--- mooreharmony2002 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Not certain about having several 'lifetimes' ... > are you/anyone ??
So long as you believe in such a thing as 'lifetime', how could there be only one? Buddhist teaching is in its essence ethical. It teaches that nothing happens without a good reason. Therefore, in the Buddhist world, there are no arbitrary, capricious events, that happen based on the pure chance, or on a whim. In addition, every act will necessarily produce an effect, that is, will bear fruit. It is not possible to imagine an act that will remain 'unnoticed', that will never bring forth a result. Furthermore, the actor, that is, the person performing that act, is the one who is going to taste the fruit of that action, once it materializes. As a corollary to that, it is not possible in the Buddhist world for someone to taste the fruit of someone else's action. This being the case, and knowing that we perform acts even during the last few seconds before we die, the question is: who's going to experience the fruits of those actions, once we're gone? Any other understanding introduces the risk of a lax practice, if the practitioners are made to believe that it doesn't really matter what they do. The Buddha's teaching is formulated in such a way to keep us on our toes, to make us be extremely careful about everything we think, say and do. And because of that, it is so effective. All this, of course, only if a person is deluded into thinking that there is an act, and there is an actor, that there is such a thing as cause, effect, subject and object. Once fully enlightened, no one will suffer such misconceptions any more. But the only way to get there is through practice. Ther is no such thing as spontaneous Buddhahood. Alex ===== No karma was produced during the composition of this letter __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/WwRTUD/SOnJAA/i1hLAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Noble Eightfold Path: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Livelihood Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
