Welcome to the SC Dharma Group Teachings PageColumbia TeachingsGeshe Dakpa Topgyal: KarmaDateline: Columbia: May 11, 2001 Karma There are four characteristics of karma. 1. Karma is fixed. 2. Karma multiplies greatly. 3. The consequences aren’t experienced if the action is not completed. 4. Karma is not exhausted by time, only by full experience of the consequences. There are two types of karma, positive and negative. Positive karma is wholesome or virtuous or meritorious karma. Positive karma comes from desirable actions. Negative karma is unwholesome or nonvirtuous karma. It comes from undesirable actions. Positive and negative karma can each be divided into two types, individual karma and collective karma. Individual karma comes from an act executed by an individual, so the results are experienced by the individual. Collective karma is experienced collectively. It comes from collective action. For example, if five people together complete an action, the results are experienced by all five. All five have to share in the consequences of the action. Actions can be incomplete, and so can karma. For karma to be complete, four binding factors are required. If any one of the four binding factors is missing, karma becomes incomplete. When all four binding factors are present at the execution of an act, then karma is complete. Binding factors The four binding factors are the base, the intention or motivation, the execution of an action, and the completion of an action. 1. Base. The base could be the recipient. In the act of killing, someone is killed, a human being, an animal, and this victim is the base. 2. Intention. When you’re walking on the grass, it’s very likely that you will step on insects you don’t see, hidden in the blades of grass. You may kill an insect, but you didn’t intend to kill. Intention falls under three types of delusion: attachment, anger, or ignorance. If you’re killing an animal for the meat, for example, you could be guilty of attachment or desire. A human being might be killed because of anger or jealousy, a motivating factor that manipulates the mind and its thoughts. Killing may also occur through reckless or mindless behavior. An action is completed without the consequences imagined, but the possible negative consequences are ignored. The person acting thinks, "Whatever happens, I don’t care." 3. Execution. The base exists; intention exists, motivated by attachment, anger, desire , jealousy. And then comes the actual act. The act is manifested in body or speech. Killing or stealing are examples of actions manifested by the body. Lying or divisive speech are examples of actions manifested by speech. 4. Completion. Once the action is fully manifested through body or speech, and there is a sense of gratification, the act is complete. A person kills or steals with intention. The completion of the act gives rise to a sense of satisfaction, "Well, I did it," instead of a sense of regret or remorse. The act is done; there is a sense of gratification or satisfaction; this is completion. If one of these four factors is missing, then automatically the karma is incomplete or weak. The karma will not be experienced full-force. However, weak karma can become strong through repetition. Some negative actions are less serious than others. Divisive speech, for example, is less serious than killing. But if you do one of these lesser negative actions over and over throughout your life, you eventually accumulate a lot of strong bad karma. The four factors that make karma complete or incomplete affect the power of individual karma. It is worse to kill than to talk badly about someone, so the force of karma is not the same. But the fact that you may say bad things all the time could cause you to accumulate a lot of bad karma. Bad karma can become strong through repetition, through repeating a bad action day after day. Question: What happens if you do a good deed but with a negative intention? Say, I do something for society, but my intention is to reap rewards for myself. Maybe I do charity work, but only so I can gain recognition for myself. Answer: In that case, although the action in general is good, it is polluted by bad motivation. So it doesn’t bring forth the full force of good karma in consequence. For example, you give $1 million with the goal of receiving recognition; someone else gives $10 with pure motivation. The $10 donation is better than yours, as far as you and your karma are concerned. For the recipient, $1 million is still a lot of money. Karma occurs in the mind and resides in the mindstream, so your motivation is most important. There is more emphasis on intention than external action. So, if all four factors are present, then karma, positive or negative, becomes complete. If any one of the four binding factors is not present, then karma, whether negative or positive, becomes incomplete. If you look closely, you’ll realize that 99 percent of negative karma becomes complete because all four binding factors are present. And much of our positive karma is incomplete because our motivation is often self-interest or recognition. Many actions we consider positive do not result in positive karma because the four binding factors are not there. Most negative actions result in negative karma because all four binding factors are present. We end up with much mixed karma in a lifetime because we do good things and bad things throughout our lives. But if we try to weigh them on a scale, the positive karma is lighter than the negative karma, definitely. Some karma gives rebirth in the desire realm, some in the form realm, some in the formless realm. The 10 negative actions and 10 positive actions All karma falls under 10 categories, 10 negative actions or 10 positive actions, similar to Christians’ 10 commandments. The 10 negative actions include actions of the body, speech, and mind. The negative actions of the body are killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. The negative actions of speech are lying; divisive speech; harsh, insulting words; and idle gossip or chitchat. The negative actions of the mind are covetousness, ill will, and wrong view. The 10 positive actions are not killing, not lying, etc. However, it’s not enough to just "not do" a negative action. It is not enough to have abstained from killing over a lifetime. You must also feel compassion for all beings and a wish for their happiness. Three from the body 1. Killing. Killing is taking the life of any form of sentient being. Cutting down a tree is not killing because a tree is not a sentient being. A sentient being possesses consciousness. A sentient being experiences pain and pleasure, and with that comes emotions, attraction and repulsion. Animals can distinguish between pain and pleasure; so they have emotions. It is considered more serious to kill a human being than an animal. It is especially serious to kill a highly realized spiritual being. If an ordained monk or nun kills, that is a violation of a primary precept, and he or she is automatically disqualified from being a monk or nun. Question: Do you have to be vegetarian? Answer: This is complicated. In Buddhism, eating meat is negative, yes. That’s because eating meat is inter-related to killing animals. But when it comes to vegetarian or non-vegetarian, it is difficult to draw a line. Did you stop eating meat because of dietary concerns or because of concerns about killing? If you’re just not eating meat itself, that is not being a pure vegetarian. Mahatma Gandhi was a pure vegetarian because he did not use or wear leather. But most of us don’t want to wait for the animal to die. Question: How about Islam, where they pray over the animal before slaughter? Answer: If I pray over you then kill you, is it okay? No, it’s not good, from the Buddhist point of view. In the past, monks begged for food and ate whatever was given to them. So eating meat was not a violation of precepts. If you look back, further, further, you see how hard it is to be truly vegetarian. You can’t get one grain of rice without killing 10 insects. If you are going to eat meat, it’s best to eat meat already killed, already in the market. That’s less negative than eating with a strong desire or intention for meat, thinking, "If I am without meat tonight, I will go on a hunger strike." 2. Stealing. Stealing is taking, purposefully, intentionally, whatever is not given to you or possessed by you. You purposefully or intentionally separate someone from his or her possession. You take something you don’t have a right to take or to use. Stealing from a church or temple something that belongs to the larger community is considered very serious. Stealing also includes borrowing something and not returning it. Days, weeks, months, a year pass, and you think, "Oh, that’s good; he has really forgotten about it. I don’t have to give it back." Putting your thumb on the scale and pushing so someone who intends to buy a pound actually gets less, that’s stealing, too. 3. Sexual misconduct. Everybody knows what this means. The main thing to remember is that you can cause tremendous problems, first between the couple, then the family, then the community. This can cause a lot of emotional pain to others. Four from speech 4. Lying. Lying is intentionally changing your own perception and telling the other side. You know you’re going to the post office, but when someone asks, you say you’re going to the grocery store. There is an intentional verbal distortion. You know you’re going to the post office, but you change this in the telling, replace that awareness, and tell an untruth. Question: Why is it important that you have changed your "perception"? Answer: Having a mistaken perception is not the same as lying. For example, you see a ball that is actually blue, but a trick of the light makes it seem red to you. You say it’s red, but you’re not lying; that actually is your perception. Question: What about white lies? They aren’t harmful. Answer: That’s still lying. Question: Social lies? You distort reality, but for a good reason? Answer: Your perception is of great value in Buddhism. Your perception makes reality; you don’t want to mess around with that. Question: Someone asks, "How do I look?" You say, "Very good," but the person doesn’t really look very good. You’ve said so because it makes the person feel good. Answer: That would result in mixed karma. You lie, but you have good motivation, which is not hurting someone else. Still, there is negative karma for telling the lie. It can be hard to tell sometimes. Perhaps if you take a verbal action, you can save someone’s life. Your motivation is to protect the person’s life or freedom. What motivates you is good, so it’s hard to tell. It’s still a lie, but there wouldn’t be much negative karma. Exaggeration, on the other hand, is very bad. Exaggeration is constantly distorting a thing or event until it becomes serious to yourself and to others. You distort until it becomes bigger and bigger, nationwide with big-screen TV. That’s very bad. So stop that. 5. Harsh words. You use speech to hurt others’ feelings 6. Divisive Speech. You say bad things with the intent of dividing people. You say, "Oh, did you hear…," and then there’s a big explosion. Causing a division in a spiritual community is considered very serious. Or causing division between a couple or between friends. 7. Idle Gossip or Chitchat. If you carefully examine when you are engaging in gossip or chattering, often you’re trying to pick on others’ mistakes and damage their reputations and, at the same time, cover up your own faults. You are also wasting time, talking about things of no consequence. We have little time in our lives to waste, and idle chitchat and gossip are time-consuming and energy-consuming. Little time is left for dharma. Question: Please explain incomplete karma again. Answer: It means "weak." The consequences are not as severe as the full force of karma would be. Question: How do you get rid of incomplete karma? Answer: It is good to be aware of our tendencies, to be conscious and keep our bad tendencies from manifesting. In habituation, we keep doing negative actions over and over. It is important to know, "I have this problem. This is my personal problem, and it is not good for me, and it is not good for others," and then sincerely and honestly acknowledge that. Then it is important to make a special effort not to manifest those negative tendencies. Gradually, we become more mindful. Question: What about what has already been done? Answer: It’s too late. Question: Can you balance the bad with the good? Answer: You can balance, but good things do not eliminate the bad things already done, unless you also do purification practice, Vajrasattva practice or the 35 confession Buddhas. Question: If karma is incomplete, for example, you did something with intention, but immediately afterward felt regret, would you still need to purify? Answer: Yes, but it is easier because the karma is weak. It’s like dirt in a cloth. If the dirt also includes grease, it’s harder to get the stain out. It takes time and detergent. Full-force karma takes time and effort to get rid of; incomplete karma is easier. In both cases, purification is needed, and without purification, bad karma never disappears. Purification is different from other religious practices. It is not enough to go into a church where there is a small window and confess and someone inside says, "Well, you confessed; it’s okay," and you go away. That is not enough in Buddhism. If you want to purify, you must take four steps. You must have a strong, sincere feeling of regret, not guilt. Guilt is past-oriented. Regret is future-oriented. You must have a strong resolve that you will never repeat the negative action, even if it costs your life. You must place your reliance on a higher spiritual being, such as Buddha, with a deep sense of compassion for others. You must apply an antidote that directly destroys negative karma, like a detergent that gets rid of dirt. When all four are present, then yes, you can get rid on negative karma -- in one single meditative state, with one single cause. Again, if one of the four is missing, it will not work. Purification is difficult. Question: Are you a vegetarian? Answer: Do I look like a vegetarian? Do I look spiritual? I am from Tibet. Due to the harsh climate, a 10-month winter, and the high altitude, vegetables and fruits won’t grow. And Tibetans don’t have modern facilities, such as greenhouses, in which to grow fruits and vegetables. Without meat, they would not survive. Question: What kind of meat? Answer: Yak. A yak is a little like a water buffalo. Question: Is it tender? Answer: Oh, a very specific desire for meat. Put it in the mouth, and like ice cream, it melts. Tibetans also don’t eat seafood, although that is changing because of modern influences. Now, they can get seafood from India and China. But, if you eat shrimp, you are eating 10 to 15 shrimp at a time, and that is eating 10 to 15 lives. If you eat yak meat, you are eating one life. Question: How many different kinds of Buddhism are there? Answer: In Tibet, there are four lineages or orders. There are only subtle differences, except in ritual. In ritual performances, there are huge differences. In general, since Buddha’s time, there are two kinds of Buddhism, Mahayana and Therevada. The Mahayana school of Buddhism is found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China, and Korea. The Therevada school is found in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Question: Are you familiar with Tantric Buddhism? Answer: Oh, I am Tantric! Tantra is more mystical, more esoteric. It is secret teachings, secret because it is not taught to the public. The reason is only to protect others. There is a high risk others might misunderstand and experience psychological damage. Question: What are the benefits to Tantric Buddhism? Answer: It can accelerate your spiritual development. It’s like someone driving a car with only one gear; in Tantric Buddhism, you know you are driving a car with five gears. Source: South Carolina Dharma Group Contact: Claudia Smith Brinson Phone: 803-799-4901 E-mail: csbrin@infi.net |