics.I understood it was an imponderable according to Buddha to try to understand the beginning of Samsara. Leaving that aside for the moment, if one is engaged in normal life, he has seeds of Karma affecting his life and subsequent rebirths and this wheel goes on and on.Unless he takes refuge in Dharma. If he does so then he can be liberated if he follows the path. I get the feeling that this is like a well programed computer game where one can continue to play like a characyter in the game(normal life) and exploiting a bug/hack(spiritual path), he can get out of it. What Neo in Matrix says to people of Zion, you might be liberated from sensual world of Matrix,but you are still within the program. As the creator designed it. Hopefully some one understands this.
Thanks!
1) In Buddhism, we do not deny 'awareness', but since we realize that 'in seeing just the seen, no seer, in hearing just sound, no hearer', then awareness is always only manifestation and never a background Self/agent/perceiver underlying experience or hiding behind experience. Just the experience alone is clarity, is self-luminous, is self-aware. Our nature of mind is the union of luminous clarity and emptiness.
The insight of anatta allows one to see the true face
of Awareness as the self-illuminating appearance, rather than
experiencing Pure Awareness/Pure Consciousness etc as a hidden
ghost/standalone thing/subject and mistaking it as actual.. it does not
deny luminous clarity but is the only way
which allows for the total, uncontrieved, direct non-referential
experience of clarity in all moments without holding to images or
dissociation. Then after this, we can further penetrate the dependent origination and non-arising/emptiness of all foreground manifestation, that completes the twofold emptiness (of subjective self and objective phenomena).
Hindus and mystics of other religions only realize the aspect of luminous clarity, which does not
liberate. One must realize our nature of mind to be the union of
luminosity and emptiness, only then it can liberate.
In fact a few days ago I was listening to the 'Daniel Ingram - Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview' and towards the end I think he related anatta, awareness, transience and manifestation pretty well. (Daniel Ingram is a hardcore meditation teacher in the Theravadin Buddhist tradition authorized to teach by the Mahasi Sayadaw lineage).
Daniel: "So you have these two extremes - both of which I find pretty annoying (laughs) - and uhm, not that they are not making interesting points that counterbalance each other. And then, from an experiential point of view, the whole field seems to be happening on its own in a luminous way, the intelligence or awareness seems to be intrinsic in the phenomena, the phenomena do appear to be totally transient, totally ephemeral. So I would reject from an experiential point of view, something in the harshness of the dogma of the rigid no-selfists that can't recognise the intrinsic nature of awareness that is the field. If that makes sense. Cos they tend to feel there's something about that's sort of (cut off?)..."
Interviewer: "And not only awareness..."
Daniel: "Intelligence. Right, and I also reject from an experiential point of view the people who would make this permanent, something separate from, something different from just the manifestation itself. I don't like the permanence aspect because from a Buddhist technical point of view I do not find anything that stands up as permanent in experience. I find that quality always there *while there is experience.* Because it's something in the nature of experience. But it's not quite the same thing as permanence, if that makes sense. So while there is experience, there is experience. So that means there is awareness, from a certain point of view, manifestation - awareness being intrinsically the same thing, intrinsic to each other. So while there is experience, I would claim that element (awareness) is there - it has to be for there to be experience. And I would claim that the system seems to function very lawfully and it's very easy to feel that there's a sort of intelligence, ok, cool... ...the feeling of profundity, the feeling of miraculousness, the wondrous component. So as the Tibetans would say, amazing! It all happens by itself! So, there is intrinsically amazing about this. It's very refreshingly amazing that the thing happens, and that things cognize themselves or are aware where they are, manifestation is truly amazing and tuning into that amazingness has something valuable about it from a pragmatic point of view."
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNg-gps9O0w
2) Liberation of bardo is not just a matter of "thinking it as unreal". It is about waking up to the true nature of mind/experience/appearance as luminous and empty. It is about direct apprehension of our true nature. Liberation is dependent upon awakening/enlightenment/realizing true nature/whatever you want to call it. Thinking about it is definitely insufficient, just like your thinking of 'emptiness' right now is not sufficient to liberate your afflictions. Otherwise anyone who intellectually understood emptiness would have attained Nirvana, but that is never the case as they are only dealing with concepts. Only true awakening makes a difference. Is waking up on dying an easier path? I don't think so, I think if one cannot wake up now, how sure can one be that one will wake up when dying? Especially when death presents a more fearful and uncertain condition for an inexperienced run-off-the-mill person. We must seize our opportunity in life to practice. Death is too late.
3) Actually there is no beginning of samsara. That's the point. Ignorance depends on taints, taints depends on ignorance, and the whole cycle of 12 links went on and on without a beginning. In the sutta http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn15/sn15.013.than.html , the Buddha said, "
...."This is the greater: the blood you have shed from having your heads cut off while transmigrating & wandering this long, long time, not the water in the four great oceans.
"The blood you have shed when, being cows, you had your cow-heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.
"The blood you have shed when, being water buffaloes, you had your water buffalo-heads cut off... when, being rams, you had your ram-heads cut off... when, being goats, you had your goat-heads cut off... when, being deer, you had your deer-heads cut off... when, being chickens, you had your chicken-heads cut off... when, being pigs, you had your pig-heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.
"The blood you have shed when, arrested as thieves plundering villages, you had your heads cut off... when, arrested as highway thieves, you had your heads cut off... when, arrested as adulterers, you had your heads cut off: Long has this been greater than the water in the four great oceans.
"Why is that? From an inconceivable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on. Long have you thus experienced stress, experienced pain, experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries — enough to become disenchanted with all fabrications, enough to become dispassionate, enough to be released."
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the monks delighted in the Blessed One's words. And while this explanation was being given, the minds of the thirty monks from Pava — through lack of clinging — were released from fermentations.
4) It has nothing to do with a 'programmed computer game'. Nothing is programmed. There is no creator. There is just plain simple dependent origination. From ignorance manifest the 11 other afflictive links of dependent origination. However, there is also the transcendental links of dependent origination which culminates in release, liberation, nirvana: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/wheel277.html
5) The attainment of rainbow body is the goal of Dzogchen teachings. See http://awakeningtoreality.blogspot.sg/2013/03/rainbow-body-and-thusnesss-advise.html -
Thusness said to me:
"As I suspected (thumbs up) I mean the rainbow body. That can only be done after realization of twofold emptiness and intensity of luminosity into the three states (waking, dreaming, deep sleep)... you are doing pretty well. The integration has been progressing well of the non-dual bliss into your deep sleep state, in view of the short period after your realization of anatta. The inner core must completely disappear and the intensity of luminosity must heighten... Sensations will become transparent and crystal sharp clear.
At present the core center is gone... You write too much and have too little rest. Your mind must have enough time to rest in non-conceptuality of the 6 entries and exits. Otherwise it will not be easy for you to penetrate further. After realizing the twofold emptying there is no more boundaries between mind, appearances and apparent objects and experience becomes seamless... All is mind or this integrated activity. Then we should actualize and integrate this realization.
In touching, both subject and object are both emptied and deconstructed into a single activity of touch and the intensity of luminous clarity must be strong... is it strong now? Or just like passing thoughts with no intensity.
Now penetration of the 3 states is only supported by the strength of your view and realization, not by the intensity of your non-conceptual experience.
"In essence rainbow body is a realization..." Maybe actualization of realization (would be better), in essence it is an actualized state."
my comment: Dzogchen practitioners use the term 'Realization' differently than I and Thusness, 'Realization' could mean something like full actualization or Buddhahood for them and not just an initial insight/recognition/experience.
Update:
Someone wrote:
"I believe Malcolm Smith,
Many texts state the "physical body reverts to the essence of the
elements as rainbow light and disapears." Also there is a great deal of
writing by many such as Longchenpa that describe the difference between
the "vanishment
of the physical body" between trekchod, rainbow body as "jalus" and
"phowa chenpo" the Great Transfer. This is the goofiest of Malcolm's
posts that I have ever read... Am I missing something?"
Malcolm replied:
"Rainbow body where the body shrinks and disappears is a sign of incompletely finishing the fourth vision in this life."
Thanks for the clarifications.
Now that intent is required for karma to be created, what else is required? And during fruition or ripeneing what happens to this intent?What is karma acting on.
After ones death where does this Karma energy go to and how does it know to which mind stream to attach to?As I understand in Buddhism every life,mindstream is different. All of this sounds very complicated and difficult to imagine it just happens like that. It all seems to be that we are a program trying to de-pragram ourselves.
spam
Someone who can answer these?
A mental, verbal or bodily action preceded by intention is by definition karma. Karma is primarily the result of ignorance. That is all it takes.
Ripening of karma would depend on many conditions. For example death can be a condition for some karma to ripen, as a manifestation of afterlife. On the other hand some karma ripens in this life.
you can read more about karma here: http://www.buddhanet.net/t_karma.htm
Your question about karma attaching to mind stream is erroneous, as karma IS the mind stream. Or are you asking how does ones mind stream get reborn in the mothers womb?
After ones death where does this Karma energy go to and how does it know to which mind stream to attach to?
//The minds of people are complex and they make many different kinds of kamma even in one lifetime, some of which may influence the last moment when kamma is made before death, which in turn is the basis for the next life.//
Introduction- Maha Kammavibhanga Sutta: MN 136 by Nanamoli Thera
It all seems to be that we are a program trying to de-pragram ourselves.
Not totally, it is not all about fate, there are also many other factors such as the influences, laws and norms in our society, how one is brought up etc, and not least, one’s freewill and freedom of chose.
The Buddha said:
"This is how he attends inappropriately: 'Was I in the past? Was I not in the past? What was I in the past? How was I in the past? Having been what, what was I in the past? Shall I be in the future? Shall I not be in the future? What shall I be in the future? How shall I be in the future? Having been what, what shall I be in the future?' Or else he is inwardly perplexed about the immediate present: 'Am I? Am I not? What am I? How am I? Where has this being come from? Where is it bound?'
"As he attends inappropriately in this way, one of six kinds of view arises in him: The view I have a self arises in him as true & established, or the view I have no self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive self... or the view It is precisely by means of self that I perceive not-self... or the view It is precisely by means of not-self that I perceive self arises in him as true & established, or else he has a view like this: This very self of mine — the knower that is sensitive here & there to the ripening of good & bad actions — is the self of mine that is constant, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and will stay just as it is for eternity. This is called a thicket of views, a wilderness of views, a contortion of views, a writhing of views, a fetter of views. Bound by a fetter of views, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person is not freed from birth, aging, & death, from sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair. He is not freed, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
MN 2 Sabbasava Sutta: All the Fermentations
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Then, the Bhagavan said this to Ä€yusman Nanda, “Nanda, when a sentient being wishes to enter the womb, if causes and conditions are perfect, a body will appropriated. However, if [the causes and conditions] are not perfect, a body will not be appropriated. If one should ask how is it that a sentient being does not possess the conditions, it is as follows. Though a man and a woman have the mental factor of desire, and the intermediate state aggregate is present and seeking a womb, should that male and female have sexual intercourse too soon or too late or not have intercourse at that one time; or should there be some diseases in the body of either [the male or the female], there will be no ‘entry into the womb’. If family line of the male and the female are noble and their merit is great, but the intermediate state aggregate has small merit, or should the the intermediate state being have a noble family line and great merit, [65] but the male and female have small [merit] or though they both have merit, but if the accumulation of karma is not mutual, then there will be no ‘entry into the womb’.”
Who is the 'Bhagvan' mentioned here?
Thanks for the link on Karma. Is it Karma that is born,dies and continues this cycle?Why do the rule of Karma exist?How did it come into being?
I read a book yesterday named 'Journey of Souls'.It seems to make sense to me with my present level of understanding atleast.Can some one tell me where this stands in relation with Buddishm?
Bhagavan is referring to Buddha. It is a Mahayana sutra that talked about bardos.
Karma is not a 'rule', it is just mental, verbal and bodily actions, and these actions have causal effects. Not only does karma have causal effects - many other things have causal effects, for example body has its own sets of causality, our biosphere has its own set of causality, and now humans are upsetting the intricate web of environment interconnectedness due to the emissions of carbon dioxide which releases methane trapped under the ice in Greenland which further exacerbates the warming cycle. Basically, it is just plain simple causality, and yet our world is so vastly and intricately interconnected that one thing, one change can set a whole chain of effect throughout the globe.
There is no creator of the environment, or the body, scientists tell us our body is the result of evolution and natural selection, and our environment has evolved over billions of years to make it suitable for life or intelligent lifeforms like us (and we are probably a very lucky few planets in the universe to be able to support life). Likewise our karma is constantly 'evolving' or rather, manifesting and giving forth new realities from moment to moment through dependent origination, but there is no creator of karma.
As for 'Is it Karma that is born,dies and
continues this cycle?' -- well you just need to keep in mind that Karma is the 2nd link of the 12 links of dependent origination which ends with 'ageing... death'. The 12 links describes the process or cycle of samsara. In other words it is a causal process, a total exertion of various afflictive dependencies that sets forth the process of birth, ageing, sickness and death and the whole cycle of samsara.
I have not read Journey of Souls so I cannot comment on it. What is it that you would like to compare with Buddhism?
The notion of karma is rather different from what's usually understood as 'destiny'. It doesn't arise from divine will, as in Hinduism, nor does it arise by chance. It's the result of our actions. We harvest what we sow. Nothing forces beings to reincarnate in a particular way except the accumulated patterns of their actions, 'actions' here covering all our thoughts, words and deeds, positive or negative. It's the equivalent of good and evil, but it's important to remember that good and evil are not absolute notions. Our thoughts and actions are considered good and evil according to whether their motivation is to help or to harm, and according to their result, our own and others' happiness and suffering.
For one it may be morals and yet for another ethics, but it is actually a matter of the very mechanisms of happiness and suffering. In every instant, we are experiencing the result of our past actions, while our present thoughts, words and deeds are shaping our future. At the moment of death, the patern of all our actions hitherto is what determines the kind of existence we will find ourselves in next. The seeds we've planted germinate, into flowers or hemlock. Another metaphor sometimes used is that of a bird landing on the ground. The bird's shadow - our karma - which was hitherto invisible, suddenly appears. A more modern metaphor might be that at the moment of death we develop the film we've been shooting all our life, a film that also incorporates everything filmed during all our previous lives.
During this present life, which is coming to an end, we have been able to add or remove positive or negative actions to that accumulated karma and modify it, either purifying it or making it worse. After death comes a transitory state that we call bardo, during which the following life takes form and becomes clearer. In the bardo, the consciousness is swept along like a feather in the wind, as a function of the results of our positive and negative actions, and the outcome will be an existence that's happy, unhappy, or a mixture of the two. In fact, that gives us a very sane attitude towards whatever happens to us - we alone are to blame for what we are, as we're the result of our past, and the future is in our own hands.
Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:I have read the 'present version' of Bible and it goes like.
Creation:God created world in 6 days and 2 humans named adam(from mud) and eve(from a rib of adam).
Why do bad things happen to good people?Because God willed so.
What is cause of suffering?: Eve ate an apple of knowledge and sinned
What happens after death? Good people go to heaven,bad to hell and in between to purgatory.
Do animals have souls? Do as you please with animals since God made world as a play ground for man.
How is the universe structured?: Earth is center of universe and kill everyone who says otherwise.
In between there are some subtle references to Karma 'you reap what you sow' and such. Other wise it is so vague and too simplistic to match the understanding of people at that times.Original preachings or fully released 'dead sea' scrolls could be interesting.
@Eternal now:Thanks will take some time to read and really understand.
Alfred Foucher, the author of 'The Life of Buddha according to the Texts and Monuments of India', had said, comparing ideas about the immortality of the soul and life after death in Christians and Buddhists, 'For Christians, the hope of salvation and imortality is the hope to survive. For Buddists, it's the hope to dissappear'. Unfortunately, this explanation is the old Western idea about Buddhism as nihilistic still being handed down...
The 'Middle Way' is so called because it avoids the two extremes of nihilism and eternalism. What does "dissappear" is ignorance, the belief in a self, but as it does so the infinite qualities of enlightenment appear in all their fullness. It's true that one's no longer reborn under the influence of negative karma. But one continues to appear in the conditioned world, through the force of compassion and wisdom, for the benefit of others, without being trapped there. Nirvana is translated by a Tibetan term meaning 'beyond suffering'. If anything is extinguished, it's certainly suffering and the confusion that it engenders.
According to the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, to which Tibetan Buddhism belongs, someone who attains Buddhahood resides neither in samsara nor nirvana, both of which are desingated as extremes. One doesn't stay in samsara because he's free of ignorance and is no longer the plaything of karma leading him to reincarnate endlessly. Nor does he stay suspended in the peace of nirvana, because of the infinite compassion he conceives for all the beings still suffering. Rather, he puts into action the vow he took at the dawn of his enlightenment to continue to manifest deliberately - not under the constraint of karma but by the force of his compassion - until the conditioned world is emptied of all sufferings, or in other words for as long as there are still beings imprisoned in ignorance. So he's free of samsara but doesn't remain in nirvana.
This is why we talk about Buddhas and Bodhisattvas manifesting in numerous forms to accomplish the good of beings and guide them on the path to enlightenment. Amoung them are counted the great teachers who are perfectly realized.
Originally posted by AtlasWept:During this present life, which is coming to an end, we have been able to add or remove positive or negative actions to that accumulated karma and modify it, either purifying it or making it worse. After death comes a transitory state that we call bardo, during which the following life takes form and becomes clearer. In the bardo, the consciousness is swept along like a feather in the wind, as a function of the results of our positive and negative actions, and the outcome will be an existence that's happy, unhappy, or a mixture of the two. In fact, that gives us a very sane attitude towards whatever happens to us - we alone are to blame for what we are, as we're the result of our past, and the future is in our own hands.
Sir
Why karma has result?For me it sounds like a program destined to do things.Eg: good things and good result,bad actions and bad result.Then as you said at death a reel of all these,why it is like this?Why Bardo and why the next life and so on?What is karma and where is it stored?Some energy?If so can it not be converted like others?
I find it difficult to imagine that all of this well planned system just originated from ignorance.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Karma is the 2nd link of the 12 links of dependent origination
To be precise, 2nd and 10th link.
Loppon Namdrol:
Rebirth happens at two places in the twelve links of dependent origination, it happens at the link of consciousness, and it happens at the link of birth. The links 3 — 10 are the links of this life. Becoming is everything we do in this life, which provides the karma which informs the next life. NÄ�gÄ�rjuna again:
The first, eighth and ninth are affliction;
The second and the tenth are action.
Also the remaining seven are suffering.
Twelve dharmas are gathered into three.
Two arise from three.
Seven are produced from two,
That is the wheel of existence,
it is turned again and again.
Bernie Glassman:
"...one symptom of separation, of duality, is found in the word why, such as in our koan, "Why has the Western Barbarian no beard?" Why? That's the symptom of duality. Why do we wake up at the sound of the alarm clock? Why do we do this, why do we do that? Why do we need rules and regulations? Why do we need forms and practices? Why is grass green? Why?
Eliminate why from our lives and we're bearing wiitness. So in terms of our koan, we're asked to be Bodhidharma, be his beard. Feeling the beard, being the beard, we see all the problems: that it's unkempt, that food gets stuck in it, that molds grow in it. Instead of asking why, instead of standing outside and analyzing, thinking or talking baout it, we are it. That's the practice of bearing witness."
Originally posted by Bio-Hawk:Sir
Why karma has result?For me it sounds like a program destined to do things.Eg: good things and good result,bad actions and bad result.Then as you said at death a reel of all these,why it is like this?Why Bardo and why the next life and so on?What is karma and where is it stored?Some energy?If so can it not be converted like others?
I find it difficult to imagine that all of this well planned system just originated from ignorance.
We share the same affinitity for a contemplative life and, yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the whole notion of karma can be quite disconcerting. Furthermore, it is particularly disconcerting in the case of someone who seems completely innocent, like a severely ill child, or someone with many admirable qualities who's nevertheless going through some terrible tragedies.
Nevertheless, whatever happens to us, it teaches, is never just by chance. We've created the causes of our present sufferings ourselves. We're a result of a complex set of causes and conditions, a mixture of actions that are sometimes unwholesome or destructive. Bit by bit, little by little, these causes ripen into results and are expressed as our successive lives unfold. From within a different metaphysical framwork, of course, it would be difficult to see how our present happiness and suffering could be the result of our distant past. But in the context of Buddhism that accepts the idea of numerous rebirths, it all makes sense. So we have no reason to rebel against what happens to us. But nor should our attitude be one of resignation, because we now have the chance to redress this situation. The idea is, therefore, to recognize what we need to do, or to avoid, in order to construct our happiness and escape from suffering. If we understand that negative actions lead to suffering both for ourselves and others, and that positive actions lead to happiness, it's up to us to act now in such a way as to build our own future by sowing 'good seeds'.
There's a saying that goes, 'As long as you keep your hand in the fire, it's no good hoping not to be burnt.' It's not that we'll be 'rewarded' or 'punished' - we're simply subject to the law of cause and effect.The Buddha gave numerous examples of karmic effects. Neverthess, there are, as you can undoutedly imagine, an infinite number of such combinations. It is said that only the omniscience of a Buddha can perceive the compexity of any individual's karma.
In his first teaching, the Buddha set out what are known as the 'Four Noble Truths' - the truth of the suffering of the conditioned world, the truth of the source of suffering (ignorance and the negative emotions that build up karma), the truth of the possibility of putting an end to suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to that cessation of suffering. Suffering here includes, of course, the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death; of encountering adversaries, losing those dear to us, and so on. This isn't to be pessimistic about life, rather it simply stresses the need to become aware of suffering so that we can apply the proper remedy to it. Indeed, if there was no such remedy, there'd be no point in worrying about suffering.
I have heard it said that the continuity of consciousness ensures that there's a link between the moment of an action and the moment of its consequences, whether happy or unhappy. So what's the point of avoiding evil and doing good? To that challange, Buddism replies with a parable. A man drops a flaming torch from a high terrace where he'd been eating his supper. The fire catches the thatch of his own roof and soon sets the whole village ablaze, house by house. When accused of causing the fire, he replies to his judges, 'It wasn't my fault. The fire of the torch I was eating by wasn't the same as the fire that burned the village.' But, of course, he's found to be responsible for the fire. So even in the absence of an individual self seen as an independantly existing entity, what we are at present is the result of our past. Acts certainly bear their results. The most important point is therefore the continuity, not the identity. A negative act isn't translated into happiness, just as a hemlock seed doesn't grow into a lime tree. Consequently, the fact that a positive or negative action has a corresponding result, in terms of happiness or suffering, justifies our undertaking or avoiding it, even if the person who experiences the result doesn't have an eternal self.
Well said! Thanks for sharing
Originally posted by AtlasWept:We share the same affinitity for a contemplative life and, yes, I wholeheartedly agree that the whole notion of karma can be quite disconcerting. Furthermore, it is particularly disconcerting in the case of someone who seems completely innocent, like a severely ill child, or someone with many admirable qualities who's nevertheless going through some terrible tragedies.
Nevertheless, whatever happens to us, it teaches, is never just by chance. We've created the causes of our present sufferings ourselves. We're a result of a complex set of causes and conditions, a mixture of actions that are sometimes unwholesome or destructive. Bit by bit, little by little, these causes ripen into results and are expressed as our successive lives unfold. From within a different metaphysical framwork, of course, it would be difficult to see how our present happiness and suffering could be the result of our distant past. But in the context of Buddhism that accepts the idea of numerous rebirths, it all makes sense. So we have no reason to rebel against what happens to us. But nor should our attitude be one of resignation, because we now have the chance to redress this situation. The idea is, therefore, to recognize what we need to do, or to avoid, in order to construct our happiness and escape from suffering. If we understand that negative actions lead to suffering both for ourselves and others, and that positive actions lead to happiness, it's up to us to act now in such a way as to build our own future by sowing 'good seeds'.
There's a saying that goes, 'As long as you keep your hand in the fire, it's no good hoping not to be burnt.' It's not that we'll be 'rewarded' or 'punished' - we're simply subject to the law of cause and effect.The Buddha gave numerous examples of karmic effects. Neverthess, there are, as you can undoutedly imagine, an infinite number of such combinations. It is said that only the omniscience of a Buddha can perceive the compexity of any individual's karma.
In his first teaching, the Buddha set out what are known as the 'Four Noble Truths' - the truth of the suffering of the conditioned world, the truth of the source of suffering (ignorance and the negative emotions that build up karma), the truth of the possibility of putting an end to suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to that cessation of suffering. Suffering here includes, of course, the suffering of birth, aging, illness, and death; of encountering adversaries, losing those dear to us, and so on. This isn't to be pessimistic about life, rather it simply stresses the need to become aware of suffering so that we can apply the proper remedy to it. Indeed, if there was no such remedy, there'd be no point in worrying about suffering.
I have heard it said that the continuity of consciousness ensures that there's a link between the moment of an action and the moment of its consequences, whether happy or unhappy. So what's the point of avoiding evil and doing good? To that challange, Buddism replies with a parable. A man drops a flaming torch from a high terrace where he'd been eating his supper. The fire catches the thatch of his own roof and soon sets the whole village ablaze, house by house. When accused of causing the fire, he replies to his judges, 'It wasn't my fault. The fire of the torch I was eating by wasn't the same as the fire that burned the village.' But, of course, he's found to be responsible for the fire. So even in the absence of an individual self seen as an independantly existing entity, what we are at present is the result of our past. Acts certainly bear their results. The most important point is therefore the continuity, not the identity. A negative act isn't translated into happiness, just as a hemlock seed doesn't grow into a lime tree. Consequently, the fact that a positive or negative action has a corresponding result, in terms of happiness or suffering, justifies our undertaking or avoiding it, even if the person who experiences the result doesn't have an eternal self.
Thanks for this. Makes sense in many ways.However though i still don't understand why it is so?For example every action has a reaction,why?Who made it like this?there re many realms where ghosts to gods live each seperated,how did it come?All of this by random?
what is the best, easiest and fastest way to become Buddha?