The-Tibetan-Book-of-Living-and-Dying

EVOLUTION, KARMA, AND REBIRTH 101or thoughts we have done in the past. If we examine ouractions, and become really mindful of them, we will see thereis a pattern that repeats itself in our actions. Whenever we actnegatively, it leads to fain and suffering; whenever we act positively,it eventually results in happiness.RESPONSIBILITYI have been very moved by how the near-death experiencereports confirm, in a very precise and startling way, the truthabout karma. One of the common elements of the near-deathexperience, an element that has occasioned a great deal ofthought, is the "panoramic life review." It appears that peoplewho undergo this experience not only review in the mostvivid detail the events of their past life, but also can witnessthe fullest possible implications of what they have done. Theyexperience, in fact, the complete range of effects their actionshad on others and all the feelings, however disturbing orshocking, they aroused in them: 19Everything in my life went by for review—/ was ashamed of alot of the things I experienced because it seemed I had a differentknowledge ... Not only what I had done, but how I hadaffected other people ... I found out that not even your thoughtsare lost. 20My life passed before me ... what occurred was every emotion Ihave ever felt in my life, I felt. And my eyes were showing me thebasis of how that emotion affected my life. What my life had doneso far to affect other people's lives.. , 21/ was the very people that I hurt, and I was the very people Ihelped to feel good. 22It was a total reliving of every thought I had thought, every word Ihad ever spoken, and every deed I had ever done; plus the effectof each thought, word, and deed on everyone and anyone who hadever come within my environment or sphere of influence whether Iknew them or not...; plus the effect of each thought, word, anddeed on weather, plants, animals, soil, trees, water, and air. 23I feel that these testimonies should be taken very seriously.They will help all of us to realize the full implications of ouractions, words, and thoughts, and impel us to become increas-