What Is Karma and Why Should it Matter to Us?

Karmadev · #1 28-03-2017

Karma has become a controversial subject. Because I write regularly about chronic pain and illness, I hear from a lot of people who want to know why they’re struggling with their health when others are not. Many of them think their poor health is karmic retribution for some past bad action, and that they’ve become sick because they have to work off this “bad karma.” They see karma as a kind of external justice system where they’re doomed to suffer based on some bad act they can’t even remember.
With sincere respect for other people’s views, I don’t believe this is consistent with the meaning of karma as the Buddha taught it. Plain and simple, in Buddhist psychology, karma is about the nature of our intentions—our intentions at this very moment.
The literal translation of karma from Sanskrit is “action,” but the Buddha often said that karma means “intention”:

Intention, I tell you, is karma. Intending, one does karma by way of body, speech, and intellect. (AN 6.63)
To understand what the Buddha meant, think of our actions as having two components:

(1) our “bare behavior,” and
(2) our intention behind that behavior.
(Note: The word “action” includes physical action, speech, and thoughts—the equivalent of “body, speech, and intellect” in the above quotation from the Buddha.) What matters to forming our character is not the “bare behavior” that makes up our action but our intention in engaging in that action. And, as the Buddha said: intention is karma.
Consider the physical action of wielding a knife. The bare behavior = wielding a knife. But the intention behind that action could be to perform life-saving surgery or it could be to stab someone in anger or to steal from him. The Buddha identified six intentions that are the motivating force behind our actions:
•good-will (or kindness)
•compassion
•generosity
•ill-will (or anger)
•cruelty
•greed
Notice how the first three intentions mirror the last three: good-will/ill-will; compassion/cruelty; generosity/greed.
Actions that are based on the first three intentions are non-harmful to ourselves and others and result in relieving suffering. The intention of the surgeon who wields a knife in order to save a life is one of good-will, and perhaps even compassion and generosity.
In contrast, actions that are based on the last three intentions are harmful. The intention of the person who wields a knife in anger or in order to steal from another is one of ill-will or greed and intensifies suffering in this world.
The same analysis that applies to the physical act of wielding a knife applies to speech. If a man yells at someone, “Don’t move!” that’s his “bare behavior.” But his intention could be based on good-will (trying to stop the person from stepping in front of a moving car) or it could be based on ill-will (the words “don’t move” being spoken with a gun pressed against the other person’s back).
The same analysis applies to thoughts. If we’re thinking about the homeless, that’s the bare content of our thoughts. But our intention behind that thought could be compassionate (hoping they find a place to stay warm in the winter) or it could be cruel (hoping they get frostbite in the cold).
Planting behavioral seeds that form our character

Karma is crucial to our development as wise, caring, and loving human beings because, if we act out of a non-harmful intention, we predispose ourselves to act that way again. In other words, we plant a behavioral seed. We begin to form a habit. Conversely, if we act out of a harmful intention, we predispose ourselves to act that way again, making it more likely that the next time our behavior will be harmful.

Here’s what the Buddha said on this subject:

Whatever a person frequently thinks and ponders upon, that becomes the inclination of his mind…If a person’s thinking is frequently imbued with ill-will… his mind is bent by that thinking imbued with ill-will… (MN19)

The key word in that quotation is “inclination.” Each time our intention is one of ill-will, our inclination to respond with ill-will is strengthened. In other words, we’re more likely to act out of ill-will in the future. Conversely, each time our intention is to be kind, our inclination to respond with kindness is strengthened. We’re, in effect, learning how to be kind and so we’re more likely to be kind in the future. The same analysis applies to the other four intentions.

And so, by responding with kindness, compassion, and generosity, we are turning ourselves into a person who is kind, compassionate, and generous. We are forming our character. This, in turn, has a positive effect on the world around us. (And of course, the converse is true, should we respond to the world with ill-will, cruelty, and greed.)

The key to learning to incline ourselves toward non-harmful intentions is to reflect on whether our proposed speech or action will intensify suffering for ourselves and others or will ease it. Practicing mindfulness helps because it makes us more aware of our reactive tendencies. Then, instead of acting impulsively out of habit, we’re better able to examine our intentions before we act.

The implications of this can be life-changing. It means that we have the ability to change ourselves no matter how ingrained our habits are. As the Buddha said, “Intending, one does karma…” Thus, with the intention not to harm, we “do” karma, meaning that the person we become is kind, compassionate, and generous.

Karma is a profound teaching, one worthy of our careful attention.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...d-it-matter-us

micklfc08 · 31-03-2017

I've never really understood the concept

**BulletProofYogi** · 31-03-2017

Here are the 12 laws of Karma everyone should know!

1. The Great Law
“As you sow, so shall you reap.” Also known as the “Law of Cause and Effect.”
To receive happiness, peace, love, and friendship, one must BE happy, peaceful, loving, and a true friend.
Whatever one puts out into the Universe will come back to them.

2. The Law of Creation
Life requires our participation to happen. It does not happen by itself.
We are one with the Universe, both inside and out.
Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state.
Surround yourself with what you want to have in your life and be yourself.

3. The Law of Humility
One must accept something in order to change it.
If all one sees is an enemy or a negative character trait, then they are not and cannot be focused on a higher level of existence.

4. The Law of Growth
“Wherever you go, there you are.”
It is we who must change and not the people, places or things around us if we want to grow spiritually.
All we are given is ourselves. That is the only thing we have control over.
When we change who and what we are within our hearts, our lives follow suit and change too.

5. The Law of Responsibility
If there is something wrong in one’s life, there is something wrong in them.
We mirror what surrounds us, and what surrounds us mirrors us; this is a Universal Truth.
One must take responsibility for what is in one’s life.

6. The Law of Connection
The smallest or seemingly least important of things must be done because everything in the Universe is connected.
Each step leads to the next step, and so forth and so on.
Someone must do the initial work to get a job done.
Neither the first step nor the last are of greater significance. They are both needed to accomplish the task.
Past, Present, and Future are all connected.

7. The Law of Focus
One cannot think of two things at the same time.
If our focus is on Spiritual Values, it is not possible for us to have lower thoughts like greed or anger.

8. The Law of Giving and Hospitality
If one believes something to be true, then sometime in their life they will be called upon to demonstrate that truth.
Here is where one puts what they CLAIM to have learned into PRACTICE.

9. The Law of Here and Now
One cannot be in the here and now if they are looking backward to examine what was or forward to worry about the future.
Old thoughts, old patterns of behavior, and old dreams prevent us from having new ones.

10. The Law of Change
History repeats itself until we learn the lessons that we need to change our path.

11. The Law of Patience and Reward
All Rewards require initial toil.
Rewards of lasting value require patient and persistent toil.
True joy comes from doing what one is supposed to be doing, and knowing that the reward will come in its own time.

12. The Law of Significance and Inspiration
One gets back from something whatever they put into it.
The true value of something is a direct result of the energy and intent that is put into it.
Every personal contribution is also a contribution to the Whole.
Lesser contributions have no impact on the Whole, nor do they work to diminish it.
Loving contributions bring life to and inspire the Whole.