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Respected elders,

I came acros this article forwarded by a friend. I
hope you enjoy this article. I have included my query
at the end of this article. Hope you clarify my naive
question .


Is Your karma Good or Bad

A Buddhist saying goes, "To endure suffering is to end
suffering; To spend blessings is to end blessings."
What the saying means is that to gladly experience
unavoidable suffering is to exhaust bad (unwholesome
or negative) karma, which also makes way for the
fruition of good (wholesome or positive) karma. Viewed
this way, suffering becomes a blessing instead. Vice
versa, to experience well-being without creating more
good karma (or merits) is to exhaust our limited good
karma. Viewed this way, spending our blessings makes
way for the fruition of bad karma. In these two ways,
it becomes "good" to experience the bad, and "bad" to
experience the good. No, this is not a twisted
masochistic attitude. It is a simple but powerful
thought-transformation practice to motivate us to
cultivate more good karma without complacency or
attachment, and to have no aversion towards any
inevitable fruition of bad karma. 
If you are reflect deeper on the saying, it also means
that karma is empty of any fixed characteristics -
there is ultimately no such thing as "good" or "bad"
karma. What matters is how we view our ripening karma,
how we deal with it and what new karma we create here
and now. Habitually, one labels one's karma as "bad"
the moment one suffers, and labels one's karma
as "good" the moment one enjoys a favourable state.
But whether one chooses to see suffering
as dissatisfactory (bad) or well-being as enjoyable
(good), is entirely up to one's attitude in the
moment. It is of course totally alright to enjoy
well-being, but the wise would be simultaneously
mindful that this momentary enjoyment is not at the
price of becoming increasingly complacent and attached
- a price which might have to be dearly paid for in
future.
A powerful example of the empty nature of karma is the
2004 Asian tsunami tragedy, which has claimed about
280,000 lives to date. It was labelled by many as the
result of massive fruition of collective bad karma. In
truth, the karma involved cannot be specifically
labelled bad or good. This is because as much as the
tsunamis might have wrecked lives, they have also
taught the the survivors and the world at large on the
importance of human unity, respect for nature, the
fragility of life, and countless other invaluable
universal lessons. Thus, the tsunamis were essentially
empty of any fixed characteristics or intentions; they
were simply natural reflections of the changing nature
of karmic cause and effect at play.
When we realise the emptiness of karma, we become free
of karma's trappings. Yes, even past committed karma
is not fixed. If past karma were to be solidly
immutable, there would be absolutely no point in
practising repentance to change our otherwise fixed
destinies. Having understood and made peace with the
law of karma, we will naturally abide in an
ever-equanimous state of mind, which allows us to
graciously accept anything that happens to us, be it
so-called "good", or "bad", which are mere mental
labels resulting from our attachment to "good"
experiences and aversion to "bad" ones. So... is your
karma "good" or "bad" today? Not too "bad" I hope :-] 

Respected elders,
It is said that ' Man proposes and god disposes". Then
how is it that  our karma which is due to our deeds
influences our destiny. 
1.Is it that destiny and God are two different
entities and one cannot influence the other. or 
2.Is it that destiny has more a strong influence or 
3.Is it that god can change our destiny if He wants
(he can even take a sinner to moksha)
4.Is it that god and destiny are the same

If it is only God's Will, then why should one bother
about karma. He can liberate us from karma if He wants
to or He may not liberate us from karma if He doesnt
want to.

My questions may sound naive as i am only a novice.
but I hope you will clarify them nevertheless.

nivrutta

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