Sunday, March 9, 2008

Happiness and Suffering

If the cause of seeing suffering in my world is karmic seeds ripening;
And the compassionate actions I take to alleviate that suffering are the cause of karmic seeds to see happiness;
Then the result of my right actions will be to see happiness in my world, and the end of all suffering.

Then that must mean that:

• Those I see suffering may not, from their own side, be suffering; but I see them suffering because I have the seeds to see that suffering and thus suffer.
• Those I see suffering might, from their own side, be pretending to suffer to give me an opportunity to practice compassion and thus plant seeds to not see them suffer.
• When I see happiness in my life, it must be the result of karmic seeds planted from compassionate actions I have taken to help others.

How can I be happy if I constantly hold in my heart the suffering in the world?

Is it by remembering that the suffering is my own projection because of seeds I once planted?

If I understand that the suffering I see necessarily comes from me, and thus may or may not actually be suffering from the side of those I see suffering (because they are either holy beings pretending to suffer to help me with my karma, or because the “reality” of their suffering is my projection), is my path then to practice the 6 perfections as though everyone in my world is a realized being?

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