Lidzhi Amikov, About Karma
Repository URI
Repository DOI
Change log
Authors
Abstract
Lidzhi recalls that when he was building a stupa his mother died. With the money that she had left him, Lidzhi bought paint and used it on the stupa. During the mourning period, it is forbidden to kill animals. If one needs meat, it is better to buy it in a shop. Karma, both positive and negative, is accumulated by people themselves. According to Lidzhi, people come to religion though suffering. The teachings of Buddha help not only psychologically but their effects can be felt in real life. A connection with Buddha can be established via reading mantras. Lidzhi recounts a story about a monk who accumulated bad karma. Once upon a time there lived a famous monk in a famous temple. Before his death he told his disciples about where he would be reborn. Soon the reincarnation of the lama was found in a boy. The boy was brought back into the monastery where he lived a lazy life and learnt nothing, not even how to read or write. At that time there lived another monk who was unpopular because of his harsh character and grumpiness. When the two monks got old, the grumpy one realized during his meditation that the lazy monk would be reborn in an inferior world. To help the lazy monk attain a human rebirth, the grumpy monk decided to impregnate a girl. The monk saw a girl doing the washing in the river. When he was about to proceed to what he had planned, the girl pushed him away and ran back home. Her mother, however, insisted that the girl returned to the monk, for he had a mitigating reason to have sex with her. When the girl returned to the old, grumpy monk, he explained to her that he just wanted to help another monk who had polluted his karma by living an idle and lazy life. Unfortunately for the lazy monk, at that time two donkeys were copulating and when the monk died his soul was born as a donkey. Lidzhi concludes that if one does not try hard it is easy to accumulate negative karma. Sometimes even prayers are useless in such a situation.