Too late for regrets by the next life

Although my birth cert states that I am a Buddhist, I was never truly one, notwithstanding the time when I was still too young to understand anything and just tagged along with my parents to pray. Even so, I found much in Buddhism in my adult life that I could agree with. For instance, I always feel that compared to some other religions, the Buddhist faith is more humble and not as self-righteous and as such it does not condemn other religion or accuse other practitioners as praying to false gods. It also emphasizes the importance of seeking the truth for oneself rather than insisting that its followers just take things at blind faith and as such is closer to the principles of science.

Despite my generally good impression and healthy respect for Buddhism relative to most institutionalized or organized religions, there is a particular belief or doctrine in Buddhism that I could never accept and maybe that's why till today, I remained uncommitted to any religion. One of the cornerstones of the Buddhist faith is the concept of Karma. It is kind of a natural Law in Buddhism that you always reap what you sow, if not in this life then in the next. This carry-over effect of the Karma into the next life is important because otherwise the concept of Karma would be falsified. For is it not apparent that too often in this world, we see good people meeting tragic ends while evil people prosper? Thus in order for the "thou shalt reap what thou sow" Law to hold true, it is necessary to invoke a next life or reincarnation so that one could then reap the rewards or the punishment when reborned. Such a belief allows Buddhism to explain the age old conundrum of: if there is providence why do bad things happen to good people; and that is because these good people have in their previous lives done wicked things and are now getting the retribution.

Yet when we think deeper, if the purpose of Karma is to serve divine justice, it doesn't seem to be a very fair system. The reason is that, suppose that one has been a wicked person in a previous life and for some reason, he is now reborned as a totally different person who turns up to be rather saintly; yet he would come to a very bad end because of the evil deeds he did in his previous life. This does not serve any justice because when the punishment was been meted out on him, he would have no idea at all why he has to suffer so. Conversely, it also does not make sense nor serve any justice if a previously good person is reincarnated as a human again but this time round he does all kinds of wicked things and yet he prospers because he has been a good guy in the past. Justice is effective and only meaningful when the person at the receiving end of it is aware and understand why he is so been punished and when the person can be held accountable for his actions. This is why we do not hold people who are mentally unsound accountable for their actions the way we do for "normal" people. We have all heard of the phrase "too late for regrets" and if there is such a thing as Karma or reincarnation, it would really add a new twist to the phrase. A more appropriate phrase would then be "too late for regrets by the next life."

In addition to not serving the purpose of divine justice, the belief in Karma also encourages a sense of passivity in people. It indirectly leads believers to blame the victims of unfortunate events (because they must have done something bad in the past to deserve it) and people might also be more likely to not actively fight evil (afterall, these evil doers would one day be punished by the divine, so there is no need for us to interfere).

When all is said, I must acknowledge that the universe is just the way it is, and whatever my objections or approval, Laws would remain as Laws. I could not make gravity disappear for example by actively hating it or wishing it gone. So if unfortunately, there is such a thing as Karma, I can only wish that I have not been such a jerk in my previous life though it would not help a single bit in securing for myself a better future. And if I was really so unfortunate to have been a bandit, murderer or rapist in my previous life, I shall pray and hope that I can stoically face what would befall me sooner or later in this life. Amitabha.