How do Buddhists on the one hand create good karma, and yet be non-attached to it?

[AlexBaranosky]

Hello,

How do Buddhists on the one hand create good karma, and on the other be non-attached to the manifestation of that karma?

I have over the past few years seen a lot of my good karma manifest. And yet also, recently have gotten some insights into WHY a Buddhist would know the secret to creating good karma, yet still want to escape the cycle of samsara.

The answer is:
Because, eventually you *WILL* forget. No matter when, eventually you are going to forget your spiritual nature and sink into Hell.

I've been thinking that I may become an official Buddhist. Not sure yet.

My first major question then is:

How does a Buddhist consciously be non-attached to manifestation? How do they stay non-attached to the good karma they have created?

This is a big question, I guess. But let's attempt to tackle it

All the Best,
Alex

[MaxP]

Hmm..

Hello Brother,

" How do they stay non - attached? "

I'm guessing they do this by being non - attached .

Kind Regards,

Max

Namo Amitabha Buddha Namo Amitabha Buddha Namo Amitabha Buddha

[AlexBaranosky]

Hello Max,

Hmmm...


Maybe you've got it

[Anton S.]

do good, avoid evil, purify the mind.

Hi Alex,

as it often is, the theory is simple (like meditation-i.e. no thinking) practice isn´t (i.e. meditation - no thinking)

The Ideal of Buddhist is to take care about all living beings and make them happy. Karma results.

The other Ideal is to purify the mind. e.a. Observe the karma results, not react or interact.

That is how buddhist would ideally cope with karma. Just relax, observe, don´t worry etc.

Good and Bad Karma whatever is just karma from different viewpoints. Therefore there is no such a thing as good or bad karma, but there are of course different points of view.

Example:

X. did his neighbor a favor and she offers X. a cake.

a. X. feels pleasant. - let´s call it "good" karma
b. X. hates sugar because he is on a diet or suffers from Diabetes - it is nothing, that he likes - let´s call it "bad" karma.

So naming karma good or bad depends on the point of view.

This is one dimension.

The other dimension is, that it is only about the one judging subject to call karma good or bad.

go back to the example:

It does not matter whether a. or b. occurs, because the bacteria in his toilet or the cat next door or the bus driver do not care. They have nothing to do with X.´s karma.

It is his. And it is his personal matter to call it good or bad. Not their!

It is only X., who cares about good or bad. Since it only affects him.

Back to buddhists: They are supposed to be altruistic. Remember Buddha offering his flesh to a hungry tiger.

So how can an (ideal) altruistic person care for itself?

Wouldn´t be altruistic, wouldn´t be an ideal of the buddhists.


We have to care about others, not about our own karma, irrespective of what we like to call it.


I think it is the reason, why an ideal buddhist would not care about cakes.

But this is only intellectual bla bla.

The real matter is out there - in front of your nose.

Best wishes, Anton

[AlexBaranosky]

Thank you Anton,

That was a very nice thought out, post.

Yes, karma just is. It is not good or bad intrinsically. We each choose that ourselves by how we choose to perceive it.

The original idea that inspired this post was this. The world arises out of our minds. We become what we think. And yet, knowing this power we hold, Buddha does not teach to direct your thoughts to have all of the things you want in life. Why? My conclusion is that Buddha realizes that even if you have everything and live in paradisaical splendor, such as a god in a heaven, eventually you will forget. And in forgetting you will sink back to a hell. That is why they call it a wheel of samsara, because it goes round and round like a wheel.

So, knowing that our life follows our thoughts, like a cart follows the horse that pulls it, Buddha instead teaches to let-go of desire. This way we free ourselves of the eternal up and down, round and round.

...

It seems that I have answered my own question from the original post.

All the Best,
Alex

[Charles David]

Hi Alex,

I cannot speak for all Buddhists, but I can answer your question from my own (Shaolin Wahnam) practice. I create good karma by doing good. I practice non-attachment by letting go. Hope this helps.

Still Simple,


Chas.

[Damian Kissey]

Opinion

How do Buddhists on the one hand create good karma, and on the other be non-attached to the manifestation of that karma?


My first major question then is:

How does a Buddhist consciously be non-attached to manifestation? How do they stay non-attached to the good karma they have created?

Alex

Avoid evil : Evil done ( eg murder ) begets bad karma , stay more entangled in samsara

Do good : Good done ( eg healing ) begets good karma , also still stay in samsara but have better potential to escape samsara in future

Cultivate the Mind ( eg Zen meditation : moving standing or sitting ) : when ego dissolves into void ( = ultimate Buddhist aim) then you attain absolute non-attachment , you attain karmicless action and escape samsara . In the meantime one only has relative non attachment .

So , avoid evil , do good and cultivate the mind .....if you persists devotionally , the Void ( Buddha ) will guarantee you success .

Best wishes to Alex , all and All

[HB Yeang]

because there is no-self

Dear Alex, So happy to read your interesting mails on karma.

It's Bodhicitta.The practitioner who gives out his merits and the sentient beings who received them are both in one spiritual body(universal mind).



Rgds,
HB Yeang

Buddhist thought:
"there is only the holding on, without a holder and without a thing being held"

[Daniel]

Simple but not easy!

They try to do always good and make things right but don´t care about the results or rewards.

[Jonny Say]

The following quote from Sigung maybe relevant here:

Those who experience such a state directly will not have any fear, because there are no emotions. Instead, speaking provisionally, there is only tremendous joy, eternal peace and limitless freedom. There is also no “life” (as mere mortals understand the term) because there is no differentiation into individual persons or souls.

Is it a contradiction to say that there are no emotions in this high cosmic state and then say that you will experience joy, peace and freedom? No, there is no contradiction. The apparent contradiction is due to the limitation of words. “Joy”, “peace” and “freedom” are mental states, not emotions in the same sense as “fear”, “confidence”, “hatred”, “love”, “cruelty” and “compassion”. You “dissolve” yourself in these mental states and are one with them. Hence these mental states do not cause karma.

But you feel “fear”, “confidence”, “hatred”, “love”, “cruelty” and “compassion”. You are not one with them. These feelings or cravings cause karma, which sets countless processes of transformation into the phenomenal world.

If there were emotions, which would lead to craving, you would be propelled out of this very high level of transcendental cosmic reality back into the phenomenal world. If there were individual persons or souls, then cosmic reality would not be undifferentiated. In Western terms, God would not be omnipresent, because those individual persons or souls would be outside God.

Yes, everything is just an undifferentiated spread of energy, or of consciousness or mind or spirit. In Western terms, it is just God, the infinite, the eternal and the omnipresent. There is no room for love, other emotions and even karma in cosmic reality. Love, other emotions and karma only operate in the phenomenal realm. Indeed, it is precisely because of love and compassion that Bodhisattvas voluntarily delay entering Buddhahood, or come out of Buddhahood into the human or other worlds to help others.

Best regards