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I have yet another hurdle to jump over. (also
read Kamma) There is some confusion of thought in regard
to Kamma and Heredity.
Confusion of thought in regard to Kamma
and Heredity.
If by heredity, is meant the transmission of qualities, mental and
physical, by parent to offspring, the Buddha-Dhamma does not dispute
it. But it asks: how is it that to parents who are mentally and
physically developed, children exhibiting a lesser quantum of these
qualities are born; vice versa, children exhibiting a greater quantum
of these qualities are born to parents physically weak; again in
the same family all children do not exhibit the same degree of mental
and physical development; again twins who are born a matter of minutes
apart, do not display the same characteristics.
The answer is obvious; Kamma. Buddha- Dhamma goes still further
and maintains that it is not the mentaphysical stature or otherwise
that matter; but the development of the inner potentialities of
the human mind which has been nursed in its Samsaric wanderings
with the aspiration to gain Enlightenment (bodhi). It is this characteristic
which distinguishes man from the colour of his skin, from the shape
of his nose, from his height, from his mental prowess from his idiocy
and so forth. As already mentioned Kamma is mental action (cetana),
the mind wills and the thought is translated into action by word
or deed. Once again I must remind you of the necessity to refrain
from evil and cultivate good. For Kamma is a passport through Samsara
till the moment we quit it for good.
The ideal which the Buddha set for us is clearly stated in Majjhima
i, 431, where He pointed out to Malunkiyaputta that everything else
is beside the point, when one sees, "thereis birth, there is
disease, there is decay, there is death and therefore, one should
perfect himself to obtain release from the cycle of birth and instead
of wasting his time over matters that lead him nowhere. As Bhikkhuni
Dhammadinna pointed out to Visakha, and every word of which of which
was endorsed by the Buddha, (vide:Majhima i.204) that only by a
systematic and sustained development of the ethical process of right
speech, right action and right livelihood that the release (nissarana)
from Samsaric ills is possible.
This does not mean that one should stop at this poi But it is from
this point that one proceeds to develop the inn potentialities latent
in him till he arrives at the point to gain the liberati vision
to see things as they really are. It is Kamma, to be preci Tihetukapatisandhi
that will lead you thither. This is Evolution of I being as the
Buddha-Dhamma understands the term. As we proca upward on the path
of Evolution,stage by stage, the baser elements the being simply
cannot stay, they fall, unable to reisist the powerful glare of
penetrative wisdom.
Finally the totally purified being blossoi forth as an Arahant.
Kamma has achieved its purpose, sublime int extreme. It is true
that an Arahant performs good deeds, but they cam bear fruits (vipaka),
for they are barren of clinging to the form formless.
"Where water, earth, heat, air no footing find, There burns
no lighting star, nor shines the sun, The moon sheds not her radiant
beams-but yet The home of darkness is not there, When in the deep
and silent hours of thought, The holy sage (true Brahaman) Truth
attains, Then he is well released from joy and pain; From form and
the formless is he freed!"
- Courtesy Bosi
Another point of view :-
Whilst the Buddha dharma (Philosophy) deals primarily with! problem
of human suffering and its end, over the passage of tin whilst remaining
a noble dharma, it has been influenced to satisfy mar psychological
requrements to have the "trappings of a religion" whe
an all powerful God is not the central figure. Here the lighting
of lam| and candles, offerings of flowers and gold foil as done
in Myanm and Thailand, in honour of the Buddha, and showing reverence
tot Bodhi tree (in the same way the Buddha did for seven long days
Buddha Gaya as a mark of gratitude for providing shelter during
I jhana;) the annual parading with music of townships carrying tf
Buddha's relics for veneration in great pageantry, and the chanting
Paritta suttas have given today an outlook that, what the Buddha
taug has become a "popular religion".
The Dharma has been adorned vii a beautiful culture. That is one
of popular cultivation of beliefs by actii to satisfy human want.
These actions have not in any way debasf the noble philosophy, as
the dharma itself stands high for all tin (akaliko), non diluted
and unadulterated, above what man may do.
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