Question: I saw the video (Chicken a la CArte) that you posted. As a mom and as a person living in a country where such picture is an everyday reality it is hard for me to try to imagine those little children begging in the streets as paying their karma. I am a dedicated activist towards the right to health and the right to food. I firmly think we should advocate for those whose voices are unheard but, if picturing them as paying their own karma, won´t that be putting the fault on their own (children) and thus stop mobilizing civil society to work for social justice?
Response: Our understanding of karma does not diminish our compassion or our wish to alleviate suffering. If anything it increases it because we understand that those who make the wrong choice often do not understand what is truly happening. They do not understand cause and effect. The children in the movie do not remember what they did in a past life that leads to such suffering in this one. I do not remember what I did in my past lifetimes that will lead to similar and worse consequences.
But I do know that I have no right to judge another. Instead I need to awaken and help everyone I can.
The first vow of a bodhisattva is "Sentient beings are innumerable, I vow to help them all." This vow means that we do not vow to just help people end their suffering in this lifetime. We vow to help all beings attain lasting liberation from suffering regardless of how many lifetimes it takes.
The Buddha spent innumerable lifetimes striving to fulfill this vow. After he attained enlightenment, he could have left his worldly body behind and entered parinirvana. Instead he chose to teach all those who wished to learn how they could also free themselves from suffering.
The Buddha had three robes to protect him against the weather. He slept under the trees and ate one meal a day. He taught whoever asked, regardless of caste, economic position, or gender. One of his students had been a serial killer, another an untouchable. For forty-nine years he crisscrossed India and Nepal, walking everywhere regardless of the cold or heat, with the single goal of alleviating suffering.
Many would call the Buddha the ultimate activist.