October 14th, 2006, Serial No. 03349

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The word karma is now become quite familiar in America. People often say, that's my karma, or something like that. And the word karma was used by the founder of the so-called Buddhist tradition in India. He stressed that word, awareness of that phenomena. But the word karma, it was in the culture he lived in and has been in it ever since. So when a lot of Eastern traditions were being transmitted to the United States, in the 20th century particularly, or Europe — I'm getting feedback on this, kind of.

[01:15]

Different traditions transmitted different understandings of the word karma. Even within the Buddhist tradition, different lineages transmitted it in different ways. And so it's kind of confusing. I went to a yoga studio a while ago and I saw an advertisement for a class on karma. and I read the description of the class and what karma was and I didn't understand at all what the person was talking about as they were explaining what karma was. It was a very, very different understanding than I had from the tradition of the Buddha. So when we talk about this today, this is not necessarily the right way to use the word, because the word can be used in whatever way people want to use it, of course, but I'd like to say what I think is the way the Buddha used it, and also the way I think is good to use it, or a good way to use it.

[02:35]

So I think, anyway, using it as action is good. And also I wanted to say that the meditation on karma, in the way that I think the Buddha actually meant it, is an empirical study. It actually offers an opportunity to actually look and seek. what karma is happening, or how karma is happening in your life right now. And... But I wanted also to... I want to tell you something that happened yesterday, or last night. Yes? Yes? Well, how is it now, if I talk like this? Still can't hear? Who else is having trouble hearing? Why don't you come up closer?

[03:43]

Could you come up closer? Could we move your mic a little bit? It's because of the ocean. Why don't you move over? Can you hear me now? Yeah. That's better. You could also move over here. This is good. This is good now? Okay. All right. Please raise your hand if you can't hear me and you want to. I had an early celebration of my daughter's 30th birthday, half Chinese daughter, and we went to a Chinese restaurant. As you know, in Chinese restaurants, sometimes at the end of the meal they give you fortune cookies. So I opened a fortune cookie and I saw my fortune. And I looked at it and I said, usually when I get a, usually my fortune, the fortune I get from fortune cookie, I feel somewhat relevant to my life.

[04:54]

But this is the first time I thought I was really off. It said, you are very sociable and entertaining. And then I said that and I showed it to my daughter and she looked at it and laughed out loud. And I showed it to my wife and she looked at it and laughed out loud. I'm not known around, among them as sociable and entertaining. And I... I didn't notice that when I brought this example up, I didn't notice that the word fortune was involved and that people often think of karma as being your fortune or your fate. And there's reasons why people think that because one of the teachings of the Buddha is that, a very basic teaching of Buddha is that karma has consequence.

[05:59]

Action has consequence. So the consequences that are manifest in your life in some sense you might think are your fate. But thinking that your fate gets into fatalism, like, you know, it's just happening to you. And so to understand how what's happening is due to what you're doing is important, but also to understand how what's happening for you is a confluence of what you're doing together with other people. Which is... It is part of the study of karma to look at causation. So studying karma is studying cause and effect. But it's not really about fate. The Buddha's teaching about karma is not about fate or fatalism, the way sometimes people think about it.

[07:04]

The basic definition of karma that the Buddha gave is that it is intention. Karma is defined as intention. I feel a little like I'm in an ICU. But I have a nurse here to help me. Alice, I understand, works for the life science department. Is that right? At the university. And I think, you know, in a way, that's very nice that you do. Life science, I think, is a very important science. So studying karma is kind of about life science.

[08:21]

So the basic definition that Buddha gave of karma is intention. So action is basically, action to be concerned with is basically intention. And I think that's a little bit surprising to people to hear that. Can't we turn like that? Yeah. Now, not all activity or not all action is the type of action which the Buddha recommended to study. There's nothing against studying the action of, you know, wave action, the action of the ocean. Nothing that's a perfectly reasonable thing to study or to study the activity of the moon or the stars or the sun.

[09:37]

To study that activity is fine, but the Buddha's, the type of activity that the Buddha wanted us to pay attention to was the activity which is intention or volition or motivation. That's the basic type of activity. It's a mental activity or a cognitive activity, basically. It's a cognitive activity and it is sort of the shape of your moment-by-moment cognitions. It's sort of the intention or inclination or wish or motive that lives in each moment of consciousness. And then once this intention is formed in the mind,

[10:39]

This intention can ramify or be expressed through speech and postures. So then sometimes there's three types of action that we're being encouraged to be very attentive to. Mental action, postural action, and vocal action. But in all three cases, these are three types of cognitive activity. Three types of cognitive activity. One type of cognitive activity is purely mental. And the other two types of cognitive activity are physical, but they're cognitive because they're physical events that are imbued with intention or wish. Lately I've been using the example of the growth of the fingernail, or the growth of your hair.

[11:51]

These are activities of your body, but they're not intentional. And again, the action of the waves of the ocean, they are activities, physical activities, but I don't see them as intentional. But in every moment of consciousness, in every moment of awareness, like when you hear the ocean, when you see a person's face, when you experience your abdomen, concurrent with that awareness, is an intention. Every moment has an intention. So karma is defined as intention and then also the Buddha teaches that every cognition, every experience comes with an intention. In other words, every action, I mean every cognition, every moment of experience has activity, has intention, has a karma.

[13:00]

And every moment of cognition that has activity, every activity has consequence. So this is, in a sense, it's moral activity because your intention has moral impact and it is a condition for moral evolution, for better or worse. So that's my... the basic thing I wanted to say about karma is that it's It's cognitive intention. And cognitive can be mental and physical. And I often also use the example of the doctor tapping your knee, like I'm tapping my knee now. I'm not getting the knee reflex. I'm not getting it.

[14:01]

But sometimes I do. That knee reflex is not a moral action. Tapping the knee is a moral action because I want to help somebody. I want to demonstrate the knee reflex. That's an intentional activity and that has consequence. And you could say, well, doesn't the knee reflex have consequence? It does have consequence also. You could kick over a bottle of water or something. It also has the consequence of seeing that the knee reflex works. But it doesn't really have moral consequence. The growth of your finger doesn't have moral consequence. Now here's another... thing I suggest to you. Observing the growth of your fingernails or your reflexes or the ocean may be interesting and useful to some extent, but if you don't study the growth of your fingernails, it probably will not cause you much problems.

[15:05]

If you don't give a lot of attention to the growth of your hair, it probably won't cause you a lot of problems. If you don't actually study the way that waves work, you can not do that for years and years and it won't be a problem, perhaps, especially if you live in, like, Montana. But if you don't study your intentions, even for one moment, the consequence of that is to create... obstructions to understanding what's going on. Put it the other way, studying your intention has the effect, one of the consequences, your intentions have consequence, but studying your consequence has the consequence of causing a positive evolution in your intentions. And not only that, but as you study your intentions, your vision, your awareness, your observing equipment becomes clearer and more penetrating.

[16:21]

So both your intentions evolve when studied, and your study evolves, especially when your study is applied to intention. But also, actually, your intention can evolve positively by studying wave action and fingernails, too. So life sciences... Studying life processes also can clarify and develop a penetrating clarity of your vision. But if you don't turn that awareness towards your own motivation, your motivations and intentions will deteriorate when not attended to. And their deterioration will pull your cognitive clarity down with it. So even if you're a very dedicated scientist, if you don't look at your dedication, your vision will deteriorate. And also your devotion will deteriorate.

[17:24]

Put the other way, if you're a devoted scientist and you study your devotion and become aware of how you're devoted to science and what the point of that is and how that relates to everything, your intention and devotion will become more and more authentic, beneficent, true, and your vision will improve with it. So when a scientist studies life or fingernails or oceans, at that moment there is an intention. If you do not study life, at that moment there's an intention. There's always an intention. The key thing, the most important thing that I'm emphasizing here is to study your intention, to learn about it, That's the most important point that I feel I have to share with you. And then there's more information about how to do that and what that is.

[18:35]

Now I would like to say something which isn't exactly about karma. Actually it is about karma, but in a sense it's kind of a big statement, and that is Well, someone came to see me. In the last couple of days, some people came to see me. One person came to see me and she said, she said, you know, I noticed that I don't love everybody. Or there's some people I don't love. And I don't know if she said that, but she could have said, which is that she thinks, she doesn't see that some people love her. Now, maybe some of you also could say that sometimes, that you sometimes look inside, or maybe you don't look inside, you just feel a lack of love for somebody, for some human.

[19:42]

I also hear from people quite often, you know, I love all dogs, but I have a problem with humans. And I know some people also say, you know, I love all trees. When I go in the woods, I love all the trees, the huge ones, the tiny ones. I love them all, but people, I don't love all people. And I'm a person. I'm a people person, but I don't love all people. Do you know some people like that? That don't love all people? And then there's some people who also feel, I don't think, I don't feel like everybody loves me. You know people like that? Who feel like not everybody loves me? So that's what this person felt like. She felt like she didn't love everybody. And I know from other conversations that she doesn't feel everybody loves her. But then I said, but you'd like to learn that actually you do love everybody, right?

[20:49]

You'd like to learn that, wouldn't you? Or at least you'd like to learn to love more people, wouldn't you? And she said, yes. Now, some people will even say no to that. She said, I love just the right number of people and I don't want to increase the number at all. I'm trying right now with two people and I don't want to extend it at all. And don't push me. And then she said, But the love's there already, isn't it?" And I said, yes, it is. It's already there. It's already there. In other words, the actuality that the Buddha's awakened people see is that we already do love everyone.

[21:51]

Or rather, we already are loving everyone. And not just every person, but every dog and every tree. And everybody is already loving us. And by everybody I mean all things are already loving us. But we don't see that. And the Buddha and the Buddha's disciples have taught that the reason the causal pattern that leads us not to be able to see that we love everyone and everyone loves us is what we call karmic obstruction or karmic hindrance. Hindrances that arise from action have come from action, those hindrances can block us from being able to see our actual loving relationship with all beings.

[22:58]

And then, oh, so if I don't study my intention, or if I only study my attention a little bit, and if in the past I have not studied my attention much or not at all, I experience karmic obstructions, which means in many forms, but in the particular form I'm mentioning, I'm obstructed in seeing my actual relationship with beings. I'm obstructed from seeing beings' actual relationship with me. I'm obstructed from seeing interdependence between myself and all beings and between all of them. Because I'm not studying my intention, I can't see that relationship truly. Now, the thing that's sort of surprising and wonderful is that

[24:07]

your intention is actually, and especially your deepest intention is actually the same, I should say, your intention is a cognitive representation of your relationship with all beings. And by studying the cognitive relationship, the cognitive representation of your relationship with all beings, the obstruction to seeing your actual relationship with all beings will be removed. But every moment we have an activity of consciousness which is a cognitive representation of our relationship with the whole world, So like right now, in my mind there is a cognitive representation of my relationship with you, and based on that, I'm talking to you.

[25:21]

And I'm talking to you about this because I have this picture in my mind that you, to some extent, want me to. And if you want me to talk about karma because you were warned beforehand that I might. And I also feel like it's actually like I can actually stand here and talk to you. I don't have to leave the room because I don't see myself in a relationship of you being violent towards me. I don't see us having a violent relationship right now. So I don't feel bad that I'm being violent towards you because I don't see it that way. And I don't feel like I've got to leave the room because I don't see you being violent towards me. So because I see it that way, I'm here sort of at ease with you. I don't feel you're being violent with me, so I'm kind of comfortable. And I actually also don't feel like I'm being violent with you, and I don't want to be violent with you, so I'm also comfortable with that.

[26:29]

And that has consequences. And the more I study my intention, the more it will be clear to me, I propose to you and to me, that the more I study my intention, which in other words, the more I study the way my mind represents my relationship with you, the more I study how I see myself in relationship to you, the more obstructions will be removed and ultimately I will see that I love you all and you all love me. along the way I will see karmic obstructions and that will be part of my cognitive representation of my relationship. In other words, I will see myself in a relationship with you and I will see perhaps an obstruction to the clear revelation of mutual love. I will see that it's not that clear that what's happening right now is mutual love.

[27:38]

I will see that. And that will be part of my current intention, my current pattern of consciousness. So again, intention is another way to define it is it's a cognitive representation or it's the overall pattern of your cognition which represents your relationship with the world. The more I study those patterns, including fogginess in the pattern, including a sense that there's obstruction between myself and the world, that there's obstruction to mutual assistance between me and the world, the more I see that, the more deeply I will see But the more I see the obstruction, the more clear I am about the obstruction, the more I will see it's not an obstruction. It's actually part of the relationship pattern. And this will open up this vision that the Buddha sees of how all beings together are helping each other be peaceful, harmonious, at ease, and awake.

[28:50]

And then also on the same day, another person came to see me and she said, she talked about appreciation, and she said, appreciation is kind of a low-key word or kind of an easier word or not such a scary word as love. And this person actually asked me to tell you that she appreciates you. She said, when you go to St. Barbara, will you tell the people there that we appreciate them? I said, I'd be happy to, and they might be surprised to hear that. Because people up in the mountains of Los Padres National Forest telling you, sending a message to you through me that they appreciate you. So she wanted to tell me that she appreciated me and that she feels appreciation for me. And I mentioned to her in the conversation, you can appreciate people. You can look inside and see, oh, I appreciate this person. You can find appreciation. You can see, I'm related to this person and I appreciate him.

[30:00]

But you can also see and understand beforehand, too, that maybe although you do feel appreciation for them, they do not know that you appreciate them. You could appreciate people, but that does not mean they know you appreciate them. Does that make sense? Also, people can appreciate you and you cannot know it. And I said to this person, you know, I sometimes feel that other people are appreciating me, and I sometimes feel appreciation for them. But I don't know if they can feel my appreciation for them. I can feel their appreciation for me, but I don't know if they can feel my appreciation for them. So in those cases where you feel appreciated and you appreciate, it's pretty nice. So you look inside, that's actually your intention. That's actually mental activity.

[31:08]

You have a mind, you're aware of things, and you have an active mind, always active, always creating activity. I should say the mind doesn't create this, but I would say in the mind there is the creation, and that creation is an activity. And that is the activity of that mind, but the mind doesn't do the activity. The mind has activity. And its activity is a cognitive representation of the relationship of the cognitive being with the rest of the world. So you look inside, or I look inside, and we find, oh, this is a nice representation of the world, at least locally, because in this representation, I appreciate you. It looks like I appreciate you. I feel like I appreciate you, and you appreciate me. But also in that pattern there can be another aspect which is, I don't know if you know that I do or feel that I do.

[32:20]

So I sometimes say to people, one or more, I say, I feel you appreciate, respect and love me. Do you feel like I have those feelings for you? And they sometimes say, yes. I say, do you feel my appreciation? And they sometimes say, yes. And I say, good. I'm glad you do, because I feel yours, too. By the way, do you appreciate me? So this is, and this kind of conversation lead to, contribute to your vision However, like just now, before I came, when I just came from Los Angeles, my grandson was up and he was playing, and he was playing a game by himself. And I said, that's cool. And he said, no, it's not, because I'm playing by myself. Would you play with me? And I said, I would love to, but I have to go to Santa Barbara.

[33:24]

And he said, would you please leave? He was kind of upset that I wouldn't play with him, I think. And if I wasn't going to play with him, he wanted me to just get out of the room. And I said, yes, I will. And I thought, that's real, you know, that he... The way he sees his relationship with me is that he would like me to play with him, and I'm not going to play with him, and that's painful for him. He didn't see that as... I don't think he saw that as me loving him. I think he saw it as not cooperating with him, not contributing to him, not supporting him. I think that's the way he saw it, and I think that was painful for him. And the real part, what I felt was real was that I think that's how it was for him, but he could tell me that. He could say, well, would you get out of the room? That he could express the pain that he felt because of the way he sees his relationship with me.

[34:35]

But I don't think he's able to look inside yet, at least at that moment, and see, oh, because of the way I see my relationship with you, I feel frustrated. I feel pain because of the way I see myself in relationship with you is that I'm alone and I want you to be with me and play this game and you won't do this and that I don't see that as playing another game, you know, which we are actually doing. I don't see it that way. Well, I think that was quite a bit of material just now.

[36:00]

And maybe you'd like to just be quiet and do a little walking meditation for a little while and then come back. So you can do walking meditation here. I would suggest maybe doing it in a circle around all our seats. Or you can do walking meditation outside. Leon? Would you be willing to talk a little bit about what walking meditation means to those who may have it before? Well, walking meditation actually is a good opportunity to study intention. Leanne said, what does it mean? And so this isn't fully what it means, but you could just stand up now, if you want, if you intend to. And when you stand up, notice the intention to stand up.

[37:02]

And then for a while, and I'll ring a bell at the end and signaling, requesting you to come back, but I would suggest just for some period of time, you know, next 5, 10, 15 minutes, that you, before you take a step, notice the intention to take the step. Don't walk until you can see the actual cognitive intention, the pattern of relationship between you and the world that is that you would like to move forward or backward on the earth. So I would suggest that you meditate on your intention to walk every step and try actually not to take a step until you feel the impulse, the wish, the motive to take a step.

[38:06]

Okay? And you may be a little embarrassed now because if you take a step, everyone knows you have just looked inside and seen the intention. Does that make sense? Want to try it? So it may be difficult for some of you to even get out of the room, but there it is. And right now, you know, I noticed an impulse or a wish to help you get started by me starting, but I haven't looked to see, actually, if I want to start yet. And then I looked inside and I saw, actually, I don't want to take a step yet, so I'm not moving. So I may not move from my spot, which then I think, well, that'll make it difficult for you to move. Are you aware of each one? Sorry? Are you aware of each intention there? Yes. Cool.

[39:06]

That's fantastic. I forgot to turn off the ringer on my cell phone, and I want to go do that so it doesn't make noise while we're doing this. He noticed an intention to turn his cell phone off. There he goes. Okay, now I have an intention to lean. I just noticed an intention to shift my weight onto my left foot. And then when my weight's on my left foot, it's been easier if I want to to move my right foot, which I don't want to do yet, but I'm ready. If I want to, I would be able to do it. I can't move my left foot now because I want my weight on it. And seeing that relationship, I don't want to try to move my left foot. You see? And now I want to move my right foot, so I'm doing it. Here it comes. And now I notice that if I'm going to walk, I'm going to have to take off some of this equipment. So now I feel the intention to remove this equipment so I can walk without dragging these things around with me.

[40:08]

So now I'm going to move my arms with the intention of removing these microphones.

[40:17]

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