Kamma

One of the key tenets of Buddhism is Kamma. Basically it's consequences of your actions, words and thoughts. Yes, each of these forms can reap consequences. Last night at the meditation group sitting, we had a discussion about Kamma. Kamma is not something you can wrap your head around with ease....in fact the Buddha had specifically said not to try to figure it out, because it is not within our capabilities. It was interesting listening to different opinions and views of people about Kamma. No one could put a finger to it but they were trying anyway. 

I think there is a controller in all of us. We would like to know wouldn't we? One of the meditators said, he thought of Kamma as a formula. From the way he expressed himself I gathered that he felt there should be direct consequences for actions. But also felt that depending on the severity of what he did, the consequences ought to change accordingly in its severity also. It was interesting to listen to. At the end he said that he would like to see it as a law but probably he should not do that, because he could not arrive at a conclusion as to how to figure out the possible consequences he might have to face for the things he had said and done in the past. He felt it was not as straightforward as how a law would be carried out and punishments dealt out. 

First of all I want to be very clear about something. Nowhere in Buddhism there is a concept of punishment. We can never be subject to punishment cause there is no one to carry it out. The ownership is on the individual. So worse we can do is, have guilt and resentment for our past and fear and apprehension for the future. The Buddha did not encourage either of those behaviors. In Buddism, anything is forgivable and should be, to ease our own burdens. Then the other thing is that Kamma is a law. But it's not a law written by someone or proclaimed by someone. The Buddha simply stated what was there in nature. He simply noticed how things unfolded and told us that it was there. He did not invent it. 

So if Kamma is the law of nature, then trying to figure it out does not make sense, cause none of us has been able to make sense of nature. Why things happen the way they happen, when and where and how often. It's not yet within our grasp. I felt the same about Kamma. It is a law and we are subjected to it but we don't know the rules. I find that fascinating. Something Ajhan Brahm always says is "relax, everything is out of control". I feel how profound his statement is considering what I recognized. 

We all want to know. So we would like to believe that Kamma happens in a predictable way. If we could think like this, we could come to a place where we can see what we might and might not face in our own lives now and in the future. Wouldn't that be comforting? I realize that like everything else, the ego needs support, a sense of predictability so that it can have a sense of continuity in the safest way possible. But this cannot happen. Because Kamma cannot be easily explained or projected. But the human mind would want to somehow figure it out. Its the nature of all living being.

I realized the gentlemen who was voicing his frustrations probably didn't know or recognized any of this. But I was really looking at myself. I like to know things and feel that things are somewhat predictable...if they cannot be predicted I'd like to, at least, have the sense that things are going to be okay. If there are warning signs I immediately take remedial action. I felt Kamma posed a similar challenge. But it's not something I can figure out no matter how scary, frustrated I feel about it. It's truly not within our control.

Then I realized that in it, is our lesson from the Buddha. Because we cannot predict and explain why and why not things happen, when they happen and all that, we at some point ought to drop if off of our minds. Just like Ajhan says. 

Now I have a trip coming up. I am going to practice this as much as I can without having to be crazy about having things so perfectly in the best  possible way. Today morning I felt a little tingling sensation in my back and I could immediately see my red lights going off. The projects of my mind as to how to handle a back problem. But nothing has even begun. But this is how it is. 

Trying to live in the moment with a sense of ease without having everything figured out is something that I have been trying for sometime. Like all other things, it comes and goes. There are times that I can drop it and get on with ease and there other times that I cannot and simply become a ball of knots. Now that what has been in my awareness and thoughts are written out and elaborated I hope my mind will find it easier to drop things off and rest in peace.