The Future Is Open: Good Karma, Bad Karma, and Beyond Karma

Surprised to find Buddhism could be explained in English so clearly, better than a lot of current teachings in China.

Trungpa Rinpoche's teaching on Karma emphasize karma as causality but that, as the title of the book states, the future is open. Instead of being a purely deterministic or even fatalistic doctrine, Karma in Buddhism puts us in charge of our own future by changing the causes and controlling them. While these teachings are shared by all schools and vehicles of Buddhism, Chogyam Trungpa states them clearly. Take this quote for an example: “Karma is like a game of chess. Wherever you are on the board at this moment is the result of your past actions. But whatever you are going to do in the next moment depends on the present situation. The present situation is partly influenced by the past. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. But at the same time, the present is also influenced by the future, which is open space and freedom.”Despite Trungpa Rinpoche's "modernization" is now almost two generations in the past, they still work as contemporary introductions. Gaiman's editing presents Chogyam Trungpa's teaching in a logical manner. While one should be careful with Trungpa Rinpoche's teachings as his crazy wisdom could be destructive, these teachings are useful.

Difficult to follow, despite valuable insight.

Chogyam rocks.

Guter Kauf