Karma - A life of merit & demerit.

Buddhists, like other religions believe in the possibility of resurrection. Their "Book of the Dead - the Great Liberation by Hearing" is the words spoken to the corpse to guide it through the country of death & resurrection to a higher incarnation.

Life after death isn't something I believe in. I think it is wo/man's inability to believe how completely inconsequential one is that leads to all the religious beliefs that we do not in fact die & return to dust. End of.

I do, however, believe in Karma. Karma is not punishment or retribution but the consequence of a person's acts. Karma means "deed" or "act". It is the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, that governs all life. The effects can be mitigated by actions. We are not fated to some particular, pre-determined future experience or reaction. It isn't simple reward and punishment. Humans act with free will creating their own destiny. The theory is that if one sows goodness one will reap goodness & vice versa. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate response.

The parallells with Christianity are obvious. "You reap what you sow" - "Do unto others" etc etc. I actually don't care if it's a religious truth. It seems to me the only way to live your life - It's a "no brainer". We can't exist as a society & conserve our species & the world we live in if we don't try to follow this tenet.

It sounds so easy, but it is in fact very hard to prioritise the needs of others. It is impossible, in my experience, to always be truthful in word & deed. It is difficult not to do something if it will benefit oneself, but have a detrimental effect on someone or something else. I don't think that matters. What matters is the good intention & putting mistakes or wrong choices right.

If every individual just tried to do that the world would be a much better place. The cumulative effect of millions of people trying to do that would be transformative. I wish we could.