Question asked by Eli Levine
Good (morning) Pastors,
I was wondering if there was any specific practices or rituals I could do to ensure that this lifetime passes as smoothly as possible for me while still enabling me to achieve Enlightenment at the end of it?
To give you a little history: I came to Buddhism when I was about 19 years old after having been rejected by someone I love. I am now 25 and finishing up a Master's degree in Public Administration. I have been developing in my mind a new ethic and logic to governing, which would make the practice of governing a society a scientific practice akin to the practice of medicine (from a combined Tibetan and Western view of medicine). I was wondering if there was anything I could do now to ensure that I am successful at this attempt to really change how things are done in our governments and how our governments relate and work with their own societies and with other societies and governments around the world and throughout the universe? Any practical or spiritual advice would be most welcome. I am concerned that by failing to do this, albeit large, task in this lifetime will have profound negative consequences on my own prospects in the future and for all other living beings in this universe. I have broken the task down into small pieces (really, it's just a question of being listened to by the right people at the right time). I'm just very uncertain about whether or not I will be able to accomplish this task in this lifetime. I have always been drawn to the world of current events and government as far back as I can remember. I would just love to be able to apply what I've found to be true to the real world. Please feel free to test, question, and poke holes in my ideas in order to strengthen them.
I really hope you're able to help me pull this off, since I am so uncertain that I'll be able to.
With all the respect and love in the universe, thank you for your time.
Dear Eli Levine,
Practices and Rituals need to be practiced in tandem with learning, and implementation of this learning in life and through meditation to gain realizations, only then will one be able to reach enlightenment. There are no practices that enable secular success and enlightenment at the end of this life without study and implementation of the Dharma in one’s life.
Your cause is admirable in its attempts to change a certain part of the world…however there is one thing that is a very big hurdle…and that is Karma. Since everyone of us has Karma from previous lifetimes that we are all subject to unless we can purify it, we are determinately bound by it.
Therefore you will be fighting against not only your karma but the karma of anybody that would be involved in this, from the creation of your task, its implementation and the people it could benefit. Due to the nature of samsara is is easier for negative karmic results to prevail, therefore this would be very hard to succeed…but not impossible.
With that, I do not for any reason think that if, for whatever reason, you do not succeed with this task that there will be negative consequences for you or any other person, beyond that karma that they have already created. The reason is due to the nature of karma itself. Simply put, the law of karma means that when we do something good, we get good results in this life and future lives and when we do something bad, we receive negative results. Since, according to what you have written above, you do not commit negative actions in this task, then even if you do not succeed in this, there will be no unfortunate circumstances for you at all.
Conversely, it would not be disastrous for all other living beings because their future circumstances will be based on their own karmic results, and not the karmic results of not succeeding in this task.
I sincerely hope that this alleviates your feelings.