[feAilei1]

I found this article in the Victoria 'Times Colonist'. Its by Wayne Codling, described

as ''a former Zen monastic and a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition''.

Comments about the article are welcome.



Karma: What it Is and What it is Not

Even though most meditators in North America are not Buddhist, there are a significant number who are. Certainly Zen meditation will bring benefits regardless of religious allegiances, but it is particularly well suited to those who study the way, ie, Buddhists. This essay is for them.

Karma is an ancient idea; it has been around since long before there was a Buddhism. As an item of religious dogma, karma can become extremely complex and convoluted. Don’t be concerned, I will avoid all that, but there are a couple of basic points about karma that can be confusing. The intention is to keep it simple while not falling into the simplistic; starting with the word itself. The Sanskrit word ‘karma’ refers to action, activity; a process rather than any fixed thing.

Karma is intention. That is what the Buddha said. There are two possible ways to understand this statement. One: ‘karmic consequences’ are tethered to conscious intention. I would say that this is the usual understanding. But, another way of understanding the Buddha’s oft-repeated words is that nothing happens without intention. Practice then becomes a function of awareness of intention, since it perfumes everything.


Continued at the link:


http://blogs.timescolonist.com/2012/...hat-it-is-not/

[penpizdes]

Use of the term perfumes expresses intention in a good way.

[Konservir]

past few days, during the meditation, i have been giving a special attention to 'karma' with the knowledge that i have got by reading the suttas and listening to dhamma talks

the conclusions are:

1.
if we do not know 'what is skillful and what is unskillful' (worldly right view) we do, say unskillful thing (intention is unskillful and others get hurt in it) or think unskillful thing (intention itself unskillful and it hurt ourselves)
this is bad karma so we get bad (painful) results (black-kamma)

black-kamma is with greed/delusion or hate/delusion or delusion

for ex: if we hurt someone he hurt us in turn or someone else hurt us in turn

2.
if we know 'what is skillful and what is unskillful' so we do not do or say unskillful thing (intention is good) but our thought are not skillful (intention is not good)
so we get seemingly good results (white-and-black-kamma) but we do not get the complete pleasure
for ex: we donate something to someone but are not happy about it for some reason (giving is good and there are many reasons that make me giving but i do not like to spend my money for the particular cause or personally i am a miser)
so we will get what we need (as a result of giving) but we can not share it with the family/friends as we like (as a results of being a miser during the giving)

3.
if we know 'what is skillful and what is unskillful' so we do not do or say unskillful thing but we do or say skillful thing (intention is good) and we think skillful thing (intention is good)
so we get what we need and we can have the pleasure of what we get (white-kamma)

white-kamma is no-greed/delusion, no-hate/delusion


4.


deed- or word or thought with mind state of 'magga/pala' (noble-eight-fold-path or arya-puggala) can be said neither-white-nor-black-kamma