Tricycle’s Daily Dharma:

The Theory of Karma

The theory of karma should not be confused with so-called “moral justice” or “reward and punishment.” The idea of moral justice, or reward and punishment, arises out of the conception of a supreme being, a God, who sits in judgment, who is a law-giver and who decides what is right and wrong. The term “justice” is ambiguous and dangerous, and in its name more harm than good is done to humanity. The theory of karma is the theory of cause and effect, of action and reaction; it is a natural law, which has nothing to do with the idea of justice or reward and punishment. Every volitional action produces its effects or results. If a good action produces good effects and a bad action bad effects, it is not justice, or reward, or punishment meted out by anybody or any power sitting in judgment on your action, but this is in virtue of its own nature, its own law. This is not difficult to understand. But what is difficult is that, according to karma theory, the effects of a volitional action may continue to manifest themselves even in a life after death.

–Walpola Rahula

If you click this link you can read all about Jon Lovitz’s recent beating of the tar out of Andy Dick. (Karma? Nah.)

Tonight, BHK and Amy picked me up after almost being squashed like bugs with hair in ponytails by the Father-in-law’s poorly planned car-moving scheme. Fortunately, they were neither compressed under tons of steel and rubber, nor were they kneecapped by a renegade trailer careening off into the next world. I think that if the MiL finds out, poor FiL is going to get quite an earful.

We journeyed off to the Giant-man store (no relation to Hank Pym ) and I got a 2 pair of Deer Stags, one in brown and one in black. That should take care of wardrobe for a bit. They seem pretty comfortable – I hope they last a bit longer than my usual wear and tear.

After that, BHK, Amy and I all went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – linked, in case you haven’t heard of it, dear journal. Taken on its own, I liked it. Of course, when I read the book, I thought it was in dire need of editing, and parsing it down to a movie script seems to have done a good job of trimming the fat. My biggest complaint is that it seems that the thespian playing Hermione has forgotten most of her acting lessons.

Off to Johnny Rockets for burger and fries – I like that they’ll do any of the stuff they have in a boca burger. It’s seldom that I can get a double cheeseburger with the works when I’m out. Bonus – Movie stubs got us 20% off the bill. Bigger bonus – Amy paid the bill!

Yesterday, we unpacked a few things from the Salem house, including BHK’s old yearbook from 4th grade, and a lot of her drawings circa 5-yrs old, 10 yr old and points in between. I’m glad we got to keep ‘em.

It rarely fails to surprise how much music can energize me. Thanks again for the summer mix, Matt!

1 year ago – movies, writing, housebound, heifer.org, king kong song, monday meeting, planetary mass comparisons, I doubt fate/design, lego jesus, oh don piano!

2 years ago – visited with constance1010 and tarpo, book meme, fanfic folks angry with original Harry Potter Author, zefrank’s sing-along, AIM email, bananaman

3 years ago – zombies, urine, veggies, pagerank test

4 years ago – celeb divorce, there-sales, batman movie, witch game, hulk’s diary

5 years ago – palm doodle-strip, lost hosted photos, crank yankers 80% sucks. Fortean times, F-ing Mongorians!

6 years ago – important people, ne plus ultra, anile, evil news, more majestic, now defunct Newton ICQ-bot

7 years ago – junky food, prepped April for launch, budgeting, hung out with bro, me no like stinky (via Scotto’s Wall Scrawls)