Good - Bad It’s All Karma
Karma has always been a Eastern thing. We in the Western societies have not understood the concept of karma very well, or at least no one really explains it in a consistent manner with its true spiritual meaning. I was introduced to Buddhism in 1988, when I was stationed in San Diego. Soka Gakkai (SGI) was talking to a lot of the military personnel outside of the base inviting them to meetings. I had always politely declined until one of my fellow servicemen had said he went, and that it was cool, everyone was sitting around chanting. This of course piqued a curiosity in me in which I had to check out.
I was very impressed at what I experienced the first time I attended, and wanted to learn more. Every since that day I considered myself a Buddhist. A few months later I was sent to 29 palms California, where I found out that I would be going to Japan. I thought well if I was interested in Buddhism then my path was taking me to the very heart of it all. Coincidence? You decide. In Feb - Mar 89 timeframe I met my wife to be in Tokyo, her and her family were Buddhists and introduced me to Rissho Kosei Kai in which I became a member, and have been ever since.
Getting back to the subject of the article, Karma is something that happens on the scale of multiple lifetimes, kind of like evolution, not the “payback is a bitch” mentality that many think of it as. But that concept is a bit vague to Western societies because we think of forever as until we die. Like any concept of faith which transcends a person’s life, some people use the “well I’ll be dead so it doesn’t matter” argument to justify being unkind. I like to look at it as justification for the opposite behavior.
There is an appealing aspect to the progress we make is based on the sum total of our decisions and actions. It definitely leaves a little more room for making mistakes and shuffling our feet a bit while trying to figure out how to live our lives. Karma doesn’t happen to us after we die but rather as we progress to the next life. Karma can be thought of as as longer process. They key point here is awareness. That if you do something that’s “bad karma†this will generally come back to haunt you.
In Tibetan Buddhism karma is used to determine how you will be reborn in the next life. In Zen Buddhism karma is a large part of the teachings yet there is no rebirth clause, being enlightened would cause someone to pay attention to their karma but there is no said punishment for it.
By living a life of kindness and love to others, and also keeping those bad thoughts in check, you don’t have to think about karma so much, it is a natural form of cause and effect, and hints at the Christian “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. This all rolls around to the fact that we have been given free-will. To advance on the path, the decisions that we make on a day to day basis will determine whether we take one step forward or one step back. Take Care my friends!
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What a wonderful story! Japan also has a mysterious effect on me. I have long been drawn to aspects of this peaceful culture. My first visit to the country was eye-opening in that I chose to immerse myself in traditions. I sensed I had been there before, perhaps in a previous life. My second visit to see spring Cherry Blossoms was a setting for my engagement. The Buddhist, Taoist and Zen philosophies I discovered in Japan are all complimentary because I choose to see life that way.
You may be interested in these two posts (I’ll have to add part III):
http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2007/3/29/the-biggest-risk-ever.html
http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2007/9/8/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up.html