The Unbroken Karma Link You Carry Through Different Births
When we talk about life, we talk about it as a bank account. How much work have you put in ? How much success you have withdrawn? The transaction on this bank account is karma. Though the concept of reincarnation was prevalent in India, it was Buddha who gave humanity the doctrine of Action or Karma. These teaching can be found in several Buddhist texts prevalent throughout the planet. Just like a bank where the transaction determines the state of one’s financial status. Karma determines the state of every sentient being across the universe. Life changes, shifts but the sequence of action put forth never does. There is always a deed you do. Every deed causes a reaction and at the end of the life, all the deeds are processed. But is karma accidental? Is the deed that is taken into account is accidental? No. Karma is the deed that speaks the intention of a particular individual. Its analogy is your actions speak louder than words. Your actions through life tell the story of what you are. These actions determine the form your life will take after it changes. And hence, rebirth. But rebirth doesn’t stop the karma. Another life a sentient gets is the same as before, only altered. The karma is still connected, the sequence is still the same. Karma is never ending just like life. That’s why the actions you take now may give the result in the life you acquire after your rebirth. The result may also be instant. For example, when you try to assault someone may leave injured now or in the next life you take the form of a dog getting run over by the car of the person you wanted to assault. But karma is not morality. There is no moral classification of good or bad of this transaction. Buddha only classifies it as kusala or wholesome , akusala unwholesome or neutral. The meaning of kusala and akusala are skillful or unskillful respectively. A kusala life is rewarding, while an akusala life takes away. It’s the yin and the yang. The positive and negative effect that man carries throughout his journey through the life cycle. Life takes many forms, and your karma determines this form. Further down the line, If you have continued to lead a kusala life, a person may be freed from the life cycle and get...
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