Reincarnation & Karma

Master Buddha is MB.
I'm TM.

TM: Yesterday we were discussing reincarnation and I asked you if we could include karma.  Will you explain karma and whether or not it affects reincarnation?

MB: Karma does factor into reincarnation.  It does so by the nature of what karma is.  Let me explain.  Karma is simply the eternal spirit of a human taking personal responsibility for his or her life experience.  There is an ethical element of course, but not to the degree that many believe.  The intensity of the ethical element is an effect of the person herself emphasizing this aspect.  That is to say there is no external force determining which acts of the individualized self are subject to karma and which are not.  It is the person who decides.

If for example a person commits an act of violence, a consequence is set in motion.  Let's say that the violence is acted out against someone.  There is the consequence of injury to the victim and there is the consequence of how the violent actor feels about this act.

TM: What if the violent actor feels good about the act; it was an act of vengeance?  What is the consequence to that?

MB: It depends on the victim's collaboration in this particular incident.  Believe it or not, there are acts that are requested by victims, even horrific acts that you would say that you would never wish on anyone.  But let me explain, because I can hear your mind protesting this claim.

From the time of mind endowment for humans, a sense of right and wrong began its slow development.  It was at that time that karma also began for humanity; once humans were able to discern and feel ethically, they were responsible for their actions and consequences.  Religion in its many forms became a guide as well as an enforcer and judge of unethical acts and their consequences, and also the reward provider for ethical acts.  This system of informing humans of what is ethical and what isn't, however crude, was the first step toward recognition on a social level of the responsibility accorded to an experiential life on Earth.

Karma has nothing to do with the justice meted out by human institutions.  If a person commits a violent act toward another, then justice as administered by fellow humans shall determine the consequences of punishment, and retribution if any for the victim.  This is as it should be for now.  But this is not karma; this is humanity providing justice for itself as a social act.  Karma reflects responsibility of the eternal essence of being and is determined by that essence through its personalized spirit relationship with its creator.  This is only possible because the eternal essence is one with its creator ultimately, yet is differentiated for the purpose of experience.  It is never in reality separate, but has the experience of being so.

TM: So, I'm not clear yet on how a victim asks for it, so to speak.

MB: Yes, I know this one is difficult for you because in your conscious human state you can't imagine that you would ever ask for such a thing and that it is just a way for wrongdoers to justify their actions.  On a spirit level there is communication between beings that is not evident in their conscious human awareness.  Sometimes you recognize it, but not very often.  Personalized spirits, such as you, are at once one with your creator and yet separate for the purpose of experience.  It is in the state of separation that experience leads you to that which is not your true spiritual nature.  Karma is the correction, harmonizing or balancing act.  When you take responsibility, of your own volition, your divine nature leads and no external force or judgment is required.  This why karma is acted out over many lifetimes.  The eternal essence corrects that which is not of its divine nature by its choice in time, place and lifetime.

The difficulty for you to accept this is that you are accustomed to the human ethical nature, which operates in the norm of "don't get caught".  For you to imagine that you would deliver your own justice is nearly impossible.

TM: You're right it is nearly impossible, but not entirely.  What if human justice is experienced, does the essence still have to do a correction, or karmic experience, separate from the human one?

MB: Yes.  But again I emphasize that it may not be in the way that you will interpret based upon your code of justice.

TM: In the case where the victim doesn't arrange to be the victim, what responsibility does the perpetrator have in karmic terms?

MB: As I said, it is up to the personalized spirit essence to determine that.  That means it is specific and particular to that essence in bringing relationship to his creator back into harmony and unity.

TM: We may need to continue this discussion.

MB: Most likely this is true.

Copyright © 2005 TM

Comments

[T. Reed]

According to a book "The Rozabal Line" the word “reincarnation” is derived from the word “carnate” which translates into “flesh”. Therefore, "incarnate” means entering flesh and hence reincarnate means re-entering flesh. You say that the soul enters the body at birth and leaves the body upon death, and that this is a continuous cycle. Why? What is the purpose of such a cycle?’ Well, with each life, the soul learns something more until the soul reaches the stage of Mukti or complete enlightenment. This is the goal that all people must work towards. At the stage of Mukti, which happens after many lifetimes, the soul is reunited with Brahman. Now, you may ask, what determines when and where a soul is reborn? This brings us to the theory of Karma. Karma literally means “deed”, and as a theory it outlines the cause and effect nature of life. Karma is not to be confused with fate. Man has free will and creates his destiny based upon his actions. The most dramatic illustration of Karma is found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. The Hindu concept of Karma was also adopted by other religions such as Buddhism later. More excerpts from The Rozabal Line can be seen on the author's blog linked in this comment.

[Carla]

I'm sure you know it already, but I wanted to share it with all of you.
Asanga was one of the most famous Indian Buddhist saints, and he lived in the fourth century. He went to the mountain to do a solitary retreat, concentrating all his meditation practice on the Buddha Maitreya, in the fervent hope that he would be blessed with a vision of the Buddha and receive teachings from him.
For six years Asanga meditated in extreme hardship, but did not even have one auspicious dream. He was disheartened and thought he would never succeed with his aspiration to meet the Buddha Maitreya, and so he abandoned his retreat and left his hermitage. He had not gone far down the road when he saw a man rubbing an enormous iron bar with a strip of silk. Asanga went up to him and asked him what he was doing. “I haven’t got a needle,” the man replied, “so I’m going to make one out of this iron bar.” Asanga stared at him, astounded; even if the man were able to manage it in a hundred of years, what would be the point? He said to himself: “Look at the trouble people give themselves over things that are totally absurd. You are doing something really valuable, spiritual practice, and you’re not nearly so dedicated.” He turned around and went back to his retreat.

Another three years went by, still without the slightest sign from the Buddha Maitreya. “Now I know for certain,” he thought, “I’m never going to succeed.” So he left again, and soon came to a bend in the road where there was a huge rock, so tall it seemed to touch the sky. At the foot of the rock was a man busily rubbing it with a feather soaked in water. “What are you doing?” Asanga asked. “This rock is so big it’s stopping the sun from shining on my house, so I’m trying to get rid of it.”
Asanga was amazed at the man’s indefatigable energy, and ashamed at his own lack of dedication. He returned to his retreat.

Three more years passed, and still he had not even had a single good dream. He decided, once and for all, that it was hopeless, and he left his retreat for good. The day wore on, and in the afternoon he came across a dog lying by the side of the road. He had only its front legs, and the whole of the lower part of its body was rotting and covered whit maggots. Despite its pitiful condition the dog was snapping at passers-by, and pathetically trying to bite them by dragging itself along the ground with its two good legs.

Asanga was overwhelmed with a vivid and unbearable feeling of compassion. He cut a piece of flesh off is own body and gave ir to the dog to eat. Then he bent down to take off the maggots that were consuming the dog’s body. But he suddenly thought he might hurt it if he tried to pull them out with his fingers, and realized that the only way to remove them would be on his tongue.
Asanga knelt on the ground, and looking at the horrible festering, writhing mass, closed his eyes. He leant closer and leant out his tongue…
And the next thing he knew, his tongue was touching the ground. He opened his eyes and looked up. The dog was gone; there in its place was the Buddha Maitreya, ringed by a shimmering aura of light.
“At last,” said Asanga, “why did you never appear to me before?”
Maitreya spoke softly: “It is not true that I have never appeared to you before, but your negative karma and obscurations prevented you from seeing me. Your twelve years of practice dissolved them slightly, so that you were at last able to see the dog. Then, thanks to your genuine and heartfelt compassion, all those obscurations were completely swept away, and you can see me before you with you very own eyes…”
(From “The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying”, Sogyal Rinpoche)

[fortheliving]

Of course you can choose to avoid the whole overly complex (and sticky) explanation and jump to the part where you are alive in the constant moment of now...

[b.sathya]

You have three karmas.1) sanchitha karma 2) agami karma 3) prarabdha karma. karma is due to cause and effect in turn due to any desire. subject is large and one has to understand that it takes time or you must discuss in person.

[Mahalia]

Wonderful conversations and getting lots of information and enjoyment from them.