Search results for: past karma

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  2. The Karma of Pleasure
     … That’s the past karma we’re working with. And then we’re trying to fashion that past karma into an experience of well-being in the present moment. In the beginning, you focus on trying to create a sense of ease and well-being with the breath. To get established in that sense of ease, you have to indulge in it. That too … 
  3. You Hit Him First
     … It’s good to think in these ways, so that when you’re sitting here trying to get your mind into the present moment, the past doesn’t come in and clutter it up. You’re not going to come to an end of suffering by going out and straightening out other people or straightening out the past. You straighten out your mind right … 
  4. Ups & Downs
     … The Buddha does talk about the complexity of karma. There are some seeds gestating in your field of karmic seeds that may not be showing anything right now. That doesn’t mean they’re not there. But there are times when something really positive from the past suddenly blossoms. Then soon after that, something negative from the past suddenly blossoms. As for what you … 
  5. Lessons of Right Resolve
     … This gives you greater insight into the principle of karma. Thoughts that appear are results of old karma, but what you do with them right now: That’s new karma. This is one of the important aspects of the Buddha’s teachings on karma: Not everything is determined from the past. People may have done things to you, of course, as a result of … 
  6. Limitations
     … You do something today, and the karma coming in from the past allows it to have an effect. But you do the same thing tomorrow, and the karma from the past happens to be changing—because karma bears fruit at different rates—and you don’t get any effect, or you don’t get the effect that you wanted. It’s easy to get … 
  7. Can All Beings Be Happy?
     … Of course, we all have our mixed bag of past karma. But when you decide that right now, from now on into the future, you want to make sure your motivation is right, that’s all you can really be asked to do. As the Buddha said, even given the fact that we have past karma, it’s not determined that we’re going … 
  8. Past Intentions, Present Intentions
     … There may be thoughts coming in from the past, but they’re a relatively minor interference if you treat them with the right attitude. Remember: That’s past karma. At the moment, you’re not responsible for past karma, you’re responsible for your present karma. That means you’re totally free to do as you like with those thoughts as they come up … 
  9. The Power of the Mind
     … You don’t have to go back and wait for all your old karma to be straightened out; you don’t have to be tied down by your old karma. Remember the image of the salt crystal. Your karma from the past is the crystal of salt, but what makes the difference is the quality of your mind right now. Is it the little … 
  10. Glad to Be Here
    The Buddha’s instructions on how to get the mind in concentration start, on the one hand, with the reminder that you have to get past sensuality—your fascination with thinking thoughts about sensual pleasures. You can’t let the mind wander off in those areas. The Buddha says you should have a definite sense of the dangers of those places. That’s why … 
  11. Planting a Tree
     … In terms of training your mind, of course, this has a lot to do with your past karma. Sometimes there’s a karma obstacle that gets in the way. It’s going to slow things down. But you can’t let yourself get discouraged by that. After all, if you do have some past bad karma, what’s the best way to deal with … 
  12. Like a River Full of Water
     … Even if you may have past bad karma, a well-trained mind can help you withstand the results of past bad karma. The image the Buddha gave is of a large lump of salt. He says if you put it into a small cup and added a little water, could you drink the water? Well, no, because the water would be way too salty … 
  13. Return of Wisdom for Dummies
     … When the Buddha taught people how to put an end to suffering, he didn’t ask them first, “What kind of bad karma do you have in the past? Only if you have no bad karma can I teach you.” That wasn’t his approach. His approach was based on the assumption everybody has bad karma, everybody has some good karma. That’s how … 
  14. Directing Yourself
     … The reason I’ve fallen into something bad is because of past, bad karma when I was lazy, when I was discouraged.” If you just give in to the discouragement, it just gets worse, and worse, and worse. The only way out is to give yourself hope, to learn how to give pep talks to yourself that what the Buddha taught is worth listening … 
  15. The Buddha’s Protection
     … When we’re born into this world, each of us has karma, and we have no idea what karma is coming in from the past. Fortunately, the state of our mind right now doesn’t have to depend on past karma. The things that are really important in life don’t have to depend on past karma. They can depend on your karma, your … 
  16. Book search result icon Purity of Heart Faith in Awakening
     … Because his method focused entirely on the present moment, questions of past and future were totally irrelevant to his message. Thus any references to faith in such issues as past karma, future rebirth, or an unconditioned happiness separate from the senses are later interpolations in the texts, which Buddhist agnostics, following the Buddha’s example, should do their best to reject. The second interpretation … 
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  17. Inner Wealth
     … A person without any bad karma, who hasn’t done anything harmful, doesn’t have the kind of karma that’s going to leave an open wound. So the precepts make sure that you’re healthy, that you have protection. They also make it easier for the mind to concentrate: If you don’t have a lot of negative past actions in your background … 
  18. The Rewards of Stream Entry
     … That’s the result of past karma. The question now is, what are you going to do with it? What you do with it is your present karma. That’s something you can control, something you can change. In this way, having faith in the principle of karma makes you more heedful here in the present moment. And that’s all to the good … 
  19. Look After Yourself with Ease
     … This is a result of their past bad karma. How about teaching them not to make that bad karma to begin with? I had that same insight when I was down in Brazil one time. There was a faith healer who was healing huge numbers of people. But I kept thinking: He’s solving the problem at the end, rather than at the beginning … 
  20. Slogging Through Difficulties
     … A lot of it has to do with past karma. so if your path is difficult, whether it’s fast or slow, you’ve got to learn how to deal with the difficulties. Sometimes that means just slogging through. This is one of those areas where faith in the principle of karma is very important. This is why faith or conviction is one of … 
  21. Goodwill for Bad People
     … So simply because people have a lot of really bad karma in the past doesn’t mean that they have to suffer. If they can gain an understanding and develop the mind that, as the Buddha said, is limitless, then the past bad karma is like a lump of salt thrown into a huge river of clean, clear water. Even though there’s a … 
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