Working With Karma
In order to give a quick summary of meditation and the process of Karma, it is helpful to introduce the concept of the Bardo and to introduce the Buddhist notion of a complete view of reality.
Most people have heard of the Bardo as the intermediate state between this life and our next one. This comes from the Book "The Tibetan Book of the Dead" - but the real title of this book is "The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Bardo". This refers to the fact that, if we listen to and understand this teaching while we are in the Bardo experience, we can attain liberation. This is important because the Bardo between this life and the next one is not the only Bardo that exists.
Bardo actually means interval or gap. This means that this life is also a bardo between two deaths. There is the Bardo of dreams between two periods of being awake. There is also the Bardo of meditation, between two sessions of regular activity.
The Present moment is also a Bardo in which the past moment ends and the future moment hasn't arrived yet. This is where Shamata or Calm-Abiding Meditation and the Laws of Karma come into play.
Most of us are uncomfortable with the experience of Bardo or gap. This is because the gap contains vast amounts of energy and we feel overwhelmed by it. To alleviate this sense of energy we blurt it out in various forms of activity. This energy and our difficulty with it cause tension and restlessness. The other problem is that this gap contains deep, immense, still, and quiet space. It is so still and immense that we become afraid that we will stop existing altogether if we experience it. So we tend to run away from it or try to avoid experiencing it by keeping ourselves busy.
With Shamata or Calm-Abiding Meditation, we learn to experience the Bardo of the present moment and we become accustomed to the stillness, quiet, and space of the present. The energy within that space is pulsating and moving, and we experience this pulsation as thoughts and feelings, and bodily sensations. We learn to just watch these things happening without interfering. In this way, we get to know ourselves and our tendencies and we begin to connect to and become comfortable with this combination of tranquility and energy of our body and mind. This is a major part of the practice of this type of meditation.
Our normal reaction is to try to grasp at, resist, or ignore our energy or to grasp at, resist or ignore the space in which these things occur. This means that our body and mind have become like a wild horse. To tame the wild horse, we need to train it in meditation. With Meditation, we tie the wild horse to the post of our meditation object. To help us work with this space and energy, we use watching the breath as an anchor for our minds and we focus on the outbreath to reinforce calmness and reduce agitation.
The tendencies that our energy has for expressing itself make up our Karma. These tendencies of grasping, resisting and ignoring in relation to our thoughts and feelings are the result of habits that we have accumulated from the past. The descriptions of the various realms of existence in Buddhist teachings is, first and foremost, a description of the possible reactions that we can have to this experience of Bardo or Gap.
My best example so far of the Bardo and Karma operating is how we react on a Sunday, when our time is more to ourselves. When we end one project such as making and having breakfast that day, then there is a space where we haven't decided what we're going to do next. Our tendency at that moment towards a certain feeling, idea, and action is our Karma and is how we choose to arise out of that Bardo experience of a gap.
Our tendency to arise from the gap can determine our tendencies in general. There are those who want to do nothing or do just the bare minimum. Some people want to be alone and study or read. Some people want to prepare food, or sit out by the lake. There are those, who, when they have any sort of a gap like this, will call someone up and arrange a get-together. There are also those people who want to re-arrange the cupboards or make to do lists whenever they have a space like this.
The way that we relate to the gap reflects our Karma and is reflected in the descriptions of the Realms of existence in the Buddhist teachings. Some of us view this gap as a threat and as uncomfortable, even painful, and react out of retaliation or complaint. This is like the states described as Hell. Some people react to the gap with a sense of restlessness and longing. This is a reaction described as the spirit realm. Some of us react by dulling down, or becoming indifferent and these are the qualities of an animal existence. Some of us react in a more balanced way, but with attachment, clinging, and self-protection. This fits the description of the Human realm. Some treat their experience with paranoia, competition, and comparing of status. This is a Titan's experience of reality. Others react to the experience of this space and energy with a sense of pleasure and self-absorption. This is similar to the description of a Heavenly Realm experience of the gap.
Within each of these realms there are varying degrees of these reactions. All of these degrees of dealing with the gap lead to the immense variety of living beings and the tremendous varieties of personalities that exist. In many ways, each of us lives in our own realm which has bits of it that are common with others, and parts of it that are different. The common parts represent our group karma and the individual parts of our experience represent our individual karma. These karmas represent our common intentions and their results and our individual intentions and their results.
In addition to individual and group karma, there are also the concepts of throwing karma and completing karma.
How the present situation manifests is an example of completing karma. It is made up of the results of past thought, speech, and action. It is made up of previous intentions and the results of our efforts, however skillful or thorough, to bring those intentions into reality. Our completing karma also includes our habitual tendencies of thought, and feeling. It includes our tendencies to speak and act in certain ways in similar circumstances. It is also an accumulation of all of the choices that we have made. It is often said in the Buddhist teachings that this is how we can understand our past karma and past existences. Our past karma is reflected in our current circumstances and the tendencies that we have in the present moment.
Throwing karma is then the choices that we make within our current circumstances and given our current tendencies. Do we follow along, accept, and agree to the tendencies that automatically arise? Do we continue to think and feel the same way as before about a situation or do we change that and look at things differently? Do we say the same type of thing, or feel the same way as we have in the past or do we respond some other way? Do we react the same way as before or do we change the way that we do things?
If our answer is "yes, we do the same as always" then we reinforce these tendencies that we have had up until now. If our answer is that we want a different result in the future, then we need to pick a different way of reacting now. Our Intention, Goals, Values, and Choices in this moment make up our throwing Karma. It is this throwing karma which alters or maintains the results which appear to us as our completing karma in the future.
The message behind the teachings on Individual Karma, Throwing Karma, Group Karma and Completing Karma, is that there are ways to counteract, eliminate and avoid our tendencies to think, speak, and act which cause us suffering, cause us to deal with our reality poorly, or keep us away from a sense of wholeness and interconnection. There are ways to develop and strengthen our tendencies towards skillful thought, speech, and action which eliminates our suffering and strengthens peace, joy, and wholeness.
This relies on catching ourselves at various points within a positive or negative action and changing an aspect of that particular karma. Changing our Throwing Karma in order to change our Completing Karma. This is where a more complete view, mindfulness and the ability to maintain focus regardless of what situation we find ourselves in is important.
We learn mindfulness and how to maintain focus through the practice of Shamata Meditation. We then use this focus and mindfulness to watch our thought, speech, and action and try to align them with a more complete understanding of reality.
We may notice in this world that everything starts out as an intention. Even the creation of a building starts as an idea in someone's mind, therefore everything starts in the mind. Because of this our viewpoint is very important for determining what we think, do, and say.
In Buddhism, the initial cause of our suffering, including our lack of wholeness, is ignorance. In modern times, this seems to have a sense of stupidity, but in the Buddhist notion, it really means not paying attention to the messages that we are receiving. This can be done unintentionally, or deliberately. The messages that we are ignoring are the reflections in the world around us of that basic intelligence and skillfulness that make up our Buddha, or Spiritually Awake, Nature. This lack of understanding comes about because of an incomplete view of ourselves and our world.
There are many words that are used in Buddhist texts and in spiritual translations in general that have created misunderstandings and obscured some of the spiritual truths in many types of teaching. I've been on a mission a large part of my life to expunge these word choices.
One is the word "Enlightenment", which I prefer to replace with "Spiritual Awakening". I even prefer the words "Spiritually Awake Nature" to "BuddhaNature".
One major area where the choice of translation has caused a problem is in the translation of the Buddhist path to Spiritual Awakening (AKA Buddhahood). In the past it has been translated as Right Viewpoint, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. But those who chose those words really didn't understand the Buddhist teachings and were basing their choices on their own ideas of spirituality. An alternative choice for that sanskrit or pali word that was translated as "right" is the word "complete" and I believe that "complete" is more in line with what the Buddha was trying to teach. This changes the Buddhist path to Complete Viewpoint, Complete thought, Complete Speech, Complete Action, Complete Livelihood, Complete Effort, Complete Mindfulness, and Complete Concentration.
The importance of this for us right now is that, it isn't that we are suffering and feeling unwhole because of our wrong viewpoint, but because our viewpoint is one-sided or incomplete. By discovering and maintaining a Complete Viewpoint, we can eliminate our suffering and develop that sense of wholeness. It's interesting how the words wholeness and complete are a lot more connected to each other than the words wholeness and right. So virtue and non-virtue are less about right and wrong and more about completeness and incompleteness.
So our Spiritual understanding is our viewpoint. A fully developed spiritual understanding is a complete viewpoint. This viewpoint is then reflected in our thought, speech, action, livelihood, effort, awareness or mindfulness, and our focus or concentration. It's from this idea that the Buddhist path was delineated in the way that it was by the Buddha.
As I've stated before, virtue and non-virtue depend on our goals. If our goals are to achieve this sense of wholeness and freedom from suffering then virtue is thought, speech, and action that leads towards this sense of wholeness and liberation and non-virtuous thought, speech, and action leads away from this sense of wholeness and liberation. Therefore Virtuous thought, speech, and action are complete thought, complete speech, and complete action that arise from complete viewpoint. Non-virtuous thought, speech, and action are thought, speech, and action that reflect and reinforce an incomplete viewpoint.
So, what is that complete viewpoint?
Firstly, a complete view of the world recognizes that everything is impermanent, but that there is a continuity of these impermanent events. The universe is ever-changing, but also beginningless and endless.
The second aspect of complete view is that grasping at the temporary objects and events in this world, or trying to cling to objects and events in this world results in suffering. Permanent satisfaction is not obtained through union with temporary "outside" objects, but exists in a world beyond these objects.
The third part of complete view is that we are both separate and completely connected at the same time. This is often called interdependence. It is often referred to as Indra's net or Brahma's net. This is a net made of jewels where multi-faceted diamonds are connected together by jeweled strings. Each diamond is individual but is reflected in every other diamond and a movement of one jewel is felt throughout the whole net. This relates to our interconnection to all other beings in the universe.
Finally, the last part of complete view is that, because of the previous 3 views, it should be evident that there is no underlying essence to any part of reality. Both we ourselves and outside phenomena are a collection of interdependence components in a continual state of change and inter-reaction. This is often summarized by the term emptiness, and sometimes the saying that the entire world is without self, but I prefer the term selflessness. Recently I've heard the term "insubstantiality" instead of "emptiness" and that seems very accurate to me.
So, based on the above, virtuous thought, speech, and action reflects or reinforces the above views. Obviously, based on what I've said so far, we need to investigate to see if we really agree with these views, to see if we really do feel that they are complete views or accurate views. If we don't agree with these views or if we prefer other views of reality then whatever views that we choose become the views that are the basis for our spiritual practice. This means that virtuous actions become thought, speech, and action that reinforce those particular spiritual views that we have chosen or decided on. In general, the more whole, or "holy", our views, the greater a sense of wholeness or "holiness" we will experience.
So the purpose of study, contemplation or investigation, and meditation is to examine viewpoints and decide on what our viewpoint is going to be and to measure our progress towards our goal of aligning our thought, speech, and action to that viewpoint. Devotion is getting our Effort, Awareness, and Focus to remain on that viewpoint. Virtuous action is how we achieve unity of our thought, speech, action, and livelihood with our view of the nature of our reality.
Most non-virtue arises from a failure to see or maintain a complete or "whole"-some view of reality. Usually non-virtue tries to run away from or deny our interconnection with others and the interconnection of our own well-being with the well-being of others. Most non-virtues arise because we are so attached to our own needs that we are willing to harm others to satisfy them.
The first method to replace negative thought, speech, and action with postive ones is to counteract non-virtue by performing the corresponding virtue instead of, or in reparation for, a non-virtuous action.
Non-Virtue
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Replace with
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Virtue
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Incomplete View
(Permanence, worldly
Satisfaction, Independence and Self-centredness)
& Confusion
& Doubt/Depression
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Replace with
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Complete View
(impermanence,
Unsatisfactoriness, Interdependence &
Selflessness)
& Direct Knowledge
& Faith/Confidence
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Craving/Attachment
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Replace with
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Contentment/Renunciation
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Anger/Fear/Frustration
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Replace with
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Patience/Compassion
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Lying
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Replace with
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Telling the Truth
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Slander
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Replace with
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Reconciling Others / Extolling others' virtue
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Verbal Abuse
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Replace with
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Encouragement
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Idle Chatter or gossip
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Replace with
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Meaningful Speech
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Killing or harming others
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Replace with
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Supporting & Protecting Others
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Stealing
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Replace with
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Generosity
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Sexual Misconduct/Immorality
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Replace with
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Morality/Non-Harm
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The second method is to make changes to the various aspects of our karma while we are in the middle of either a negative action or a positive one.
This means altering the components of an action. Those components are:
The Object of the action
The Motivation behind the action
The Action itself
The Result of that action, and
The Feeling that results from the action.
Students in the past have summarized these components with the word OMARF...
Virtue/Skillful Act
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Aspect
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Non-Virtue/Unskillful act
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The best thing to do for virtuous acts
is to try to get in the habit of looking
for recipients of our virtue. we need to be alert
for those who need support & help,
physically, emotionally, verbally. We should recognize that
even wishing or thinking of helping
others or helping through prayer is
also beneficial, because, at the very least, it
puts the idea of doing virtue into our
minds.
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Object
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When tempted to commit an
unskillful act, we can try to focus
our mind on another object or
situation in order to avoid
committing an offensive act. (Go
down another street). Especially
when our mental & physical
health and/or willpower are weak,
we need to avoid objects and
situations that are tempting us to
commit non-virtue.
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We should always try to generate enthusiasm
and joy when performing a virtuous
act. We need to always do it for the benefit of
the other, without any thought of
our own hardship, benefit or loss. We always
view the other as precious (as if
we were helping or making offerings to a Buddha) and
regard the situation as a precious
opportunity and each good act as putting us 1 step closer to Buddhahood.
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Motivation
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When we are tempted by desire,
we should look for the repulsive in the object
or the result. If we are tempted by
Anger, we should look at the positive aspects
of the object of our anger. We should look
at the wrong view that is
reinforced by our impulse to
perform this unskillful act. Each
time we weaken the motivating
force, the Karma is reduced and
the likelihood of repetition is
diminished.
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We should always try to be thorough, persistent,
and patient, without giving up, until
the desired result is achieved. We can use
the 4 types of Giving as a measure.
These are: Giving Necessities, Giving
Confidence, Giving relative truth
(understanding of the law of Karma),
Giving ultimate truth (We are all
Buddhas possessing the Inseparable
Perfection of Wisdom & Compassion)
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Action
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We should try to stop before completing the
negative action and pick another
action and do it instead. (eg walk
out the door, or say something nice instead) The earlier in the
negative action that we stop, the
stronger the counteracting effect.
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We should always work for the most benefit of
others and dedicate our efforts to
our quest to perfect our ability to
continuously benefit all sentient
beings.
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Result
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Again, we should try not to end up at the
negative result or at the very least
try to diminish the negative result.
We can also compensate for any
harm that is done. We can also
perform actions to counteract the
negative effects. The sooner these
counteracting actions are done
after the initial act, the quicker and
stronger the counteracting result.
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We should take the time to allow ourselves to
experience great joy and satisfaction
at achieving a positive result. We need to take
the time to contemplate and rejoice at
the benefits that have resulted. Also
useful is to rejoice at the virtuous
action of others. It has almost the
same reinforcing power as if we had
done the virtuous action ourselves.
We should finish our day rejoicing at the good
deeds that we have done that day
and dedicate the results to our
becoming completely free from
suffering and having the complete
skill to help others.
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Feeling
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We need to experience regret by
contemplating the harm done, by
contemplating the strengthening of
our tendency to be unskillful, and
contemplating the increase and
perpetuation of our suffering and
of our mind-states that support and create suffering.
We should promise to try not to do these actions again,
then move on (regret and shame
but no guilt).
Every day we need to contemplate the
negative results of our negative
reactions and promise to try not to
do them again.
Follow this by rejoicing at our
good deeds (not the other way
around (finish on a positive note))
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Developing Virtue and Avoiding Non-Virtue:
Mindfulness of Phenomena then becomes watching these aspects of the Karmic forces. We would look for recipients of virtue and attempt to ignore objects that would tempt us to non-virtue. It would involve ignoring the impulse for negative actions and deliberately following the impulse of positive actions. We would work on choosing to strengthen the forces of Contentment, Compassion and Understanding and weaken the forces of Attachment, Aversion, and Indifference. We would attempt to stop ourselves from completing harmful actions and we would try to make sure that we always complete beneficial ones. We would make sure that we feel regret for any negative things that we have done and we would make sure that we strongly rejoice for any virtues that we have performed. This practice will quickly change our life, so that we will have less suffering and more joy and will be loved and respected by others as well.
These things work so well that if one rejoices at a negative act of someone else, one obtains a partial negative karma for it and if one rejoices at the positive acts of someone else, one also creates positive karmic effects for oneself by creating or strengthen one's own impulses towards virtue.
The third method
involves applying what are called the 4 opponent powers to our negative actions when contemplating them after the fact.
THE FOUR OPPONENT POWERS:
1) Repentance upon considering the negative effects of an action.
Feelings of guilt are not effective in counteracting negative actions. The repentance and contrition that is referred to in this instance is similar to what would happen if we ate too much food or ate bad food. We would feel bad that we performed the actions that lead to experiencing these current negative effects. In this case, we would feel terrible that we allowed ourselves to over-indulge and ended up with a stomach-ache, nausea etc.
2) Creating the promise to refrain from such action in the future.
Similarly, we would promise not to ever again over-indulge so that we could avoid feeling sick. Even if we do over-indulge or perform a negative act again, the mere act of promising to refrain from an action reduces the force of the same impulse the next time it arises.
3) The power of Reliance on positive influences.
Just as we would rely on a doctor's advice, the druggist who invents the medicine and the help of nurses, and those close to us when we're sick, similarly we rely on the advice of our Teacher, the example of the Buddha, and follow the Teaching as medicine, and rely on our spiritual community as nurses to help us with our spiritual illnesses and negative karmas. This involves taking refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha as well as contemplating the benefits we derive from sentient beings and re-affirming our promise to repay their kindnesses by working to relieve them of their sufferings.
4) Performing virtuous actions as an antidote to the negative effects.
This is like taking the medicine required to alleviate the symptoms of our illness. We perform virtues such as contemplating the parts of the Teaching that relate to our negative actions and their positive counterparts. It also includes praying, performing ceremonies, or committing virtuous acts towards others. It is important in this case to think before performing any of these acts that the purpose is to counteract the negative effects of a particular non-virtuous karma.
The fourth technique
is to contemplate the equivalent powers for Positive actions.
The first would be to contemplate the benefits for ourselves and others that have resulted from the good thought, speech, and action that we have performed.
Second is to promise to continue to perform more such actions in the future.
Third is to rejoice at having created such good causes and to rejoice at the good causes of others.
And fourth is to dedicate the good causes and results to the benefit of all beings and to dedicate these virtues to the goal of Buddhahood for everyone.
SUMMARY:
We need to promise ourselves that we will watch for these negative tendencies and try to resist strengthening
them by repeating the same actions. This can be done by re-examining the situation from a more complete
viewpoint, such as recognizing our interdependence, or recognizing the impermanence of a situation, or recognizing the temporariness of any satisfaction that results. We could
also try to perform the opposing virtue instead of merely following the non-virtuous tendency. For instance, we
could exercise patience instead of becoming angry, or we could protect life, instead of harming it. At the extreme,
we could merely not move or act until the desire to perform the negative act disappears.
Each time we experience these positive tendencies, we need to take those opportunities to strengthen the
tendencies by performing the actions they reflect. If we are tempted to give something, we should give, so that
the temptation increases. If we are tempted to protect a life, we should not hesitate and do what we need to in
order to save that being. By deliberately rejoicing in these actions, we will further increase our tendencies to be
tempted by virtuous deeds.
The next aspect of the teaching concerning developing a daily practice is to know and understand how we can ensure that the practices that we undertake can lead quickly to spiritual accomplishment. This is usually described as the difference between "pure" and "impure" practice.
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