There are firms now that will take that image and print it on a tapestry or faux oriental rug...
Christian; finding truth in Buddhism
- Thread starter KnowSelf
- Start date
Nick the Pilot
Well-Known Member
I am not sure what you mean. Are you saying you don’t think there is a hierarchy of beings in the aterlife?
I agree. I believe people who have a high level of spirituality will pay a higher price when they do terrible things.
If there is a next life, there may well be hierarchies of power, just as we find them here. I'll likely be as unimpressed by them, then, as I am by the setup we find ourselves in here.
But I was aiming at something more general. I don't share the idea that someone with more insight into spiritual things is somehow higher or more advanced than anyone else. I think that forming a hierarchy of degrees out of a standard of aptitude in an arbitrarily chosen area of expertise, is, well, arbitrary.
The Buddha thought otherwise, I believe, and I think he was right. Dark and bright Karma aren't settled on the same balance sheet. Hence the King of the Gods might be born into the lowest hell the next time around. Or a gazelle might next appear in the highest realms of non-sensuality, after the hunter struck. Regardless of the mythical nature of these teachings, I think they are spot-on. Good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people, without there being a mitigating or aggravating factor playing itself out.
Last edited:
The Paradise of the Desert Fathers has a number of tales alluding to just that.
That's the way I see it...
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
You are right. That is "Karma in Hinduism". Three types: 1. Sanchita, 2. Prarabhda and 3. Kriyamana. Good and bad deeds are on separate sheets and each have to be accounted for separately. In Buddhism, it is a bit different. There is no soul (anatta - not substantial), therefore, no next life after death (you can have, proverbially, as many as you imagine, in the same life - 'you can't put your feet again in the same river'). Only 'karmas' (Sanchita and Prarabhda) persist.
Interesting, so Kriyamana is tied to the self-essence?You are right. That is "Karma in Hinduism". Three types: 1. Sanchita, 2. Prarabhda and 3. Kriyamana. Good and bad deeds are on separate sheets and each have to be accounted for separately. In Buddhism, it is a bit different. There is no soul (anatta - not substantial), therefore, no next life after death (you can have, proverbially, as many as you imagine, in the same life - 'you can't put your feet again in the same river'). Only 'karmas' (Sanchita and Prarabhda) persist.
Aupmanyav
Be your own guru.
"Kriyamana is everything that we produce in the current life. All kriyamana karmas flow in to sanchita karma and consequently shape our future."
In Budhism, the accumulated karma (Sanchita and Prarabhda) persists and affects some one in future.
One person explained to me by the analogy of billiard balls. Once the balls are struck and move, what struck them is unimportant, but the movement of the balls may/will affect other balls.
In Budhism, the accumulated karma (Sanchita and Prarabhda) persists and affects some one in future.
One person explained to me by the analogy of billiard balls. Once the balls are struck and move, what struck them is unimportant, but the movement of the balls may/will affect other balls.