Planting. . .
Karma is probably one of Buddhism’s most recognized and misunderstood ideas. Someone behaves badly and something unfortunate happens. “Karma!”
But Buddhist karma isn’t simply cosmic revenge. At its heart, karma concerns intentional action and consequence. What we repeatedly think, say and do shapes us.
Consider anger. If we repeatedly respond to frustration with anger, anger becomes easier. The mental pathway becomes familiar. Eventually irritation hardly needs an invitation. The same principle works in another direction.
Practice patience repeatedly and patience becomes more available.
Practice generosity and generosity becomes more natural.
Practice compassion and the mind gradually learns another way of meeting the world.
This gives karma an immediate relevance regardless of how someone understands its implications across lifetimes. Every action is also training. You are continually teaching your mind what kind of mind to become. That doesn’t mean everything happening to someone is the result of their personal karma. Such thinking can become cruel very quickly.
People experience illness, accidents, natural disasters, social conditions and the actions of others. Buddhism doesn’t give us permission to look at someone suffering and smugly declare that they deserve it. Karma instead encourages responsibility for what we contribute.
What am I creating through this action?
What habit am I strengthening?
What kind of person am I becoming?
Those are powerful questions. A single kind action might seem insignificant. So might a single angry reaction. But lives are built from repetitions. Drop by drop, habits become character. Character influences choices and choices shape lives.
Perhaps we don’t need to imagine karma as a mysterious force watching from the clouds. Look closely, we can often see it operating right now. Every moment offers another opportunity to plant something.
The question is simply: What are you planting?
Peace and Love, Jim
#karma #thedailybuddha #tdb
