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  hardie karges 2:47 am on December 7, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 434 ), dharma ( 35 ), Hardie Karges ( 245 ), language ( 149 ), meditation ( 195 ), right actions, samma kammanta   

  Buddhism on the Curriculum: Learning to Give…  

  

  The best education comes from the most difficult schools. If the school is easy, then the education will be bad. This is foundational to the Vajrayana School of Buddhism, which sees a lesson in every encounter and a gift in every curse, according to the thinking of the Dalai Lama, he well-schooled in the arts of suffering at the hands of their Chinese hordes and masters. But Buddhism is not transactional, unlike many of the other affairs of life. It shouldn’t matter whether you will get anything from Buddhism or not. 

  The most important thing is what you can give. This is the essence of karma, samma kammanta, right actions. There are no right transactions or right deals. But right livelihood, right views, and right speech are at the heart of what matters in this life in this world. Because if you are looking to get something, then you will always be disappointed. But if you are looking to give something, then there will always be takers. If your intent is good and right, then don’t worry about theirs. 

  This is foundational and the primary act of faith on the part of the practitioner. And if the concept of faith sounds false, then be sure that it’s not. The best faith is based on facts, not fiction. The trick is to know the difference, first time and every time, hence the reliance on factuality, or the best guess. Like almost everything, intent is critical. If you are trying to be factual, then you will likely come close. Do that and leave the guessing games for the children. Dharma is simple. Don’t confuse issues.  

   

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  hardie karges 4:06 am on April 13, 2025 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 434 ), dana ( 7 ), Hardie Karges ( 245 ), karma ( 51 ), meditation ( 195 ), samma kammanta, superstition   

  Buddhism 101: You shouldn’t take more than you give… 

  

  Give more than you take, and the world will become a better place. It’s almost hard to believe that something so hard could really be so easy, but I tend to think that it’s true, and that’s how I try to live my life. Because, for one thing, it places high value on the concept of giving, regardless of the amount, and I think that’s important. But how much to give? That’s often a tricky question. So, it’s very easy just to simplify the equation. Just give more than you take.

  So, not only is that a net positive increase for the world, but it speaks to karma, also, and that’s one of the toughest concepts to tackle. But it shouldn’t be. Do good things. Karma means action, and samma kammanta means right actions. Nothing is more right and good than giving. That’s called dana. But how much is enough? Give more than you take. That’s plenty. And that’s good karma, so you will be rewarded, somehow some way, somewhere. That’s as far as my superstitions go.
   
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  hardie karges 11:44 am on September 26, 2021 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: Buddhism ( 434 ), CHRISTIANITY ( 161 ), Eightfold Path ( 17 ), Hardie Karges ( 245 ), ISLAM ( 67 ), karma ( 51 ), philosophy ( 105 ), religion ( 160 ), retributi8on, samma kammanta   

  The Buddhist Eightfold Path Does Not Bite 

  

  Revenge is not sweet. Retribution is not necessary. Equanimity is a path for all situations and all times: cool, calm, and collected. Isn’t it? And, if that is a lesson for the real world of sinners, not saints, then I think that it should go doubly for that saintly world that professes to know better. But religion is the worst offender at much of this, accomplishing with fear what it fails to accomplish with righteousness and inspiration. And so we do good, because we are scared of what might happen if we do bad. Saint Peter at the pearly gates of Heaven just might decide to revoke our visa and send us packing, back down to the Underworld south of Australia.

  But shouldn’t we do good simply for the act of doing good? Of course, we should. Isn’t that reward enough in itself? Can’t we win without someone else losing? Then, there are always the smiles on the young kids’ faces, if we need to quantify our gains by counting more tangible rewards. But isn’t that the problem more than the solution? Are we defined by the transient rewards of shallow victory? Not in the best of worlds. In the best of worlds there is always a sweet spot for conciliation, and reconciliation, that allows everyone to emerge from challenges and struggles with dignity and privilege intact.

  And that is the challenge, to not only do good, but to feel good about it. Anybody can do the right thing under pressure. But how many can do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts? So, the appropriate measures of fear are applied, and then we hope for the best. If the right and correct thing is not done, then there will be Hell to pay, literally, at some point in the future. Christianity and Islam, the Abrahamic religions, specialize in this. But Buddhism does it, too, with application of the principle of Karma above and far beyond its original intent.

  So what was originally intended as something simple and akin to the Golden Rule, and based on Right Actions, samma kammanta, in the original early Buddhist conception, becomes a generation-jumping act of retribution in Tibet 1000 years later. Sometimes some people need to be whupped upside the head, I suppose, when simple logic and simple pleasures don’t suffice, but that is not preferable, and useful only as a last resort. The bottom line is simple and resolves into a matter of belief: If you believe in karmic retribution, then you will be subject to karmic retribution. Do the right thing—simple.