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Teaching on Karma

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Speaker: Reb Anderson
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Possible Title: Karma Week 2 Yoga RM
Additional text: The Teachings of Karma Yoga RM WK 2 7/25/06

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Reb: Here is a warm-up exercise- a settling meditation: In the heard let there just be the heard. In the breathing let there be just the breathing.

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Reb: When you were sitting I gave this kind of settling instruction and I could say it in many ways. Basically, in the heard, let there be just the heard; In the seen, let there be just the seen; In the breathing in, let there be just the breathing in; In the breathing out, let there be just the breathing out; In sitting just sitting; In intention just intention. This is a settling exercise. It helps calm down, be more flexible, and then you could turn to the topics of this class. I said last week the basic definition of karma is intention. Action is the translation of karma. The definition of action- the kind of action we are talking about- is intention. Action is an English translation of the word karma. It is not the definition. So, karma is basically, essentially a cognitive thing; it is a consciousness thing. It is not consciousness itself. It is a factor of consciousness. It is the intentional quality of consciousness and all states of consciousness have some intention or have some impulse which is the definition of its actions. So, a cognition has an action as part of it. The activity of a cognition is itís intention. Another word that could be used for karma is thinking. So, in a state of cognition, the cognition itself is not thinking itself but it has the factor or the capacity to think. So, the activity of a consciousness can be called thinking or intention which is the definition of karma. Karma can also be verbal or physical but if it is karma it means itís root- the root of the physical action- is an intention; the root of a verbal activity is an intention. So, a physical action that is not intentional- that is not basically an expression of cognition- is not what we call karma. I often use the example of when the doctor hits your knee with the rubber hammer and the knee instinctively or in a reflex way responds- that is an activity of your leg or itís tendons. Itís a nervous reaction. But it is not karma because you do not intend it. If you had something wrong with your reflexes and you were trying to fake it- when the doctor was testing your knee- they probably could tell the difference the reflex, which is not intentional, and an intentional movement of your leg. They probably could tell with experience, right? I had some kind of a paralysis in my arm a few years ago and the doctor was testing for all kinds of reflexes in my arm which I could not even see he was testing for; all kinds of little reflexes around that you would not even know to fake. But that is not karma. Karma is like I am going to move my hand now up into the air. Somebody who has Parkinsonís, that quivering, it is not karma. It is not intentional. If the person was trying to stop it from moving that would be karma; to resist the shaking- to try to resist it or suppress it- that could be a form of karma. Successful or not, the intention to try and stop the shaking would be an example of physical karma. But it is, at root, cognitive and mental actually- the intention is originally mental. But physical action that is intentional is cognitive. Vocal activity also could be non-intentional like [coughs and gags]: that could be non-intentional. So, vocal activity that is karma is intentional and, in that sense, it is cognitive, not mental. It is physical, but it is cognitive. Now, another thing I think I said last week but I want to reiterate which is a very strange idea is that cognition is born of the interaction between a living body, particularly living sense organs (no, they are not really living but I say a body that has potentially sense organs) interacting with the world. The world can be the physical world of the bell but also of other living beings. So, this- my own physical body- interacting with this bell or interacting with your physical body in such a way that my sense organs are responding to you- that type of interaction is cognition; is perception. Now, I am getting a little off the track but I want to point out to you the suggestion that sense organs, like for example your eye, when it is not stimulated and not responding to electromagnetic radiation the eye organ does not exist. The eye organ does not exist except when it is responding to a stimulation. The eye organ arises- it is not the eyeball- it is an activity, a response to another physical energy, and before it responds the eye organ does not exists. There is no eye organ functioning without any stimulation, of course. It only functions when it is stimulated and it only exists when it functions. It does not exists when it does not function. Basic Buddhist teaching is nothing exists that does not function. For example, democracy does not exist when it does not function. Human beings do not exist when they do not function. But when things do function they do exist. And also, electromagnetic radiation, which we call light- visible light- does not exists until it functions as visible light. And it does not function as visible light until organs are turned on. So, the organs and visible light arise together and in that particular interaction, the interaction itself- the organ and the physical sensation- are arising together and the way they interact- the way that they play with each other- is cognition. The way the physical world interacts with itself when part of it is living tissue and part of it is non-living or both parts are living tissue (because living tissue can be-your body can be a sense data for my body, your skin can stimulate my skin, so, a living or non-living physical data touching a living tissue that has capacity to sense) when they interact, that interaction is knowing; it is consciousness. Consciousness is not a physical thing: it is an emergent phenomena and it can be known too. A consciousness can be known by another body and the way that body interacts with this conscious body is such that there can be knowledge of another consciousness. And, when the consciousness arises, in dependence on this interaction of one personís body with the world, the consciousness comes with an intention and that intention is what we call karma.
Questioner #1: Is it always conscious?
Reb: Is the intention conscious? Are we aware of the intention? No, not necessarily. Most people most of the time, as far as I can tell, are not aware of their intentions but, if you experience it watching your own, you can start to learn to see others. After a while you can seek peoples intentions fairly clearly. If you can see your own you can learn to see other peoples and you can auhlso learn to see that other people are quite often not aware not their intentions. Often times you can interview them and ascertain that. But it is possible to be aware of your intention and other peopleís intention. That is one of the key things we are talking about here: is that possibility. But I want to finish the picture: here we have a world and the world is made of living and non-living beings; and the world of living and non-living beings stimulating a living being; in that stimulation and that interaction cognition arises, consciousness arises, with an intention. That intention is karma. That intention has a consequence and the consequence of that intention is the world. Now, my intention, which is my karma in this moment, does not make the world by itself. But my intention, in this moment, with your intentions this moment and my intentions in the past and your intentions in the past- all of our intentions- make the physical world. And we are also part of a physical world, of course, in which we again interact and new cognition arises, new intention, new karma, leading to a new world in which, again, our bodies have the opportunity to interact with the world giving rise to new cognitions, new intentions, new karma, and a new world. So, this is a cycle. The origins of cognition are interpersonal; intersubjective. Interpersonal in the sense that my body which is a person in a sense, part of a person, interacts with your body but also it interacts with the walls, and the walls are not persons but, as I just said, the walls are created in dependence on all persons and not just living persons, I mean not just human persons. Walls and the sky, the atmosphere, the earth, are intersubjective phenomena. They are not subjects, necessarily, because walls donít necessarily know mountains or people but they arise because of the karma of subjects. Physical things which are not subjects are intersubjective because subjects like us make those objects and subjects like us also make subjects. So, subjects are made by subjects and subjects are also made by objects that are not subjects because subjects arise in relation to physical world including living and non-living parts. The origins of cognition are interpersonal. Intention, however, is not interpersonal. It arises with a cognition. A cognition is not interpersonal. It is intrapsychic. And the intention is intrapsychic. And the sum total of all intrapsychic intentions is a world in which persons interact with each other and the creations of persons to give rise to new cognitions. So, there is a dynamic between our body and other bodies and the arising of our cognition. There is a dynamic between the arising of our cognitions and our intentions and the creation of the world, and there is a dynamic between interpersonal relationship, the arising of consciousness, and consciousness giving rise to a world interpersonal. So, the interpersonal and the intrapsychic are constantly turning on each other, and the world and the person are constantly turning on each other. So, the basic meditation which I offer to you is, first of all, find your intention. And another word for intention which we use in meditation practice or spiritual practice or religion is vow. Vow. V-O-W. And Nancy gave me some questions here and I am going to answer the first one which is ìI came away from class Tuesday wondering if there is an equivalence between intention and Buddhism and prayer and Christianity?î Yes, there is basically, but I cannot say what Christianity would say intention is, prayer is. But in the Buddha dharma we often say íMay such and such occur,í ëWe pray that such and such will occur,í ëMay all beings be happy,í May all beings be free of suffering,í ëLiving beings are numberless, I vow to save them,í but also you can say ëI pray to save them,í ëI intend to save them,í ëI want to save them.í And even sitting meditation could be seen as a prayer. We are sitting in meditation, your meditation could be seen as ëI am sitting here intending to realize the buddha way now. I pray that my sitting will promote peace and harmony in this world. I pray that taking a class in the Yoga Room will help the world. I have that vow. I have that intention. I have that wish. That is karma. Wanting this class to be beneficial, that desire, that intention that this class will be helpful to you and other beings is karma. When you come to this class, before you come to this class, when you think about coming to this class, if you intend- not just think about- like, ìOh, I wonder about going to a Yoga Room class,î there is a little intention there. But when you say, ìI want to go to the class,î ìI intend to go to the class,î that is karma. And intending to come to this class, whether you come or not, is the kind of thing that makes the world. Intending to harm someone, intending to go to a class to learn how to be mean, counts and changes the world. Every karmic act has an influence. I said karmic act. That is redundant. Every action has influence. Every action has consequence. Every intention has consequence. If you intend that people will be happy it has consequence. It influences this world. It is a prayer. Now, usually we donít but actually some people do pray that, some people actually pray that followers of Islam will be harmed. Some people pray that Jewish people will be harmed. They pray that I think. This is a prayer. Now, I would suggest that that prayer will cause great harm to the person who prays it because it is a prayer which is actually a very unskillful expression of life. Itís a confusion about the relationship between that person and other people. And because they are confused, as I was talking about last week, a confused cognition. A cognition which believes that other people are not close friends could give rise to the prayer that some of those people who are not close friends would be unhappy: I pray that some people will be unhappy. This is a prayer which comes from a cognition that thinks somebody is not my close friend. Does that make sense? So, you could pray based on a very confused understanding of your relationship with the world, you could pray that the world would be harmed. If you donít understand that your born, how you are born, then your prayers could be less and less skillful by less and less understanding. As your understanding becomes more authentic and valid your prayers will become more and more effective and skillful. Noticing that your prayers are unskillful, noticing that your intentions are unskillful, is the next stage in the process. Well, actually, I did a lot on the first stage. The first stage is find your intention in the moment, not yesterday. Find it in the moment, if possible. Find it now. If you find and intention which you think is unskillful which is actually the opposite of the kind of intention you really want to have, then the next step in the process is confess it. After confessing it see how you feel about what you have confessed to. If you feel sorrow over confessing an unskillful intention that sorrow can be/ function in a way we call repentence. Repentence means to feel pain again. Repentence is to feel pain again over some unskillful thing you have done in such a way as to be transformed by that sorrow into the person you wish to be. The person you wish to be is a person who has skillful intention. Then, once you have repented, recommit: reenlist, re-vow, re-intend to have skillful intention or to have whatever intention you think you want. This process is the basic process. In addition to this there is an intrapsychic and interpersonal dimension to this process and we should use both because the process is both intrapsychic and interpersonal. First of all you notice usually you start to notice your intention intrapsychically. However, it arose interpersonally. So, it is good once you find it intrapsychically to communicate it interpersonally. And again, understanding how your intentions arise interpersonally will also cause your intentions to evolve towards enlightenment because, in fact, you are starting to realize in that way that your intentions do arise interpersonally and they arise interpersonally with all your close friends which is the entire world. Ok? So, one more thing I want to say before I call on Jerry, and that is/this is partly in response to Allisonís question she asked at the end. Ok? Now, I propose to you that giving attention (I say giving attention rather than paying attention. OK? And I could go into considerableÖ I could say considerably about giving attention rather than paying it) Give your attention, not to control but as a gift. Do you have intention? Give it. Give it to what? Give your attention to your karma. Give your attention to your intention. Give attention to your vow. Which might mean that you have to look for it for a while but once you find it, never let it go. And giving attention to and studying our intention, giving attention to and studying our karma, does more to influence, does more than just influence and transform our karma. Giving attention to karma does more than just influence your karma and transform your karma. Giving attention to karma does transform karma. But it does more than that. Giving attention to karma, giving attention to intention, it will evolve positively. Your intentions will evolve positively the more you give attention to them because the more attention you give to them the more you will see whether you really like them. And if you donít like them, aside from the consequences, actually, if you donít like them you will feel bad and when you feel bad they will change. You will keep signing up for a different intention. And even if you donít get what you sign up for if you pay attention you will notice you did not get what you signed up for and you donít feel good. And, not feeling good, you will long not just for feeling good. You will long to be the person who has the intention which you think is the intention of a great person because you know that great people have great intentions. You know that great people want benefit for others. You know that. And, if you donít have that intention, and you look at not having that intention, you will feel bad. And, feeling bad, you will long to feel not just good but feel a way that you will feel good about. However, what I (and I will go over this with you over and over but I want to say also at the beginning in response to the question you started to raise is that attention to your intention, meditating and contemplating your intentions, your vows, your prayers; looking at them and seeing how you feel about them and in response to your feeling, evolving, it does more than that; what else it does is that it transforms the world which gives rise to your intention. That, not only will you change but the entire world will be brought into the transformation process because the entire world is creating your intention in the first place. And when you, or when not you so much, but when there is awareness of intention it transforms that intention. But when it transforms the intention the world is transformed with it because the world makes the intention. And the intention makes the world.) So, this meditation is not just that you will feel better about yourself in your attitude; and that not only will you be happy with the way you are thinking and the way you are intending, and not only will you be happy with your prayers, but the entire world will be transformed by your prayers. Not only will you engage with the world differently with a new attitude, but the world that you engage with differently will engae with you differently because you wonít be able to engage with it differently if it doesnít not engage with you differently. If it allows you to pay attention you will allow it to be supportive of your new intention. And the world will become supportive of this positive evolution. And the world, therefore, will become a different world. Ok, now, I thought that was a response to your question. Was it?
Questioner #1: Yes.
Reb: Yeah.
Questioner #1: But it raises another question.
Reb: Ok. Well, can you wait your question one second? Can you remember it?
Questioner #1: Yes.
Reb: OK, whatís your question?
Questioner #2: Taking what you say seriously really screws up the idea of a separate self.
Reb: And if you donít take it seriously but just take it sincerely it will screw it up even more.
Questioner #2: OK. But it seems also that it throws up in the air all the definitions we have had of responsibility, and autonomy, and Ö
Reb: It throws up your definitions into the air? Yes, it throws them up into the air for us to look at.
Questioner #2: Part of it, and I rebel against it, it is sort of a collective solipsism. That, somehow, magically our thinking causes things to happen. Like, you know curses can really have an effect on people and I, somehow, donít like that. I kind of reject that. But, on the other hand, we are all one. We are all interconnected so, that makes sense. Where is personal responsibility left in this? If we are not individual, if we are not separate, how can we have personal responsibility?
Reb: It is not that we are not individual. We are individual. We are just not separate individuals. We are individuals, just not separate.
Questioner #2: Is there free will?
Reb: Well, I would like to put the question, ìIs there free will?î in parenthesis for a while because to say ìNoî would not right and to say ìYesî would be misleading. But I have to talk about it. I canítÖ
Questioner #2: I meant, really, to ask, to somehow speak to that area.
Reb: OK. So, again, a big part which many of you have heard me talk about before and you have too but you just donít remember and that is that, according to this presentation I am making, you are all responsible for me, you are responsible for my intentions. If I curse, if I wish badly for someone, you are responsible for this. You are responsible for the weather. You are responsible for the rain and so am I. We all are responsible. And there are two ways that I mean that. One is we all contribute to everything that happens. So, in that way we are responsible. We are responsible as conditions for what happens. But the other way of being responsible, which is more important, is that you have the ability to respond to whatever happens. Always. And, in fact, your response is, always, your intention. However, you are not in control of that but still I am telling you that if people are cruel to you and your response to that is to wish them well- like Joanís example- if somebody breaks into your car and steals a CD of a dharma talk you hope that they listen to it and stop breaking into cars and go to zen center to meditation class instead from now on without robbing the meditation instructor too. If people are cruel to you, punch you, break your car, spit in your face, you have responsibility there. You have a responsibility there. You have an ability to respond to that and you will always, always (what is it? Find your best buy at Kragenís!) you will always respond. You have the ability and you will never miss it. You never will, you never have, you will always respond. You have responsibility every moment of your life for everything you experience, for everything you experience. And you do fulfill that responsibility. Now, the question is, ìDo you like your response?î If you donít, what response would you like? And if you like a different response, then that another-response-wanting-another-response, is another response. Wanting to change your attitude, wanting to change the way you relate when you are insulted, to the insult, to the feeling, wanting to change that is another intention. And as soon as you have another intention you have changed and so has the world. And the world supported you to have another intention. And the world supports you also sometimes to do the habitual thing that you have been doing a long time. But I am responsible for you doing the habitual thing and so are you. In both senses, you are responsible because you contributed to it, who you are contributed to it, it could not have happened if you were not there. But I also am responsible. I contributed. But also we are both responsible because we both can respond to your skillfull and unskillfull intentions. And we both can pay attention to them or not. But neither one of us are in control of whether we pay attention or whether we want a more dignified, beautiful response. We are not in control of it. However, if we pay attention, even though we are not in control, the direction of evolution is more towards more skillfulness, more appreciation of the beauty of a certain type of response and the horror of certain, other responses which, when we see them , when we feel how it is, and when we see the consequences sometimes, which we can sometime see, we do feel really bad. And that feeling bad, if we learn, again, with peoples support to feel bad, it transforms us. But it is not solipsistic. It is not intrapsychic. It is intrapsychic and you access it intrapsychically, you get a feeling for it intrapsychically, but it comes to you interpersonally and you test your understanding of it intrapsychically and interpersonally. So, that is why you confess intrapsychically. You say, ìI donít like that. I donít think I want to be that way. I long to be a more dignified person by having a more dignified response to lifeís difficulties.î And I also tell other people how I feel that way and when you tell other people they help you; they can help you hone and clarify exactly the intention that you want. They can point out to you that you did not really, fully, express how unskillfull it was; that you summarized, or abbreviated, or misinterpreted, or misphrased the bad thing you did. And you can listen to that and say, ìOh yeah, I did leave out a few things.î And then you can even feel more clearly what you did that you did not like and what it is that you really do want to be. Ok? So, I will now take a second point from Allison.
Questioner #3: So, when you are saying that intentions are creating the world, it seems to me that these two different Ö and maybe you think that that is bizarre but Ö obvious to hostilities are, to go out and do things that have effect on us people, it has effect on the world, that world can change the world as a result of that, and now that world can change you as well.
Reb: That is one, yes.
Questioner #3: The other one is you construe the world: that you understand and appreciate or think about the world or something as a result of your intention and your thinking about the world differently affects your intention. And that one, so itís one more realist and one more idealist.
Reb: Yes, but there is another one which (I do not know what school you would put this one in) but we are actually saying that the physical world, the actually physical world, is a result of not just your change of attitude but everybodyís karma including the people whose attitude is going in the opposite direction of yours. That the sum total of all the living beings is, actually, the physical world. It is not the construing of it. It is the actuality of it that we share. And, also, I mentioned, I think last time, that although different species together create the physical world they have different experiences of it. And we do have some shared experiences of the physical world even though we may construe it and feel differently about it we do usually agree that this is Yoga Room but a fish would not. So, there are multiple ways to talk about this and also in Buddhism itís not- when we speak ideally, idealistically, or in that way- we speak of it not so much that we are actually saying that that is the way the world is. But we are more saying that that is the way people know, not the way the world is. In other words, when we speak we are saying we know in this way. Iíll stop repeating myself. So, you could say that some schools of Buddhism are idealism or idealistic in the sense that they are saying that that is the way people are dealing with things: that they are actually seeing their own mind. But that is not saying that there is no world other than our mind. It just says that that is the way we see the world; that is the way we experience it- as our mind. Our mind appears to us as objects. But I am also saying here that even within the schools that teach that, they also affirm a physical world that is created by minds which are only seeing themselves as the world.
Questioner #3: So, how is it created by mind?
Reb: Well, one way, again, one way (I think you said it) is that you build a house and we agree- you and I and some other people- build a house. So, now we have a house in the world that we did not have before. Ok? And dinosaurs got together and walked into a tar pit so now we have petroleum. And certain kinds of nitrogen/iron fixing bacteria got together up in Northern Minnesota and interacted with the glacier. So, those living beings made iron deposits. But the actual arising of the physical world, as the phenomena, happens with minds.
Questioner #4: Stars?
Reb: Stars, yeah.
Questioner #4: How do living things create stars?
Reb: Well, they create stars in the sense that the only way you know stars is through minds. We have no Ö
Questioner #4: Ok, fine.
Reb: And, we are not saying anything about stars that we do not know about. But every star that we know about is intrapsyÖ, just objective stars. We donít know of any other stars than the ones we know about. All the stars we know about are created by subjects. And the stars and the planets and everything on the planets interact with bodies which are also arise- the only ones we know about- arise inter-subjectively and they interact with the physical world to give rise to cognitions which give rise to intentions which lead to a physical world. In that way. Itís a cognitively enclosed world that I am talking about. That is not to say that the world, the actual world, is cognitively enclosed. But the only one we know about is cognitively enclosed. And also the one that is cognitively enclosed has problems, has suffering. And, so, there is a way of studying the cognitive enclosure such that we achieve freedom. And, not only do we achieve freedom but the world Ö
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Ö translated into the achievements of all other beings and if they are not translated, itís not a correct understanding because a correct understanding has to include how the understanding arose. So, again a basic practice principal here is, like someone was talking to me the other days and this person was bemoaning what she had become. What she had become was not as enlightened a person as she thought she probably should have become by this time. And this is a person who has been practicing a long time and who feels that there is some implication of her position in the landscape of the Buddhist community that people would think that because of what she had become that she has a good understanding of the teaching. So, she feels, maybe, she is somewhat dishonest to not tell people that she does not understand very well. And I said, ìWell, is your intention to be honest?î And she said, ìYes.î And I said, ìYour state of understanding is not nearly as important as what your intention right now is.î So, some of you may have a fairly low understanding of what is going on, some medium, and some above average for all I know. What I am saying to you is that, whatever your level of understanding, what is really important right now is what your intention is right now. If you are honest, 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one thing you saidÖ
Reb: Itís blowing your distractions apart.
Questioner #9: My distractions?
Reb: Itís blowing you distractions apart. Itís blowing you back into your mind.
Questioner #9: I want to make I got what I think you said is what you saidÖ
Reb: Go ahead. Make sure.
Questioner #9: Ok. I think you say, ìYour intentions in this moment is much more relevant and important than your behavior, your actions.
Reb: No. Your behavior is your intention. So, your actions right now are much more important than, you know, your present state of development and all the things you have ever done in your life. Itís more important than all the good things you have done and all the bad things you have done. And, if any of you have only done good things: well, thatís wonderful and I am so happy. Thatís great! Thatís wonderful if you have done only good things because you wouldnít be here if you hadnít. So, youíve all done a lot of good things. Thatís for sure. But if one of you have only done good things, still, what I am saying is that that is not unimportant. I mean you are all important. Each of you is important and precious. But that is not nearly as important for you and me as right now what are you up to. Because, who you are is, basically, over. Itís who you are becoming now that I really want you to take care of and who I really want to meet. Not who you are. Not what you are. Thatís, like I say, dead, over, and too substantial. The insubstantial, ungraspable, inconceivable thing that you are is what I am interested in and what you need to meet and understand. Ok? And the way to get into that is in terms of what you are doing right now. And what you are doing is action is basically intention. Intention is your basic action. So, I am just saying not to put down these other things but just to lift karma way up there as saying, ì Take care of this! This is what is really important.î Itís not something substantial. Itís just an intention. It hasnít even happened in a way. But once it happens itís over. Now what is your intention? When you are slapped in the face because you deserve it or you donít- Ok, I am not going to get into that that much- I am just saying what are you doing in response? What is your responsibility now that you have been slapped in the face? If you are being gently stroked on the face; if you are being adored; well, thatís nice especially for the person who is adoring you. No problem. I have no problem with that. And you deserve it. Itís great! Ok? I am just saying whatís really important is ìWhat are you doing right now and how do you feel about it?î And, if you donít feel good, letís have a confession. And, if you do feel good, letís have a confession. And, after you have made the confession, now, how do you feel? And, after you get that, now, what do you want to do? Now, what are you up to? Now, what has your intention become? Ok? And, now, how do you feel about that? And, then, now whatís the intention? Now whatís the intention? Now whatís the intention? And how do you feel? Whatís the intention? And how do you feel? And include other people in the process so you get this because other people are filtering into the process anyway. Thatís why there kind of is free will in a sense because everybody is kind of getting in there and messing with your intention all the time. So, welcome them. Tell them about it. And notice that that isnít so easy especially when you have a sleazy, undignified intention: to tell somebody. But, again, itís nice that you know that you have an undignified intention. But you probably donít know it as fully as you would if you told somebody about it. If you told the Buddha about it then they can help you even more clearly and deeply see and understand the most important thing to pay attention to: your intention. Ok? Any people who havenít asked questions? I appreciate everybodyís questions but Iíd like to hear from some people who have not. Yes, Josh? And Christian? Did you have your hand raised?
Questioner #10: I hate to go back to the past [inaudible] you told a story about yourself and your wife and I ws wondering if you could give us an idea of how you might have reached [inaudible] and spoken more skillfully in that moment in the traffic jam.
Reb: Well, I might have said, ìThat was pretty stupid. I was trying to avoid a traffic jam and I drove into another one.î That would have been enough. But to say that it was the stupidest thing I did: that was the part that was off. It really wasnít the stupidest thing I ever did. Iíve done more stupid things than that. But, you know, just that little crack distracted me from just like, ìI did a stupid thing.î And, not only that but, when I do a stupid thing that is not a big deal because I do them all the time. This wasnít like a super, big deal. I have done some super, big deals. Just like, when you make a mistake, some person said to me that she noticed that when she curses she kinds of distracts herself from the experience. You know, like you stub your toe and you say, ìArrrrrgh!î rather than just stub your toe and just feel it with no kind of like, ìStupid me!î or, you know, all that kind of cursing, kind of like itís noisy. Kind of like distracts you from just noticing. Even if it hurts sometimes. But, ëit hurtsí is less of a distraction from various other comments you could make or trying to blame somebody for something that is painful. Itís a diversion from looking at the consequences of something. So, it wasnít particularly skillful that I tried to turn away from the traffic jam and I got into a worse one. That wasnít skillful. But, even when you do something unskillful then there is various levels of skillfulness in confessing it. And, again, if she hadnít been in the car I just would have said that that was the stupidest thing I did and drove on. But telling it to somebody else and they can give you feedback like saying, ìOh, you think so? What are you actually trying to say here? That you are really like, basically, a saint who finally did something wrong? And this is it?! This is, like, the worst thing you have ever done?! Is that what you are trying to tell me?î Which is kind of like a big distraction from like a simple mistake. You know like, ìWell, I made a mistake but I am a saint. Thatís pretty good!î Then it doesnít feel so bad to make mistakes because you just keep promoting yourself every time you do something wrong. And we know how to do that. But, if you do it out loud, somebody else may say, ìWhat are you actually saying here? Are you, actually sorry about that or are you trying to avoid this?î Like, people come to see me sometimes. They come to see me. They have appointments with me and they come late and they say, ìSorry, I am slightly late.î Or ìSorry, I am a little lateÖlooks like you donít get that?î And I usually say, ìWell, what is the ëslightlyí for? Why donít you just say, ìSorry, I am late.î? I am not saying you should say, ìSorry, I am terribly late.î Because thatís another way to do it: ìSorry, I am terribly late.î Whatís the ìterriblyî for? Why donít you just say, ìSorry, I am late.î? Just straight-out, directly say you are sorry for being late rather than ìslightlyî, ìLittle bitî, ìterriblyî: itís just that that is distraction. And one person tells me itís pretty obvious that that is what they are doing. They are just trying to modify it rather than just say it.
Questioner #10A: Maybe they are saying, ìI am slightly sorry for being late.î
Reb: Yeah. [class laughter] I am slightly sorry, yes. Yeah. But they donít want to say ìslightlyî sorry. ìI am a tiny bit sorry for keeping you waiting. Iím not very sorry. You know it actually doesnít bother me that much at all that you have been waiting.î They donít want to say that. While people saying, you know, this other one- which is related, they are talking on the telephone and say, ìI have to go.î rather than, ìI want to go.î
They donít want to talk to you anymore but they donít want to say, ìI donít want to talk to you anymore.î So they confess, ìI have to go. I am just a powerless person and I have to go. I am being driven away.î Like in the New Yorker they had that cartoon of the woman [inaudible] she said, ìThe hyenaís have broken out of their cages and are eating the children! I have to go.î [class laughter] [pause] Oh, and Christian?
Questioner #11: I am sorry I was late last week and I want to confess that I was walking up here today on time and I had this thought, ìOh, I should have gone up after class and told Reb I was sorry that I was late last week.î But, after sitting here and thinking about that I realized my intention was partly to confess and partly to talk to you because I havenít seen you in a long time. So, there was a hidden agenda going on and I thought I would confess that. But I do have a questionÖ
Reb: Yes?
Questioner #11: And the question is that I am wondering about- you talked about how, sometimes, your thinking about something that happened changes every time and you feel worse as more timeÖ
Reb: Or not worse. It changes...
Questioner #11: Or not. It changesÖ
Reb: Yeah Ö
Questioner #11: And I was just wondering about the value ofÖ
Reb: Usually it changes.
Questioner #11: Öaccepting at that pointÖ
Reb: Again you mean?
Questioner #11: Yeah, becauseÖ
Reb: Yeah, definitely. Good. Good, do it again.
Questioner #11: Ö because it is something that has happened in the past itís not a, the intention is no longer, do you know what I am talking about [inaudible]Ö
Reb: Well, a lot of times when people are confessing they are confessing an intention that was in the past when they are confessing to me anyway. They are telling me that yesterday they had this unskillful intention. And, then, sometimes they are saying and then they spoke it or enacted it with their posture. When you do it with your voice and your body, of course, you also did it with your mind. So, when you do it with your voice and your body youíre also telling me you did it with your mind. But you could also confess, to yourself and to others, you did it just with your mind. So, sometimes, just with your mind you think, ìI wish that person would be late so that I would be the one who is on time.î You could think that you know. ìI wish that my competitor would not do so well.î You could have that kind of thought but not say anything to anybody or physically do anything about that. But when you do do it physically or verbally it is heavier: it has another dimension of consequence and, so, that often does lead more to a sense of needing to confess it to yourself or someone else.
Questioner #11: That is my other question is if you have a thought, an unskillful thought that you donít act on, you donítÖ
Reb: You donít verbally or physically enact it, yes, yes.
Questioner #11: verbally or physically enact it Ö.is that still creatingÖ
Reb: It still is karma. Thatís the basic kind of karma: is the original intention, the mental intention. The basic kind of karma is cognitive and mental. Then the second two types are cognitive but physical. But they are still cognitive because their definition is their cognitive background. So, again, a knee reflex is not cognitive. Itís not cognitive. Itís just physical. But a physical action based on an intention is cognitive. But just the mental one is, well, thatís the root one. And those you can watch while you are not moving or talking. You know you could just be in one posture, like sitting, and you could watch your intention while you are sitting. Moment after moment whatís your intention? Thatís why itís good to start with the simple thing of seeing if you can just sit, just sit, just sit, and just sit, and just sit. See if you can have the intention to just sit. That is a very good way to settle and calm down. And that will help you then identify other intentions. To have that kind of intention- that simple kind of intention- will help you start noticing the more still you sit the more you can see the impulse to move. People who are moving all the time hardly can spot the impulse to move. They are moving all the time. They are physically enacting innumerable intentions- very rapidly changing intentions to move- and they donít notice- they have trouble identifying- the intentions which are at the back of each of those movements. Not all movements are intentional but in a short period of time we can do a very large number of intentional physical movements. Most people would have trouble noticing them. The more still you are the more you get in touch with the impulse to move, how often it occurs, and be able to spot it: just the impulse to move- to feel it.
Questioner #12: Can you let it be- just the impulse to move?
Reb: Well, when you are sitting still generally you do. Right? Like, in this class. At the beginning of class a few people moved towards the end of the period but most of you didnít really move intentionally. You wiggled a little bit but mostly you were just sitting there. But, there were quite a few intentions that were not acted upon which you may have noticed in yourself. Did you? Yeah. Maybe just to scratch your nose or pinch the person next to you but you didnít. But, some people did move a little bit. But, you probably noticed that intention more than you usually do. Kind of like, ìYeah, I am going to move. This is like a big deal here.î So, here, moving- during that first part of class- moving is kind of a big deal. So, everyone notices when they-when it gets to be so intense that they actually are going to move. But other people feel that other times but donít move. But they still feel that. Didnít some of you feel the impulse to move and not act upon it? I felt the impulse to say more than I did. But I didnít. But I had the impulse to say quite a bit of stuff that I didnít say. But I did notice the impulses and I said, ìNah. Nah.î Yes Patty?
Questioner #13: I am bit confused about how the manifestation happens. Like in the example you said, the person with Parkinsons, that the shakes arenít the karma. But how about the fact that they have it? Is that a manifestation of karma? How does intention and all thatÖ
Reb: Were you here last week?
Questioner #13: Yes, I was.
Reb: Yeah. Do you remember that sutra where I said the Buddha said, ìIf someone says that whatever you experience is due to past karma- that would be wrong?
Questioner #13: Right that [inaudible].
Reb: Itís one of the eight. So, karma is one of the contributing factors. When you have Parkinsonís karma is one of the eight factors that might lead to that according to that scripture. Ok? However, itís- among the eight- itís the one that is talked about to focus on not to miss. Because you canít constantly be aware of the change of seasons as easily. You canít be aware of imbalances- most people have trouble being aware of the imbalances of the different humours or defects in the humours. You are not being attacked all the time and you are not careless all the time. Ok? But you always have intention. So, although karma or intention is not the only thing that makes us have the experiences we have it is one of the things that does. But, also, itís the one which- when you pay attention to it- it tends to evolve positively and positively and more and more positively so that the contribution made by your intention becomes more refined and more dignified and more beneficial. Plus you tune into the nature of the creation of the world through that dimension where it is harder for you to tune into- intrapsychically- all these other elements. But, once you are enlightened you will know how all those work too. So, the Buddha is putting a lot of weight on this particular dimension of causation but he is not saying that this is the only dimension of causation. He is saying that this is the one, this is the one that particularly suffering pivots on and where liberation process pivots on paying attention to this element of your mind. But it is not the only reason why we have Parkinsonís or Alzheimerís, or heart trouble, or feeling negative about something, or positive about something. Itís not the only condition. Itís just that- by meditating on this one- we start to notice that we did, though, not feel so good about our attitude, our intention. And we wish to have a different intention. Because we noticed it. But you can have trouble with the change of seasons but it really doesnít, itís not really the change of seasons that you are going to be focusing on to try to make the seasons change more skillfully. But your attitude and your response to the change of seasons, that- if you pay attention to- will evolve positively. And as it evolves positively, then, along with the positive evolution of your intention, then also what comes with that is the positive evolution of your understanding. So, the quality of your cognitions will also develop with the skillfulness of your intentions. So, as your intentions become more skillful, you will start to become more aware of how everybody is your close friend. But, if you donít understand that everybody is your close friend, you will have certain kinds of intentions. And, some of those intentions you will have, if you donít understand that everybody is your close friend, they will not be very nice intentions. Can you understand that? Is that like perfectly clear? That if you donít think somebody is your close friend you might butt in front of them in line. You might cut in front of them on the Freeway. Or, if they cut in front of you, you might feel like unhappy with them, or hate them, or want to smash them. Can you imagine that? If you didnít think they were your close friend? But if they are your close friend you feel like, ìGo ahead sweetheart. Come on, youíve got to get in front of me!î You might feel that way. Or you might feel like, ìI am not going to let you all go in front of me but it is not because you are not my close friend. Itís because I want you to relate to me differently then you are.î But you really are loving about it and you feel like they are your close friend. So, your mind starts to evolve positively. Your intentions change. When your intentions change you see more clearly. When you see more clearly your intentions change. Whereas the other conditions which lead to our physical experiences and our emotional life- the other things that contribute to them besides intention- focusing on them doesnít seem to transform our understanding quite as effectively: all of the [inaudible] things. Some people can study meteorology- you know season change, some people can study medicine, some people can study social interactions and violence and stuff like that. And through that study itís possible that their understanding would evolve positively. So, other kinds of study are also useful. But part of the reason why they might be useful is that in order to do these other kinds of studies you have to pay attention to your intention like that you are not doing your homework or whatever. So, but I think that the pivotal thing I am saying here is that this is the most important- by far the most important thing to pay attention to is WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW? You are doing it. Be responsible! NoticeÖ Accept responsibility for the responses you are making. Accept that you are thinking, you are intending. And then accept the consequences, see how you feel, enter the process. This is extremely beneficial and important. Not to put anything else down but just to put this up. Not to say that it is the only condition, just to say itís not the only one. Itís just the most important one to keep on all the time if possible. And, if you have more questions about how it is important, if you have any doubt that it is important, bring those doubts up. Confess the doubts. If you donít want to pay attention to your intention tell me about it so we can see how you feel about that and to see if you really donít want to pay attention to your intention, see if you really donít want to pay attention to what you are doing. And, if you donít, then how do you feel about that? And I trust that if you look at this you will evolve towards enlightenment. But I am not trying to get you to be different from who you are I am just trying to encourage you