Connectedness through karma can go either way — the connections can be good, or they can be bad. So you want to foster the good ones.

"“We’re related through our actions”

The connections we have in life with different people are created by our actions: things that we’ve done together with other people or to other people or for other people. These create the connections that we have with the people around us.

Interconnectedness is a very popular teaching in Buddhism, especially nowadays, but it’s funny that people like to talk about interconnectedness without the teaching on karma. They turn to dependent co-arising as a model for interconnectedness, this web of connections where one factor can’t exist without a whole lot of other factors, but they neglect to realize that dependent co-arising is a teaching on how ignorance is connected with suffering, how craving is connected with suffering. It’s the kind of connectedness you want to cut, not the kind you want to celebrate.

Connectedness through karma can go either way — the connections can be good, or they can be bad. So you want to foster the good ones.

And again, where do you look? You look at what you’re doing right here and right now. How are you behaving with other people? How are you treating them? These create the relationships you’re going to be able to enjoy or you’re going to be stuck with, now and on into the future. So choose your actions carefully."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Sublime Attitudes" (Meditations2)

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