So if I get you correctly, good karmic seeds and bad ones (that one acquired throughout their lifetimes) will be in tact from since ages till now and will go on?

There is an interesting article in The Star today.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?...6&sec=lifefocus

The Star
Tuesday August 17, 2010
A dhamma journey for Ugandan
By MAJORIE CHIEW
maj@thestar.com.my

A Ugandan youth who left Africa to further his studies in India returned home as the first Buddhist monk in his homeland.

IN June 1990, Steven Kaboggoza, then 24, left Uganda to study in a university in India. His family and kin expected him to return as “a rich businessman with a briefcase”.

After seven years of travelling, Kaboggoza returned home as a Buddhist yogi with a shaven head and a backpack. His family was puzzled by his odd baggage: scuba diving gear and books on Buddhism.

“In Uganda, there was no Buddhist temple or even a single Buddhist teacher and certainly there is no sea in which to dive,” writes Kaboggoza who now goes by the name, Buddharakkhita, in his first book, Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emergence Of Buddhism In Africa. He also wrote another book, Drop By Drop: Practising Dhamma In Daily Life.

Bhante Buddharakkhita’s strange baggage had something to do with his life-changing experiences. (The term Bhante means Venerable Sir, and is used when addressing a Buddhist monk.)

The religious books tell of his spiritual journey after he befriended two young Thai monks studying at the university. Kaboggoza also embarked on a trip to meet the Dalai Lama after he was inspired by his Dharma talk.

A higher plane: Bhante Buddharakkhita (centre, pink umbrella) and other invited guests making their way to the World Buddhist Summit headquarter’s guest house in Kobe, Japan, in 2008

In 1994, after a 12-day meditation retreat in Dharamsala, India, which turned out to be his journey of self-discovery, Kaboggoza abandoned the academic path for the spiritual one. He joined spiritual friends in New Delhi to listen to talks, practise meditation and read Dharma books.

After a year, Kaboggoza left India for a pilgrimage to Nepal and Tibet, and eventually landed in southern Thailand, on the beautiful island of Koh Tao. To earn a living, he became a diving instructor. He had a good time, but soon became disillusioned with life and returned to Africa. Upon his return in 1997, his relatives found out about his new religion. They advised him to burn his books on Buddhism and returned to Christianity but he stood his ground.

He was grateful that he did before the tsunami struck in 2004 as many people were killed in the place where he used to dive.

As time went by, Kaboggoza grew restless. “I was lonesome without my spiritual friends and left Uganda in search of deeper Truth,” he writes in his book.

He spent a year in South Africa travelling and meditating before heading off to the United States.

Bhante Buddharakkhita meditating in a ‘mobile temple’ in Uganda

In 1999, Kaboggoza attended a three-month retreat at the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, in the United States, and later stayed on to join the staff until 2000.

In 2001, he went to Tathagata Meditation Centre (TMC) in San Jose, California, where he underwent intensive meditation and monastic training that led to higher ordination as a Theravada Buddhist monk in 2002. He took on the name, Buddharakkhita.

In October 2004, Buddharakkhita went on a pilgrimage to India, Nepal and Myanmar. In Sri Lanka, his host, Dhammaruwan, a renowned child prodigy and a Buddhist devotee, offered him a choice of two Buddha statues to bring back to Uganda.

He decided on the larger statue since his name, Buddharakkhita, means “protector of Buddha”.

Buddharakkhita had not anticipated that carrying the statue would arouse so much curiosity from all around – in Mumbai, India (while on a five-hour stopover), on board the plane, and at the Kenyan immigration. He felt exhausted by the endless questioning about the statue. When he discovered that the statue had broke from its base due to constant handling, he wanted all the more to protect it. He wrapped it in a monk’s robe.

At one airport, an immigration officer asked: “Why are you carrying this statue? Open it! Can I see it? Are you carrying things inside it? Possibly drugs?”

When he explained, “It is simply a Buddha statue,” he was ticked off.

While in Kenya where he took a break before proceeding to Uganda, he kept the wrapped statue in a bag.

When he returned home, his mother was happy to see him and shed tears of joy.

As it was a Buddhist monk’s etiquette, Buddharakkhita he stayed in a nearby hotel (and not in his mother’s house). But his strange attire and behaviour again drew much attention.

He wrote in his book about how he frightened two children who ran away from him muttering: “This man is going to eat us!”

“Some Ugandans thought I was a traditional medicine man (or witch doctor) when they saw me with my monk’s bag and asked what I was selling,” he says.

When he carried a big Buddhist fan from Myanmar, some thought it was a shield to protect the body, and yet others wondered if he was the royal bodyguard of the king.

Buddharakkhita’s family came to accept his new faith. Within one month of setting foot in his homeland, five members from his family became Buddhists. They included his mother, young sister and brother-in-law.

His mother was his first convert after she saw how other Buddhists – four Thais who run a restaurant in Uganda and a Sri Lankan factory owner – treated her son with such deep respect.

When he left Uganda, the number of devotees had started to increase.

He relates in an e-mail interview from Sweden: “A few weeks before I left for the United States, my three nieces and one nephew became Buddhists.”

After a year in the United States, he flew back to Africa for the second time and noticed that people still looked at him strangely.

This African monk’s alms bowl became a constant source of inquiry as he went on his alms round.

“Some people thought I was carrying an African drum, a small jembe.” A gatekeeper friend at the University of Nairobi thought the bakuli (alms bowl) resembled a pot and signified he was going on a long journey.

Well, his “food bowl” had even been mistaken as a football and a bomb!

One woman who was among a group of women waiting to harvest coffee beans in a nearby coffee plantation stopped and greeted him. Another frowned and told him: “I am afraid of the bomb you are carrying. Is that really a bomb?”

Buddharakkhita is an official member of the World Buddhist Summit, Japan.

When the charismatic monk first related his funny monk tales at the solemn 5th Buddhist Summit that was held in Kobe, Japan, in 2008, he drew laughter from the 300-strong crowd in the conference hall.

“Whenever people see me with my alms bowl, they want to buy it. Sometimes they think I am a local shaman trying to sell medicine to them.”

But after a while, the locals started to offer him alms.

To him, going for alms is a humbling experience.

“I never know how things are going to turn out. I become the centre of attraction in Uganda. People always stare at me while I am walking on the road with my shaven head and robe.”

These days, Buddharakkhita is based at the Bhavana Society, West Virginia, in the United States.

Twice a year, he would return from abroad to meet his fellow Buddhists in Uganda.

“My visit ranges from three weeks to four months. I hope to stay longer to establish local support in Uganda,” writes Buddharakkhita, who is president of the World Buddhist Sangha Youth, Uganda Chapter.

In Uganda, he is involved in Dhamma teachings at the Uganda Buddhist Centre and Kampala Meditation and Yoga Group.

He also teaches at retreats worldwide, especially in Brazil and the United States.

“This year, I chose to spend my vassa (rains retreat) and teaching engagement in Sweden,” says Buddharakkhita, who is also a Spiritual Director of the Flowering Lotus Meditation Centre in Magnolia, Mississippi, and a board adviser of the Global Buddhist Relief (GBF), both in the United States.

For more info, go to ugandabuddhistcenter.org/e-mail: ugandabuddhistcentre@gmail.org.

correct. They can only be removed using the 4 opponent powers. As long as they are not applied they will always be there. even when you have experienced the effects it will always be there. The 4 powers are:

1) The power of regret: One begins by reflecting on regret; the awareness that actions we have committed bring suffering to ourselves and others. This is not the same as guilt, which implies a negative and helpless state of mind and is not useful, but a sort of "intelligent regret," which is a very positive and creative mental state aimed at correcting the mistake so we won't repeat it.

2) The power of reliance: To correct our mistakes or negative actions directed toward either the Four Jewels or other sentient beings, we take refuge and generate bodhichitta. We rely on the Buddha who is our role model, the dharma that is the teachings of the Buddha, and the sangha.

3) The power of remedy (the antidote): These are positive actions of body, speech, and mind that we do to purify the negativity. This is "building the wall" of good karma. This can include kind deeds, chanting mantras, meditation, etc. and the dedication of the merit of what we have done to help anyone we may have harmed.

4) The power of resolve: This is our ongoing determination to never repeat the negative action and then not doing it again.

But to me that does not sound like removing it. More like preventing bad seeds to be planted.

A Brother once told the students in my University in a Dharma Talk that good karmic seeds act as a hook to the door that is going to slam against you (bad karmic seeds), hence preventing one from being slammed by the door (effect). Also he said that it'll all be there until one reached enlightenment.

Well perhaps it can be from a different perspective, but both do does make sense.

This post has been edited by eXPeri3nc3: Aug 17 2010, 11:32 AM

Some kamma are heavier, like committing matricide or patricide (killing parents), so the effect of this kamma may last a few lifetime like in the case of Ven Mahamoganalla.

Even good kamma that propels beings to the heavenly states (gods) will once day finish and they have to drop down to the human state or the evil destinies sooner or later.

Doing lots of good in this life will help us to be happy here and now, have a calm mind at death, and to reappear in good places after this life terminates. It's like putting more good kamma in our pockets, so the probability of striking a good kamma is higher.

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 17 2010, 11:54 AM

technically, yes if they had not become 'fruits' & ripen.

however if the karmic seeds were to ripen, then its another story.

to make it simpler, good & bad things will not go on forever. all things will come to an end, just a matter of when.

this is why Buddhism is different from other religions who believe in eternal 'rewards and punishments'.

even if you have committed the 5 heavy evil karmas as what soul2soul said, and u get sent to hell for a few aeons. the punishment will still end, one day.

likewise for good things. easiest example will be rich kids. these people have done a lot great and good things and previous life and hence born into a rich family.

however if they just continue to spend the money and did not work hard for it, it will come to an end one day.

please correct me if i am wrong

Oh that's new to me. I never knew Gods that ran out of good karmic deeds / seeds will drop down from their state.

Hmm Karmic stuff so wide.

What you said is in conjunction to the definition of impermanence I guess.

But personally the thought that the BAD karmic seeds will not disappear until reborn into Buddhahood kind of scares me to be honest

The gods have lifeterm one, the higher ones live longer. Once their lifeterm finish (providing they are not killed or die prematurely), their aura recedes, their bodies start to sweat, they garments become dirty, and most of them panic at that stage.

Yea, once their good kamma finish, the gods will re-birth again, and will most likely drop down to the lower worlds if they haven't cultivate any merits there (spend their time partying and enjoy that is).

yes. that's the whole point of Buddhism. to obtain Nirvana and get out of the Samsara cycle and Karma system.

and no, even as a Buddha, u are still applicable to past bad karma.

one story that i know of was,

the Buddha once had a headache for 3 days continuously. Even the best medicine man in the town could not treat Him and were puzzled.

hence the Buddha told them it was due to his past karma.

Many lifetimes ago, the Buddha was a child in a village. Besides the village was a pond full of fish.

to cut a long story short, the child was being rather naughty and used a stick and whacked the head of one of the fishes when it surfaced. that action planted a bad karmic seed and hence why Buddha got the headache, even after a few lifetimes and yes, even after being a Buddha.

In which teaching was this mentioned if I may ask?

Interesting story indeed. Hmmm animal cruelty reflected upon human being. Ouch.

Theravada suttas (tipitaka). In the Sutta Pitaka it was mentioned that Sakka (king of the gods) paid buddha a visit when he got depressed knowing he was going to die soon as a deva. There is also a story of a deva who panic after he saw his female playmates all disappear in front of him (apparently all took rebirth in Avici Hell after their kamma as gods finish).

The Abidhamma portion of the Tipitaka gave the lifespan of each gods, from a few million human years to a hundreds of thousands of Aeons (world cycles).

So the gods are not permanent, so warned by the Buddha.

This post has been edited by soul2soul: Aug 17 2010, 01:55 PM

Oh I see. I'm more to Mahayana teachings. Thanks for the heads up.

I don't think the Mahayana buddhists believe the gods are permanent, do they?

I haven't come across any that says that it is impermanent. Not implying anything btw.

No la. I got quite a number of mahayana friends, they all tell me the gods are not permanent. Otherwise why would the Buddha teach the characteristic of existence is "Suffering, Non-self, Impermanent".

Just something to ponder, if existence of gods is permanent.. why strive for Nirvana?

the way devas die are quite different.

as a human, the process of natural dying needs to go through a few process.

i.e., birth -> growth->adult->grow old/fall sick then die. and since human age is short, u roughly know when you are about to die. (accidents aside)

for devas, since they are higher beings, they emit a sweet scent. however, when they are about to die, the scent will be replaced with a foul smell. every other devas will start to isolate you and you will be all alone. and add the extremely long life span, you don't really know when your time is up, hence you won't pay much attention to gathering more good merits, thus dropping into the lower realms.

technically, you won't be prepared psychologically that you are about to die. and devas dun die like humans, can tahan until the last breath. when they die, they just disappear.

correct me if i am wrong.

Hmmmm. Food for thought eh.

What? Wow. That's like damn sad. Just disappear. At least when humans die they'll rot away and left behind is their skeleton.

Correct. You sound quite knowledgable!

For devas that undergo spontaneous rebirth, males appear instantly as 21 year old (all handsome) and females at 16 years old (all beautiful). It depends on Karma too. If you are born inside a castle or residence of their rulers , you get to become their 'sons' or 'daughters' , but if you are born outside of their castles, you become their 'servants'. But if your kamma really bad, you become demigod (asuras) or the enemy of the gods.

They appear with their beautiful garments, and their body radiate aura. Their place of dwelling also appear together with them. They don't stink, they don't sweat. They need to eat , but they don't produce any excrement (pangsai or urinate). They stay in that state for a very long time..... until one day , their body aura recedes, they start to sweat - at that time they knew they are going to die. When they die, they leave nothing behind. (unlike humans who leave behind their coarpse).

But if can get to the deva world is not so bad la.

hahaha..another question for u: is leaving anything behind(your remains) pose any importance at all?

i tot this is basic knowledge?

yeah...that's why the Buddha said the human life is still the best..we can experience all 6 realms and have more time and attention for the Dhamma..

at heavenly realms..you enjoy too much and care less about enriching yourself spiritually..

at lower realms..u suffer too much to even bother..

that's why the Buddha chose to be reborn in the human realm.

The teaching of Buddha can be said to be the most tolerant and peace-loving as compared with other religions. The absence of eternal torture for unbelievers in Buddhism is a unique trait of this non-Abrahamic religion.