[Buddha-l] RE: Article of possible interest--correction

[Joy Vriens]

Joanna wrote:
  
>Karma, War and Inequality in Twentieth Century Japan 
> 
>By Brian Victoria 
> 
>HYPERLINK 
>"http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2421"http://japanfocus.org/products/ 
>details/2421 

The same attitude can be found in Tibetan Buddhism. 

Extract from Thrangu Rinpoche's book King of Samadhi:

"STUDENT: Some of my students are not necessarily Buddhist and they think the idea of accumulating merit is very strange. They ask me, "Why should the acts of making offerings, doing circumambulations, and so on create anything at all?" I don't feel that I answer them well. They also say, "It is it even stranger to think Chat, having done these things, you can give the merit away." Even though I personally feel this is a funny question, I would like it if you would explain in detail how it works, in a way that I can explain to my students. 

RINPOCHE: First of all, you cannot really blame others for not understanding. They haven't studied or tried to understand the cause and effect of karmic deeds, and therefore don't understand the principle of gathering or creating merit. You should start with explaining the ripening of karmic actions, the different types of cause and effect of karma. The effect of some karmic actions ripen in the same life, while others manifest only in a future life. 
Take the example of Prince Charles, who was born as Queen Elizabeth's son. Why was he born as her son? It was only possible through his own good karma. There is no one who issued the decree, "He is allowed to be the Prince of England and you are not allowed to be born in that position." No one makes this decision. It is the automatic result of people's individual karmic accumulation created from the past. He had somehow gathered the merit to become Prince of England while other people did not. In the same way, when we see children dying of starvation in Africa, it raises the question, "Why were they born in Africa? Why do they have to suffer this way?" It is because they were reborn as human beings at this particular time and place in Africa. Did anyone force them to be reborn there? Did someone say, "Now you must be reborn in a place in Africa where you will starve to death"? No, no one forces living beings to be reborn in this way. The fact that people are born into such c!
 ircumstances is because of lacking merit. From that standpoint, it is definitely very important to accumulate merit. Having merit, one can be born the Prince of England; lacking merit, one may be born as a starving child in Africa. Think about this and see that there is a definite need to create merit."
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