By Daniel Burke
c. 2008 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) After a natural disaster strikes in the United States, the question almost immediately arises: Where was God? Or, did God allow this to happen?
Half a world away, as Myanmar digs out from a devastating cyclone that experts say could claim 100,000 lives or more, the question — and answer — are quite different.
About 80 percent of Myanmar’s estimated 52 million people are Buddhist, and many there rely on the principle of karma to explain the storm, scholars say.
Specifically, many Myanmar people believe Cyclone Nargis is a karmic consequence of military rulers’ brutal crackdown on Buddhist monks last fall, said Ingrid Jordt, an anthropology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who was once a Buddhist nun in Myanmar and maintains ties there.
“The immediate explanation was: This is retribution for killing monks,” Jordt said. “In any cataclysm, human beings seek to make sense of something that completely destroys the continuity of life. It’s an attempt to bring the world back into harmony.”
The word “karma” is often misunderstood by Westerners as one’s inescapable destiny, scholars say. In Sanskrit, the word means “action” and refers to the act that creates one’s fate, not fate itself. For Buddhists, particularly those in Southeast Asia, karma regulates morality as firmly as Newton’s law rules motion: to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Karma extends to other Buddhist traditions as well. The Dalai Lama has reportedly said that Tibet’s loss of sovereignty in the 1950s can be at least partially attributed to his country’s feudal past. A spokesman for the exiled spiritual leader could not be reached Thursday (May 
to clarify his comments.
Hindus also believe in karma. Gandhi claimed that a 1934 earthquake was punishment for India’s harsh treatment of its perpetually lower-class “untouchables,” Indian author Arvind Sharma has written.
A distant echo of such ideas can perhaps be heard in Christian leaders who tied the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina to sexual immorality in New York City and New Orleans.
American Zen Buddhist and author Brad Warner said blaming Myanmar’s cyclone on bad karma hues uncomfortably close to those ideas.
“To me it sounds like we’re just substituting karma for God,” he said.
And with so many innocent victims, karma seems a harsh and indiscriminate explanation, Warner said.
But in Myanmar, weather is tied to rulers’ behavior, Jordt said.
Forecasts in the country’s state-run papers almost always read, “The weather is fair throughout the land.” It’s a way of saying everything is OK karmawise, Jordt said.
But last fall the military junta imprisoned or killed dozens of Buddhist monks who took to the streets to protest rapid inflation. Monks are revered in Myanmar and violence against them is thought to buy one a ticket to hell.
After that, Jordt said, “people knew something was going to happen.”
Copyright 2008 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.
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posted May 9, 2008 at 4:14 pm
And the next thing you know, NBC will dedicate a whole story arch to Earl, Missionary to Myanmar. I can just imagine Randy as the aid worker who eats all the stuff they are supposed to hand out. Crabman will be the only one working and Joy will be – well, joy. Quick, somebody call Greg Garcia (producer and poobah of “My Name is Earl”) with this idea! You know what’s even crazier – I bet someone at NBC is actually thinking about doing this – sort of like a Cry for Ty/ Xtreme Makeover, sitcom style.
posted May 9, 2008 at 8:19 pm
‘But in Myanmar, weather is tied to rulers’ behavior, Jordt said.’
That may help to explain the secrecy they tried to impose as the storm was coming and afterward.
As a theory of how thee universe works karma works exactly as well as Christianity: not at all. It may be that as an inducement to good behavior it works better, if one is not supposed to be able to get an easy out from their karma corresponding to the absolution of Catholics and shedding of sins of being “born again”. But I’m less familiar with Buddhism than with Christianity so I can’t really say.
posted May 9, 2008 at 9:54 pm
We can establish patterns of disastrous weather to a limited degree, we can predict weather somewhat but we may never be able to explain why. I am unfamiliar with Buddhism that’s why I don’t comment on it I’m the same with other religions (if I don’t know about it I don’t comment as if I do, I wish people would do that) but I am certain that our actions in this world are linked in an unexplainable way. I am also certain that sin will destroy our world before we realize it.
posted May 10, 2008 at 12:02 am
If we follow the premiss to its conclusion then you can pray hurricanes and tornadoes away – or they are the result of sin as proposed by certain “preachers”. I think this is poor, desiccated theology. God was even willing to let Sodom & Gomorrah remain for only 10 good people. No, I think weather happens. We may be able to make the case for environmental sins either enabling or maybe causing some weather patterns. But I even hesitate to make those connections. Weather is as much a part of Creation as disease. As they say, it rains on the just and the unjust. That is good theology. Our task, as given by God is to care for the flood victims and rejoice for the good crops. That is enough to keep us busy.
posted May 10, 2008 at 10:20 am
“As a theory of how thee universe works karma works exactly as well as Christianity: not at all.”
That seems a bit harsh–to both religions. As written, this article suggests that karma, to Buddhists, is directly equivalent to, say, the vengeful god of certain Christian sects. However, that’s not generally true. At its most basic, karma is simply a paradigm for evaluating cause and effect.
This concept can be quite rationally applied. For instance, the karma of the Myanmar people can be attributed to their ancestors settling in an area that is prone to cyclones, to the ways in which they built their homes, to the infrastructure of the country and to the ways in which information is distributed within the nation.
Of course, the concept can also be applied quite irrationally, too, such as the case we read about here wherein the the people believe the cyclone is a consequence of their leader’s brutal crackdown on Buddhist monks. The magnitude of devastation in the wake of major natural disasters makes irrational reasoning more likely. Weather phenomena and seismic events are so complex and so powerful that they are really beyond the scale of normal human thought. Even the most rational prediction methods and planning policies are not enough to ensure safety and, as such, people will naturally tend to shift their focus onto things they feel they can understand and control, such as adherence to traditions and morality.
What I find interesting, however, is not how rational or irrational the people’s belief in karma may be in this case. Rather, I’m fascinated by how the people of Myanmar are using their religion as a medium for political protest. While I think we can agree that cyclones are not caused by shedding the blood of Buddhist monks, I think we can also agree that the suffering of the Myanmar people could have been greatly reduced had their rulers made wiser decisions about early warning systems and emergency planning. Further, I think we can agree that the suffering has only been magnified by their ruler’s despotic decisions in the aftermath of the storm.
Surely, the people are voicing a non-factual cause for the cyclone. However, I’m not convinced that the people are looking in the wrong direction for the cause of their suffering either. Indeed, in this case I would say their concept of karma is “working” quite well.
posted May 10, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Karma is exactly what you believe it to be, the same as any religious beliefs. You can’t discount ’cause and effect’, everything that happens has a cause and effect; most being caused by lack of focus, ignorance, and an “I don’t care attitude”. Some believe if you accept Christ, do as he did, you are off the wheel of Karma, and your asking His forgiveness dissolves your sins and thereby dissovlves your need to atone for them in this life or another one. Others say you are forgiven your sins, but still have to learn the lesson either now or later somewhere.
posted May 10, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Our task, as given by God, is to care for the flood victims and rejoice for the good crops. That is enough to keep us busy.
Beautifully and perfectly stated, jest.
posted May 11, 2008 at 7:25 am
I see in the NYT that Doug Goodyear, John McCain’s choice to run the Republican convention this year, has resigned because it became public knowledge that the company of which he is chief executive lobbied for the Myanmar dictators.
And his Spiritual Mentor, John Hagee, wants to use the US to destroy Islam.
A lot of people seem to think McCain’s middle of the road. Let’s stay off his road!
posted May 11, 2008 at 1:05 pm
So why don’t we put Jeremaih Wright and John Hagee in a room together and see what happens?
posted May 13, 2008 at 11:45 am
“Bad karma”???
Heck, I’m just waitin’ for some smarmy televangelist to blame it on gays.
posted May 23, 2008 at 11:02 am
What’s the expression? “Stuff happens”!
Folks seem to need a reason that disasters happen. It’s just the nature of things…get the right ingredients together and storms, earthquakes, floods etc. happen. Part of life. As the mystery poster mentioned….just waiting for “some smarmy telebangelist to blame if on the gays.” After all, wasn’t that the reason for Katrina and 9/11 and certainly the last 2 weather disasters…in China and Burma? Gee! I thought everyone knew that!! (sarcasm intended)