Is playing GTA VI bad karma (Pt. 2)

CONTINUED FROM PART 1

I can't wait to kill 'em all on GTA VI

There are three kinds of karma (actions). One is physical, the other verbal, the third mental. One may think a thought (form an intention in mind) then speak it (create a verbalization) then do it (carry it out). If one did, that is THREE acts, three DEEDS, not one even if they are all related. We may think one thing, say another, and do a third or exhibit integrity by aligning them. For instance, we sincerely promise to do something and then we do it.

The sincerity is mental, the pledge is verbal, and the carrying it out is physical. They are integrated, and this is called having integrity. Often, however, we say we'll do something, without really meaning it, and then we may or may not do it. The point is, they are three different things, three distinct kinds of karma, three ACTS.

The mental act is the one that concerns us here. If karma takes three forms (by way of vehicle, body, tongue, or brain), it is qualitatively different but nevertheless effective in producing some kind of results. If one feels guilty about so much as thinking of doing something, that is a kind of mental resultant. If one is joyful over thinking of doing something, that is a mental resultant.

When the fruits of that action ripen, when those seeds we planted sprout, those results will be experienced as welcome, neutral, or unwelcome depending on the act. Any act can also be distinguished by the motivation underlying it.

I prefer the term Sofa Spud to Couch Potato

So let's say I play pretend killing mofos for 23 hours straight, a new household record because I love GTA VI so much, what kind of intentions have I been forming, rehearsing, exercising for those hours? Skillful, neutral, or unskillful? Wholesome, neutral, or unwholesome? Good, neutral, or bad?

The idea or argument that because it is "just" a thought it has no result is wrong. To prove that, let us look at the Buddha's own words in this short sutra.

Before killing, what acts are warriors already doing?

We wish to ask a question of the Blessed One.

(SN 42.3) The village headman Yodhajiva (the "Warrior") went to the Buddha (the Blessed One), paid his respects, sat to one side, and asked:

"Venerable sir, I have heard it passed down through the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that, 'When a warrior strives and exerts himself in battle, if others strike him down and slay him while he is striving and exerting himself, with the breakup of the body, after death, he will be reborn in the [good] company of the devas who were slain in battle.' What does the Blessed One say about this?"

"Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask."

But a second time and a third time, the headman Yodhajiva asked.

"Apparently, headman, I am unable to get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask,' so I will answer it directly.

What did you say, man? I'll F you up right now.

"When a warrior strives and exerts himself in battle, HIS MIND IS ALREADY SEIZED, debased, and misdirected by the thought, 'May these beings be slaughtered, struck down, destroyed, annihilated, and may they cease to exist.'

"If others strike that warrior down and slay him while he is thus engaged in striving and exerting himself, with the breakup of the body, after death, he will be reborn in a hell called the realm of those slain in battle.

This simulation is mentally real yet not corporeal

"Moreover, if he holds a view such as, 'When a warrior strives and exerts himself in battle, if others strike him down and slay him while he is thus striving and exerting himself, with the breakup of the body, after death, he will be reborn in the company of the devas slain in battle,' that is his WRONG VIEW.

"Now, there are two destinations for a person holding such a wrong view, I say, either a hell or the animal world.'

I was lied to and fooled.

When this was said, the headman Yodhajiva began to sob then burst into tears.

The Buddha then said, "That is what I could not get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask.'"

"Venerable sir, I am not crying because of what the Blessed One said, but rather because I have been deceived, misled, and fooled for so long by that ancient teaching lineage of warriors." — SN 42.3

• Yodhajiva Sutta: "To the Warrior" (SN 42.3)
• Right Livelihood (samma ajivo)
• Veterans Day: "Fight Till Death" (sutra)

The Workings of Kamma (Pa Auk)

Given that this person is striving, exerting, and mentally hunting down enemies, behaving like a would-be killer, gangster, or trained soldier already mentally engaged in violence, BUT has not yet killed anyone, what's the harm?

The Buddha points to that mental harm: The warrior's mind (heart, citta-stream) is ALREADY seized, debased, and misdirected.

The person need not do anything else yet bad karma (unskillful, unwholesome deeds) will have already accrued. The seeds with the capacity to produce results in the future will have already been planted. The gamer need not go any further (with speech or bodily action) to have already made karma.

What kind of karma was made? There are six kinds: wholesome, neutral, or unwholesome (mundane or supermundane). All of this so far is mundane. What makes a deed good or bad?

ALL bad deeds have only three roots. The same is true for all good deeds. Those unwholesome roots are greed, hatred (which includes fear), and delusion. If one thinks, speaks, or does (acts) motivated by one or more of these roots, the outcome is bad (unskillful) karma. It is called "bad" karma because it will produce, when it ripens, unwelcomed, unwished for results.

Karma is NOT punishment but like-for-like

It would be "good" karma if it were rooted in nongreed (letting go, giving, unselfishness, releasing, contentment, charity, sharing, providing), nonhatred (loving kindness, compassion, sympathy, equanimity, help), and/or nondelusion (right view, wisdom, insight, understanding).

What is one nourishing while playing Grand Theft Auto VI? It must be goodwill, kindness, love, affection, sympathy... Who knows who's playing that game. When we get in the hotseat and start shooting, we as gamers are exercising the worst qualities: grand theft, mass murder, rape, psychotic violence, endangering others, and so on. CONTINUED IN PART 3

• Dhr. Seven (text) edited by Amber Larson, Ashley Wells as taught to videogame aficionados Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Is playing Grand Theft Auto bad karma?

The technology behind GTA VI explained

.

I'm just actively fantasizing for hours...

(Rockstar Games) Grand Theft Auto VI (launch trailer) Men 18 to 30, call in sick! Work can wait. The boss better understand. You've been waiting a decade to play this game. Screw the economy, the elections, work and family...

(FOX 2 Detroit) GTA 6 launch could drain $1 billion from US economy. Forget the midterm elections! We have to get home to game, game, game and play, play, play. It's the only time we get to experience lengthened attention span.

They hacked our minds?

RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2026, should be a holiday like the Monday after the Super Bowl so the population (mostly the younger males) can recuperate from excess drinking and macho war games.

Vegging out like couch potatoes experiencing a personal brain drain down the acrylamide-laden chips and bits of other toxic fried foods, the yeast-infested alcoholic drinks, and the extended attention (dopamine overdose) when ADHD rules the rest of the time.

• VIDEO: Dr. Robert Lustig: Science of Happiness

Is playing violent videogames like Grand Theft Auto VI bad karma?

GTA V graphics were a joke. GTA VI gets real.

Let's start with what everyone knows and play our way to what nobody knows. Doing it this way has a danger and a possible benefit. The danger is everyone will say, "Yeah, duh, obviously! Who doesn't know that?" and the possible benefit is that, once the basics are brought to mind, the less obvious implications will become clear. What obvious is that people didn't really know the basics as well as they did or the rest wouldn't come as a such a surprise.

The fact is, KARMA in Buddhism is a massive topic. How big? It is so big that in the Buddha's day, he was not called a "Buddhist," but rather was called a karmavadin (a "teacher of karma," i.e., a "teacher of the efficacy of current actions to produce immediate and future results").

He was not the only one. Mahavira (the Nigantha Nattaputta), who was the founder of Jainism, also taught that present causes (karma) produce many future effects (vipaka).

Police GTA VI pursuit ookin' cray-cray 💀 - GTA 6 graphics be insane 🤯 Leaked gameplay?

What are you doing in this scene? - I'm practicing my murder skills (GTA VI gameplay)

• Defining karma as "cause and effect" is extremely misleading in a few ways. For one, what "result" (reaction) does a "cause" (action) have in the science of Newtonian physics? "An equal and opposite reaction," is the answer. That is not at all what seems to happen in the working out of karma. For ONE act will have MANY results. One might say 500, which would just be an idiomatic Buddhist way of saying many. Another better scientific theory might be better to think of than Newton's laws, and that is the Butterfly Effect. One tiny action, one minute deed can have tremendous cascading consequences. For example, say a poor woman comes to a well with only two coins in her pocket, sees someone more needy than she is, and decides to give her two coins to that person then actually does it. She wills it AND carries it out. Who cares? It's just two measly coins! Neither the Buddha nor Jesus, both of whom used this exact example (wonder where Jesus could have gotten the idea), used it because it was worthless. They used it exactly because it was counterintuitive. That tiny good-deed of sharing, giving, generosity, letting go, helping, unselfishness produced much good, so much good that one can't hardly imagine the value of giving (dana). But rishis can see. Those two coins (which amount to 100% of her wealth) might have saved the other person's life, kept that person from starving or losing hope, been used to rebuild a life, a business, a fortune... "Cause and effect" is also misleading because when does the effect come? It comes right after the cause, which makes it super easy to tie them together. If eating a wild poisonous mushroom causes a person to die, when does the death happen? It usually takes a few weeks. What about eating other things that shorten an individual's lifespan (like fried foods full of acrylamides)? That could take years to show up. "Cause and effect" also connotes, that is to say, suggests (and, grammatically-speaking, explicitly denotes) ONE cause and ONE effect, but it is never this way. One act (karma) has many causes. In fact, if analyzed at the nano level, there is never just one act but an uncountable number of "acts" or mind-moments in the carrying out of one deed. And this is one of the unknown things about karma, the result that comes about later is the playing out of this many moments, not the simple "deed" one observes being carried out. How long does it take to squeeze a trigger? If that squeeze were the whole "act" (karma), who in their right mind could think the catastrophic results were merited? But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

This question of whether playing a videogame like GTA VI is karma is easy to answer, right? Yes, of course it is. But the question here is, Is playing it BAD karma? While it may not be intuitive, the answer hinges on understanding two words. The first word is karma, the second mental.

The way we in the West misuse the ancient Buddhist Sanskrit term "karma" (Pali kamma), it's no anyone would be confused. Explaining this word will very quickly get us to the second word.

What is "karma"? Everyone knows it's, "What comes around goes around." But this is actually a better definition for karma-and-results. Whereas "karma" is the active (act, action, deed), the results are the passive vipaka (results) and fruit (phala) of that action. For example, "planting a seed" is a karma, an action, a deed.

Rehearsing and relishing violence in mind, good?

Getting an s-ton of plant material that that single seed produced is the result, the fruit, fruiting, fruition and ripening of that deed (karma). That is a whole separate thing. It's just an example but a strangely good example because, what does that plant material have in it? More seeds of the same thing. CONTINUED IN PART II

• Dhr. Seven (text) edited by Amber Larson, Ashley Wells as taught to videogame aficionados Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Kathina Ceremony, NoHo (11/13-14)

Sarathchandra Buddhist Center | NoHo, Los Angeles, CA

Kathina is a major Buddhist festival that comes at the end of the Rains Retreat or Vassa, the annual three-month rainy season retreat for Theravada Buddhists in Buddhist countries, such as:

• America (USA)
• Bangladesh (where it is known as Kaṭhina Cībar Dān)
• Burma (Myanmar)
• Cambodia (Khmer)
• India
• Laos
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
• Thailand (Siam)
• Vietnam [1, 2].

Lunar calendar shows 13 full moons a year

The season during which a Buddhist monastery may hold Kathina is a month long, beginning after the full moon of the eleventh month in the lunar calendar (usually October).

Kathina is a time of giving and for lay Buddhists to express gratitude to Buddhist monastics (bhikkhus and bhikkhunis) [3, 4].

Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for monastics. The gift of the Eight Requisites [5] (aṭṭha parikkhārā or Atapirikara in Sri Lanka) is also part of the offerings [1, 3, 4].

• KATHINA CELEBRATION LA 2026
• November 13th (chanting) and 14th
• Sarathchandra Buddhist Meditation Center
• North Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 91606
• 10717 Oxnard Street (828) 760-8361

Why, what is it?

Theravada Buddhist College

As the legend goes, 30 monks were once journeying with the intention of spending the Rains Retreat with the Buddha [1]. However, the seasonal heavy rains began before they reached their destination.

They had to stop at Saketa (the ancient name for the holy city of Ayodhya, India [1, 7], site of intense Diwali celebrations).

According to the Buddha's rules and guidelines for observance of the Rains Retreat, mendicant monastics should refrain from travel during the rainy season because by walking and wandering they may unintentionally harm crops and insects during their journeys [8]. That is why the 30 monks had to stop [1, 7].

Karma: Why do good people suffer? A Buddhist view on fortune, misfortune, and injustice

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They passed their time together without conflict, practicing Dhamma (Teachings). Therefore, afterwards, the Buddha rewarded them by demonstrating a way to practice sharing and generosity (dana).

A lay Buddhist disciple had previously donated pieces of cloth to the Buddha, so the Buddha gave those pieces of cloth to the group of monastics and told them to make stitch them into a patchwork robe and offer it as a gift to one among them.

The frame, called a kathina, was used to hold the pieces of cloth to stitch into a robe [1, 7]. The Buddha informed lay disciples that the offering of this kind of robe, following the intensive practice of monastics for the previous season, results in the highest merits for them.

• [Presumably, this would be because of the greater likelihood that one or more practicing monastics will have attained distinction in meditation, either the absorptions or the stages of enlightenment, and things given to such people are immensely and exponentially more meritorious for the giver to provide.]

The Kathina (kaṭina, from the Sanskrit krsta) is the greatest opportunity for giving throughout the Buddhist calendar year. As for the monastics, they determine who practiced with the most vigilantly and assiduously and the robe is awarded to the practitioner. More

• 🔴 LIVE | 2026 Kathina Robe Offering Grand Ceremony at Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center | Walk for Peace
• Kathina celebrations will be held at Trairatanaram Temple, Nov. 21-22, 2026
• Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw | Facebook

Diwali: India's Festival of Lights in USA

West coast's largest Hindu temple

(KTLA 5) Celebrating Diwali Festival of Lights at BAPS Los Angeles

The deeper meaning behind Diwali

(Nanak Naam) Real meaning of Diwali | Ramayana | Festival of Lights

U.S. racism: "Deport all Dot Heads"

(NDTV Profit) "Deport all Dot Heads": Anti-Hindu hate disrupts Seattle Diwali

The Five Days of the Festival of Lights

(Universal Stories) The Five Days of Diwali explained

• BAPS.org/LosAngeles
• Diwali and Annakut Celebrations 2026 | BAPS The Americas
• Diwali: History | Religious Significance | Celebrations
• (CBS LA) Diwali celebrations begin in Chino Hills, LA County
• VIDEO: How old is the civilization of India (Maha Bharata), and was it ever just one?

(The Palki Sharma Show) Diwali stories: India's Festival of Lights evolved over centuries

Massive celebration in Ayodhya

(NDTV) Ayodhya's 10th Deepotsav blends faith, tradition, technology

Southern California's biggest

(CBS LA) A preview of Southern California's Diwali festival

What is Diwali or the Festival of Lights?

New Year thanks to the Great God (Brahma)

Dipa-vali (Dīpāvalī, "row of lights") [a], commonly known as Diwali [4], is the Hindu Festival of Lights, with variations celebrated in other Dharmic religions such as Newar Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism [b].

Diwali is associated with the spiritual victory or triumph of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, righteousness over wrongdoing, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance [5, 6, 7, 8].

• Who is "God"? It is Ram (Rama) Not Krishna?
• What's the Eternal Teaching or Sanatan Dharma?

Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin (according to the Hindu calendar's amanta tradition) and Kārtika – between around mid-October and mid-November [14], while the Western world is caught up in acknowledging the darkness of Halloween, Day of the Dead, Samhain, and the like.

Diwali as India's Hindu Christmas?

(Neo Dharmism) Is Diwali really just Hindu Christmas?

Diwali stories | Real meaning behind Festival of Lights | Why we celebrate

The Buddha meets with Sakka and Brahma

Diwali celebrations generally last five or six days [15, 16]. It is connected to various religious events, deities, and personalities, such as being the day Rama returned to his kingdom in Ayodhya with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana after defeating the demon king Ravana [17].

Diwali is also widely associated with the Goddess of Prosperity Lakshmi and the Remover of Obstacles Ganesha, who is a god of wisdom [18].

Other regional Indian traditions connect the holiday to Vishnu, Krishna, Durga, Shiva, Kali, Hanuman, Kubera, Yama, Yami, Dhanvantari, or Vishvakarman.

Primarily a Hindu festival today, variations of Diwali are also celebrated by adherents of other non-Hindu traditions [15].

Newar Buddhist Diwali (Kali Puja)

The Great (Maha) Brahma, creator deity

Newar Buddhists, unlike other Buddhists, celebrate Diwali by worshipping Lakshmi, while the Hindus of Eastern India and Bangladesh generally, celebrate Diwali by worshipping the goddess Kali [22, 2, 23].

• Kali Puja (West Bengal)

Jains observe their own Diwali, which marks the final liberation of their founder Mahavira [19, 20], who is known in Buddhism as the Nigantha Nattaputta or the Brahmin Vardhamāna.

Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas to mark the release of Guru Hargobind from a Mughal prison [21]. More

How Diwali became India's biggest fest

(Firstpost) How Diwali became India's biggest fest | Vantage | Palki Sharma

Northern California celebrates

(CBS News Sacramento) Northern California comes together to celebrate

San Francisco honors Diwali

(KPIX | CBS News Bay Area) San Francisco Bay Area Diwali begins

San Antonio, Texas' 18th year

(KSAT 12) Diwali Festival of Lights brings color, culture to HemisFair

(AGT) Insane Indian contestants who left everyone speechless

Diwali Celebrations in New York City

Diwali 2026 celebration in Times Square, New York City | Indian celebration in heart of NY

• (AGT/Talent Replay) Kali comes to life through 13-year-old girl from Jammu and Kashmir, India
• Diwali Festival: Deepawali (diwalifestival.org)

Newar Buddhist Diwali: Kali/Lakshmi pujas

(NickandCarries) Taking my East Asian girlfriend to celebrate Diwali in India 🪔

(Denitslava Makeup) I try Indian sweets and spices as snacks (chaat) for the first time ever

An American couple in India for Diwali

Where is the subcontinent of India? (CGI Earth)

(Nick & Raychel) Diwali (Festival of Lights) in Mumbai, India: In this week's video, we are celebrating Diwali in India. We're kicking off the celebrations in Udaipur and making our way to Mumbai (Bombay) for the last day of Diwali. We found a peaceful, beautiful Diwali in Udaipur (and celebrated my birthday) before getting amped up for a crazy Deepavali in Mumbai, India's most densely populated city.

CHAPTERS: 00:00 Setting up in Udaipur 02:20 trying Indian sweets 04:55 Exploring the decorations 05:26 Buying new clothes 06:05 Birthday dinner 07:27 First night of Diwali 08:23 Flying to Mumbai 09:49 Mumbai Diwali Fireworks

• Trying INDIAN SNACKS for the first time ever

Kali Puja: Bengal’s unmatched celebration of Ma Kali | Diwali

(HISTORY TV18) While much of India celebrates Diwali with lights and fireworks, West Bengal in India honors the fierce Mother Goddess KALI with special rituals at Dakshineswar Kali Temple.

• Buddhism in Bangladesh (East Bengal) 

Kali Puja commemorates her victory over the demon Raktabeej ("Seeds of Blood"), symbolizing the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness. Rituals include bringing water from the Hooghly River, lighting the sacred fires, performing homa, and immersing the Goddess’s idols, a powerful reminder that while forms may vanish, divine energy (Shakti) remains eternal.🔥🪔 #Diwali #KaliPuja

Lakshmi Puja Guide for 2026

(The Temple Girl) Diwali Lakshmi Puja Guide 2026:

How to perform devotional ceremony (puja) at home

Fierce, wrathful protector goddess

(Pravielle) Maa Kali chanting for protection

This is a multi-audio video, so choose English, Hindi, Tamil, or Telugu audio by clicking ⚙️ (Settings) under video and selecting the Audio Track.​

➤ INQUIRES: notluxe@gmail.com.  My first Diwali in India, Nov. 2, 2024

World's largest pyramid found in Mexico

What advanced (space) civilization built these?

We have spectacular views of Mexican archeological sites for tourists, like Teotihuacan (pictured here) with its Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Sun. But the Mesoamerican site of Cholula remains largely unexcavated, undiscovered, unexposed to the public. An insulting imperial Catholic church placed on top of it by the Conquistadores (European "Conquerors" from Spain) remains undisturbed making the erasure almost complete.

Mexico's astonishing Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacán, in the Valley of Mexico

• World's largest pyramid discovered in Mexico!

What they found beneath the Pyramid of Cholula could change the world

Pieza del mural de Los Bebedores | Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia | Facebook

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The Great Pyramid of Cholula (Nahuatl Tlachihualtepetl or "Constructed Mountain") is a the world's largest pyramid and a massive archeological complex located in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. It is the largest pyramid, the largest temple, and the largest archeological site in the world.

• The Cholula pyramid is the largest by total volume, almost twice the size as that of Giza, as far as is yet officially known to exist on Earth today [1, 2].
• [NOTE: Possibly larger pyramids have been spotted on Mars, the moon, in formerly Hindu-Buddhist Indonesia, China, and in Bosnia, Europe.]

Why does communist China not tell world of its many derelict pyramids sitting in rice fields?

Buddhist China is full of pyramids and Blue Eyed Buddhas (Robert Sepehr/Atlantean Gardens)

Map: Classic Era Mexican/Mesoamerican sites

• The adobe brick pyramid stands 82 feet (25 meters) [3] above the surrounding plain, shorter than the Pyramid of Giza's height of 481 feet (146.6 meters) but far wider, measuring 984 by 1,033 feet (300 x 315 meters) in its final form [3], compared to Giza's base dimensions of 756 x 756 feet (230.3 by 230.3 meters) [4]. The Cholula pyramid is an ancient temple traditionally viewed as having been dedicated to the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl [5]. The architectural style of the building is linked closely to that of Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, although influence from the Gulf Coast is evident as well, especially from El Tajín in Veracruz [6]. More

Where's the Mexican Cholula pyramid and wonder of the world? Buried in that hill under an imperial Catholic Church that sought to hide it from the Old World

Pyramid site too large to draw, buried by invaders to hide it like Buddhist Borobudur

Panoramic view of Mexico's Teotihuacan pyramid complex with many massive temples

Massive Plaza de la Pirámide de la Luna: Pyramid of the Moon, Teotihuacan, México

Teotihuacan Mexican temple complex and pyramids superficially open to tourists

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The hidden wonders of Mesoamerica (Mexico)

This documentary follows the legend of hidden tunnels even the conquering Spanish found and documented, secret chambers, confiscated OOPAs (out-of-place artifacts and) tools and a mysterious mural of Los Bebedores de Cholula ("The Drinkers [of pulque] of Cholula"). And each claim is set beside what archeologists officially claim to have found.

• See how a mountain made by hand grew over 1,000 years,
• why 8 kilometers of tunnels were [dug in ancient times but are now said to have been] dug in the 1930s,
• what the 1,800-year-old Mural of the Drinkers actually shows,
• which parts of the world's greatest pyramid are still waiting to be studied today.
• El mural de los bebedores de Cholula, Puebla | Arqueología Mexicana
• The role of the Great Pyramid of Cholula

#Cholula #GreatPyramidOfCholula #AncientMexico #Archeology #Archaeology #AncientMysteries #Mesoamerica Great Pyramid of Cholula, Cholula pyramid, largest pyramid in the world, Tlachihualtepetl, pyramid hidden under a hill, Cholula tunnels, Mural of the Drinkers, Los Bebedores mural, Ignacio Marquina, Church of Our Lady of Remedies, Puebla Mexico, ancient Mexico, Mesoamerica, Teotihuacan, pulque, Cholula massacre, Quetzalcoatl, ancient mysteries, archaeology documentary, hidden pyramid, Mexico history, pyramid discovery

• Crystal Quintero, CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly