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SUTRAS
ATTRACTION TO KARMA
55
ingly unfathomable fate, we can only also feel only profound compassion for their predicament.
From this widened perspective compassion towards all beings becomes natural. We express this by fundamentally respecting the life of all other beings, by helping them to unfold their vitality and abilities, by protecting them etc. - by charity that originates in our heart. This excludes e.g. do
nations given for social or financial reasons. 19 - by controlling our desire for acquiring more and more pos
sessions - by forgiving mistakes to ourselves and others - by feeling compassion for all those who actively realize the Five Freedoms. This mechanism of expansion is mentioned separately to emphasize its potential for accelerating our own progress.
Those striving to dissolve all their karma sometimes cannot avoid being at odds with social norms. The surrounding society tends to regard their goals and way of life as threatening, ridiculous or asocial and easily reacts negatively and with rejection. The more we understand the paths and goals of those actively expanding their scope of life and the more we become able express our affection, compassion and desire for protecting them, the more we can take this an indication that we ourselves already are well advanced on our own path to
the ultimate freedom. These actions, intentions and feelings still attract (positive) karma. Yet once this (positive) karma manifests, it gives us the sure insight how to arrange our life in such a way that we attach no further karmic matter. At what time this happens and how deep this insight will be depends exclusively on how much energy and sincerity we invest into these lines of action (see sutra 2).
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