Karma, Death, and Birth
'Placing physical phenomena and mind in the same field may seem confusing at first, but like Einstein’s marriage of matter and energy, it leads to a view of the world that is elegant in its simplicity. Much in the Buddha’s universe, in fact, can be understood as a generalization of physical laws to a larger sphere.
'The law of karma, for example, which seems so exotic when mind and matter are relegated to different worlds, simply states that cause and effect apply universally and that the effect is of the nature of the cause. Every event, mental or physical, has to have effects, whether in the mind, in action, or in both—and each such effect becomes a cause itself.
'To the Buddha, the universe is a vast sea where any stone thrown raises ripples among billions of other ripples. Karma raises ripple-effects within personality and without, for both are in the same field of forces. When we pursue our own self-interest, we are adding to a sea of selfish behavior in which we too live. Sooner or later, the consequences cannot help but come back to us.'
- Eknath Easwaran, 'The Dhammapada.’
'The law of karma, for example, which seems so exotic when mind and matter are relegated to different worlds, simply states that cause and effect apply universally and that the effect is of the nature of the cause. Every event, mental or physical, has to have effects, whether in the mind, in action, or in both—and each such effect becomes a cause itself.
'To the Buddha, the universe is a vast sea where any stone thrown raises ripples among billions of other ripples. Karma raises ripple-effects within personality and without, for both are in the same field of forces. When we pursue our own self-interest, we are adding to a sea of selfish behavior in which we too live. Sooner or later, the consequences cannot help but come back to us.'
- Eknath Easwaran, 'The Dhammapada.’