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

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

curt schreef:
>
> Of course all of this begs the real question: why are poor people 
> poor, enslaved people enslaved, etc? Those who wish to pooh-pooh the 
> "they deserve it because of bad karma from past lives" theory should 
> be ready to provide some explanation of their own, or else it is 
> merely an exercise in darkness cursing.
My guess: coïncidence and stupidity. Samsara stinks and we are the only 
persons who can do something about it. The world is not a movie or a 
computergame, no one is in charge, there's no scenario.
>
> Lastly - teachers often make rather outlandish exaggerations when they 
> are trying to make a point (on the assumption that those who already 
> possess a more subtle understanding will not be confused). I attended 
> a retreat last weekend led by a teacher who insisted that you can 
> "burn up all of your karma" by just chanting "om" one time. However, 
> she also strongly encouraged all of her students to meditate for 2 
> hours every day, one hour of which should ideally be between 3:30 and 
> 4:30 am ("brahmi muhurta") - but by all means prior to 6 am! She 
> further said that you need to bathe prior to meditating and that if 
> you get up at 3:15 am, bathe and then meditate for an hour during 
> brahmi muhurta - you cannot then go back to bed!
>
> - Curt
>
Man! This karma burning thing is worse then the army. I knew a guy who was told to burn dried cowshit everyday. It made him not very popular with his roommates and he was busy a great deal of the day getting cowshit. One thing I know however: it has been scientifically established that lack of sleep is very bad for the grey cells, so maybe the karma is in the brain. This would explain the peculiar behaviour of people who think they have good karma. Question is: should one burn ones brain in order to get rid of bad karma? Would that make the world a better place?

Erik


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