Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Thoughts on Compassion and Karma

Yesterday in class, we learned the story of Asanga, the Buddhist monk who let maggots onto his tongue to save a dying dog without hurting the maggots. I think in Eastern traditions, dogs aren't considered as the respected companions they are in the West, so the fact that Asanga would try to save one is kind of a big deal. Anyway, that amount of great compassion was apparently what it took for Asanga to see Maitreya, but why did it have to go that far? Couldn't Asanga have used some other method to remove the maggots safely and still see Maitreya (I think somebody asked that in class)? At first it really confused me why Asanga had to do something so extreme and gross to have a vision of Maitreya, and why letting maggots in his mouth was his first instinct. After thinking about it a little more, I think I understand. In The Concealed Art of the Soul, Ganeri says that altruism and selflessness are core values in Buddhism, and by committing selfless acts, one can obtain good karma. Asanga committed self-sacrifice in such an extreme way and to an animal that may not have deserved it, and therefore he may have obtained enough good karma that he deserved to see Maitreya. Could it be one of the laws of karma that the more extreme the sacrifice, the more good karma is obtained?

Sorry once again for the short post. 

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