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From: Keith (d207-216-60-167.bchsia.telus.net)
Subject: It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it
Date: September 2, 2006 at 8:00 pm PST

The law of karma is simply cause and effect. When you do something, it has effects. Every action has consequences that are of the same nature as the action, and every consequence was caused by an action of the same nature. Karma is tied in with rebirth, so that actions in previous lives may have consequences in this life, and actions in this life may have consequences in future lives.

Many people new to Buddhism or the idea of karma get caught up in the details of specific situations. I often see questions on other Buddhist discussion boards along the lines of, "If I do X, what will be the karmic effect?", or "Why did X (terrible thing) happen to Y (who is such a nice person)?" The Buddha taught that it is not possible for an unenlightened person to know these details (nor is it important), and that pursuing such questions would lead to vexation.

So, if pursuing these details is not helpful or possible, what is the lesson of karma?

The consequence of the law of karma is that each individual is responsible for his or her own actions and their consequences. North American society tends to teach us to avoid responsibility whenever possible. Yet the idea of being responsible for one's actions is empowering and liberating.

When bad stuff happens to me, I can be confident that somehow, somewhen, I did something that precipitated that consequence. The important thing is that there is no point in trying to blame someone else. This is not at all about "blaming the victim". On the contrary, being free from looking for blame frees me from playing the role of victim.

In the here and now, within the constraints imposed on me by whatever situation I find myself in, I have total freedom of choice in how I will act. And how I choose to act or respond to the situation will determine my future experiences. If I now act well, motivated by compassion, good consequences will flow from the action. If I act unskillfully, thinking of my own short-term benefit, unpleasant consequences will follow. This is tremendously empowering, as I get to control whether my future will be happy or not.

Keith

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• Re: It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it fivedogs 9/04/06 (0)

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