WHAT IS "GOOD" AND "BAD" KARMA?
Interestingly enough, the Buddhist answer to this question forces
you to think and decide for yourself.
Positive actions are defined as their result being a pleasant
experience, negative actions are defined by their unpleasant
results.
Obviously, the results mentioned here are unlikely to come
immediately (so-called 'instant karma' is considered rare), instead
the karmic result may take lifetimes to ripen. For example, if I
steal an ice-cream and enjoy eating it afterwards, the enjoyment is
not a karmic result of stealing the ice-cream; it may be the result
of helping someone else. The karmic result of stealing an ice-cream
is an unpleasant experience, like when something will be stolen
from me.
In A Living Buddhism for the
West, Lama Anagorika Govinda expresses another
approach:
"All the suffering of this world arises from a wrong
attitude.
The world is neither good or bad.
It is only the relation to our ego that makes it seem the one or
the other."
This approach relates to the way our mind perceives the world; see
the page on delusions.
WHAT CAN I DO TO REMOVE PREVIOUS NEGATIVE
KARMA?
Nobody likes to suffer, so we all like to rid ourselves of negative
karmic potential.
There are several possibilities, and in fact we may need to try and
apply all of these methods as much as we can:
- To avoid having negative thoughts that lead to negative actions
in the future, we need to observe and control our own thoughts and
behaviour, and destroy our negative attitudes.
- Similarly, we can observe/study (meditate) our own mind and
encourage positive thoughts that lead to positive actions.
- We can avoid negative karmic seeds to ripen by purifying it,
using the four powers of purification (see below). Although this
does not eliminate the negative karmic actions, it can avoid the
results to occur.
- Ultimately, when we realise emptiness directly (see the page on
Wisdom), and remove all our delusions, we are not under the control
of past karma anymore.
THE FOUR POWERS OF PURIFICATION
The purification practices found within Buddhism are not unlike the
practices applied in many other religions. The most essential
mental factor that one requires is sincerity or honesty with
oneself. When one wants to purify past negative karma, one has to
do some action with the correct motivation.
This is summarised in the following Four Powers of
Purification:
1. Power of the Object: One should practice
thinking of all sentient beings one may have hurt. Traditionally,
one remembers all sentient beings and the Three Jewels of Refuge
(Buddha, Dharma and Sangha), by generating compassion for all
sentient beings and taking refuge.
2. Power of Regret: This should not be senseless
guilt or self-recrimination, which are said to be useless emotional
torture. What is intended here is to examine oneself and one's
actions and to recognise that negative actions done in the past
were very unwise.
3. Power of Promise: As a logical consequence of
the above, one should promise not to repeat these negative actions.
It is good if one can promise to avoid a negative behaviour for a
specific time, or at least promise that one will put effort in
avoiding repetition. Not being honest at this stage makes the
practice useless or even harmful to oneself.
4. Power of Practice: Basically any positive
action with a good motivation can be used as practice.
Traditionally in Buddhism, one can practice e.g. making
prostrations (throwing oneself to the floor - as a means to destroy
pride), making offerings (to counteract greed), reading Buddhist
texts (to counteract ignorance and negative thoughts), reciting
mantras etc.
It is often explained that one needs to clear a field by purifying
it from rocks and weeds, then planting seeds by study and
meditation, giving water and fertiliser by doing positive actions,
and automatically new harvest will grow.
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PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES OF KARMA
"What fisherman looks for water in dry, dead riverbeds?
He who hopes for spiritual progress, but cultivates neither wisdom
nor merit."
His Holiness the 7th Dalai Lama,
from 'Songs of spiritual change' translated by Glenn
Mullin.
To begin with, I need to understand that I cannot immediately
change my present situation, but I should understand that:
- The reason why I am experiencing this is only due to my own
actions in the past, my mind filled with delusions or positive
thoughts, and the right circumstances for the karma to ripen.
- I can chose to have a selfish reaction to my situation and create
my own suffering in the future.
- I can chose to have a reaction considering others' welfare and
create happiness for myself as well in the future.
- If I react without thinking, it is easy to create negative
results for the future, and even make that a habit.
- The others whom I like to blame for hurting me, are merely the
circumstances that make my negative karma ripen.
- Understanding karma means that I have full responsibility for
everything that happens to me in the past, present and
future.
- Positive thinking and acting will do others and myself much more
good than being negative and acting that way.
"Karma is not something complicated or philosophical.
Karma means watching your body, watching your mouth, and watching
your mind.
Trying to keep these three doors as pure as possible is the
practice of karma."
Lama Thubten Yeshe, "The Bliss of
Inner Fire"
FATE IS IN OUR HANDS - A PARABLE
In a time long past, there was an old monk who, through diligent
practice, had attained a certain degree of spiritual
penetration.
He had a young novice who was about eight years old. One day the
monk looked at the boy's face and saw there that he would die
within the next few months. Saddened by this, he told the boy to
take a long holiday and go and visit his parents. 'Take your time,'
said the monk. 'Don't hurry back.' For he felt the boy should be
with his family when he died.
Three months later, to his astonishment, the monk saw the boy
walking back up the mountain. When he arrived he looked intently at
his face and saw that they boy would now live to a ripe old
age.
'Tell me everything that happened while you were away,' said the
monk. So the boy started to tell of his journey down from the
mountain. He told of villages and towns he passed through, of
rivers forded and mountains climbed.
Then he told how one day he came upon a stream in flood. He
noticed, as he tried to pick his way across the flowing stream,
that a colony of ants had become trapped on a small island formed
by the flooding stream. Moved by compassion for these poor
creatures, he took a branch of a tree and laid it across one flow
of the stream until it touched the little island. As the ants made
their way across, the boy held the branch steady, until he was sure
all the ants had escaped to dry land. Then he went on his way.
'So,' thought the old monk to himself, 'that is why the gods have
lengthened his days.'
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POSITIVE KARMA IS JUST A MOUSE-CLICK AWAY!
In case you came this far, and the above did not bore you away, you
are already creating positive energy or karma.
It takes nothing special to create positive actions, you can do it,
even with a few simple clicks of your mouse and a compassionate
thought.
Interested? Why not click one or all of the buttons below while you
think of the benefit to others.
If you want to go a simple step further, change the home page of
your browser to www.thehungersite.com and take a second to donate
food for free every day you go on the Internet (see below how to do
that). Can it be made any easier?
You want to do more than just clicking? Need some ideas? Try the
following links:
Plan International to help children Unicef of the United
Nations
