Environmental Karma

I was thinking the other day about Buddhism and the environment and could find nothing about it. So i thought that if we damage earth and the inhabitants of the earth wouldn't you think that this would affect your Karma. I think this is a big thing being overlooked. What is you opinion?

 

Let me just clarify what karma is in the Buddhist sense of the word:

KARMA is ACTION. It is not the fruit of your action, it is not the reward/punishment of your right/wrong action, it is not fate, not Cosmic/Divine Justice or what-have-you. Karma is your actions. The consequences of your actions are the fruits of your karma.

You throw a stone into a pool of water - that's karma. The ripples created by the impact of the stone to the water - that's the result of karma.

This is of course an oversimplification and hopefully the more knowledgeable members here can contribute as well, but anyway: seen in this light, the act of damaging the earth and its inhabitants is karma. The results of damaging the earth are the results of this act.

Now: the question then is, what are the results of all this destructive karma? Well, at least some of the results should be pretty obvious, right?

The thing about karma is: the consequences of my karma and that of your karma and that of the karma of the other innumerable sentient beings overlap. GO back to the image of the stone tossed into the pool: every single one of us is constantly throwing stones into the pool (actions/karma) and those stones create ripples that overlap. What does this mean?

That there is no escaping samsara.

 

So everything I do will affect my rebirth. So someone who is a logger dies he will have a more unhappy rebirth than a walmart greeter.

 

Wouldn't it depend on whether the logger was chopping down sustainable trees to provide for others, or was just manically chopping down trees for the fun of it?

 

I am not one to tell others what to and what not to do. I go out and do my own thing. I pick up litter. I take care of the environment and she will take care of me.

 

You speak like somebody who doesn't know any loggers. There are few people who actually spend more time IN the environment.

On other topics. This doesn't strictly follow any buddhist definitions of Karma, but I pick up lots of cigarette butts (among other garbage) to make up for those I dropped when I smoked.

 

What makes you so sure that a logger will have a worse rebirth than a walmart greeter? If it were only that simple we'd all be walmart greeters.

Here's a suggestion: don't waste too much time wondering about karma and rebirth. Just do your best to do good karma and leave it at that. Or do you really want to spend this life worrying about the next one?

 

I could be wrong , but for me , Karma concept (Budhism) is the opposite of destiny concept (Christian) ...

Destiny is fixed in advance , all you have to do , is open the sails , lay back , and let the wind blow ... to the destiny of life ...

with Karma , no laying back and no fixed destiny , I take charge , and manage where I want to go , on the road of life !!!
In this fashion , you could end up to a totally different place from destiny !!!

Like I said , I could be wrong ... But this way of thinking got me to experienced all kinds of situations , and since I'm in charge , I never could blame some one else !!!
To experience life to the fullest , it's a way to go !!!

If I were you , I wouldn't worry too much about your rebirth ...
Concentrate more about this one life you've got now ...

 

I'm Christian and I had no idea that the destiny concept was a Christian idea.

 

First ... Let ME clarify ... Karma (sanskrit) / Kamma (pali) is Action and the results of action. If fruit can be considered result, then yes, fruit of action is part of Kamma.

Second ... it's just a word used to identify this process, Action and Result of Action.

We act all the time, non-stop, moment-to-moment acting, continuously, without end acting. Seeing is an action. Hearing is an action. Smelling is an action. Tasting is an action. Touching is an action. Thinking is an action.

All actions have results which condition consciousness, or awareness.

We even act on the results of previous actions, and since all actions have results, then this is how various actions are perpetuated ... Action and the Result of Action.

Kamma of one person does not overlap in any sense.

We act as a result of contact between sense and sense-object. When contact is established, if we find the contact pleasurable then we are motivated out of greed to want more so we maintain contact in order to continue the experience. If the contact is unpleasurable, then we are motivated out of ill-will to try to put an end to the contact experience which unfortunately leads to fixating on the experience itself. This also maintains the contact which establishes a continuation in the experience ... a continuation to action, a continuation to results.

Because we are continually, non-stop acting, we act on what we see, hear, smell, touch and think. Our actions are motivated out of whether we find the contact pleasurable or unpleasurable, or neither. If we find the action pleasureable, then we are more inclined to continue the action. If we find the action unpleasurable we are more inclined to resist the experience, even to the point of fixating on the experience itself, which not only intensifies the experience, but prolongs it much the same way in acting on contact we find pleasurable.

Ah, but friend, there is ... Stop Acting ...

How does one stop acting? Put an end to the things which motivate one to act. Once the motivation stops, action stops. No reason to act equates to no action. And what is it that motivates one to act? Greed, for the things that are pleasurable; Ill-Will for the things that are unpleasant; Delusion for the things that confuse or bring about uncertainty.

If it were that simple, Mick. We do live by a law of destiny. Every moment we act and all actions have consequences. We create destiny by the actions we do in the NOW. We destine the good things in a future life, and we destine the bad things in a future life by the actions we are performing right NOW, coupled with accumulated results from past actions not only in a past life, but in the present life. AND ... we will act on the consequences of our present actions which will perpetuate the results which in turn pre-destine our future in not only this existence, but a next one, and a next one, and a next one ... until we stop acting.

How we act on current situations determines not only present Kamma, but future kamma. Our actions are not the results of others actions, they are the results of us not liking what we are in contact with, or what we like in the contact, or what we are uncertain about regarding the contact. That is, we are not affected by the kamma of others. We act on the kamma of others and we affect ourselves. We are the owners of the results of our actions. We do not own the results of others actions and therefore CANNOT be affected by them. Yet we can choose to act on the results of others actions which presents us with our own Kamma, as a result of our own actions, not the actions of someone else.

Neither can we give away the results of our actions, as in giving away good merit. Merit is an accumulation of actions, which include the results of actions. There is both good and bad Merit. It's nothing more than ... the accumulation of kamma.

If you "damage the earth and its inhabitants" then the results of your actions will be you damaging the earth and its inhabitants. However, if someone else is damaging the earth and its inhabitants, the only way it will afffect your Kamma is if you act out of liking or not liking what you are experiencing. Then you are perpetuating your own kamma.

Really there is not such thing as Environmental Kamma, or Group Kamma. This is nothing more than a way to identify the entire action/results process of groups of individuals, i.e., how one person acts on anothers results, in a cascading mass "action and result" effect ... one person acts on this one's actions, someone acts on their results, others act on their results ... exponentially ... yet Kamma is a personalized event, not a group event even though there is a group or mass of beings.

No one MAKES you act. You act because you WANT to. Because you are motivated to act. Because you like, don't like, or are uncertain about what it is you see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and think.

If you don't act at all, you literally put an end to kamma. However, like a wave in a pond when it is disturbed, the results will ripple outward in various stages not all at once, which means that not acting on ANY of the results of previous actions will put an end to that particular kamma.

Seeing is an action. It is not a TYPE of action, it IS an action. Hearing is an action. It is not a TYPE of action, it IS an action. Smelling ... tasting ... touching ... thinking is an action. It is not a TYPE of action, it IS an action. There are three TYPEs of actions: Mental, Verbal and Physical. Verbal and Physical actions are influenced by Mental actions. You think it before you say it, and you think it before you do it physically.

In the matter of [Re]Birth. Due to many translators intrepretation of the various words used to indicate the birth process more times than often they have been translated as RE-birth.

The Buddha did not teach re-birth. He did, however, teach there is Birth. Birth is a conditioning of becoming. Becoming is a conditioning of clinging. Clinging is a conditioning of craving. Craving is a conditioning of feelings. Feelings are a conditioning of contact. Contact is a conditioning of the six base [senses]. The six base are a conditioning of mental and physical aggregates (name and form). Name and form is a conditioning of consciousness. And, consciousness is a conditioning of ACTION. With action being a conditioning of ignorance (according to the Buddha's teaching). So this all comes down to the fact that Birth is a result of Action and the results of actions. Consequently, Death, being a conditioning of Birth is also a result of Action and the results of actions.

And, yes ... you can put an end to Birth, effectively putting an end to Death ... by putting an end to the ENTIRE conditioning process ... STOP ACTING. To put an end to Action, one must put an end to the thing which conditions action ... namely Ignorance.

What is ignorance?

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"If it were that simple, Mick. We do live by a law of destiny."
>>> I'm afraid you're right ...
It seems like the diced were tricked ahead of the game ...
I know that , but I hate it ...

"coupled with accumulated results from past actions not only in a past life, but in the present life. AND ... we will act on the consequences of our present actions which will perpetuate the results which in turn pre-destine our future in not only this existence, but a next one, and a next one, and a next one"
>>> There is nothing I can do about my past lifes , if there was one ...
I have concern only about this actual life ... And I'm doing everything I can to make sure it's my last one !!!

"What is ignorance?"
>>> It's ignoring the data , the info ... that's on the table ...
It's there ... it's up to the individual to get it ...
The purpose ... to learn and understand concepts that is a requirement for us to grow together !!!

 

You're 50% right. Not 50% wrong, but 50% right. There's nothing you can do about the ACTIONS (50%) of a past life, but there is something you can do about the RESULTS (50%) of those actions.

Absolutely Nothing!

Don't [re]act to their results.

If you don't understand the whole conditioning process, from IGNORANCE to ACTION ... to DEATH, then it's difficult to understand that there were past lives, and it's difficult to understand how one's actions will condition future lives as well.

As long as one acts, there will be results. As long as there are results, there will be experiences to those results. If one passes from this reality without having experienced ALL the results of past actions, then they will begin again in a new reality conditioned by those results, and perpetuated by new actions ... which leave behind new results ...

Want to put an end to the cycle?

S T O P A C T I N G!

How do you stop acting?

Put an end to Greed, Ill-Will and Delusion ... in putting an end to greed, ill-will and delusion, one put's an end to what motivates ones actions. In putting an end to what motivates ones actions, one no longer acts because one is no longer motivated to act. In putting an end to actions, one puts an end to Death, puts an end to Birth, puts an end to Becoming, puts an end to Clinging, puts an end to Craving, puts an end to Feelings, puts an end to Contact, puts an end to the Six Base [senses], puts an end to Name and Form, and puts an end to Consciousness ...

It's over.

Finished.

What had to be done has been done!

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darrelkitchen: thank you for the clarification (once again I stand corrected ).

Anyway, my question is: can one truly stop acting 100% of the time while one is still alive?

I mean is it possible to fully accomplish this:

"Put an end to Greed, Ill-Will and Delusion ... in putting an end to greed, ill-will and delusion, one put's an end to what motivates ones actions. In putting an end to what motivates ones actions, one no longer acts because one is no longer motivated to act. In putting an end to actions, one puts an end to Death, puts an end to Birth, puts an end to Becoming, puts an end to Clinging, puts an end to Craving, puts an end to Feelings, puts an end to Contact, puts an end to the Six Base [senses], puts an end to Name and Form, and puts an end to Consciousness ..."

while we're not yet dead? Because I don't see how we can manage not to act to eat, drink, sleep, deal with other sentient beings, etc. while we're alive. I think that at best I can manage to NOT ACT SO MUCH - that's all.

 

Also, how does all this relate to the OP's post on Environmental Karma?

 

Sorry guys ... got carried away ...*and forgot about the "environment" ...

Mother "Gaia" keeps the balance ... the biosphere is a self correcting system ...

Why make complicated stuff , when we could make it simple !?!?

 

If anything, I would think the return on karma will come only to a select few, and in due time -after all the 'aftermath'. Those who take the matter seriously should reap the fruits they sow, but the bar will be set extremely high, and only a select few will leap over it. Only they will receive the return on karma.

 

oh yes just look at hiv for one thing.. we've been here for 200,000 years and 30 years ago here comes a disease that is not only leads to death, but also deters reproduction and the health of offspring

 

Calvinism is the same as pre-destination, isn't it?

 

The destiny concept was created by Hinduism.