Buddhism

not equated with the symbol of money, then a happiness index is closer to what wealth implies in that sense. Quality and appreciation trump quantity and that would be encouraged.

It was mentioned in the article that some residents are "resigned to their fate" and this is due to their belief in karma. Well, Buddhism, to me, is not a one size-fits-all method. Some people might find the tendency to be resigned to "fate" as comforting and others could find it restricting and one-sided, as deterministic and uninspiring, maybe even depressing.

My understanding of what the Buddha taught does not necessarily frame karma as fate. Karma, primarily, means action, or what you do in the present and it relates to your habitual conditioning in the sense of the idea of the past. For the Western mind, this can be useful in a psychological sense. The basal ganglion store unconscious, repeatable patterns, (driving, tying a shoe, typing, etc.) that relieve surface consciousness of the need for attention on details. Imagine the effort and time involved in having to go through every action and behavior step-by-step. Imagine picking out each word as you have a conversation or running your own personality by micro-managing each aspect of how you behave. You would burn yourself up and probably breakdown.

The garden analogy seems to sum it up best. Consciousness is considered the field, karma is the seeds and desire is the moisture. The implication is that karma will provide the tendencies--cues or triggers--that are planted in the field. Desire for an outcome, (the moisture) represents the motivation and reward. You water the seeds and bring them to fruition this way. This is the framework of endless becoming and it proves to be stressful, (for both good and bad outcomes) and ultimately unsatisfying. Being tied to this becoming is about automatic behaviors and per-programmed reactions and thought/feelings, as well as the outcomes of behaviors and how they are reinforced. The past and future of it, (time-based) is merely a reference point.

Karma, in this sense, is more like a Quantum affair that provides a range of probabilities that are weighted, and hence, karma is not fate. Some behaviors and reactions are strong, powerful and can be irresistible, hence they repeat. This applies to thoughts/emotions evoked by circumstances, (internal and external) and the reaction can be enjoyable or miserable or null. One person can be nonplussed by an event while another experiences deep sorrow or reacts violently.

One always experiences one's karma in the immediate present. One of the antidotes is mindfulness, (paying direct attention continuously) and a result can be that the karma burns itself up for lack of reinforcement and the confusion of involvement; you no longer follow it around. Then, one does not become a dull cow chewing cud in the field, but rather discovers self-arising Wisdom that is an aspect of our True Nature. One responds spontaneously to situations without calculations, strategies and with desire as a prime motivator. Freedom is to largely function from the habit energy patterns of karma.

That is freedom versus resignation to fate. The concept of karma, taken in one way becomes a reinforcement for one's bondage and in another way it provides a dynamic means for liberation. This is duality after all, so even while we can point to the non-dual all concepts are subject to the dance.