What's Karma, anywise?

[Mark Kohut]

In some ways karma applies to....the land/country as well, yes?  Will the ways 
we
hurt it come back to hurt us---or, they are in many ways.............

And even a karmic philosophy of history?


----- Original Message ----
From: Kai Frederik Lorentzen <lorentzen at hotmail.de>
To: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Fri, December 10, 2010 7:28:22 AM
Subject: What's Karma, anywise?


Although the idea of karma had also been present in Pynchon's earlier works (cf. 
"Turbulences
in the aether, uncertainties out in the winds of karma", GR: pp. 146-7), it came 
to full prominence
not before Pynchon reappeared in the literary public sphere with Vineland, 
inside which karma is
a key concept. The teaching is Tibetian. Directly related to Tibet is also AtD's 
idea of Shambhala,
whereby the physical place is not the crucial point: Shambhala, as it says at 
least three times in
the book, is to be found in our hearts. The (semi-faked) Tibetian seal on the 
cover (and then again
on the page after the Thelonious Monk intro quote) of Against the Day shows, 
apart from being
a self-ironic hint from P that we now enter an oh so holy book, some kinda 
affection for Tibetian
culture on Pynchon's side. His approach to it is unavoidably a Western one. So 
maybe it makes
sense when we, while looking for Pynchon's concept of karma, do consult an 
authority among
the Western adepts of Tibetian Buddhism. Let's hear it from Pema Chödrön:

"What is Karma?

Karma is a difficult subject. Basically it means that what happens in your life 
is somehow a result
of things that you have done before. That's why you are encouraged to work with 
what happens
to you rather than blame it on others. This kind of teaching on karma can easily 
be misunderstood.
People get into a heavy-duty sin-and-guilt trip. They feel that if things are 
going wrong, it means
they did something bad and they're being punished. But that's not the idea at 
all. The idea of karma
is that you continually get the teachings you need in order to open your heart. 
To the degree that
you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to 
stop armoring your
heart, now you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life. Your 
life gives you everything
you need to learn how to open further." (Pema Chödrön: Comfortable with 
Uncertainty, p. 124)

Could imagine that Pynchon would agree wholeheartedly.

We have to stop acting surprised when something happens to us.

(Pynchonesque Questions: Do social figurations have a karma of their own? Like 
family clans or
big corporations. Does the Traverse Clan have a genuine 'transpersonal' karma? 
The East India Trading Company, or the IG Farben?)

Whatever this weekend has in store for you: I wish you heaven!

Kai