Good Karma : How to Create the Causes of Happiness and Avoid the Causes of Suffering

Why do things happen the way they do in our lives? How do we create the causes for a happy life? The Buddhist practice of mind training gives us the answer to these questions: it involves overcoming our self-centered attitude and replacing it with an attitude that cherishes others. This, in turn, leads us to act in ways that naturally lead away from suffering and toward happiness—in short, to create good karma. Thubten Chodron offers a commentary on one of the great Tibetan Buddhist poems, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons , which shows, clearly and practically, how to eliminate the causes of anxiety, fear, and depression and to create the causes of joyful liberation for oneself and all others. Discusses How Good Karma Can Be Created By Overcoming A Self-centered Way Of Life, Adopting An Attitude Of Empathy For Human Suffering, And Performing Acts Of Help And Service To Others. Sick As A Dog: Generating Our Motivation -- The World We Swim In: The Buddhist Worldview -- Brave Peacocks And Cowardly Crows: Assessing Our Worldview -- The Wheel Of Destructive Karma: Understanding And Transforming Difficulties -- Woe Is Me: Dealing With Sickness, Laziness, And Distraction -- Don't Create Problems For Yourself: Overcoming Spiritual Obstacles -- Seize The Enemy: Identifying Self-grasping Ignorance And The Self-centered Attitude -- Dance And Trample: Overcoming The Internal Enemies -- Integrity And Responsibility: Banishing Self-centeredness -- Pain In The Neck: Overcoming Attachment To Praise And Reputation -- Safe At Last: Taking Refuge In The Three Jewels And Cultivating Strong Resolve -- Compassionate Actoin: Becoming The Person We Want To Be -- Growing Our Wisdom: Emptiness And Dependent Arising -- Colophon And Conclusion: Expressing Our Gratitude. Thubten Chodron. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 255-256). Training the mind in the habit of happiness--enlightening commentary on a classic Tibetan Buddhist teaching poem by a popular modern teaching nun. Lojong, or "mind-training" is a practice that has gained astonishing popularly in recent years--because it works in transforming hearts and minds. Here is a presentation of lojong teachings that predates the "slogan" practice with which people have become so familiar through the books of Pema Chdrn and others, and that is every bit as powerful for imbuing the mind with intelligence and the heart with compassion. It is Thubten Chodron's commentary on a Tibetan poem with the imposing title "Wheel of Sharp Weapons." It is, as the title of this book indicates, an explanation of how karma works in our lives. But in explaining how to create good karma and avoid the negative effects of bad karma, it shows us how to live our lives with kindness and honesty--which makes things better not only for ourselves, but also for everyone else in the world.