[Buddha-l] Re: Sharon Stone and Karma

Zelders.YH zelders.yh at wxs.nl
Mon Jun 2 18:26:26 MDT 2008


Just wondering.

Aren't "spiritual" beings - gods, asuras, what have you - not also 
viewed as karmic actors in the buddhist 'imaginaire' ?

An example - admittedly not really a buddhist one but the first that 
came to my mind  - the destructive eruption of the Gunung Agung 
volcanoe in Bali in 1963 during the preparations of the great 
centenary Eka Dasa Rudra cleansing ritual was considered by many 
older Balinese not as a random natural event but as the willfull 
action of the mountain god - a spirit equated with Shiva - in 
retribution of the atrocities that had been committed by humans on 
the island in the past period. To them it was a "logical" event.

Don't get me wrong ; I am not suggesting anything here about the true 
cause of the bitterly tragic events in Sechuan (or Birma). I'll just 
repeat my question : aren't "spiritual" beings not also viewed as 
karmic actors in the traditional buddhist view(s) of the world ? Who 
will try an answer ?

Herman Zelders



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