Edgar, Mike, Suresh, et al... I think this is just the same old conundrum associated with Dependent Arising vs. Independent Existence (Buddhism) and Predestination vs. Free Will (Christian).
I'm staying out of this discussion for the most part because as most of you know already I think 'karma' is a delusion. (I'm using the term 'delusion' now instead of 'illusion' but it's the same thing.) Just plain old vanilla cause-and-effect is hard enough to swallow without adding moralistic or good/bad riders onto it. ...Bill! --- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, uerusuboyo@... wrote: > > Edgar,<br/><br/>There is no confusion in what I said at all and it also > depends on from which tradition you're talking about karma. As I've been > taught, karma will indeed play itself out, but only as long as a person still > identifies themselves with a self. Upon awakening to our Original Nature > (which can happen at any time) karma is extinguished because where is the > self for karma to attach to? Unless of course you're getting karma confused > with the crazy notion that karma is fatalistic and/or deterministic which > would make emancipation from karma impossible.<br/><br/>Here are a few > snippets on the subject. There are many, many more out there if you care to > do the research..<br/><br/>>He who believes in Karma does not condemn even > the most corrupt, for they, too, have their chance to reform themselves ***at > any moment*** (buddhanet.net)<<br/><br/>>Since basic nature transcends all > duality and is ultimate, there is no one to receive the effect, whether > it is good or bad, and no one to whom any effect can apply. Cause and > effect, just like birth and death, lose their significance at the Enlightened > level because at the level of basic nature there is no one to receive the > effect of the Karma, whether it is good or bad. Therefore, at the extreme, > when one is Enlightened, the law of Karma is not applicable > (angel-fire.com)<<br/><br/>>In the Vajrayana tradition, it is believed that > the effects of negative past karma can be "purified" through such practices > as meditation on Vajrasattva.[91] The performer of the action, after having > purified the karma, does not experience the negative results he or she > otherwise would have.[92]<br/>(Wiki)<br/><br/>>The Japanese Tendai/Pure Land > teacher Genshin taught that Amida Buddha has the power to destroy the karma > that would otherwise bind one in > saá¹sÄra.[89][90]<br/><br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPad > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: zen_forum-dig...@yahoogroups.com zen_forum-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: zen_forum-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/