AboutJustin Choo Expertise When in doubt seek it out. All your questions will be answered, and you may not have to agree with the answers. Such is the beauty of Buddhism. You are free to decide. I follow the Theravada tradition, and have been studying Buddhism for more than 40 years. Please view my profile for more details. I have answered more than a thousand questions since joining this category. You are welcome to try me.
Experience I was brought up in the 50's as a Buddhist. For the past 40 years I have read numerous books on Buddhism and listened to numerous talks on Buddhism by well-respected and learned monks and lay teachers. I conduct Buddhist classes for parents of Sunday School children in a Theravada Buddhist Temple.
My teacher was the late Chief Reverend, The Ven. K Sri Dhammananda of The Brickfields Buddhist Mahavihara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. You can view the relevent website in memory of my revered late teacher @
http://www.ksridhammananda.com
Organizations I am a life member of the Buddhist Missionary Society Malaysia.
Publications YOU ARE INVITED TO VISIT MY BLOG @
http://lifeislikethat999.blogspot.com/
Published a book called "The Rainbow And The Treasure". It is a compilation of extracts from various sources to introduce Buddhism to beginners. (Currently out of print)
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Commerce And Administration, Victoria University Of Wellington, NZ.(1974)
Question I live in US and most ppl here are Christians and I am not. My question is I suffer from a mental illness called Bi-Polar disorder and I can be content for a short time but never happy. A
side effect of my illness is that I cannot take pleasure in anything in life and is this caused by Karma or what? How is this explained in Buddhism?
Answer Hi Jerry,
Thank you for asking me.
We come to this world with our store-house of past kammic actions. Some good, some are bad. The major part of our lives can be said to be destined by this store-house of kammic consciousness. Many people are "victims" of past serious or grave kamma, where they have to suffer in their present lives.
However we must be very careful not to subscribe that all things bad are due to bad kamma. We still have the power to control our lives to the best of our abilities. For example, if we have sickness we should seek medical help.
