11
Understanding Karma: Liberation
THERE is another level of understanding karma, one that is not primarily concerned with creating particular conditions of happiness, such as being reborn in a higher realm or in some wonderful circumstance on earth. This other level is concerned not with the particulars of rebirth, but with the process of complete liberation from the entire round of birth and death.
The jewel of the Buddha’s teaching, the essence of its wisdom, is insight into anatta: selflessness or emptiness. According to the teaching of anatta, there is no entity, no self, no “I” to which our momentary experience refers; what we are is an evolving process in which all elements, both physical and mental, are constantly changing. That which we call a being, a self, is the grouping together of what are called the five aggregates, or skandas in Pali.
The first skandha is the aggregate of form, the material elements that we experience as physical sensations: hardness, softness, heat, vibration, heaviness, lightness, and so forth. The second is the aggregate of feeling, which is the quality of pleasantness, unpleasantness, or neutrality that is inherent in each moment’s experience. The third aggregate, perception, is that quality of mind which can distinguish and recognize different objects. For example, through perception, we can recognize a sound as a car or as a dog’s bark. Memory is one of the functions of this skandha. The fourth is the aggregate of mental formations, including volition, and all the other mental factors besides feeling and perception, those two already having been singled out because of the particularly essential role they play in our conditioning. For example, mindfulness, concentration, greed, aversion, love, compassion, wisdom, and delusion are all different mental factors in this fourth aggregate of mental formations. The fifth skandha is consciousness, the knowing of an object that has come into contact with one of the senses. What we are is the interaction of these five aggregates. Such terms as me, you, woman, or man are just the conventional and convenient expressions used to describe particular patterns of changing aggregates.
For example, in a moment of hearing a sound, the knowing of it is consciousness. The ear, which is the base for hearing, is the aggregate of form. The unpleasant or pleasant quality of the sound is the aggregate of feeling. The recognition of the sound as the horn of a car is perception; and the aversion or attachment that may arise in the mind is the aggregate of mental formations.
An important Buddhist text entitled The Questions of King Milinda tells of a dialogue between King Milinda, a Greek king ruling one of the Asian provinces of Alexander the Great’s conquest, and a renowned monk named Nagasena. At one point, the king asks Nagasena about the teaching of anatta, saying that in conventional reality there certainly seems to be a self. Nagasena then points to the king’s chariot and asks, “O Sire, what is the chariot? Where is the chariot to be found? Is the axle the chariot? Is it the wheels? The spokes?”
As Nagasena mentions each part, the king replies, “No, that is not the chariot.”
“What then is the chariot?” Answering his own question, Nagasena responds that “chariot” is a concept describing the coming together of these parts in a certain relationship. Apart from this relationship of constituent elements, no chariot exists. In the same way, that which we call self is a concept applied to the interplay of the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, which are in reality arising, passing away, and re-arising in each moment. Their very nature is continuous change, dissolution, and reemergence.
We look in the mirror today, and the aggregates appear more or less the same as they did yesterday. They certainly go by the same name. We get the impression that there is something unchanging and enduring; and even when we do perceive changes, we think of them as happening to someone. But when we look more closely, and it is for this that meditation practice is so useful, we see that consciousness or knowing itself is a process of change and that everything we call “self” or “I” is only the continually changing process of these five aggregates, with nothing substantial or enduring behind them.
The unfolding process of the aggregates does not happen randomly; it is not chaotic. It happens in an ordered way, with continuity, according to certain laws. The laws governing the unfolding relationships of the elements of mind and matter are analyzed in the body of texts called the abhidharma, the Buddhist system of psychology. According to the abhidharma there is a basic unit of experience called a thought process. Thought in this case does not refer to discursive thought or words in the mind, but rather to a series of seventeen distinct mind moments. When we hear a sound, for example, the basic unit of the experience of hearing is a thought process composed of these seventeen mind moments, all having the same object, in this case, the sound. This is how our experience of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and thinking unfolds: seventeen mind moments of one thought process followed by seventeen mind moments of another.
Some of the mind moments of each thought process are called resultant moments; that is, they are the karmic results of past actions. We experience these results as the feeling aggregate of pleasantness, unpleasantness, or neutrality. For example, if we are hearing an unpleasant sound, the unpleasantness of that resultant moment is the karmic fruit of some previous action. Others of the seventeen mind moments are called active moments, and these moments produce new karmic seeds depending on how we are reacting to the object of experience. When we hear an unpleasant sound, the unpleasantness is outside of our control since it is simply the fruit of past actions. But the remaining mind moments within this thought process, the active moments, will condition future results depending on our response to the unpleasant feeling. If there are moments of aversion and condemnation for the unpleasantness, the karma they generate will bring further unpleasantness in the future. If we respond with awareness, openness, and insight in the active moments, then we are generating new, wholesome karma, which will produce happiness in the future.
Present feelings of pleasantness, unpleasantness, and neutrality are the result of past karma. Reactions to present feelings create new karmic results, conditioning the future, which will then be experienced as new feelings. It is a cycle: as the karmic result of past actions, feelings arise in the present; because of these feelings there are reactions; and because of these reactions in the present, which are creating new karma, there will be new feelings in the future; because of these feelings in the future, new reactions, and around and around. This cycle of karmic conditioning is the wheel of samsara seen on the level of mind moments.
The teaching of vipassana meditation stresses both the awareness of what is happening in each moment and how we are relating to it, because it is in our relationship to experience that new karma is being created. Are we relating to each moment’s experience in a way that simply keeps the whole cycle of conditioning going? Or can we use each moment’s experience as a way of deconditioning the reactive mind and finding freedom?
The key to liberating ourselves from this cycle of conditioning is mindfulness. Mindfulness means awareness, openness, and acceptance of whatever arises, without attachment to the pleasant, aversion to the unpleasant, or forgetfulness of neutral feelings. If we can experience present feelings, which are the result of past actions, with a mind that is not grasping, not condemning and not deluded, then we are creating the conditions for enlightenment and freedom.
Even one who is fully enlightened experiences the result of past wholesome and unwholesome actions. There is a story from the Buddha’s time about a man named Angulimala, who had murdered nine hundred and ninety-nine people. He was called Angulimala, which means “garland of fingers,” because he collected the fingers of all those he had killed in a garland around his neck. One of the actions productive of weighty karma, discussed previously, is killing one’s mother or father. Angulimala was about to make his mother his thousandth victim. The Buddha, through the power of his mind, saw Angulimala running after his mother, and he appeared before him to prevent it. As the Buddha walked slowly and mindfully, Angulimala ran after him as fast as he could. No matter how fast he ran, he was unable to catch up to the Buddha. Finally Angulimala shouted, “Stop! Stop! Why can’t I catch you?”
The Buddha replied, “Angulimala, I have stopped. It is you who have not stopped.”
And Angulimala stopped, really stopped, impressed by the fearlessness and compassion of the Buddha. Soon afterward he was ordained as a monk and eventually attained full enlightenment. He still had a great deal of unwholesome karma as a result of his past murderous deeds, and every time he went into the towns and villages, he would be beaten and stoned. He experienced in this way the karmic fruit of his past actions, but his mind had been freed and there was no angry reaction, no new karma being created. He understood that his painful experience was the playing out of the law of karma.
Everything, from the lowest of the hell realms to the highest brahma realm, is a manifestation of mind. Through understanding the laws governing the unfolding of our lives comes the enormous power to choose our destiny. We need no longer feel helpless in this awesome process. We can walk on a path that leads to wisdom and happiness; and through understanding karma on the mind-moment level, the samsaric chain of conditioning can be broken. Through the power of mindfulness, of not clinging, condemning, or identifying with what arises, we break that chain of conditioning and open to the possibility of genuine freedom.
J. G.
To understand karma, it is essential to see how the motivation or intention preceding an action determines the future karmic result of that action. Thus, if an act is motivated by true kindness, it will necessarily bring a positive result, and if an act is motivated by aggression or greed, it will eventually bring an unpleasant result. Because karmic results do not always bear fruit immediately, it is sometimes difficult to observe this process.
Speech is one area in which karma can be seen in an easy and direct way. For this exercise, resolve to take two or three days to carefully notice the intentions that motivate your speech. Direct your attention to the state of mind that precedes talking, the motivation for your comments, responses, and observations. Try to be particularly aware of whether your speech is even subtly motivated by boredom, concern, irritation, loneliness, compassion, fear, love, competitiveness, greed, or whatever state you observe. Be aware, too, of the general mood or state of your heart and mind, and how that may be influencing your speech. Try to observe without any judgment or program of what you should see. Simply notice the various motivations in the mind and the speech that flows from them.
Then, after discovering which motivation is present as you speak, notice the effect of the speech. If there is competitiveness or grasping or pride or irritation behind the speech, what response does it elicit from the world around you? If there is compassion or love, what is the response? If your speech is mindless, as if you were on automatic pilot, what is the response? If there is clarity and concern, how is this received and responded to?
With the law of karma we have a choice in each new moment of what response our heart and mind will bring to the situation around us. In discovering the power of our inner states to determine outer conditions, we are able to follow a path that can lead to genuine happiness and freedom.