First of all, it strikes me that Buddhism has many diverse
interpretations. I read a little of the 现代因果实录 in the link posted
by sinweiy, and I was surprised at the discussion
of ghosts, which Amitayus48 also mentions. I
wonder if all the knowledgeable posters here agree with the
supernatural aspects of Buddhism.
simpo_ and Dawnfirstlight: The
discussion about karma as a law of nature is common, and in effect,
I think you are agreeing with me. In Christianity, the system of
reward/punishment is administered by a supreme being, like a judge
would. In Buddhism, the system of reward/punishment is a law of
nature, and no one is able to transcend it.
In both of these cases, it appears that (2) of my original
thesis holds: Karma is the mechanism of
reward/punishment in Buddhism.
What exactly is karmic retribution though? It is again extremely
diverse from the little I've read of it. Some say it is visited
upon children, or that natural disaster can happen to a society of
many evil-doers as karmic retribution. Is that the conventional
idea?
For now, I will accept the assumption that the karmic process is
able to precisely identify the impact of free will (assuming there
is such a thing). But I still have two main philosophical problems
with the concept of karma:
1. It is non-falsifiable.
In other words, there is no way of proving or disproving karma,
because there is an explanation for every scenario. Something that
is non-falsifiable may still be correct, but the simpler
explanation then is that it does not exist.
2. It is non-specific.
The non-specificity of the idea of karma adds to its general
vagueness and non-falsifiability. More than that, I think that
non-specificty is inefficient and potentially unfair.
yes, in theory, you will never be able to prove karma as a
science. This is because of the limitations of your sensory
perceptions, time and space. As Buddhists, we go ahead and
practice, then through practice, we will come to see the workings
of karma more and more.
child can bear karmic consequences of parents because when child
is born into that family, he is also drawn by his karmic forces to
lock into the outcome that will ripen his karma. This is
still fair.
mass group karma is also fair. there are many people who
also escape from the mass disaster and these people do not have
that karma to suffer in this disaster, that's why they escaped.
Doesn't mean that the number of people who suffer is many
therefore, it is not due to karma. Karma still working.
next life you and present life you is same stream of
consciousness. There will still be suffering. You are
suffering now from your past life karma, are you aware and care
about it?
