How Karma works - and why
For Order members, particularly those involved in Dharma teaching.
The doctrine of karma is the ethically significant aspect of the basic principle of conditionality. As such it lies at the very heart of Buddhist practice. Without it the Dharma would not only lack sound moral base, liberation and awakening itself would not even be possible.
Why then did the Buddha reject the idea of atman which was the key to the prevailing view among his contemporaries of how karma works? And how did he reconcile his teaching of anatman (”no-self”) with the centrality of karmic conditionality in his teaching?
What does it really mean to say that there is “only acting—-no actor”? Can we still have individual moral responsibility in this view—-much less any notion of personal identity and continuity?
How can we account for the “conservation of karmic efficacy” over time? What links an action I perform today with a consequence that may not become manifest for years—-or even life-times? What’s happening in the meantime? And why is this crucial to an effective understanding of Buddhist practice?
And what about actions we preform “unconsciously” or without any conscious intention? Have they no karmic significance? Or are they perhaps the most karmically weighty of all?
Teachers—and especially those presenting the new Mitra course—will find this seminar particularly useful for learning how to more effectively respond to the questions frequently asked about this challenging Buddhist doctrine.
1 May, 6pm to 6 May, 2pm
With Saramati and Aryadeva, at Madhyamaloka, Birmingham
Suggested donation: £ 150
To ask for further information or to book for this event, please contact us here.
To go back to our 2008 schedule, please click here.