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The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part Three:

Karma

MICHELE HAPPE BLOG (HTTPS://WWW.MENTALHELP.NET/BLOGS/MICHELE-HAPPE-BLOG/) BY MICHELE HAPPE, MA, CERTIFIED

HEALTH COACH (HTTPS://WWW.MENTALHELP.NET/CONTRIBUTORS/HAPPE/)

I am a certified health coach specializing in recovery coaching, mindfulness coaching, and health coaching. I
work with all attachments including substance, codependency, and food ...Read More
(https://www.mentalhelp.net/contributors/happe/)

If you missed the first parts of this series, you can find Part One here
(https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/the-four-thoughts-that-turn-the-mind-part-one-impermanence/)
and Part Two here (https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/the-four-thoughts-that-turn-the-mind-part-two-
suffering/).

Karma is a much misunderstood concept in our Western world because western belief systems
imply that some outer supreme being will punish us if we do bad things. This is not how Buddhism
treats the concept. Buddhist philosophy has no concept of self or other. In this sense it is an
atheistic religion with no external God figure. All elements of our world are interdependent and
cannot be separated. The ego(monkey mind) is pretty invested in getting us to believe in self and
other so it can keep us in fear and be in control. The power of the ego is not an authentic power. It is
in a sense counterfeit and easily disarmed with practice and a proper understanding of Buddha
Nature. Buddha Nature is the merging of wisdom and compassion in its purest form. All conflict in
our lives is our curriculum or vehicle for transforming suffering to wisdom and compassion.
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9/30/2020 The Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind: Part Three: Karma - Wellness, Disease Prevention, And Stress Reduction Information

In Buddhism, Karma is simple cause and effect. If we express kindness and compassion our world
will be an out picturing of that. If we express greed and jealousy our world will be tainted in that way.
So in reality everything is Karma, since cause and effect operates so intrinsically in our Human
Realm.

I had a wonderfully enlightening experience while attending a training from Lama Khadro in Northern
California. She said that all suffering as a result of Karma is purification of that Karma. So when
crappy stuff happens in our experience rather than thinking “wow, what did I do to deserve this?” we
think about how grateful we are to be purifying negative Karma that has been accumulated over
many lives.

The way in which understanding Karma improves our experience is that we are encouraged to be
more altruistic and empathetic toward ourselves and others. Since there is no “self” or “other” we
know that harming others is just as harmful to self in the Karmic sense. We come to understand that
our thoughts and actions are crucial to the healing of the world and that there is no such thing as
“getting away with” anything. This provides the motivation for refraining from warlike behavior on the
interpersonal as well as the global level. The Buddhist understanding of Karma also encourages
personal responsibility and autonomous character building with the end result being maturity and
wisdom.

Keep Reading By Author Michele Happe, MA, Certified Health Coach

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Previous Post By Michele (https://www.mentalhelp.net/blogs/the-four-thoughts-that-turn-the-

mind-part-two-suffering/)

The Four Thoughts That Turn The Mind: Part Two: Suffering

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part-four-precious-human-birth/)

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Get HelpThat Turn
For Theor
You Mind: Part Four:
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