Karma

Karmic process is not racist. It doesn’t discriminate whether one is a Dutch or English, or one is a Buddhist or Christian, or one is Black or White. It’s a natural process akin to gravity. There is no one and no god who is tasked to record the good and bad karmic actions. There is no one and no god who is tasked to pass judgement and sentences. The fruition as a result of the karma or karmic actions is “automatic”; similar to the case where every action “automatically” leads to a reaction, the reactive force is equal and opposite to the applied force. The difference here is the karmic reaction is not immediate but works in a roundabout fashion. It’s like you push a button and then the “mechanical” system turns some gears and hits you unexpectedly.

There is no concrete proof that the Universe is finite or infinite. Scientists “prove” that the Universe is expanding but it is only based on reasoning. No one has ever gone to the edge of the Universe and came back to tell us about his experience. In a similar way, there is no concrete proof that the Karmic process exists or does not exist. However, based on reasoning, it’s convincing that there is really a Karmic process which is not perceivable using our six sense organs. For example, if one doesn’t study, it’s quite impossible for him to pass an examination. If one doesn’t eat, it’s impossible for him to grow up. There is a cause, therefore the effect. Non-causal processes are impossible in reality.

I believe the Buddha is an Enlightened being based on my study of the Suttas (in the five Nikayas) which are the words of the Buddha. All of them are lovely in the beginning, lovely in the middle, and lovely in the end. No ordinary person can possibly say those words other than the Buddha. He doesn’t perceive the body as the self; he transcended the worldly views based on the six sense organs. He has personal and direct knowledge about the karmic process. If one wishes to attain the same Enlightenment and become an Arahant, he must cultivate himself in terms of virtue, equanimity and wisdom. One who is yet to attain Enlightenment must not be arrogant to proclaim the existence or non-existence of the Karmic process because he just doesn’t have the direct and personal knowledge about it; like a scientist who has yet to visit the edge of the Universe. Similarly, one must not pretend that he knows what karmic action leads to what kind of fruit and when will the fruit become ripe.

According to the Buddha, as recorded in the Suttas, we can liken bad karmic actions as salt, and good karmic actions as water. If one does much more good karma than bad karma, the salt diluted in the water will not make it undrinkable. One can do good karma in thoughts, words and deeds through self moral conducts and also donations in terms of material, words and deeds.

Karmic process affects individuals but not the family, country, or race. Each person is the owner and heir of his karma. Natural disasters are not due to karma. However, some human actions can cause the demise of a country or civilization. These are man-made disasters. Not all victims are “sinful” but the evil persons who caused the disasters have committed very bad karma which may lead to their rebirth in Hell. Innocent victims will probably be reborn as humans.

One may think some rich people don’t deserve it because they are immoral and God must have made a mistake (or Karmic process doesn’t exist). One may think he should be rich because he is virtuous and God should reward him. Again, God made a mistake and didn’t do what should be done (or Karmic process doesn’t exist).

Most people become rich because they are greedy. God said greed is bad. Some people are not rich because they are content with what they already have rather than seeking more than what they need. God said being content is good.

Maybe the truth is: there is no God, or God is not omnipotent, or God is not always right, or we misunderstood God. We think we deserve it but we don’t; we think others don’t deserve it but they do. Karmic process is hard to understand. Greedy is indeed bad, but it is indeed a recipe to become rich. It is the work of the Karmic process. However, becoming rich is not necessarily good; it may be a curse. Being content is more conducive for happiness. Desire to become rich is effectively creating an unnecessary stumbling block for ourselves and then forcing us to cross over it just so we can find happiness. If we just be happy with what we have, we are already happy and no need to strive unnecessarily.

Most people in the world are living peacefully in their countries. If people stop chasing perfection, the world is already perfectly imperfect and needs no intervention from anyone. Of course, there is always room for improvement. However, there’s no need for one to be overly alarmist. The biggest threat today is that some advanced countries are actively destroying peace in the disguise of “defending human rights”. They are bombing poor countries and killing countless innocent civilians. That’s clearly destroying human rights but yet they proudly proclaim they are the “defenders of human rights”. Hillary Clinton proudly said in a TV interview: “We came, we saw, he died!” and then laughed uncontrollably. I can’t imagine any being which is more evil. Anyway, all beings are the heirs of their own karma, even though we may not live to witness the ripening of the fruits.

What we need to do today is to stop evil beings from destroying peace. However, we can’t start a war to create peace. We can only defend ourselves and tell the bullies to stop; and we wait for them to collapse due to their own doing. Believing in the existence of the Karmic process doesn’t mean we do nothing and just accept everything which hits us. Instead, we should cultivate ourselves in terms of virtue, equanimity and wisdom so that the fruit in the future is sweet. We accept whatever which hits us today as the ripening of our past karma; accepting the result means we have no suffering in terms of anger, fear, grief, lamentation or despair. Afterall, no amount of emotions can change the past, and no amount of emotions can guarantee a good future. There is no benefit to being emotional. By being equanimous, we have no mental suffering even though everything seems terrible at present.

Anyway, there’s no need to be pessimistic. The world is perfectly imperfect. Doing the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing.