He does not use the word, "karma," but does talk about actions and their consequences. "Karma" means "action" and matters because it has consequences. Matuchek says:
"I myself had preached to my daughter that sometimes we humans have to break the rules, certain moral rules maybe included, and take the consequences - the blame if our judgment turns out to be wrong." (p. 200)
Reverend Wilfrid, the visiting monk for our meditation group, emphasizes karma, claiming that no one is above it and that the delusion that certain individuals are causes problems in some Buddhist organizations. One example of a karmic consequence: a guy boasts to his friends that he has stolen a bottle of wine from the restaurant where he works; next morning, at work, the manager says, "I want a word with you"; the worry that the word will be about the bottle of wine is a karmic consequence; wrong actions have bad consequences.
The British Poll Tax was made unworkable because so many people, believing it to be unjust, refused to pay it, some accepting the consequence of a short prison sentence. IMO, we see karma working in this one life and need not imagine any past or future lives.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, good and bad actions alike have consequences.
Ad astra! Sean
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