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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Core" data-source="post: 7553357" data-attributes="member: 263471">Karma       Karma is a concept encountered in several Eastern religions, although  having different meanings.  Teachings about karma explain that our past actions affect us, either  positively or negatively, and that our present actions will affect us  in the future.  Buddhism uses an agricultural metaphor to explain how sowing good or  bad deeds will result in good or bad fruit (phala; or vipāka, meaning  'ripening').       <img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/images/prayerwheel.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />     Tibetan Buddhists use prayer wheels to spread good karma ©                 Solely through our actions?       Early Buddhist writings (particularly SN 36.21: see related links for  an annotated translation) suggest that not all that we experience is  the result of past action; it may be due to natural events of one sort  or another. This is one point on which early Buddhism appears to differ  somewhat from later Tibetan teachings, which suggest that all the good  and bad things that happen to us are the results of past actions.  Whilst there might be doubt, or different opinions, about why we are  experiencing some sort of misfortune, there is no doubt that we can  resolve any suffering in the present moment through the Buddhist  teachings of mindfulness and action based upon good motives.  Beyond this life       For Buddhists, karma has implications beyond this life.  Bad actions  in a previous life can follow a person into their next life and cause  bad effects (which Westerners are more likely to interpret as 'bad  luck').  Even an Enlightened One is not exempt from the effects of past karma.   One story tells that the Buddha's cousin tried to kill him by dropping  a boulder on him.  Although the attempt failed, the Buddha's foot was  injured.  He explained that this was karmic retribution for trying to  kill his step-brother in a previous life.  On a larger scale, karma determines where a person will be reborn and  their status in their next life.  Good karma can result in being born  in one of the heavenly realms.  Bad karma can cause rebirth as an  animal, or torment in a hell realm.  Buddhists try to cultivate good karma and avoid bad.  However, the  aim of Buddhism is to escape the cycle of rebirth altogether, not simply  to acquire good karma and so to be born into a more pleasant state.   These states, while preferable to human life, are impermanent: even gods  eventually die.  Self-determined       The word karma means 'action', and this indicates something important  about the concept of karma: it is determined by our own actions, in  particular by the motives behind intentional actions.  Skilful actions that lead to good karmic outcomes are based upon  motives of generosity; compassion, kindness and sympathy, and clear  mindfulness or wisdom. The opposite motives of greed, aversion (hatred)  and delusion, when acted upon, lead to bad karmic results.  Karma is not an external force, not a system of punishment or reward  dealt out by a god.  The concept is more accurately understood as a  natural law similar to gravity.  Buddhists believe we are in control of our ultimate fates.  The  problem is that most of us are ignorant of this, which causes suffering.   The purpose of Buddhism is to take conscious control of our behaviour.       <img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/images/beliefs_prayerwheel.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />     When prayer wheels are turned, the prayers written on them are sent out  into the universe                  Moral habits       The Buddha taught about karmic 'conditioning', which is a process by  which a person's nature is shaped by their moral actions.  Every action we take molds our characters for the future.  Both  positive and negative traits can become magnified over time as we fall  into habits.  All of these cause us to acquire karma.  This shows why Buddhists place such importance on being mindful of  every action they take.  Getting rid of karmic conditioning       Acting on karmic habits increases their strength.  Buddhists  gradually weaken any negative thoughts and impulses that they  experience, through allowing them to arise and depart naturally without  acting on them.  In this way karmic habits can be broken.  Rebirth and disability       This view of the world can raise a particularly charged question.  Do  Buddhists believe that disabled people are suffering for misdeeds in a  past life?  The subject is more complicated than it appears, says the Venerable  Robina Courtin, a Tibetan Buddhist nun, in this radio discussion on  religious attitudes to disability.The Four Noble Truths            <img src="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/beliefs/images/buddha_afghan.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />     Statue of Buddha, 1st-2nd century CE, Afghanistan ©                 "I teach suffering, its origin, cessation and path. That's all I  teach", declared the Buddha 2500 years ago.  The Four Noble Truths contain the essence of the Buddha's teachings.   It was these four principles that the Buddha came to understand during  his meditation under the bodhi tree.  <ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The truth of suffering (Dukkha)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga)</li> </ol>  The Buddha is often compared to a physician.  In the first two Noble  Truths he diagnosed the problem (suffering) and identified its cause.   The third Noble Truth is the realisation that there is a cure.  The fourth Noble Truth, in which the Buddha set out the Eightfold  Path, is the prescription, the way to achieve a release from suffering.void Reference(){<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/" target="_blank">http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/</a>2010/05/28}</blockquote>

Verification: Dawasata paya keeyak thibeda?

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