Result of good deeds?

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ydnan321
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Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:14 am

Result of good deeds?

Post by ydnan321 »

Hello all,
Please excuse my ignorance, this has been confusing me. So, I’ve heard that Mara became the king of the 6th heaven realm because he donated to an “Individual Buddha” in the past life. So, is it bad to donate? Also, the basis for reborn into the 6th heaven realm is cultivating the ten good deeds and others. So, why/how a person cultivating such good deeds become an evil or reborn into the same realm with the Evil King? Then, will he/she become evil too? Therefore, is it bad to cultivate good deeds?

Regards,

YN
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jundo cohen
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Re: Result of good deeds?

Post by jundo cohen »

ydnan321 wrote:Hello all,
Please excuse my ignorance, this has been confusing me. So, I’ve heard that Mara became the king of the 6th heaven realm because he donated to an “Individual Buddha” in the past life. So, is it bad to donate? Also, the basis for reborn into the 6th heaven realm is cultivating the ten good deeds and others. So, why/how a person cultivating such good deeds become an evil or reborn into the same realm with the Evil King? Then, will he/she become evil too? Therefore, is it bad to cultivate good deeds?

Regards,

YN
Hello YN,

I will merely offer one Practitioner's perspective. Sometimes stories are just stories, parables just parables.

So, just be good, live gently and generously. Don't worry about what is perhaps maybe some author's creative and imaginative scenario any more than one would wonder how Lex Luther became Superman's enemy, and the exact mechanism by which Kryptonite works to stay his powers.

Gassho, Jundo
Priest/Teacher at Treeleaf Zendo, a Soto Zen Sangha. Treeleaf Zendo was designed as an online practice place for Zen practitioners who cannot easily commute to a Zen Center due to health concerns, living in remote areas, or work, childcare and family needs, and seeks to provide Zazen sittings, retreats, discussion, interaction with a teacher, and all other activities of a Zen Buddhist Sangha, all fully online. The focus is Shikantaza "Just Sitting" Zazen as instructed by the 13th Century Japanese Master, Eihei Dogen. http://www.treeleaf.org
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kirtu
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Re: Result of good deeds?

Post by kirtu »

ydnan321 wrote:Hello all,
Please excuse my ignorance, this has been confusing me. So, I’ve heard that Mara became the king of the 6th heaven realm because he donated to an “Individual Buddha” in the past life. So, is it bad to donate? Also, the basis for reborn into the 6th heaven realm is cultivating the ten good deeds and others. So, why/how a person cultivating such good deeds become an evil or reborn into the same realm with the Evil King? Then, will he/she become evil too? Therefore, is it bad to cultivate good deeds?
Hello YN -

I don't know this particular story (could you state the sutra?) but it is showing that a virtuous action had a virtuous result. However all merit has its limit and we all have a mixture of good and bad karmic seeds. So after being reborn in the heavenly realm due to negative karma this mara was reborn in a lower realm.

Cultivate virtue,
abandon non-virtue
purify your mind,
this is the teaching of all the Buddhas (Dharmapada 14:183)

It is always good to do positive, virtuous deeds. It is always bad to do non-virtuous deeds. But virtue or merit alone will not take us to liberation.Therefore we have to also purify our minds and develop wisdom. Wisdom and virtue together will take us to liberation.

In the Mahayana we also purify negative karma. HH Penor Rinpoche used to say that the only positive thing about negative karma is that it can be purified. This is primarily done through confession of the negative deed and repentance or resolving to never again do that negative deed again. The general way to confess is to confess to all the Buddhas as this is an extremely powerful field of merit. Combined these are the four powers that purify karma: the power of regret, the power of the shrine (the merit field we confess to), the power of confession and the power of resolve (to never do this deed again). An excellent method (and the Mahayana path has many methods) is the Three Heap Sutra in the Tibetan tradition (also called the 35 Confession Buddhas) or the 66 Buddha Confession in the Chinese tradition (I could have the number of Buddhas off a bit in the Chinese tradition). In the Vajrayana the best method of purification is reciting the long (108 syllable) Vajrasattva mantra.

So in the Mahayana we cultivate virtue, avoid non-virtue, purify karma and purify our minds. Purifying karma is rolled into purifying the mind but it is so important that it should be mentioned separately.

Kirt
Kirt's Tibetan Translation Notes

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche

"Most all-knowing Mañjuśrī, ...
Please illuminate the radiant wisdom spirit
Of my precious Buddha nature."
HH Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
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