KARMA

Based on 9/18/18 Class on Karma and Yogurt Making by Bill Kirchner at Jewel Heart Cleveland and my ideas:

* Usually consistent with the presentation

* and refined from my earlier ideas based on what was presented and discussed

MY SUMMARY:

IMHO Karma can be thought of as the cumulative effect of one’s intentional and habitual actions and ways of behaving in the context of causes and conditions

* This concept of karma is commonly parsed on the idea of Karma being the cause and the effects being their ripening.

o However, we are all part of a deep web of causes and conditions, seldom is there a unique cause and condition

· Dependent origination indicates that such uniqueness is a simplification

· Ripening can be conditions leading to other ripenings.

* What counts is how we maneuver in this matrix to get good results

o Action and effect involve intention

· And intentional action is what we commonly think of as karma,

§ But reality is more complicated since we seldom deliberately act and successfully create precisely an intended result

o Karma is not some external entity rewarding and punishing us but a natural process within our minds.

· Virtuous actions (good karma) increase happiness and decrease suffering

· Non-virtuous action (bad karma) increase suffering

o IMHO, it is a matter of how we navigate or not in the web of causes and conditions

* Events flow naturally from what we are in our minds

o I’m thinking of consciousness and the mind in a quantum mechanical model

· involving observer and observed and

· how they are part of a system that includes both

§ (including associated matter, energy, consciousness)

o Like we are what we eat

o Karma can be thought of as an imprint on one’s mind

· Imprints can be thought of as analogous to trails,

§ Trails can be good, bad, or neutral

§ trails not used for a long time might still be seen and perhaps followed and

these are analogous to the subtle imprints mentioned in Buddhist training

* For ourselves, it is a matter of removing the bad habits and their imprints from our mind and replacing them by what brings happiness and eliminates (or at least reduces) suffering;

Yogurt is made from milk and certain bacteria,

* best at around 90-95oF in about 8 hours

o with a gallon of milk and a table spoon of starter (preferably from an organic food store)

· but can use other organic yogurt)

· Too much starter (2 types of bacteria) makes it too thin

· Too little starter makes it too thick

* Best milk is organic, not commercially pasteurized and homogenized but heated to 180^oF to purify it of potential undesirable bacteria

o Can use pasteurized milk, but avoid super pasteurized since the process breaks up some of the molecules etc that would otherwise improve its qualities

* 180^oF is a form of purification

o Analogous to personal purification

· Deliberate action to break the addictions (bad habits) and their imprints

* Lots of factors can impact the results, including some beyond our control,

* But, with effort, we can usually purify and control enough to get desired results

o Some take more effort than others

· IMHO, total enlightenment requires a lot of appropriate karma,

§ but don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good

§ Many paths can lead to the peak of the mountain,

but watch your step and strive with care to make progress

SOME OF MY EARLIER NOTES FROM PREVIOUS TRAINING

Karma is discussed extensively in the Tibetan Buddhist training that I have been taking at Jewel Heart. Here are some of my notes:

Karma is defined as external and internal action -- cause and effect.

* However, the concept is subtle and the details difficult to understand. Here are a few of my pertinent notes

Your life is your karma.

* It is the help and harm we are getting, the unfolding of the melodrama in one’s life.

o Real karma is the acting and experiencing of every moment.

o My karma is the imprint on me (the world as I experience it)

· We made it all ourselves, either individually or collectively (Explain either, perhaps “and” would be a better term)

o Karma is subtle (difficult to understand) and can take many lifetimes to ripen

* Characteristics

1) Definite: in whatever manner you create a karma you get a similar type of result

a) If you do not create the conditions, it will not ripen

2) Fast growing: it multiplies unless you put a stop to it by purification

3) It is impermanent

4) If you don’t do the action, you will not get the result

5) The results of an action will not just disappear (if you create the karma, you will definitely get the result)

6) Results will manifest when they encounter the necessary conditions

* Your life is all the creation of karma and experiencing the results

There are lots of different karmas, causing life to go zig zag

* Individual karma is inside and includes your thoughts

* Collective karma brought us together

Many other types of karma are mentioned in other classes

Individual Results of karma

1. Direct result, may or may not be in this life

a. Comes once and is finished

2. Common result (result similar to the cause)

3. Worst result is habitual pattern that you will like to repeat in this and future lives

Aspects of complete karma

1. Intention (the real motivation very important)

2. Action (IMHO wisdom important even if direct intention good—hubris, ego, etc.)

3. Rejoice in it

4. Desire to repeat action

If all of these are not present, the result will be less powerful

Aspects of a perfect karma

1) The object of the action

2) The motivation of the action

3) The action

4) Completion

a) Realm of result

i) Fully ripened direct result

ii) Result in this life

iii) Result in future lives

iv) Environmental result- Place you are born in a realm

(1) Realm where you are born and

(2) place in that realm

b) Collective result

Deeds

* Virtuous deeds accumulate towards a future life (or enlightenment in this one)

* Non-virtuous deeds focus on attachment and accumulate in this life

Karma is impermanent and can be changed

* Complete Karma has motivation, action(mind, body, spirit), conclusion

o The stronger the motivation, action and conclusion, the stronger the karma

* Types (More details in Module 3 of Odyssey)

o Good Karma (created by positive emotions):

· Help because the person needs help and not for a selfish reason like accumulating merit

· Rejoice at being able to help, without ego)

o Immovable Karma

· Good karma but does not get one out of cyclic existence

· Simply helps get a good rebirth into the formless realms (beyond the level of Samsaric Gods if very strong concentration beyond Shamatha), but does not bring nirvana or enlightenment)

o Lucky Karma

· Mundane good actions without dedication/motivation

· Gone when spent

· Does not lead to enlightenment or nirvana

· Can dedicate what has not flowered yet (to Bodhimind, enlightenment, know nature of reality)

§ When do something positive, generate Bodhimind, compassion so it becomes a cause for enlightenment

§ Hatred quickly burns positive karma

o Bad Karma (created by negative emotions),

· Regret helps reduce

· When karma gets somebody, remember compassion (not revenge or satisfaction)

§ Rimpoche has problems when someone says justice being done

o Throwing Karma (throws into next life)

o Running Karma (feelings repeated)

o Karma of Continuation

o Karma of Closing Down

o Common Karma (family, country, etc.)-in class claimed to be because of past lives)

o Group Karma (group you work with)

The above ideas are traditional and hundreds and/or thousands of years old.

* However, Tibetan Buddhism is a living tradition that includes both the ancient as well as modern science.

* One of our local teachers has extensive, on the job, experience with much of the advanced scientific thinking and technology associated with the Physics of consciousness but generally prefers to teach from a traditional point of view.

* The scientific aspect is of great interest to the Dali Lama and others.

Here are some of my thoughts on Karma from a scientific perspective that I have discussed with some Tibetan Buddhist teachers familiar with the Physics of consciousness and gotten general agreement:

I see karma as the cause and effect aspect of the interconnection of everything (every process) in the universe.

* Normal, waking, individual, consciousness is a manifestation of that interconnectedness resonating intimately in the brain of an individual - holistically connecting information storage, retrieval and sensory mechanisms into a single unified frame of reference.

* Thus, the interconnection of everything manifests as individual consciousness, normally obscured by one’s own delusions and the static from ongoing internal flows of thought.

The process of cause and effect (karma) can be thought of as a whole (or experienced as a whole for the fully enlightened), or (more commonly) from the perspective of normal, waking, individual, contaminated consciousness.

Various interconnected flows of cause and effect (karmas) have been categorized in various ways, including:

* Good Karma, Bad Karma, Lucky Karma, etc., generated by and experienced primarily from the perspective of the consciousness of a samsaric individual

* In larger frameworks like Common Karma (family, country, etc.), Group Karma, Collective Karma (Pag363 of Odyssey) that are typically experienced by individuals when cause meets conditions and resonates in normal waking individual samsaric consciousness

* And in various aspects in-between, such as Group Karma

I think of Karma as, at one level, something like how your actions play out in the web of dependent arising and, at a biggest level, as how the web as a whole plays out.

* Whether or not the results of ones actions are good or not (good karma or bad karma) depends on if it contributes to the increase in happiness and decrease in suffering or not.

* That depends on wisdom, compassion, motivation, and what one actually does. Acting based on delusions can lead to bad results.

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Logic, while very useful, treats the things as fully understood by logic as inherently existing (discrete, self-enclosed, self-existent entities that exist independently and unrelated to other things) instead of as combinations of causes and conditions that we label and treat like discrete mathematical entities. Enlightenment includes being at one with the dynamic web of causes and conditions (empty of our simplified assumptions of discrete singular existence) while knowing how they relate to mundane concepts of reality so that one can act efficiently in the mundane world and beyond to manifest desirable results. It is something that must be experienced to fully understand.

Alan Ginsberg Heart Sutra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAP8KYdtlmQ&feature=youtu.be

Bodhimind (Skt. Bodhicitta) is mind or intention totally dedicated to helping or serving all others and that seeks to gain the highest spiritual development in order to do that

* It is like a double-headed bird, it has two faces

o Dedicated for others

o Seeking spiritual development for oneself in order to serve, to help, to render service, to be about to devote oneself and be capable of serving others

1. Setting Up Your Altar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QNL7Z_AqZ8&feature=youtu.be

2. Water Offerings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqVRznDn8hw&feature=youtu.be

3. Taking Down Altar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCycZAZoAwQ&feature=youtu.be

Template for outline format:

TOP

* Level 1

o Level 2

· Level 3

§ Level 4

Level 5

Half space

I spent most of today writing this draft, which I am now posting as public:

DRAFT SUMMARY OF HOW TO DO MAGICAL BUDDHIST WATER OFFERINGS

By Larry Cornett:

* Clean the room and your altar

* Do three prostrations (indicating that you admire the qualities of a Buddha and will work to obtain them for the good of all)

* Cultivate your motivation (Generate Bodhichitta)

o By thinking of the four noble truths (suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering, the path), etc.

· Think of how samsara is unsatisfactory

§ Look at other living beings and see that they are no different concerning suffering, wanting happiness and not wanting suffering

Realize that they have been kind to us in past lives, etc and are likely to be so in future lives

Think that we have responsibility to improve our lives and theirs

· Because the mind is controlled by ignorance, anger and attachment

· Think that it is possible to become a Buddha, to shed ignorance etc to be able to do because the antidotes exist and it has been done

§ Think of the causes of ignorance, especially the delusion of thinking of things as inherently existing instead of their being combinations of causes and conditions that we label

§ Think of the emptiness of independent nature

That what ignorance grasps at does not exist

Ignorance has nothing to stand on

§ and that the associated afflictions can be eradicated by realizing emptiness

Remember your experiences of emptiness (or closely related states) and associated realizations

Know that it is possible to obtain full awakening

Realize Bodhicitta based on that wisdom and the compassion that wants to obtain enlightenment for the benefit of others

* With that motivation, want to make offerings of water, beauty, incense, light, food, music, etc

o When we respect something (like Buddha) we want to make a connection by giving something

· Water is abundant and unlikely to cause attachment

· Think of it as pure and cleansing

It can also be visualized as taking other forms (incense, etc.)

o Clean seven bowls

· The use of cloth can be thought of as the realising of emptiness

· Dirt is ignorance and defilements of ignorance; and

· you are cleaning the minds of sentient beings

One can also purify the bowls with incense as part of the above process

o Stack them upside down

o Pick up and hold the first bowl in one hand and fill with water

· While saying Om Ah Hum (meaning body, speech and mind)

§ Empty most of the water into the next bowl

while pouring the water think that

Ø You are filling sentient beings with wisdom nectar. and

Ø that you are offering wisdom nectar to the buddhas and they are experiencing great bliss

§ Realize the associated feeling within yourself

Put the bowl on the altar

· Do the same with the next bowl

§ Put the bowls in straight line about a grain of rice apart(a mindfulness practice)

o Then fill each bowl with water to within a rice grain’s distance from the top, one at a time, while

· For each bowl think:

§ of the bowls as incredibly beautiful,

§ that you are offering blissful wisdom nectar to all

Filling up all sentient beings with blissful wisdom nectar (including yourself)

offering to all the holy beings, making them very happy

§ Realize the feeling of plenty, richness inside, (combats miserliness and feeling of scarcity)

Take delight in giving and realize their enabling us to gain the qualities of the Buddha

· Multiply each offering during the process

§ Imaging the whole sky etc, is full of the wonderful beautiful offerings, etc

§ One can use a mantra during the multiplication process, such as

Om Ah Hum

on Page 49 of Pearl of Wisdom, Book I Buddhist Prayers and Practices by Thubten Chodron

o Clear all obstacles to actualization of bodhimind with visualized light and liquid

o Dedicate what you did for your own enlightenment and for being able to lead others towards full awakening etc

o Conclude that I will become a Buddha to benefit all beings

* When you dedicate for the benefit of all, etc. put it into practice that day etc with your behavior

o Look for opportunities to express Bodhimind

§ Treating strangers like friends in a non -threatening way and sincerely wishing them well is an example good thing

§ Try to be of service and do good, even in small ways,

Like saving a bug and releasing it, and dedicate the associated merit towards Bodhimind/enlightenment

§ Don’t do it for ego gratification

o Become a causal factor towards enlightenment the benefit of all sentient beings by

· the exhaustion of negative emotions

· Teaching and other actions that help them reduce suffering, be happy, and achieve enlightenment

At the end of the day

* Delight in all virtues encountered during the day

* Purify all negativities (episodes of anger, etc.)

o Remember past episodes, the underlying causes, and what actions would have been appropriate

o Through appropriate techniques purify them

· Recognize what happened

· Do appropriate spiritual and material actions to purify the negativities and underlying causes

§ When possible do physical actions that can reduce, eliminate, or compensate for the ripening of the associated karma

· Do appropriate actions to avoid future episodes

§ Eliminating negativities completely from your mindstream

§ Focus and ask that your dreams etc help you accomplish this

o Clear all obstacles with light and liquid

* With care and respect, remove the water cups

o Collect the water and use or otherwise treat it for the benefit of all beings

o Wipe the cups, purify, etc and place them as previously described for use the next day

* Respectfully remove other items that were temporarily placed on the altar for ritual etc. to appropriate locations, etc

* Dedicate your actions for your own enlightenment and for the benefit of all beings, including being able to lead others towards full awakening etc

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Bodhimind (Skt. Bodhicitta) is mind or intention totally dedicated to helping or serving all others and that seeks to gain the highest spiritual development in order to do that

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This summary is based mostly on Thubten Chodron’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqVRznDn8hw&feature=youtu.be plus some of my training and thoughts, etc.

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