Karma Question

[Yavana]

Just had a quick question about karmic rewards that I wasn't too sure about and I was hoping some of the contributors here could help me figure this out:

If a person is born into a wealthy family, goes on to be successful in business and amass a fortune, lives a long life with good health, has many children, and becomes the ruler of a powerful nation, are these things the fruits of good karma or no? Looking for some clarification. Thanks.

[Grigoris]

Just had a quick question about karmic rewards that I wasn't too sure about and I was hoping some of the contributors here could help me figure this out:

If a person is born into a wealthy family, goes on to be successful in business and amass a fortune, lives a long life with good health, has many children, and becomes the ruler of a powerful nation, are these things the fruits of good karma or no? Looking for some clarification. Thanks.

What do you think?

[Yavana]

Just had a quick question about karmic rewards that I wasn't too sure about and I was hoping some of the contributors here could help me figure this out:

If a person is born into a wealthy family, goes on to be successful in business and amass a fortune, lives a long life with good health, has many children, and becomes the ruler of a powerful nation, are these things the fruits of good karma or no? Looking for some clarification. Thanks.

What do you think?

Sounds like the karma of a "chakravarti" or "wheel turning king," but I just wanted to get some wholesome DW confirmation on that.

[pemachophel]

Yes, the things you mentioned are the result of meritorious action. However, humans are a mixed bag of positive and negative karma. So one could experience all the positive things you mention but still experience other kinds of suffering (such as disease, disability, deformity, mental-emotional problems) and/or commit demeritorious actions in this life. In the scenario you describe, the person is burning through huge amounts of karma, similar to those born in the realm of the Devas. So unless they are consciously making lots of new good karma through meritorious actions (think Bill and Melinda Gates), they are likely to fall from this state of abundance and power to a more wretched state and possibly even the lower realms. Being the leader of a powerful nation is a very dangerous situation. One can make huge amounts of merit, but one can also make huge amounts of demerit. So, personally, I wouldn't wish for this kind of power until my Bodhicitta was really firmly developed.

[Queequeg]

Yes, the things you mentioned are the result of meritorious action. However, humans are a mixed bag of positive and negative karma. So one could experience all the positive things you mention but still experience other kinds of suffering (such as disease, disability, deformity, mental-emotional problems) and/or commit demeritorious actions in this life. In the scenario you describe, the person is burning through huge amounts of karma, similar to those born in the realm of the Devas. So unless they are consciously making lots of new good karma through meritorious actions (think Bill and Melinda Gates), they are likely to fall from this state of abundance and power to a more wretched state and possibly even the lower realms. Being the leader of a powerful nation is a very dangerous situation. One can make huge amounts of merit, but one can also make huge amounts of demerit. So, personally, I wouldn't wish for this kind of power until my Bodhicitta was really firmly developed.