I agree Sishir, that's exactly my point. But who gets to decide what is the 'Universe's' perfect judgment? I don't like it when Christians are arrogant about the Bible like 'my denomination has all the truth', but I do believe God is the truth and the perfect judgment. At least I know that man is not the one who decides for himself. I know Christians like to think they 'have the truth'. But I believe God has the truth. Christians should be seeking God if they want truth. If perfect judgment, 'truth', is left as general as 'the Universe' then all we really have is the view of the beholder- in that case I would say that Buddhists have a god- themselves. My own view is that God is that perfect judge whether we know it or not. In fact I believe He is the judge whether we can know it or not.
The idea of a personally meddling yet all-powerful God has given me several nights of insomnia. The best statement I could reach is possibly a Spiritual Guardian. I know the term reeks of Republican spinmeistering...
you cant escape the laws of karma by throwing yourself into a funeral pyre. escaping karma requires detachment from the material conception of life. killing yourself definitely doesnt acheive that, and as such, there is nothing in hinduism that compels you do that. any woman that decides to burn herself alive because she believes it to be a way to escape the cycle of birth and death is a fool, and the people that convinced her to do it on the basis of religion are uneducated murderers that probably deserve a death much worse than what she received. to echo Shishir Chang:
Actually Buddhists warn not think believe something to be the absolute truth. Spirituality is just the guide. They say ultimate truth is beyond our concepts and it can only be directly experienced. Many Christians say the same thing about God.
I understand. thanks. Actually the 'kati' I referenced happened in India and she was forced to die. It was a Hindu tradition(and I don't mean all Hindus practice such things at all- how would I know). I will get names and references if needed. That was their understanding of Karma- so don't be too quick to judge them. By what authority can you say who is right and who is wrong in this situation? By what authority have you decided who deserves death?
in hinduism, the ultimate truth beyond sensory and mental comprehension of humans is called Nirguna Brahman (in sanskrit). i havent decided on who does or doesnt deserve death. but if this happend recently (within the past 200 years), then they broke the law, and indian law states that forcing someone to commit sati is punishable with either life in prison or death
Ultimate truth amounts to something greater than omnicience. The most popular leaders and figureheads were the ones who best exploited common truths into half truths that fit their views. Claiming to be above it all is just another means....
There are trivial truths, and there are great truths. The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false. The opposite of a great truth is also true. -- Neils Bohr
As I near 30. I am developing a sort of philosophy for myself. One that has a strong foundation for me to rely on when ever faced with a decision to make in the future. And this is it. The Universe is always watching. It has it's way of sorting things out..always. There is no exceptions. And most importantly, what makes a man, is what he does when alone and no one is around, because the universe is always watching. you can't think one thing and do another thing or you'll get what's coming to you. Everybody does. It's always been that way. Call it Karma, Universal Justice, or whatever, but we all have it coming, one way or another. Is it going to be good or is it going to be bad...what we're doing now will be the judge of that. Smushing a bug that is not bothering you. Running over a Racoon and letting it sit there on the highway for days so cars can run over it's corpse again and again. These little things aren't so little to me anymore. I knew I had it coming for doing those things the past week. And I got it. The universe never lets stuff slide. It's watching you like a hawk. It's always there waiting, with a smile, or a sword.
Which was taught/written by Paul the Apostle, not Jesus. Niether is it karma. It is simply this. Sow corn, corn grows... not pears. And if you sow your "all" into the physical, it will go away. But sowing to the spiritual side lasts. I view karma much differently.. as can be read from the descriptions of it above.
