Working
with Karma
- #6
The
negative emotions cloud the mind
Your understanding of yourself yields understanding of the causes
of the various conditions in mind, or karmic conditions. You will
find it easier to deal with the disturbing emotions, which are
the most problematic conditions of mind. The disturbing emotions
are attachment, pride, jealousy, hatred, expectations, and anger.
They are your own mind. When you are aware of them, you will see
how such emotions disturb you, and the conditions that cause them
to arise. You will know that they bring you great difficulties,
in short, suffering. Slowly, you will understand that you don’t
have to follow these conflicting emotions and continue to suffer.
Then, another understanding will result.
“Why
do I let the disturbing emotions overwhelm me? Why do I have to
follow them every time that will inevitably bring me suffering?”
It
is actually a very subtle idea that will come to you. At the moment,
you may think it normal to feel the way you do. It is when you
feel yourself turning away from them that you will begin to gradually
understand them.
Influenced
by ignorance, we feel our negative emotions natural. We recognize
and accept them as integral to being human. And so we remain as
we are. But if we really try to reflect, we will find that we
don’t have to follow the negative emotions. As I said before,
this is a very subtle understanding. For example, last summer,
a doctor told me that if I changed my diet then I would feel much
better. During a two-week period, I followed his prescribed diet
- what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. The result was a
dramatic improvement in how I felt physically. I felt totally
different, no pain, and no discomfort. I really thought that I
was fine before the diet change. I didn’t even notice the
small discomforts. We are all same. We think we are healthy and
everything is fine. But if you really look, you will notice that
there are sometimes the little tensions in the body, and feelings
of heaviness. Myself, I used to feel gas in my stomach and sometimes,
I did feel tired. With this diet, needless to say, I was very
surprised to feel as if totally free physically. I remembered
it is similar to how I felt when I was young. It was like that.
Then I reflected that this was what the Buddha meant. Since we
are here in samsara, we don’t feel so much. We feel everything
is as it should be. But if you really find yourself, another feeling
will appear. All the samsaric conditions are not really normal.
If you could change, you would feel much better. Of course, we
do the practice and this is how we know. Much similar to the example
of our physical health, if you do the right things, you can totally
change for the better. Otherwise, you remain as usual.
React
differently to the negative emotions
With respect to the disturbing emotions, there is a better way
to deal with them. For example, right now, when people do not
behave properly, we get angry. We feel that anger is normal, and
justified. But our anger also makes us a little upset, and not
so happy. The teachings tell us that we don’t have to react
with anger. If you knew better, you won’t get completely
upset. You may react a little but not quite to the point of getting
upset. There is no need to follow the suffering. You do not have
to counter with negative action or revenge. By refraining, the
outcome in terms of karma will be much better for yourself. You
will also not cause others to create negative karma. Again, the
key is to just look at yourself.
Of
course, you can see your regular emotions. They may range from
mild to strong, but you can see them clearly. Apply the Mahayana
idea that we have to think for others - not only for the self
exclusively. If we can connect with this idea whenever we feel
negative, then we have truly reached a turning point. We will
understand the fact that negativity does not serve any good whatsoever.
We will then be able to accept much more than before. Even in
the case where the other person has made a mistake, we will understand
that it is due to his ignorance, or his not seeing. We will not
feel so hurt. We are not saying that the mistake is right. The
mistake is wrong. The difference is you can understand why he
made the mistake. It is true that in general, we do know why mistakes
happen. What we are talking about here is different. It is a type
of knowing grounded in understanding and compassion. For example,
where young children are involved, we stand ready to help them
even when they make mistakes. We understand that they may not
yet know everything so they need our help. In this way, children
can learn and improve. It is this kind of caring feeling that
enables us to share and help those who are not acting quite properly.
Even if the person is not really nice, we can still understand
that it is due to ignorance, karma, cause and effect, and so on.
Because acting under confusion is an experience that you can discover
firsthand in yourself, you will then understand it in others.
If you could help, then help, if not, just continue without responding
negatively. The point is not to be drawn into the negativity and
then act likewise. If you can do this, then you will enjoy more
peace of mind.
We
are usually trying to escape from problems and difficulties. But
running away just does not work. It does not change anything.
Peace of mind comes through understanding the disturbing emotions,
instead of avoiding them. When we see how we are disturbed by
pride, jealousy, and other negative emotions, we will act better
free from their influence. This in turn will cause us to understand
even more because we are clearer. This is why it always comes
down to the one point: look at yourself. If you know how to look,
then by this awareness, your mind will change for the better.
How your mind connects with all the different conditions will
turn increasingly positive. The result is better karma for everyone.
meditation
gives the capacity to cope
In general, we feel that we are analyzing ourselves, and our situations
all the time. This is also my experience. But I have found that
by just analyzing, I don’t get the exact meaning. I may
believe my own conclusions, or I may believe what the teachings
are telling me, but somehow, belief alone does not show me how
to work with the different conditions. You believe what the Dharma
tells you yet you cannot effectively cope with your daily situations.
You have to meditate. Meditation gives the mind the capacity to
get clearer. This is why the Buddha said to truly integrate the
Dharma in our lives, it is important to meditate.
It
is very difficult to explain how meditation functions. Its effect
comes very naturally. It appears. It is very hard to show theoretically
that if you meditate in a certain way, then your mind is changing.
It is difficult to prove in theory why meditation is so important.
When you do meditate for long periods, you don’t need to
see, or to feel anything. If you expect to feel something or to
see certain visions, then you are again caught by your own illusion.
Meditation has to proceed very spontaneously and continuously.
Just keep going. This emphasis cannot be stressed enough. Why?
Because without the obstacles that cover our seeing like veils
in the form of visions and feelings, then we can get through to
the real meaning that we already know - the many theories and
teachings. For example, we know that the emotions like jealousy,
pride, and anger can disturb us. Yet, when we encounter their
appearance in our mind, we let them influence us. We cannot help
but let them lead us into wrong actions, and wrong thinking. it.
Somehow it is very difficult for us to cope with them.
We
cannot change right away but in order to change, we have to meditate.
Maybe you all know this already. Meditation makes us understand
everything better because it makes us understand the functioning
of our own mind. We cannot see the result today, or tomorrow.
But gradually, our mind begins to get used to meditation. Then
maybe after a year or two later, we will feel a very slight change
in us, nothing big. We will feel different in the way we handle
life in general, in our communication with others, and in the
way we perceive the reactions of others. As well, we will notice
that our emotions, and distractions of mind are becoming somewhat
softer, or more pliable. They can be understood more readily,
and we will feel much lighter overall. These are just descriptive
words. What we experience is quite difficult to put into words
or terms. We tend to hear a term and immediately focus on it.
We get fixated on the words and lose their meaning. In the olden
days, an analogy often used to describe meditation was the ripening
of a fruit. A fruit ripens slowly and gradually until it is ripe
for picking. Similarly, meditation ripens all your qualities in
your mind. As was explained earlier, there are two aspects to
mind: the wisdom aspect and the aspect of the disturbing emotions.
To ripen the mind means to get clearer, less distracted, and connecting
to the wisdom aspect of mind.
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