Last week we touched on the definition of Karma. Today let’s discuss the law of Karma. It could be summarized in two parts. 1) General characteristics of Karma; and 2) Particular types of action and their effects. There are four general characteristics of Karma. A) The results of actions are definite; B) The results of actions increase; C) If an action is not performed its results cannot be experienced; D) An action is never wasted. So let’s break this down to understand each characteristic of Karma.
We will begin with the first one – the results are actions are definite. What does that mean? It sounds like a lot of mumbo jumbos. In simplest terms, it means that once we create Karma, we will certainly have to bear the consequences of that Karma. For example, if we sow a pea seed in the garden, we will notice that only pea grows and not wheat. It’s worth looking at the main causes of different sufferings human beings experience. If we are experiencing mental disturbances, that is because in the past – not necessarily in this lifetime – we disturbed the minds of others. Similarly, if we are experiencing physical pain, in the past, we injured other living beings. If the main cause is absent it is not possible to experience its result. The main cause of suffering from hunger and thirst is stealing food and drinks from others in the past. However, when we are going through the suffering, we do not see the correlation and feel that life is not fair and there is a big conspiracy against us or that justice is not being served. We think like that because we assume that the negative consequences only are related to our actions in this life. And since we don’t see anything we may have done in this life to deserve this, we just don’t see this as being fair. In reality, most of our experiences in this life are caused by actions we have committed in our past lives.
This reminds me of a story I heard repeatedly growing up. Some of you may have heard this story. There was this assassin who would kill a few people every month. He met a yogi one day and the yogi asked him why he was going down this path of destruction. The assassin said that he was doing it for the welfare of his family so his wife would have nice things and his kids will grow up in affluence. So the Yogi asked him if he had asked his family if they would be willing to bear the results of his negative Karma. The assassin thought it was a fair question to ask so he went and asked his family, and no one was willing to accept the consequences of his negative Karma. This is when he realized it was not worth it for him to continue doing what he was doing.
So we must realize that the quality of our present actions creates the quality of our future experiences. Since we put very little focus on this, we tend to create negative Karma for short-term happiness resulting in future suffering.
Let’s look at the second characteristic. The results of actions increase. What this means is that even a small negative Karma can bring a lot of suffering and a small positive Karma can bring a lot of happiness. The power to produce results of Karma grows by the day just like an acorn grows slowly into a large Oak tree. This is why it is important to purify our negative Karma as we discussed at the end of our last session.
The next characteristic of Karma is that if an action is not performed its results cannot be experienced. We read in the news that sometimes there is a plane crash or something huge and there is a lone survivor whose life was spared against all odds. That is because the survivor did not create Karma to die at that time.
The last characteristic of Karma is that an action is never wasted. This is very important to understand. The karma we create by our actions cannot simply go away or we cannot give them away to someone else to avoid its results. I am sure we all had been in situations where we say, I wish I could take their pain. But that is simply not possible. Although the mental intention that started the action in the past has ceased, the potentialities that create do not cease until it ripens. What does that mean? For example, let’s say we kill a mosquito with a vengeance. If all the causes for us to experience the effect of that action do not come together, those potentialities remain in our mind until it ripens. Sometimes it could take a number of lifetimes before these negative Karma ripens. If you look at the example of our gardening, if we sow a pea seed, it still needs the right environment such as good soil, fertilizer, water, and sunshine before it can grow. So pea we sow is not wasted it is just waiting for appropriate conditions to arise.
So the best way to avoid future suffering is to maintain moral discipline. Now just because we understand the consequences of our negative Karma, does not mean that we are able to avoid them immediately. Because of our mental habits, some negative Karma we are not able to avoid instantly but there are others, that we should be able to avoid now that we understand their consequences. If we try to remove all of these at once, we may get really tensed which is not a good thing. So it is important to remove these layers of negative Karma one at a time.
I know there is a lot to digest but these are important lessons of Karma and hopefully, we can keep digging deeper in the next few sessions.
In today’s mediation, we will begin with settling down at our hearts as always. Once we are settled, let’s contemplate the effects of Karma. How negative Karma will bring future suffering and how positive Karma will bring future happiness. Once we contemplate this, we make a determination that we will abandon negative Karma and engage in positive Karma. We then hold to that determination single-pointedly as long as we can. If we lose our determination, we go back to contemplation and bring the determination back.