NOTE FROM GOOD KARMA: HOW TO FIND IT HOW TO KEEP IT

NOTE FROM
GOOD KARMA
HOW TO FIND IT AND KEEP IT
By: Joan Duncan Oliver


Chapter 1: What is Karma?

Karma is a Sanskrit word meaning “action,” though it’s often used to refer to both an action and its results.

Karma isn’t luck or destiny – luck suggests randomness; destiny, a lack of choice. Nor it is the voice if the gods trying to keep us in line. Karma is a description of how moral law operates.

…the Buddha refined the teachings, emphasizing volitional behavior and responsibility: we are the choice we make.

According to this doctrine, the soul or consciousness evolves over multiple lifetimes, all the while amassing karma arising from thoughts, words, and deeds. Karma not “cleared” in one incarnation is carried over to the next.

…Free will is integral to karma. Without free will, change would be impossible.[AH1]

Buddhism is a non-theistic philosophy: its adherents follow precepts grounded in principles of non-harming that the Buddha perceived directly at the time of his great awakening.

The Abrahamic religions hold that sin can be erased by God’s grace, here or in the hereafter. But for Buddhists, there is no divine force meting out reward and punishment, no Judgment Day or heavenly reprieve – only the inexorable force of karma.

…the focus is on intention: are you operating from your noble instincts – courtesy, compassion, wisdom – or is your behavior shortsighted and selfishly motivated?


Chapter 2: Setting your destiny

The law of Karma simply says that every action has a consequence. What happened in the past brought us to the present moment, but what happens from here isn’t set in stone. We have choices.

To that extent, we’re accountable for our dramas, for creating our own heaven and hell. Our choices influence the course of our daily lives.


Chapter 3: Making the right decisions

Buddhist teaching says that Karma arises from volitional words and deeds – the conscious choices we make. We’re not accountable for unconscious or involuntary actions.


Chapter 4: Discovering the true you

Unfortunately, we can’t just set aside what we don’t want to think about and assume that it will go away.

When we’ve exhausted all the excuses for why life isn’t working – other people, bad luck, misalignment of the stars – we’re left with the possibility that the answer lies within. Nine times out of ten, it’s our fears or doubts or attitudes – carryovers from the past – that are getting in the way of accomplishing what we want.

To break the cycle of Karma, you have to break the cycle of unskillful behavior. You can’t keep saying and doing the same things and expect better results. When you see your behavior clearly you can frame new responses. There are many techniques for increasing self-awareness. Most involve mindfulness – observing what is happening in the present moment: your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations.


Chapter 5: Living passionately

As Mathieu Richard, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, explains: “the more you look at anger, the more it disappears … like the frost melting under the morning sun.”


Chapter 6: Shaping your reality

We’d like to believe that our thoughts are inconsequential, but the truth is just the opposite. “The thought is father to the deed,” as the saying goes. Thoughts are the energy driving speech and action. Without thoughts there would be no Karma.[AH2]

When tempted to do anything in secrete, ask yourself if you would do it in public. If you would not, be sure it is wrong.


Chapter 8: Living truthfully

Often the issue isn’t whether or not we should be honest but how we express our feelings. Try to see the situation from the other person’s perspective before you open your mouth.[AH3]

But candor without wisdom or compassion diminishes both sender and receiver. Kindness, on the other hand, bathes everyone in a positive light.


Chapter 9: Opening hand and heart

We shouldn’t give to the detriment of our own welfare, but most spiritual traditions hold that generosity involves at least some self-sacrifice. It’s the best antidote to greed. Giving only what you don’t want – and only when asked – is the lowest form of generosity, according to Buddhist teachings. The highest form, “kingly” or “queenly” giving, involves the very best if what you have – what you would want for yourself.


Chapter 18: Wiping the slate clean

For Buddhists, there’s no external force promising deliverance. As the Theravada Buddhist teacher Mahasi Sayadaw explained, “a Buddhist who is fully convinced of the law of Karma does not pray to another to be saved but confidently relies on [himself] for his own emancipation..” In this, releasing Karma is a process – a by-product of awareness that emerges with time and effort. In place of prayers for grace are practices like meditation and yoga that allow us to “work creatively with our own suffering.”


[AH1]Chumnith: I am the maker of my own karma.


[AH2]Chumnith: “I think, therefore I am,” thus it follows “I do, therefore I will be.”


[AH3]Chumnith: In most cases, it is better to maintain or to remain, as the Buddha says, “ the noble silence.”