Expert: Judy - 7/8/2011

Question
Greetings,
I am trying to learn the underlying teachings of Buddhism to better understand the over all  metaphysical system. Can you help me understand how Buddhism gives account of how the universe and governing laws such as Karma are guaranteed to remain constant and not change? Or how Nirvana might not change into a type of hell? Or the meditative techniques might not cause another undesirable result in the future? What prohibits these universal laws from changing?
Thank you for your time,
Todd

Answer
Todd,
The easiest way to look at karma is to look nature around you: things that are seasonal (they are always in cycles).  When you saw seeds, depending upon conditions of every required element, they sprout, grow, bloom, and set seeds.  Of course, there is much more involvement and nuance on every aspect and condition when looking into “karma,” but by looking at nature is the simplest way to understand how karma works.
When nirvana is reached, it is like that someone is studying college courses  that he/she would not make a simple addition in asthmatics.  Everything builds up, and the realization and understanding deepens.  Nirvana, therefore, is not going to change into something else.
Meditative techniques are used to help us UNDERSTANDING ourselves and further the entire human race.  They are NOT ways to get rid of something, but they are only ways to train our senses without bias, which would result in clear minds.  They are NOT like drugs that give us different effect with different dosage or make us change our functions.

There is no force to prohibit universal laws from changing.  They stay to be universal laws because all elements work inter-dependently.  Without one of the elements, things are not going to become what they are supposed to.  Facts remain to be facts, with or without anything else to affect them.  The facts are in nature, and you find them everywhere, disregard different religions or races.  All the life forms go through cycles; it does not matter what faith each one of us has.