The Law of Cause and Effect

[Johan]

Namaste

I see in many posts on this forum a great amount of misunderstanding about life. Some people believe that life just happens, no matter what we do, which is a fatalistic type of viewpoint.

Some others feel that life is unjust and unfair, one simply cannot win, always getting the wrong end of the stick.

In order to avoid any further misunderstanding I need to lay the groundwork for my viewpoint, not only mine, but that of millions of others who share the same.

1. We all are in the cycle of birth, death, rebirth, etc., Reincarnation.
2. We are solely responsible for our own fate, Karma.

There is enough evidence to prove reincarnation, and the reason for reincarnation is Karma, the law of cause and effect. I am going to quote from a website where the concept of Karma is beautifully explained and it makes sense for anyone. The parts that I quote will be between arrows, Thus >> and <<.

>> Karma is the law of moral causation. The theory of Karma is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism. This belief was prevalent in India before the advent of the Buddha. Nevertheless, it was the Buddha who explained and formulated this doctrine in the complete form in which we have it today.

What is the cause of the inequality that exists among mankind?
Why should one person be brought up in the lap of luxury, endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery?
Why should one person be a mental prodigy, and another an idiot?
Why should one person be born with saintly characteristics and another with criminal tendencies?
Why should some be linguistic, artistic, mathematically inclined, or musical from the very cradle?
Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf, or deformed?|
Why should some be blessed, and others cursed from their births?

Either this inequality of mankind has a cause, or it is purely accidental. No sensible person would think of attributing this unevenness, this inequality, and this diversity to blind chance or pure accident.

In this world nothing happens to a person that he does not for some reason or other deserve. Usually, men of ordinary intellect cannot comprehend the actual reason or reasons. The definite invisible cause or causes of the visible effect is not necessarily confined to the present life, they may be traced to a proximate or remote past birth.
<<

>> According to Buddhism, this inequality is due not only to heredity, environment, "nature and nurture", but also to Karma. In other words, it is the result of our own past actions and our own present doings. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate. <<

Thus we are the architects of our fate. This also answers the question, "Why do babies die?" That baby was destined, in this short life, to only go through a particular experience. Remember it is not a mental experience, but an experience of the soul.

People often say God is unfair and ask, "Why did God take this baby away?". God did not do anything, it was a decision, an agreement, by that soul before it was reborn.

>> The accumulated karmic tendencies, inherited in the course of previous lives, at times play a far greater role than the hereditary parental cells and genes in the formation of both physical and mental characteristics. <<

Even the Bible refers to, and implies, Karma and Reincarnation. Jesus and his disciples came across a blind man and the disciples asked: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

If the man sinned and was born blind, it implies a previous life where he accumulated negative Karma, and therefor was born blind in his current life. Also, Jesus did not correct the implication. If Reincarnation and Karma did not exist, Jesus would have said so.

>> "Depending on this difference in Karma appears the differences in the birth of beings, high and low, base and exalted, happy and miserable. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in the individual features of beings as beautiful and ugly, high-born or low born, well-built or deformed. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in worldly conditions of beings, such as gain and loss, and disgrace, blame and praise, happiness and misery." <<

<< Although Buddhism attributes this variation to Karma, as being the chief cause among a variety, it does not, however, assert that everything is due to Karma. The law of Karma, important as it is, is only one of the twenty-four conditions described in Buddhist Philosophy. >>

You can not change Karma, neither can you escape it. Next time someting, not so positive happens in your life, remember your own contribution to the situation. You can make the Karmic consequence so much softer and bearable by changing your mind about it. See it as suffering you brought on yourself, it is not done to you, but by you.

But don't blame yourself, the reason for this Karmic consequence in your current life, is for you to understand that you erred and you must learn from the situation so that it does not repeat itself.

God does not punish you, God punishes nobody, Karma is a universal law, which, not even God will override. You have free will to choose your words and actions, and if you choose meritorious deeds only good things will cross your path.

Please the read the entire document at:

http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/karma.htm

Read it a few times and internalize the concept, it will make your life so much easier.

OM