Buddhism in my eyes (II) - karma

Karma, on wiki page, is explained like this :

Karma is a concept in Hinduism which explains causality through a system where beneficial effects are derived from past beneficial actions and harmful effects from past harmful actions, creating a system of actions and reactions throughout a soul's reincarnated lives forming a cycle of rebirth.

From my perspective, karma is NOT a universal reward-punishment system maintained by some clairvoyant and omnipotent high power, nor is it a personal balance sheet where one's debit and credit is tracked.

Karma, in Hinduism, literally means "action" or "deed".  When we take actions (including intangible actions such as thinking/emotions etc), we are, in the mean time, not only creating effects, but also creating an environment and, in turn, future.  The outcome of it, might seem random at times, but statistically, it's probably significantly predictable.

A digression.  The positive take from it, I think, is as what Gandhi said to "be the change you want to see in the world".  A fairy tale goes like this : one person feels very frustrated that wherever he goes it rains, and later on it turns out that he is the rain God.  In real life, we see people complaining that wherever he goes he has a bad boss and unfriendly peers.  We see people always dating somebody who are abusive.  I think when we feel the whole world is wrong, or same thing goes wrong all the time, chances are that we are the very cause that's sabotaging our own world.

OK, back to Karma.  Quote Joe, my favorite teacher in Shambhala meditation center : "karma does not mean to punish you, but to give you a chance to understand others and empathize".

Many of us tend to be judgmental, including myself.  When we perceive differences (between oneself and the target, or between one's ideal standards and the target's behavior), the easiest thing to do is to pass judgments and appear to be technically or morally superior.  I personally did not stop committing that sin until karma put me under circumstances where I used to judge others.  At this moment, I am reminded of what Yan once told me "he/she is no more, nor less" (than yourself).

Buddhism in my eyes (I) - religion?

I have only touched the most superficial level of Buddhism, yet I have been impressed deeply by the profoundness and merciful nature of it.  At the same time I also observed many misunderstandings around, which I hope to briefly discuss.  I am certainly no expert yet.

I personally do not think Buddhism is a religion (well, religion is hard to define. Clifford Geertz simply called it a "cultural system". But I think religion has a superhuman element), but a philosophy, because Buddhism is non-theist and non-metaphysical.  And even though it is no doubt a philosophy, Buddhism is much less concerned with moral and ethics, but with wisdom - not the wisdom to leave behind the material world, but the wisdom to see how we are habitually clinging to the impermanent phenomena.

Buddha was not super-natural, nor super human, nor God, but a prince who got enlightened under the Bodhi Tree, i.e. he came to understand the essence of life and suffering and became enthusiastic about spreading his philosophy in hope to mitigate/rid suffering of humans.

Buddhism teaching intends to reveal to people the innate Buddha nature of oneself and one only needs to discover it by dusting it off.  Buddhism does not worship Gods.  Buddha himself said "worship nobody but the wisdom he teaches".  Buddhists are encouraged to respect teachers (Buddha), because that is good karma (I will discuss karma next).

Buddhism is not institutionalized, which is the way many other major religions adopt.  One does not have to carry out a number of rituals or follow many rules or pay an annual fee to become a member of the club.  One does not need to swear allegiance and exclusivity to the club either.  One only needs to believe in the four seals (to be discussed later) to be a Buddhist.  Also, you probably have never seen anybody on the streets or in a subway station giving out pamphlets to try to convert you into a Buddhist.  And you probably have not heard of any war that was initiated by Buddhists in the name of Buddha or justice, nor to purge different point of views.