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Originally Posted by Leto
Interesting, I had always thought that Buddhism viewed and interpreted ANY action as kharmic, that is Buddhist put little distinction between 'good' or 'bad' while emphasizing the fact that action (of any kind) is a departure from dharma and therefore an unnecessary bump in the road to enlightenment.
What I get from that is action is contrary to dharma, and therefore Buddhist are often caught trying to balance the bad kharma with good kharma in order to rebalance - an erroneous process from what I understand.
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The key here is action. I don't think you can work on karma without action. The road to enlightenment includes doing good and being helpful to others. A false view of Buddhism is that it's pessimistic or nihilistic. Furthermore, erroneous views (ignorance) are a barrier to rightful action, and so it is connected. Buddha taught how everything is connected, and that no action, no state, no understanding, has inherent, isolated value.
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BG - I agree that thought and action are connected, and thought can have value, but in a buddhist context, can thought without action have any kharmic impact? In the Theistic paradigms, thoughts can be interpreted by gods and be rewarded or punished accordingly (i.e. evil or good) however for Buddhists, this doesn't hold true as the aim is to achieve personal enlightenment and gods are on the same path to this aim as humans are.
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I don't think hateful thoughts in and of themselves will have a karmic impact. However, I believe that they are a source of karmic activity. The main focus of meditation is on the nature of thought. Thoughts arise, fester, and pass. By observing this process, we can understand how we react to specific thought processes. When we find ourselves carrying out actions that we later regret, we can trace this back to our thoughts that preceded the matter, that provided a basis for it. Usually, these thoughts are rooted in delusion. It's only by breaking through this delusion can we see the truth of our situations and how to act accordingly.
Buddhist enlightenment is personal enlightenment, but it cannot be achieved in isolation. Its path includes compassion for all living beings.
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Of course, I am drawing on the Hinayana or Theravadic exposure that I have had to Buddhism which may differ from some of the non-orthodox methods now prevalent.
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I have read a bit about the Theravadic tradition briefly out of curiosity. However, I haven't explored it further because it was of no use to me. I tend to stay away from Buddhist writings that include too much ritual and symbolism. I don't know anything about the Hinayana tradition, but I hear it's not as rigid as the other.
My approach to Buddhism is largely philosophical, and I try to stick to the core teachings as much as possible.