Buddhism and Karma (Religion)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Sunday, September 08, 2013, 19:02 (4092 days ago) @ dhw

Xeno: I'm uh...rather late to this game (being that Jan 2013 is nearly 9 months ago)...
> 
> Welcome back, Matt. We have missed you hugely. You will see from the page upon page of threads that we have had some lively discussions in your absence and could have done with your particular insights.
> 
> "Buddhism and Karma" has not been on the agenda, but it's interesting to read our various comments at the time. Not a great deal one can add, except that to refresh my memory, I've had another look at one of my reference books, which defines karma as the theory that "every action has a consequence which will come to fruition in either this or a future life [...] An individual's present situation is thereby explained by reference to actions in his past history, in his present or in previous lifetimes." It seems that the overall aim is to break the cycle of birth and death (samsara), which doesn't say a great deal for the life of a Buddhist. I'm sure you'll agree that the birth of a child (how is Josephine, by the way?) is to be celebrated, whereas one senses that the correct response for a karma-style Buddhist would be something like: "Oh crikey, here we go again!"
> 
> However, you would not have spent 8+ years practising the meditative aspects of Buddhism if you had not found it beneficial. Karma obviously doesn't figure in your branch of Buddhism, so maybe we could change the subject and you could summarize just what it is that you meditate on, and how it helps you. 
> -The core to Zen is simple: Learn how to sit still and do nothing. Become a dispassionate observer of your own mind. It is this process that (to me) confirms the presence of "free will." -The benefits are subtle... there's no overnight epiphany here. Over time you learn to recognize your own thought patterns as well as their roots and motives. As you observe, you can get a peculiar sensation as I've said before--there's alot going on inside your mind that you have no formal "control" over. I'm sure that when any of us had a sick loved one, we were probably unable to force the thoughts back. However, meditation here gives you a lever so you can at least separate yourself, however slightly, from the concept of experiencing the thoughts, and observing the thoughts. -> Once again, welcome back.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"