If we don’t have the karma to be infected by a disease, we will not be? Yes. If you have the karma to, you might be infected even if not near the infected? Maybe? What we know is the karma ripens when there is a cause with the right conditions.
The problem is we don’t know what causes we have created, even if we know what conditions might ripen them. We might hesitate to brave some conditions for a greater cause, because we are unsure if we had created the cause to suffer from doing so (e.g. helping the infectious ill) in the past. There are risks, yes.
We ought to believe in the workings of karma, but we ought to believe in the workings of compassion, that can dilute negative karma too, or prevent it from ripening, as acts of compassion creates fresh positive karma. If we ignore the needs of the infectious instead, would that not create fresh negative karma? In that way, we become ‘infected’ too!
Hmmm, so to help or not to help is the question, eh? Compassion has to go hand-in-hand with Wisdom. One has to be mentally prepared that the result of our compassionate intention might not be able to dilute our massive bad karma. If one is not prepared for any bad outcome, i guess dedication of merits might be the first step to help.
At the end of the day, based on my own personal experience, compassion becomes the deciding factor in embracing a situation where a loved one is concerned. Then again, is it the intervention of karma that provides the setting??
I think this summarises the possibilities:
The karmic is not fatalistic
as the karmic is dynamic. – Stonepeace
Pitfalls of Wrong Understanding of Karma
When something bad happens to you,
you might wallow in misery, resigned that it’s your inescapable bad Karma.
When something bad happens to others,
you might sigh that it’s just their bad Karma, and do nothing to help.
When something good happens to you,
you might become complacent, thinking your good Karma will last.
When something good happens to others,
you might become jealous that they have good Karma.
Benefits of Right Understanding of Karma
When something bad happens to you,
you have an open attitude to make the best of it, and better your Karma.
When something bad happens to others,
you help because they might have the good karma to be helped by you.
When something good happens to you,
you cherish it because it might not last, and remind yourself to do more good.
When something good happens to others,
you rejoice in their merits and encourage them to do more good.
As Karma is Anicca and Anatta,
not realising this is Dukkha. – Stonepeace
From: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thedailyenlightenment-realisation/message/327
Compassion goes hand in hand with wisdom.
We create our own karma, when and whether it ripens should not stop us from doing the right thing. And doing more good will also dilute the bad karma created eons ago.
To do the right thing
is
to do the right thing
(Y)
Amituofo