Good Karma

I do not plan on practicing medicine in my future, however I still feel like I am gaining valuable and practical wisdom from this book because it explains the importance of compassion in all areas of our lives, not simply in the doctor's office. The most general concept about compassion that we can apply seems to be about karma, or the idea that suffering is caused by previous thoughts and actions. Even though "it's not part of the Western worldview," as Rinpoche states, in practice it makes a lot of sense for all of us (Rinpoche 48).

Everyone has heard of the idea of 'making your own luck,' right? It's very similar to the Secret that Prianka talks about in her post, that when you act with love and compassion, eventually that love and compassion will come back to you. I recently read a book about Abraham Lincoln called Team of Rivals. In a discussion of its themes, a major question that came up was this: is showing extraordinary kindness, forgiveness, and humility actually a smart strategy to get ahead in life? It certainly seemed to work well for Lincoln, who always tried to reconcile himself to people, rarely complained, and ended up becoming one of the most successful presidents we've ever seen. I believe there is great truth in this idea of what goes around comes around; if you act with love towards others, then you will most likely receive it back at some point in time.

Rinpoche makes the observation that this compassion that we show to others needs to develop from the right motivation. "There is a real difference between just acting as if we are kind and open to everyone and actually feeling kindness and compassion for all people" (Rinpoche 51). So the real goal is not the action of compassion itself, but rather forming the mindset of compassion, the attitude of selflessness, which is the beginning of good karma.

To develop this attitude of selflessness we need to do what the word implies and abandon our sense of 'self.' On this point Dass and Rinpoche agree, even though they phrase it somewhat differently. Dass talks about how we see ourselves in different roles, which automatically forces a role onto those we are trying to help, distancing ourselves from them and limiting our helpfulness. "But when we break through and meet in spirit behind our separateness," we are no longer merely acting with compassion - we are compassion because we are unified (Dass 20). Rinpoche describes the idea of separateness as 'clinging to duality.' He asserts that "in the absence of the dualistic perspective, there is no way to generate a negative emotion, and thus no way to create karma that causes future suffering" (Rinpoche 48).

So by ridding ourselves of the idea that the self and the others are separate, we can begin to unify ourselves, allowing our natural capacity for compassion and love to flow out naturally. In this sense, we can create our own good karma by removing the barriers between us - no actions required! It's all about the heart behind the action.