Afterthoughts: Karma
Fourteen days ago I suffered a “massive heart attack”, whatever that might really mean. This was a cause to consider the often-mysterious workings of karma. During the past year I had been forced for many reasons to consider my karma and why events of my life had taken the turn they had. With the experience of near death came a perspective I had not considered. Life and death are real experiential events and not just philosophical considerations. Some would have us believe that in “emptiness” there is no life or death — a very cool sounding but ultimately useless expression — without emptiness death would not be a reality we must all one day face. We die because we live, we are alive because we were born. Oddly, birth is the cause of death and between the two we live out our lives as best we can. How we live and die and are reborn is a matter defined by our karma. Even within the Buddhist community, where the concepts of “karma” and “Dharma” are central to our practice, bot...