Sunday, August 16, 2020

karma and reinforcing mental pathways















understanding karma has to do with the quality of mind in the very moment of action. 
When we experience a mind state of love, there comes naturally, along with it,
 a feeling of openness and love that is its immediate fruit; similarly, 
when there are moments of greed or hatred, in addition to whatever future results 
will come, we also experience the painful energies that arise with those states.
 Our direct awareness of how the karmic law is working in each moment 
can be a strong motivation to develop skillful states of mind that create happiness
 for us in the moment, as well as produce the fruit of well-being in the future.


Another dimension of the law of karma helps in understanding 
how individual personalities develop. While it is true that there is no enduring entity, 
no unchanging self that can be called “I,” it is also quite obvious that each of us
 is a uniquely changing and recognizable pattern of elements. This comes about
 because each of us has in our own way, both consciously and unconsciously,
 cultivated different mind states. If we cultivate lovingkindness, we experience 
its taste in the moment and at the same time are strengthening it as a force
 in the mind, making it easier for it to arise again. When we are angry, 
we experience the suffering of that anger as present karma and are also strengthening 
that particular pattern of mind. Just as we condition our bodies in different ways 
through exercise or lack of it, so we also condition our minds. Every mind state, 
thought, or emotion that we experience repeatedly becomes stronger 
and more habituated. Who we are as personalities is a collection of all
 the tendencies of mind that have been developed, the particular energy
 configurations we have cultivated


We tend not to pay attention to this conditioning factor of our experience, 
thinking instead that once an experience has passed it is gone without residue or result. 
That would be like dropping a stone in water without creating any ripples. 
Each mind state that we experience further conditions and strengthens it.



People sometimes wonder whether reflecting upon the law of karma 
will lead to feelings of guilt for past unwholesome actions. Guilt is a
 manifestation of condemnation or aversion toward oneself, which does not
 understand the changing transformative quality of mind. It solidifies a sense
 of self by being nonforgiving. Understanding the law of karma leads us
 to reflect wisely on the skillfulness or unskillfulness of our actions.
 In the infinite time of our births, through all the realms of existence, 
we have done so many different kinds of actions, wholesome and unwholesome.
 In view of karmic law, guilt is an inappropriate feeling, and a rather useless burden. 
It simply creates more unwholesome results. Coming to an understanding
 of karma is the basis for a very straightforward development of the wisdom
 to know whether our actions will lead to happiness and freedom,
 or to further suffering. When we understand this, it allows us to take responsibility
 for past actions with an attitude of compassion, appreciating that a particular act
 may have been unwholesome or harmful, and strongly determining
 not to repeat it. Guilt is a manifestation of condemnation, wisdom an expression
 of sensitivity and forgiveness. . 



.
~ Joseph Goldstein
from Cause and Effect - Reflecting on the law of karma 
printed in Tricycle
 .

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