[PAX] Karma (cause and effect)

I want to lay some ground rules for this thread. I am going to discuss Karma the way that I understand it. I am a Nichieren Buddhist.

Karma means cause and effect. The lotus blossum seeds and blooms at the same time. This can show how cause and effect can happen simultaneously. The lotus flower blooms in the most dismal of conditions. This means that no matter who we are or what we have done we can shine in our lives.

It came up on another thread. Ask a Satan- Which I have to say Shai Gar does an amazing job of moderating. The concept of Karma. Hitler was used as an example.

Cause and effect works. I see it in my life. I make good causes, I chant (lots). I am pretty happy. I think that people can see it in my posts. I have battled depression...seriously. Right now I am very happy from all of the good causes that I am making.

On the other thread they talked about Hitler. Keep in mind that buddhism has the belief that people are reincarnated. However, there is no way of knowing what happened to him after life.

I think I am going to keep this a little more general in order to explain what I am thinking. I think that people in power especially people who are persecuting people in a particularly dispicable and unthinkable ways do suffer horribly for their crimes.

There is a concept called the ten worlds. The four lowest worlds that are the worlds of so much suffering are: Hell, Anger, Animality, and Hunger.

Hell: The psychological suffering that we can go through. Depression can be excrutiating at least it was for me. Hell can also happen in the world of Buddhahood. Someone who is enlightened who is suffering tremendously because of the suffering of others.

Each of the ten worlds have the ten worlds embedded in them.

Anger- I think this is self explanitory
Animality- survival of the fittest where people suspend morality. It think this is what happened in Germany during WWII which is why people did not do or say anything. They were trying to survive.

Hunger- This can be for food, power, attention and addicition.

Anyways- Someone who is in power is paranoid and afraid that they are going to loose power. This is why people go to great lengths to destroy people who speak out. They are alone because it is impossible to have trusting relationships. Being angry all of the time (which Hitler was) takes a great physical and emotional cost. He had to be suffering so much for everything that he did. He could not trust anyone. People who are friends of people who are in power can not be trusted. They themselves are out for power.

This being sad. I know that this may spark debate. So I ask people to please start another thread.

I know that this is a really charged topic. What Hitler did was atrocious and unthinkable. I know (through my faith) that he is suffering tremendously in his new life. This is why I can post this so calmly.

How do I know. Karma is cause and effect. Every action has a reaction. You cant do somehting without there being a result. If you cross the street you get to the other side. If you dont cross the street nothing happens

 

This is hard to understand. You almost have to rethink things on a different level. Sometimes our suffering is our mission to create value. Suffering is not always because of bad karma. It can be from good karma.

OK people breathe...I know this is difficult to understand.

I suffered so much that I ended up in the hospital. I was in agony I kept chanting and was so scared. It was through my suffering and my practice and my faith that now I am in a much better place.

Wilma Rudolf had Cerebral Palsy as a child. She was in braces. Because of her illness she had the strength of the mind and strength of body to go to the Olympics and win gold medals for the US. This was a time when Black people were hugely discriminated against.

She went through this as a child and became a women of incredible strength and courage.

 

Enlightenment is seen as one of the 10 worlds. The ten worlds are: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger. These are the 4 lower worlds where there is so much suffering. The world of hunger is not just food, hunger for power, greed. Then there is the world of Humanity, Heaven (Impermanant happiness that can be here one minute and gone the next), Learning, Realization, Bodysatva, and Buddhahood. Each world has the ten worlds in it. An enlightened anger, for example, is when someone is angry because people were being victimized. Everyone can be a Buddha, or achieve enlightenment which is a state of wisdom and compassion. Not perfection because it has the ten worlds inbedded in it.

 

Moxie, they are not stories they are experiences . Experiences are real A story can be made up.

 

The reason why I am so happy is because I have been chanting so much. I have been chanting 2 hours a day. I am polishing my life and trying to create value. In my suffering I was polishing my life and not trying to make causes that hurt others. People that have so many things may suffer because they always want more. They may suffer because they are afraid to loose what they have.

My practice is shifting from a self centered practice to where I am practiing for others happiness.

My mother had cancer last year. She did not worry because she knew she was going to be ok. She is cancer free now. She recovered very well and is very active. She still works. Did I mention that my mother is 71. She runs around like a 50 year old. She knows it works but does not practice.

That is ok. She is waterskiing behind my practice.

She almost developed pneumonia in the hospital. I chanted by her bedside. My sister and I diligently looked after her.

 

Ask as many questions as you like. I was scared but I kept chanting. That helped alot. That helped me keep my fear in check.

I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. This is the title of the Lotus Sutra. The last sutra that Shakimuni Buddha also know as Siddartha Gutama wrote before his death in India. He is the man who reached enlightenment in India. Siddartha Gutama is the man that everyone usually think of when they think of Buddhism.

Nichiren Daishonin was a monk who reached enlightenment in Japan in the 1200's. He discovered that if you chanted Nam Myoho Renge Kyo you can polish your life. This was feudal Japan. Nichiren Daishonin believed that women and peasants could become enlightened. This was a revolutionary idea.

I chant, lately for 2 hours a day, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo which is called Daimoku. I also recite parts of the Lotus Sutra.

You can go to Youtube and hear Tina Turner chant on Larry Kings show. Just type in Tina Turner chant Larry King. This will give you an idea of what it sounds like.

Here is a site if you are interested; www.sgi-org

There are some excellent articles