Good Karma

“Good karma stems from doing good; loneliness stems from selfishness; suspicion stems from fear and fear stems from hatred. Thus, only when we cultivate a calm and peaceful state of mind can we turn our mortal heart into a Buddha’s heart.”  Attributed to Jun Hong Lu: Words of Wisdom, vol. 3,  pg.30

Good Karma is a Value Judgement

I recently saw this quote posted in a Zen Facebook group.  With all respect, this quote, particularly the “karma” part, sounds more like Judeo-Christian tradition rather than Buddhism.  The “if …then” concept does not belong to the Tao.  “Good karma stems from doing good” seems to be saying that if I do good deeds, then good things will happen to me.  First of all, the terms “good” and “bad” are value judgments.  The judgments require an arbiter to deem what is good and what is bad. And then, among other things, there needs to be a mechanism to discern and deliver the good karma and the bad karma.

As the saying goes: One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.  Recently as it was the 75th anniversary of D-Day, I watched the movie “The Longest Day” for the umpteenth time.  There is one line in the movie, almost identical, delivered by both  Curd Jürgen’s, character, German Maj. Gen. Gunther Blumentritt and  John Wayne’s American Lt. Col., Benjamin Vandervoort; “I sometimes wonder which side God is on.”   Everyone involved in any conflict or disagreement believes she or he is the good guy.  It’s what gives marriage counselors steady employment.  So, what actually is good karma?  That brings us to the decider.

The idea that good deeds promote good Karma implies that there is some mechanism that determines you have committed good deeds.  If your good deed is, for argument sake, rated 8 out of 10, is an 8 rated good karmic experience returned to you?  If so, who determines how good you are?  Is there a sliding scale?  How good is good? Who makes these decisions?

Karma is like water from a mountain’s melting snow, running to the sea.  It seeks its own way.  If there is an obstacle it goes around, a sudden drop and it becomes a waterfall.  Encountering a low point it forms a pond, and rises until it overflows, and then continues on its journey.  It’s neither good nor bad.  It just flows.