The 18th Dharma Session of Middle Way Buddhist Association: Karma

The 18th Dharma session under the aegis of Middle Way Buddhist Association started off on Aug 18, 2008 as usual with meditation. The Dharma teacher of the day was again Bhante Upananda, who instructed the attendees to breathe in joy and to breathe out pent-up emotions as a release, letting go of worldly attachments.

The ensuing Dharma talk focused on Karma, a popular and yet confusing and poorly understood notion in Buddhism. Broadly, the universal attitude on Karma can be grouped as follows:

A) Karmic perspective
1) Slave to Karma
2) Master of Karma (mutual creation)

B) Non-karmic perspective
1. Efforts (everyday attitude) versus Karma (doctrinal treatment)

Bhante explained that while he was born and raised as a Buddhist, and hence is considered a cultural insider of Buddhism, he has tried to become an outsider to better understand the thinking of those who are not like him. He further asserted that nobody is an absolute of any of the three above, but one is considered on a case by case basis, i.e., everyday life is the inter-balance among the three. When one is too much into Karma (reality), a state termed as karmic downturn, then efforts are reduced.

He went on to relate a dialog between the Buddha and a Brahmin, who was a businessman though of the priestly caste. The Brahmin asked, “Would Karma come out and help me?” The Buddha replied, “If one's life is totally governed by Karma, don't give up your efforts.” Because efforts would re-enhance karmic energy.

On Efforts versus Fate/Fortune, which the uninitiated would tend to liken the latter to Karma, the advice is to rely on Karma as a last resort. While Buddhism fundamentally rejects fate, linguistically it seems reasonable to refer to Karma as fate or destiny in popular parlance.

While the notion of Karma in Hinduism is deterministic, the Buddhist view eschews fatalism [as embodied in the popular belief that everything that happens comes to pass according to a predetermined pattern and that we have little scope to change the course of events] and determinism. The two parallel tracks of Efforts and Karma can merge.

Going back to its definition, Bhante stated that Karma is volition (or intention as intoned by Wahula Rapola as informed by Brother Tom). A more popular definition is perhaps action, or coming into being of a certain force created by an actor (verbal, mental, physical). In the latter sense, it is karmic energy. Here action includes mental imprint as well, even before physical manifestation. For anyone seemingly caught in a karmic cycle/retribution, one remedy is to do something else, an advice often dispensed in prison counseling.

Buddhism does not agree largely with the concept of confession, but rather views the “counseling” as more like sharing to get a big relief/burden off, but the guilt stays. While there may not be a parallel to the western world view of sin atonement, resolution matters in Buddhism as reflected in a frequent word used in Sutras: Cariyahukulata. The prefix, Cari, means behavior, while the second part, to watch for. It's moral elevation.

Bhante proceeded to expound on the four categories of intra-karmic functionality (battles among Karma) as follows:

1. Generative Karma: This is a predominant/mainstream category. At the point of dying, all mental functions are reduced to the microchip where all projections stop and the loss of identity is complete. Then the microchip opens up again, erupting into millions of karmic seeds (inner big bang).

2. Supportive Karma: This is in the same camp as (1) but in a feeder role.

At this point, Bhante quoted Randy Pausch, the terminally ill patient of pancreative cancer who had become an Internet celebrity because of his Last Lecture but who succumbed recently, “Let the Karma take care of that and let me finish my mission!” That's a good exemplar of the attitude exhorted by King Kosala (a friend of the Buddha), “Don't blame on your Karma.”

Also, (1) and (2) lead to the phenomenon that the rich becomes richer, ushering in the notion of social/collective Karma.

3. Obstructive Karma that impedes (1); and

4. Destructive Karma that destroys totally/kills (1).

Bhante ended this most intriguing Dharma session by referring to King Bimbisara, another friend of the Buddha, who stated the two domains of legal prosecution and moral elevation in karmic affairs. Obviously, I did not quite grasp the message therein but surmised that perhaps our behavior can be guided by either legal prosecution, an externally imposed restraint, or moral elevation, an intrinsic propensity to do good, and in karmic terms, it's preferable to be governed by the latter.

Here I would like to end this brief account with an excerpt from the online article, Destiny and Free Will:

“Karma predestines nothing and no one. We, by our actions, create causes and feel the effects of those causes which are our teachers. Our spiritual progress is possible only by self-effort. We must assume responsibility for our actions and not try to evade it by religious sacrifices and ceremonies. When King Bimbisara was about to sacrifice a goat in a religious ceremony, with the priests invoking the gods to transfer all the sins of the king on to the poor, innocent, helpless animal, the Buddha intervened and counseled the king to stop the inhuman, superstitious practice. He spoke to the congregation about

The fixed arithmetic of the universe,
Which meteth good for good and ill for ill,
Measure for measure, unto deeds, words, thoughts;
Watchful, aware, implacable, unmoved;
Making all futures fruits of all the pasts.

Help, assistance and enlightenment will come to us in this Great Journey only if we strive towards the enlightenment and emancipation of all, and when we deserve and merit such help by our actions. Far from being fatalism, Karma places in our hands our own evolution. By knowledge of this Law of our being and of the essential and real oneness of all beings, we have to learn to act in harmony with Nature for the general weal and progress of all. It is only through knowledge of the Karmic Law in all its ramifications that man may fulfill his Karmic destiny.”

In a nutshell, past karma leads to present results; present karma leads to future results.