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In ‘Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?’ by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, the newly deceased Batman says, ‘I don’t… actually… believe in an afterlife. You know that? I don’t believe there’s a place you go if you’re good, when you’re done. I’ve tried to believe, but I can’t…’ The vision of his late Mother replies, ‘… Do you know the only reward you get for being Batman? You get to be Batman.’ It’s most praiseworthy that Batman was all along good for goodness’ sake; and not altruistic for any rewards – in this life or the afterlife. Ironically in a good way, this creates more karmic rewards – whether he believes in karma or not. <\/span>Not that his Mother is right, especially since she might be an apparition from his own mind, Batman could do well to see the logic of the Four Assurances listed in the Kalama Sutta:<\/p>\n When, Kalamas, this noble disciple\u00a0has thus made his mind free “The first assurance he has won is this:<\/span> “The\u00a0second assurance he has won is this:<\/span> “The\u00a0third assurance he has won is this:<\/span> “The\u00a0fourth assurance he has won is this:<\/span> – Numerical Discourses of the Buddha:\u00a0An Anthology of Suttas from the Anguttara Nikaya [ad#batman1]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In ‘Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?’ by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, the newly deceased Batman says, ‘I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[426,139,106],"class_list":["post-5685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comics","tag-goodness","tag-karma","tag-rebirth","wpcat-241-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moonpointer.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nof enmity, free of ill will, uncorrupted and pure,
\nhe has won four assurances in this very life.<\/p>\n
\n‘If there is another world,
\nand if good and bad deeds bear fruit and yield results,
\nit is possible that with the breakup of this body, after death,
\nI shall arise in a good destination, in a heavenly world.’<\/p>\n
\n‘If there is\u00a0no other\u00a0world,
\nand if good and bad deeds do not bear fruit and yield results,
\nstill right here, in this very life,
\nI live happily, free of enmity and ill will.’<\/p>\n
\n‘Suppose evil befalls the evil-doer.
\nThen, as I do not intend evil for anyone,
\nhow can suffering afflict me, one who does no evil deed?’<\/p>\n
\n‘Suppose evil does not befall the evil-doer.
\nThen, right here I see myself purified in both respects.’ “<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n(Translated & Edited by Nyanaponika Thera & Bhikkhu Bodhi)<\/em><\/p>\n