Karmic Afterthoughts

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Karma is an action or a combination of actions performed by us that inevitably produces results. As far as their effects go, these actions may be good, bad, or pure. Good karma leads to favorable results that we find pleasurable and rebirth in the higher realms of samsara, literally, ”the Wandering”. Bad karma leads to bad results and rebirth in the lower realms of samsara. Pure untainted karma leads to enlightenment and permits one to transcend samsara. 

Karmic actions can be fashioned by an individual or corporately by a group, a community or even a society. The consequent results can be good or bad and help to determine the future of the individual or individuals who created them. While any cause will always produce a result, when that result will occurs cannot be foreseen. If the proper conditions do not manifest for a while, the result will lie dormant for as long as it takes those conditions to ripen. 

The causal link is clear. Thoughts of greed, bitterness, lack of tolerance or sympathy, and of just indulging ourselves at the cost of others will result in undesirable outcomes. Thoughts of altruism, respect for others, and acceptance will lead to favorable results. The objective of practice objective is to eradicate the self-interested and destructive actions, and to increase the positive ones. At every moment during our lives, we actually can decide what we will think, say, or do in the next moment. Unfortunately, most of the time we do not consciously make such decisions, either because we remain unaware that we can or are not habituated to doing so, or, most often, we are merely too lazy. 

A thought paves the way for our every action. But we are so self-involved and so distracted by the constant assault of thought that it seems that we act without thinking. Too late we realize that, once again, we have acted automatically out of negative habits and, consequently, planted another hurtful seed. 

If a gardener plants a seed in rich soil receiving lots of sun and water, if properly taken care of it, that seed will grow. If the seed is stored in a cellar it will not germinate, grow and blossom. Everything we do plants a seed in our most subtle consciousness. All the seeds lie dormant, waiting for the proper conditions to ripen. All of the karmic seeds we plant in our consciousness need only wait for the proper circumstances to mature. When the seed ripens, the cause bears a result. Unfortunately it does not end there. 

Growing Ripples
Cause and effect is incessantly cycler. A cause generates a result. That result then becomes a new cause, in its turn it will generate another result, and on and on it goes. This procession not only affects us but others as well. We do some­thing and it affects someone around us. As they act in response to our action, they have an effect on someone else. This creates a wave-like response of cause and effect that moves outwards in an ever-widening circle, just like what results when a single drop of water 
splashes in the ocean: The ripple effect results in all the other drops of water in the ocean moving. 

Each of us has planted a combination of seeds, some good and some bad. Within each of us are hidden seeds for both loving-kindness and viciousness, for both integrity and vulgarity, and for both tolerance and antagonism. Which ones ripen at any given time depends on our unique conditions. It would be useful to keep in mind when we are enticed to condemn another for her betrayal that it could have just as easily been us in her place. We all have the seeds for deception and aggression within us. If we had encountered similar conditions, we might have would acted like those we were about to criticize. While we do not approve or reject their behavior, we should understand the need to have wisdom, to practice compassion, and to keep everything together in proper perspective. 

This can also help us to appreciate the importance our "good karma." It is that which provides with the causes to be intelligent, competent, and upright. If we keep enjoying the integrity we created without generating any more, will eventually dry up. Since kindness brings kindness, it becomes logical to practice concentration, and wisdom. This is where we can use the paradigm of what is acceptable, sincere, and valuable.


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