Bill!,<br/><br/>I was trying to point out what might be causing (!) your
confusion regarding cause and effect - my view of karma hasn't changed in the
least. The cause and effect taught by the Buddha is similar in principle to the
modern scientific view, but does go beyond a simple, mechanistic description of
cause and effect (such as which direction a billiard ball will go when struck
by another). It's more complex than that in the sense that an action produces a
'seed' of potential karmic consequences which could take a long time to play
out (which is why we need to be mindful of each and every thought and action).
Karma is also not fatalistic, so can be changed if we begin practicing more
wholesome thoughts/actions. This of course makes it different from the
mechanistic view of causality.<br/><br/>I referred to Hume because he pointed
out the impossibility of pin-pointing precisely the necessary cause in a
sequence of cause and effect actions (Which
also doesn't necessarily deny cause and effect which is why I included his
quote that "causality is the cement of the universe"). Hume's analysis fits in
nicely with the more complex view of karma I described
above.<br/><br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad
