accruing good karma ?

• whylikethatah

  9 Aug 11, 12:16

  be it doing all the good stuff like charitable deeds/activities, donations, helping people, blah blah etc and whatever u name it...(p.s NOT saying doing all these stuffs are of no use and 1 should stop doing them)

  if it's for self-interest, thinking "eh, if i do all these then next time my future rebirths will be better. i better do more." 

  then u're still being selfish and attached to notions of gain, basically still attachment. so that's not dharma, that still sounds samsaric to me.

   

• Dawnfirstlight

  9 Aug 11, 13:30

  Karma is not so much about actions but more on intentions. Followings are the quotes from the Sixth Patriarch Sutra :

  迷人修��修�，

   

  �言修�便是�，

   

  布施供养�无边，

   

  心中三�元�造。

   

   

  以上是六祖å�›ç»�里“无相颂”çš„å‰�å››å�¥ã€‚

   

   

  师父开示说很多人以为布施供养就是在修行。其实�然，�是说修�供养�好。而是布施供养时，�时也在造业。怎么讲呢？你以什么心布施供养，�有你自己知�。有相布施供养是有�的功德，无相布施供养，功德是无�的。

   

   

  如果有ä¼�图的布施供养，ä¸�但没有功德，å��而造了堕三æ�¶é�“的因。这是第四å�¥“心中三æ�¶å…ƒæ�¥é€ ”。
• whylikethatah

  9 Aug 11, 13:40

  Originally posted by Dawnfirstlight:

  Karma is not so much about actions but more on intentions. Followings are the quotes from the Sixth Patriarch Sutra :

  迷人修��修�，

   

  �言修�便是�，

   

  布施供养�无边，

   

  心中三�元�造。

   

   

  以上是六祖å�›ç»�里“无相颂”çš„å‰�å››å�¥ã€‚

   

   

  师父开示说很多人以为布施供养就是在修行。其实�然，�是说修�供养�好。而是布施供养时，�时也在造业。怎么讲呢？你以什么心布施供养，�有你自己知�。有相布施供养是有�的功德，无相布施供养，功德是无�的。

   

   

  如果有ä¼�图的布施供养，ä¸�但没有功德，å��而造了堕三æ�¶é�“的因。这是第四å�¥“心中三æ�¶å…ƒæ�¥é€ ”。

  too cheem in mandarin. give briefly the essence of it, if possible for benefit of everyone.

  btw, karma is action + intention, not just intention and not action. action can also be with intention which is karma. 

   

• 2009novice

  9 Aug 11, 13:53

  yes.. doing good but with-not-so-good intentions is not so meritorious.. esp when your intentions have something to do with the 3 poisons. e.g ignorance, greed, anger

• Dawnfirstlight

  9 Aug 11, 14:10

  Originally posted by whylikethatah:

  too cheem in mandarin. give briefly the essence of it, if possible for benefit of everyone.

  btw, karma is action + intention, not just intention and not action. action can also be with intention which is karma. 

   

  Oh oh...... I know the meaning but don't know how to express it exactly in English. It means many lost Buddhists thought The Way is by doing chartiable deeds etc. Actually, The Way (Buddha's Way) is not just doing charitable deeds, it is more about actions plus intentions. Some people do chartable deeds with selfish or bad intentions, they are not accumulating merits but planting seeds for rebirth in hell.

   

• Loor

  9 Aug 11, 14:40

  so good intention + good action = good karma?

  (example)

  If I'm bored; rather than stay at home and watch TV, i think to myself: i'll go and helpout at the old folks home, so that I'm contributing and doing something 'good'. So there's good intent and good action, but ultimately, yes there is the thought that i want to gain good karma.

  So does that mean that in that kind of situation - i do not 'gain' anything?

• Dawnfirstlight

  9 Aug 11, 15:09

  Originally posted by Loor:

  so good intention + good action = good karma?

  (example)

  If I'm bored; rather than stay at home and watch TV, i think to myself: i'll go and helpout at the old folks home, so that I'm contributing and doing something 'good'. So there's good intent and good action, but ultimately, yes there is the thought that i want to gain good karma.

  So does that mean that in that kind of situation - i do not 'gain' anything?

  Well, that depends which intention is stronger? To pass time, to gain good karma or to help the old folks sincerely.

• Leogirldreamer

  9 Aug 11, 16:56

  when you see the smile on the faces of the people you have helped, when you can feel their happiness , that in itself is the best reward. when you know as a human you have spend your time and money to help another human, you will feel something about it.
• Loor

  9 Aug 11, 17:31

  well in the example, the original intent was to go do something 'good'.

  then once there, you just do what needs to be dome without thinking much more. So it's not like you're cursing when doing the tasks at the old folks home.

  So original intent was perhaps not pure, but then your actions are still positive and the intent no longer lingers.

  I'm not asking how many 'points' we get in such an exmple, but rather wonder how things like this are measured if at all. That's the beatuy of religion i guess...

• Amitayus48

  9 Aug 11, 21:14

  迷人修��修�，- The ignorance do blessing but not practicing absolute reality
   
  �言修�便是�，- and strongly promoting that the performance of blessing is actually Buddha nature.
   
  布施供养�无边，- in spite of the blessing from charitable and wholesome offering deeds done is borderless
   
  心中三�元�造。- the frequencies of samsaric mind continue to erupt profusely.

  Hope that the above is readable

• Susanteo2011

  9 Aug 11, 22:47

  Originally posted by Loor:

  so good intention + good action = good karma?

  (example)

  If I'm bored; rather than stay at home and watch TV, i think to myself: i'll go and helpout at the old folks home, so that I'm contributing and doing something 'good'. So there's good intent and good action, but ultimately, yes there is the thought that i want to gain good karma.

  So does that mean that in that kind of situation - i do not 'gain' anything?

   

   

  you should not be thinking of gaining good karma becoz there's really no one gaining anything at all.................

• I No Stupid

  10 Aug 11, 00:45

  intention (volition) is not the same as action, therefore mutually exclusive ....

  the intention may be good but the action is bad

  the intention may be bad but the action is good

  how?

• sinweiy

  10 Aug 11, 08:41

  Kinds of kamma

  In terms of its qualities, or its roots, kamma can be divided into two main types. They are:

  1. Akusala kamma: kamma which is unskillful, actions which are not good, or are evil; specifically, actions which are born from the akusala mula, the roots of unskillfulness, which are greed, hatred and delusion.

  2. Kusala kamma: actions which are skillful or good; specifically, actions which are born from the three kusala mula, or roots of skill, which are non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion.

  Alternatively, kamma can be classified according to the paths or channels through which it occurs, of which there are three. They are:

  1. Bodily kamma: intentional actions through the body.

  2. Verbal kamma: intentional actions through speech.

  3. Mental kamma: intentional actions through the mind.

  Incorporating both of the classifications described above, we have altogether six kinds of kamma: bodily, verbal and mental kamma which is unskillful; and bodily, verbal and mental kamma which is skillful.

  Another way of classifying kamma is according to its results. In this classification there are four categories:

  1. Black kamma, black result: This refers to bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions which are harmful. Simple examples are killing, stealing, sexual infidelity, lying and drinking intoxicants.[d]

  2. White kamma, white result: These are bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions which are not harmful, such as practicing in accordance with the ten bases for skillful action.[e]

  3. Kamma that is both black and white, giving results both black and white: Bodily actions, verbal actions and mental actions which are partly harmful, partly not.

  4. Kamma which is neither black nor white, with results neither black nor white, which leads to the cessation of kamma: This is the intention to transcend the three kinds of kamma mentioned above, or specifically, developing the Seven Enlightenment Factors or the Noble Eightfold Path.

  Of the three channels of kamma -- bodily, verbal and mental -- it is mental kamma which is considered the most important and far-reaching in its effects, as is given in the Pali:

  "Listen, Tapassi. Of these three types of kamma so distinguished by me, I say that mental kamma has the heaviest consequences for the committing of evil deeds and the existence of evil deeds, not bodily or verbal kamma."

  Mental kamma is considered to be the most significant because it is the origin of all other kamma. Thought precedes action through body and speech. Bodily and verbal deeds are derived from mental kamma.

  http://www.buddhismtoday.com/english/buddha/Teachings/035-payutto.htm

• Protoman

  11 Aug 11, 16:05

  I chanted 100 times Amitabha Buddha everyday. I chant ten recitations each time in ten intervals.
• Protoman

  11 Aug 11, 16:09

  Diamond Sutra Chapter 4. "Furthermore, Subhuti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhuti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha." "Subhuti, do you think that you can measure all of the space in the Eastern Heavens?" "No, Most Honored One. One cannot possibly measure all of the space in the Eastern Heavens." "Subhuti, can space in all the Western, Southern, and Northern Heavens, both above and below, be measured?" "No, Most Honored One. One cannot possibly measure all the space in the Western, Southern, and Northern Heavens." "Well, Subhuti, the same is true of the merit of the disciple who practices compassion and charity without any attachment to appearances, without cherishing any idea of form. It is impossible to measure the merit they will accrue. Subhuti, my disciples should let their minds absorb and dwell in the teachings I have just given."