[UHlVExs7]

Hello again Adam,

I will share my thoughts about your questions.

There is a lot of mentioning on breaking free from the cycle of rebirth,

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this....do you mean Nirvana?

1.5) if based on 1, the answer you “cease to exist”, do all of us really want to achieve this goal? I look around the world and I do see much suffering. People and animals living in dire conditions, warding off starvation, illness, etc. But, my life personally has been filled with more good than bad. Obviously I have had sad moments and parts of suffering. But I have the luxury of living in Canada, where I never have to worry about starving, a roof over my head, etc. And if ceasing to exist or being reborn again are my choices, I would say I would like to be reborn again… Even if in a less-fortunate life-style. Perhaps is this me being ‘blind’/selfish/emotional clinging to ‘myself’? Sounds like you're looking for an 'eternal soul' or something similar. Rebirth is said to be the result of clinging. Its our desires and habits which are constantly being reborn.

'Suffering' also means discontent, conflict, unsatisfactoriness, and generally refers to our mental state. How we deal with our circumstances, illness etc also depends on our mental state. Our circumstances can change at any time.

With regard to anatta (not - self)and rebirth, I recommend reading this for an alternative approach:

http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Bo...nd_Rebirth.pdf



2) If one can ascend beyond the effects of Karma, and/or make up for previous bad actions… Could someone with completely evil intentions not just adopt many Buddhist paths, go around being evil and committing evil actions intentionally, and then directly try to ‘make up’ for them afterwards, and/or put themselves out of the reach of Karma? (or, in order to truly be above karma’s effects, one has to be selfless and altruistic?)
3) What will bring about bad Karma? Does it have to be actions, or can thoughts merely bring about it? Basically, what im asking is, lets say im in a public place, and have some ‘bad thoughts’ on a stranger who walks by, and I think to myself “wow that person is really ugly looking”, but I do not say it… Would I still receive some small amount of bad Karma for the thoughts? Or would I have to actually act upon them and say to the person “you are ugly”, thus actually inflicting pain upon them, in order to receive bad karma? (can we truly avoid natural bad thoughts? If we acknowledge bad thoughts as they come to us, and tell ourselves that they are bad and we should not think that way, is that a reasonable response? Should one of our goals during meditation/practice try to become truly “pure hearted” where we never think bad thoughts? Is that possible?) The Buddha said Karma is intention. If we carry out our negative intentions towards another person then they will probably respond with negativity towards us - resulting in more mental suffering for us and them.

Thoughts can become intentions which are then acted out. Otherwise theyre not important if we don't cling to them and take them too seriously. We can just let them go again.

Meditation can be about letting go and being aware in the present rather than striving to do anything. Thoughts are just thoughts, they come and go.

There are 3 short articles 'Karma', 'Karma and Growth' and 'Karma doesn't explain anything' which you might find interesting here:

http://www.unfetteredmind.com/articles/karma.php


ive read things about “hell beings” “ghosts” and “gods”. Does this mean there are other planes/realms/parallel universes where these ‘beings’ exist? Or are they assumed to exist in our current universe, but out of our human senses?
4.5) if these things and other ‘realms’ do exist, do we have any evidence or reason to believe so? Many things ive read about Buddhism seem to suggest logical reasoning or evidence to support the beliefs… Is there either for believing in those beings/realms? It is said that there are literal other 'realms' but they can also be interpreted as mental states.

Personally I find such beliefs are irrelevant to my practice in the here and now.

Ok, that's all for now. Perhaps someone else would like to comment.