Oh never mind, Kanzeon's gone now.
Anyway we shall be appreciative of his role in the joyous co-creation of this fascinating conversation.
Let us continue to use his comments as a springboard for further exploration. Here is something which I wish to respond to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanzeon  I can't change your karma by changing my intentions. It is possible that I can change mine, but the law is considered exceedingly slow and, from the perspective of what you call manifesting, extremely nonspecific. In the moral plane, you reap what you sow: if you are angry, anger will (eventually, maybe not in this life, or the next, or the next), be directed at you. |
Kanzeon says that the law of karma is exceedingly slow. This is a serious misconception.
Buddhism offers detailed explanations on how karmic seeds ripen. They may take a very short time or a very long time. The requirement is the presence of what Buddhism calls the relevant "causes and conditions" for the seeds to ripen.
But it is definitely incorrect to suggest that as a general rule, the process is "exceedingly slow".
Karma can be pretty instant and very specific. For example, in a fit of anger, you box someone on the nose. The next moment, the guy retaliates by boxing your nose back.
THAT is karma. You sow what you reap. Please do not imagine that karma is necessarily some weird, mysterious, esoteric, exceedingly slow process. The law of karma is simply about how ANY of your intentions will lead to its own consequences. Sometimes it happens in surprising ways, at other times it happens in entirely foreseeable, obvious and predictable ways.
And of course, at any given point in time, you are already experiencing the effects of your own karma.
After all, your thoughts create your reality, remember? And remember what karma arises from -
your thoughts. Whatever your reality is now, it is the result of your thoughts, the result of your karma.