Why the Buddha Had Good Digestion and Karma Tales - Essay Example

Designed stories such as “Why the Buddha had Good Digestion” and “Karma Tales” were primarily for laypeople asa means to teach them the importance of earning good karma and avoiding actions that would create bad karma. In your view, are these stories effective in moving their readers closer to enlightenment or do they contradict the Buddha’s teachings on the importance of achieving release from the karmic cycle? i. Introduction Different religions have varying perceptions, theories, definitions and concepts about karma. All the same, these ideas revolve around similar foundations based on actions, work or deed. In Buddhism, the overall perspective is creating a link between intentions and actions leaning more on how they affect the future of a person. For instance, once a person makes it an obligation to perform good deeds and have good intentions always, they contribute to their good karma (Why Buddha had Good Digestion, 140). Inversely, people who have bad intents and engage in bad intentions have a bad karma resulting from inevitable consequences of their past deeds. Future suffering and happiness reflect on a person’s history of good deeds and intentions, which is a good karma. Karma, even when prevalent is diverse religions, has always been a topic of discussion especially for Asian religions such as Buddhism. Most people consider it a sensitive and complex topic especially with aspects such as ‘Why the Buddha has Good Digestion’ and ‘Karma Tales’ contributing greatly to the comprehension of karma. Relatively, it is a primal argument whether such stories are effective in moving the readers closer to enlightenment or they contradict the Buddha’s teaching on the importance of achieving release from the karmic cycle. Assertively, this essay is a comprehensive evaluation of these stories and Buddha’s teachings on karma as an attempt of creating a clear argument on their effects to the readers depending on what one understands. The highlights of ‘Why Buddha had Good Digestion’ and ‘Karma Tales’ form the basis of the discussion and conclusion; however, no single point or facet is ignored. ii. Discussion Notably, good and bad deeds institutes karma as depicted by Buddha’s teachings on the subject hence the inferences from Karma tales and ‘Why Buddha has Good Digestion’ do not reverse the overall concept, particularly on definition. On the other hand, intentions also play a significant part; typically, whether a person acts involuntarily or unconsciously does not matter as long as they do it. Each action has its consequences and according to Buddha, this acts form the basis of karma, which is never defunct. Buddha supports the idea of karma not being absent by adding that acts do not only constitute technical deeds or those done by the physical body but also those of speech and thought. From the Karma tale of a wise person slandered a manifest holy man, the act of thought plays the bigger role of determining the karma of Monk Chinko. Due to his jealousy towards Gyogi, Chinko faces the inevitable consequences of burning in hell. Gyogi or any of his servants do not know that Chinko was jealous but the thought of it was an intentional act that leads to his death (Karma Tales, 30). This clarifies Buddha’s teaching on the Noble Eightfold Path where for good karma; a person must have right thoughts as part of the wisdom. Moreover, thoughts alone are not an exception from facing karma and as for Chinko, he was ignorant of the fact that Gyogi was more intelligent and craved the attention that he received. One of the factors that lay people should observe in order to avoid bad karma entails telling the truth and relative to Chinko’s experience and events that followed his return from Avici hell. Had he expressed himself earlier about his jealousy towards Gyogi, would it have affected his karma? Buddha’s teachings vastly discuss about the consequences of good and bad actions thus one would expect an answer to the above question, particularly through a comprehensive elaboration on ways to rectify bad thoughts or speech. Though it appears, contradictory, the four noble truths and noble eightfold path gives an answer to ways of reverting bad karma. Under the wisdom, ethical conduct and concentration sub sections, there is no way of avoiding bad karma after engaging in bad actions. The only ways to overcoming the inevitable consequences is facing them or doing the right actions, engaging in right livelihood and putting on the right effort. Lay people are the main focus for ‘Why Buddha had Good Digestion’ and the ‘Karma tales’ and evidently all these stories show the importance of earning good karma and that not engaging in bad acts that are consequential. The main aim of all the teachings is helping the lay people understand the chain of cause and effect, which they misconstrued as teachings on how to overcome bad karma that results from their bad acts. All the same, it is helpful to everyone because karma embraces past and present actions meaning that the lay people can take on good deeds that will reflect in their future. Their present acts matter just as much as their past acts; typically, the teachings and tales simultaneously create a sense of hope for the lay people and help them understand karma as readers. Buddha having a good digestion is part of his present physical endowment and acknowledges it as a direct result of his practice of virtue in former lives (Why Buddha had Good Digestion, 138). However, his past as King Padmaka is also symbolic to the lay people and readers that additional factors such as titles or other aspects that change in a person’s future; naturally, all that matters is their being. The fruits of their actions do not change, alter or vanish after they decide to follow different paths in the future. Even though circumstances are prevalent in karma, they are not determinants of the results of a person’s actions. King Padmaka gave up his life twice for the well-being of his people as acts of compassion to others with no other reward just as Prince Shotoku and Master Hung Jae (Karma Tales, 27). They all had good results of their acts, which show that even when not expecting anything, good actions leads to good karma. Conversely, the monk feeding birds in the Karma tales accidentally kills a bird with a pebble and later on, the bird (reborn as a boar) unintentionally kill the monk with a boulder (Karma Tales, 26). Whether an act is intentional or unintentional, the consequences reflect the nature of the deed. For instance, one would argue that the monk feeding the birds should have not had bad karma because his chief intention was feeding the birds; however, this is oblivious because it depicts that the thought does not count. In King Padmaka’s tale, the thought and action extensively reflect Buddha’s good karma. iii. Conclusion Actions, thoughts and speech all embrace karma, which is an effective teaching for lay people but it also contradictory if evaluated in depth. Arguably, actions matter more than the thoughts and speech especially when the action is a bad deed. The tales and stories create a foundation for enlightenment for the lay people and the readers but do not fully intricate argument on what results to good and bad karma. Should actions, thoughts or speech correspond? Alternatively, does each have a separate classification that determines a person’s karma? Typically, the most effective aspect that comes from the teachings is that karma has beneficent and maleficent forces and circumstances that respond and support a person’s operations and their experiences. On a Buddhist perspective, the law of karma has two sides to it depending on a perception from the reading, which make it empowers the contradictory factors more than the effective. There are those Buddhists who extensively believe on the law and depend on their own manumission as a determinant of their karma; they do not pray to other powers for it. Will power is the chief aspect/ determinant for these Buddhists. On the other hand, some Buddhists perceive karma and its laws as a warning for those readers who engage in bad deeds. This group is kind, tolerant and considerate because to them, karma is an incentive to do good deeds and avoid the three poisons i.e. ignorance, attachment and aversion. Read More