Does karma force things to happen?
Upvote:0
When a seed of certain kind is exposed to certain conditions, it grows. Karma works more like this than some deterministically absolute force.
There is never any sort of absolute with this, as we can, for instance, learn to deal with our volitional formations (our sankharas) in ways other than being subject to their conditional fruition, one such effective method is vipassana.
In essence, because we can develop non-attachment and wisdom, no. It is more correct, in my understanding, to say that karma merely encourages certain activities, or acts as an urge that sometimes is perceived as an unstoppable or confounding force depending on our level of attachment.
Becoming a Buddha is more of a transcendence of karmic determinism, rather than being a "thing" brought about by karmic eventuality.
Upvote:0
According to the Acintita Sutta, the precise working out of the result of karma is not to be conjectured about, otherwise it will bring madness and vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
"There are these four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them. Which four?
"The Buddha-range of the Buddhas is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
"The jhana-range of a person in jhana...
"The [precise working out of the] results of kamma...
"Conjecture about [the origin, etc., of] the world is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about it.
"These are the four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness & vexation to anyone who conjectured about them."
Upvote:2
It doesn't force things to happen because karma by definition has no self which can force anything. Karma doesn't really exist as some punishing entity (like a Western God), which is what the word "force" implies in your question.
In Buddhism and Hinduism, the chain of causation that binds beings to the Wheel of Birth and the natural conditions that stem from it, creates a torrent of karma all of which must be satisfied in life after life until samadhi/bodhi can be achieved.
"Conditions" can be anything by the way. A condition can be being in a certain situation, seeing a certain characteristic of a person (e.g. maleness, femaleness), or even "having a body". Oftentimes I believe that karma has an effect that is beyond time, simultaneously immediate, near, and far..
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