Pratityasamutpada, karma and rebirth Flashcards
What is karma ?
Karma means ‘action’ - not all actions and their results only intentional actions count towards karma
It is the law of cause and effect - Christmas Humphrey !
What did the bhikihu bodhisatvva say about karma ?
“Karma means volitional action: action springing from intention”
How is good karma gained ?
Though merit - wholesome deeds punya being generous and kind loving and wise with our actions and intention we earn merit
Can karma be transferred if so give example ?
Yes karma can be transferred to others e.g the lay monastic Sanga - meditate and lay people get good karma from giving to them because their karma is so high lay Buddhists do this so lay people can be part of monastic sanga in next life
Buddha quote about karma ?
‘ it is intention .. that i call karma: having formed an intention one acts though body speech and mind ‘
How does karma work and what is needed for the generation of the greatest karmic response ?
Intention or motivation > the action it’s self > and the consequences- when all three parts are present the greatest karmic response will be present.
Effect of karma - Buddhist teaching that shows karma ?
A beggar living on the street in the gateway of the royal palace envious of the king and spends his night wishing that the king would have his head cut of and that he could take his place the next morning when he was asleep a the king drove his carriage out of the palace and the wheel went over the beggars neck and his head was cut of.
How does karma take effect ?
In the next life - after we die something is carried on for most Buddhists this is the conciseness and our karmic conditioning this draws us towards an appropriate next life where karma can take effect.
What is karmic conditioning?
It is part of what makes up a person it represents the way our actions effect us and the kind of person we are
Our karmic conditioning leads us to our deserving next life based on merit - our karma shapes our character and life and can indirectly be the cause of future karmic actions and consequences
What does karmic conditioning effect ?
1.Environment-/ place are born in to.
2. The things that happen to us
3. The realm we are born into
4. The kind of person or being that we are or will become
What is rebirth ?
Rebirth = samsara it is the constant cycle of brith and death and what determines who what and where - our rebirth takes place is our karma actions in one life effect the next so on so forth
What is samsara ?
“Wheel of life” - cycle of birth and death over and over again that unenlightened beings experience
Samsara is the essence of suffering and we are not free from suffering hate greed and ignorance until we are free of samsara
What is the parable of the poisoned arrow ?
One day it occurred to a follower of the Buddha that the Buddha never answered questions on how the universe began and whether we have a soul and what happens when we die - he felt cross that the Buddha never answered these key metaphysical questions - he found the Buddha and demanded to know the answers to his questions.
The Buddha told him a story about a man who was once was shot by a poisoned arrow his family wanted to take him to a doctor to remove the arrow and rid the poison the man refused to be treated until he knew who had fierd the arrow - and everything about the arrow the man and the bow - the Buddha pointed out that if the man wasted time waiting for answers to questions he would die before ever knowing the answers
THE MAN MUST FOCUS ON THE ARROW AND POSION BEFORE HE DIES RATHER THAN ASK QUESTIONS AND REFUSE TREATMENT.
Why did the man get this poison arrow parable told to him ?
The Buddhas message was more a less a metaphor for the man asking questions - comparison
The man was asking questions about existence and creations = man asking about arrow and shooter
Asking questions instead of trying to understand and solve why he dosnt know = refusing to be treated until he knows who shot arrow
The man should of focused on escaping samsara and dukkha and then these questions would be known = should accept treatment and then look for who shot the arrow
should focusing on saving themself rather than dying and restarting cycle without knowlage he once knew
What did the Buddha intent the poison arrow message to be about message to be about?
Time should not be wasted on metaphysical questions - focus on removing three posions and accumulating karma
