Are You a Stray in Samsara?

2 thoughts on “Are You a Stray in Samsara?”

1. Hmmm… not all will like this phrase “we are all wandering strays in Samsara “. To some it can be quite offensive even though the main purpose of this is to encourage others /remind others …

   Maybe the problem is with me. There is something that I find it used not so right – is the ‘good karma a person has to enter into Buddhism’ thingy. This statement can be encouragement – we are able to hear Dharma in this life, we should treasure this rare opportunity. To some people, when they hear this they are afraid of losing out or want to prove that they also have good karma too, so they go into Buddhism but not wholeheartedly, might not be a bad idea afterall.

   There are also some people use ‘good karma’ to ‘show off’, like the rich showing off to the poor. I am able to do this, because I have good karma. Some use this to rebut those non-vegetarian who maybe rude to Vegetarian, by saying – “You think so easy to be vegetarian, it needs good karma’. I don’t know whether will this sentence encourage or discourage others or it depends on different individuals how they take it …

   Or will other think, yes I don’t have enough good karma, so I can’t do this … Should we be planting more positive or negative in their mind?

   If we believe that a person required good karma to be able to hear Dharma, then should we be ‘marketing’ Pureland or should we encourage ALL to be good via different methods first, so that they will accumulate good karma which will then lead them closer and closer to Buddhism and then Pureland? Just like, should we be teaching a kid ABC first or straight into Secondary Work?

   Not all are able to adopt Buddhism, if their current way of life and thinking (which had been conditions by society) do not go in syn with the Teaching of Buddhism! If I have been grew up in an environment where I was trained on the ‘Survival of the Fitter’, I would find it difficult to accept Buddhism teachings. Is there any way to change this – by awakening the heart via different ways? Or should it be consider as no good karma?

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2. Hmmm… it is not uncommon for some to consider those who don’t subscribe to their beliefs as lost animals like sheep. I think ‘strays’ is mild by comparison. Strays need not be lost, just on their way looking for real refuge. I was a stray too, who didn’t think I was one. ;-( The cat, as above, ‘reminded me’ we are strays without the Dharma – but that’s just a personal reminder, that might not be relevant to others.

   It takes some karmic affinity to encounter the Dharma – be it good or bad affinity. What matters is what one does with it.

   To think one needs good karma to do good (create good karma) is rather self-defeating and fatalistic, because one has to start generating good karma somewhere – so why not now, with whatever conditions are available?

   We should share various aspects of Buddhism in various ways because we can’t tell who is ready for which aspects, including the encouragement to do good.

   Er… Buddhism is not about survival of the fittest; it encourages compassion for all, fit or not.

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