Working with Karma

Karma is the law of cause and effect as it applies to human experience. What we think, say and do affects the way we feel, the way we see the world, and the way the world responds to us. According to Buddhist philosophers, we can use the laws of karma to achieve anything from a happy relationship and a supportive job all the way up to Total Enlightenment. If, on the other hand, we do not take advantage of the laws of karma to create the life that we want, karma is going to continue functioning anyway leaving us with a less than ideal life experience.

When we work with karma, we view the mind as a garden. The goal is to get rid of old bad karma and to plant new good karma.

These Four Powers help us get rid of old bad karma:

1. Remember: Think about karma and emptiness... how our thoughts and actions affect our mood and perceptions. When we're having an unpleasant experience, we often attribute it to some external cause (my boss is a jerk) or an incorrect internal cause (we're stupid). But when we look at the science of how the mind works, we realize that these are not the cause of our suffering. Remembering how the mind works get us focused on the real problem and therefore the real solution.
2. Regret: Regret something that you did in the past that is having a result that you don't like right now or... Regret something that you just did that will have an unpleasant result in the future. For instance, if I am seeing my boss as a jerk right now (I don't. I love my boss!) then it is because I acted like a jerk in the past, I attenuated my perception toward jerky things, and the false consensus effect is causing me to project "jerk" onto ambiguous aspects of my boss. Therefore, I can think about times I was a jerk and regret them. If, on the other hand, I see myself as "such an idiot" for doing some silly thing, this is a mental habit. I can regret judging times that I've judged others harshly.
3. Restrain: Whatever you just regretted, decide not to do that thing for a reasonable period of time If it's something you do a lot, then make that period of time very short. If I'm a judgemental person, it's better to succeed at a commitment to not thinking a judgemental thought for 5 seconds than it is to fail at a commitment to not think judgementally for the rest of the day. This helps to weaken the karma that you're struggling with.
4. Rectify: Do something that makes up for the negative karma. If you're poor and you were a thief as a child, this step could be giving money to the type of person you stole from. This helps to plant the opposite karma so that your garden has more of the karmas that you want.

Sometimes, the bad karma to get rid of is that we are clinging to our actions as "bad." In these cases, it's best to view our negative habits as clouds in the sky and simply focus our attention elsewhere. This is akin to weeds that needn't be pulled but will die out simply because we don't water them.

These Four Steps help us plant new good karma:

1. Goal: Think of something you want. This goal can be worldly, spiritual, or a non-goal
2. Visualize: Think of someone else who wants the same thing. Visualize giving it to them and how they would change by receiving it.
3. Act: Actually help your friend get the thing.
4. Reflect: Come home at night and rejoice in the fact that you helped someone else get what they want.

When tending our karmic garden it is important to find the positive in ourselves and in others. The more we seek out the positive in others, the more our mind gains the habit of seeking out the positive and so we naturally see more positive in ourselves and vise versa.

This may seem like a basic idea but it is common in our culture to do the opposite. When we are in a bad mood we justify our bad mood to ourselves and others. But, with karma, whether our frustration is justified or not is irrelevant. We are trying to get rid of frustration and suffering. Normally, people think that "I’ll stop being upset when that other person stops doing that stupid thing." Sometimes, we even tell ourselves that it's important to be upset so that the person gets the message and changes what they’re doing. We talk ourselves into being upset and then we don’t like it when people “make us upset” and we wish they would change. Neurologically speaking, if you want to live in a world where no one is annoying or makes you mad, then you need to talk yourself out of being annoyed and mad. If the problem is “I am annoyed” and you try to change that by doing something to someone else, it’s like yelling at a movie screen or calling the director to complain… It doesn’t work that way. It’s too late. Your garden has already born fruit. All you can do now is work with the Four Powers and Four steps.

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Karma can be used for spiritual and non-spiritual goals.

In Shantideva's classic, A Guide to the Bodhisattva's way of Life, Shantideva is talking about putting others needs before our own. He says:

“Forget the goals of the world beyond (spiritual goals);

Even in this life none of the things

You hope to achieve will come about (if you don't put others needs before your own)”

Citation: Guide to the Bodhisattva’s way of life (perfection of meditation after the verse that starts:

If you fail to practice perfectly This exchange of your own happiness)

Here, Shantideva endorses putting others needs first as a method for successfully achieving worldly goals.

While worldly success is not the goal of spiritual practice, for many of us it is a necessary prerequisite. For instance, if I live in a dangerous situation and am constantly hungry it is going to be difficult for me to practice meditation. Or if I am constantly lonely, going on deep retreat will be difficult. It is important to know how to solve these problems so that we can do our spiritual practices without distraction.

Wheel of Knives

Below I am going to discuss a karmic text called the Wheel of Knives written by Master Dharmarakshita around the year 1000 ad. Translated by Geshe Michael Roach 

I am not going to go through this text word by word. There is the full translation in the back. Instead, I am going to hit some of the main points to demonstrate to the reader how the text is interpreted through this lens. Some of the verses I have even shortened or edited because the verse is making multiple points which I feel I need to make one at a time.

Bodhisattva warriors are the same(like peacocks who live off poison):

A garden of comfort and pleasures

May be something lovely,

But the warriors have no attachment for them-

In our minds, we see things outside of us as holding qualities such as “pleasure” or “pain.” We like this music and dislike that music. Therefore, we chase after these things in the hopes of being happy. But, as we’ve discussed in the book, these are not the causes of happiness. Therefore, people with understanding (here called Bodhisattva warriors) are not attached to them because they recognize that those things don’t actually cause happiness.

Those mighty warriors who pursue

Pain for others find themselves

Forever surrounded by bliss,

By the power of their courage.

Taking the pain of others upon ourselves (without regretting it) causes happiness because that pain we are perceiving in the first place is a result of how we’ve treated others in the past. So, let’s say we see our boss being an asshole. Being patient and kind towards our boss is the “pain” that this verse is talking about “pursu[ing].” This will create the “karma” to perceive our boss in a more positive light next time. Eventually leading a person to be surrounded by bliss, by the power of the courage of relying on a scientific understanding of perception and thought.

How could those who only think

Of what they want themselves

Ever have the strength to eat

This poison?

This is outlining the importance of empathy and thinking about what other people want. I understand that in order to get what I want, I have to think about what other people want and help them achieve it. This is because the feeling of “getting what I want” is in large part created by “helping other people get what they want” which can’t happen unless we think about what other people want. Similarly, the perception of “getting what I want” is trained into us by focusing our actions and thoughts on “people getting what they want.” The “poison” here is not necessarily a poison. It too is empty, but for people who are just beginning, it can feel like poison to help other people get what they want instead of using the ineffective methods they’re used to for getting what they want.

A person may start to wonder “is this selfish?” And in the beginning, it absolutely is. But a person who is just starting out is selfish anyway. Their thoughts are selfish and their actions are ineffective. As we go along the process of creating karma and getting what we want, feeling the way we want to feel, we think less and less about ourselves. We think less and less about our selfish motivations. Eventually we become a selfless outpouring of love and gratitude. There are many ways to get to that state, as mentioned earlier in this book. But in this version of karma yoga, we get there not by denying that we are selfish right now, but using our selfishness and the nature of our mind to transcend our psychoconceptual limitations and enter a constant flow state in the service of others. In Mahayana Buddhism and positive psychology this is the supreme flow state because virtue leads to happiness and happiness leads to success creating an upward spiral.

The peacock bodhisattvas though

Turn the poison forest of

Their mental afflictions into opportunities,

And food to keep them strong.

The poisons we have of anger, fear, annoyance, unfulfilled desire become opportunities to become patient, courageous, content etc. and these positive mental qualities lead to our own psychological well being, create a positive worldview, and have positive real-world consequences.

Then he gets into karma and its consequences:

Whenever I feel any pain

Inside of my own thoughts,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

Beyond a doubt it's the karma

Of upsetting other people.

From now on then I'll take on myself

The hurt that others feel.

Think about the last time you upset someone. Did they deserve it? In your mind, they probably did. With karma, it doesn’t matter if they deserved it or not. Even upsetting someone who definitely deserves it will produce a negative consequence for you. At the very least, no one wakes up in the morning saying “I hope I upset someone today.” We would rather go through our day not meeting anyone who deserves to be upset. So if we meet someone who “deserves to be upset” and we upset them, we are reinforcing the mental habit of upsetting people on purpose.

It is unlikely that the person we upset thinks to themself “I am being a bad person and deserve to be upset by someone.” So, we are also training ourselves to see people being upset when they feel like they don’t deserve it. Think about the last time someone upset you. Did you think you deserved it? Usually not. We usually consider ourselves innocent bystanders of other people being assholes. This perception is created because we upset people who don’t believe that they deserve to be upset.

So what do we do when we meet people who are obviously doing something wrong? First, recognize that they are doing something that you perceive to be wrong because of how you’ve treated others in the past. Then try to find a way to handle the situation that won’t cause more perceptual grief for yourself in the future.

Whenever I suffer in the service

Of another whose authority is more,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of arrogance towards those

Who are less than me,

And forcing others to do my work.

From now on then I'll force another,

I'll force my own body and life,

Into the service of others.

Ever had a bad boss? You’re not alone. This verse suggests that the habit of being arrogant towards others and forcing them to do our work is the cause of perceiving our boss in a negative way. Why? Acting towards our subordinates without considering their feelings and desires trains our perceptions to see that over and over again. (including in our own boss). What’s frustrating is that we don’t perceive it that way when we’re acting a certain way toward our subordinates. We seem to be doing the right thing. But our boss is the same. Our boss thinks she’s doing the right thing while taking credit for our ideas and putting us down.

You’re probably thinking “well, ya I do that a little bit, but I’m not that bad!” And you’re right. You’re absolutely right. The second law of karma is that it grows. Karma grows. What this means is that we can be a little bit arrogant towards our children, or subordinates, like we know what’s best for them. For instance, lets say we have students in our dorm who are doing drugs that are negatively affecting their academic performance and relationships. We are pretty sure that this is not good for them. But how do we approach the issue? Do we approach the issue like someone “who is older and wiser and knows what’s best for you?” Even if we’re right, is that pleasant for the teenager? Or do we approach it “ultimately you are your own person and these drugs your doing may be the fuel that down the road causes you to become an amazing person who helps thousands. But I love you and I see that these things are damaging you. Let me help you. What can I do to help you?” Now, as parents, we know that the second approach wouldn’t always work. But, if you don’t try moving in that direction, you are going to keep perceiving your boss the way your teenager perceives you. Brutal comparison right? But that’s the way this works. Your mind is watching you be a dick, so you see it more… just like practicing an instrument.

Whenever an unpleasant word from another

Comes and reaches my ears,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of mistakes I've made

In different things I've said,

Divisive talk and such.

From now on then the only thing

That I'll talk bad about

Is what I say that's wrong.

Divisive Talk is so common in our culture and we wonder why “some people are shitty.” It’s because we train ourselves to find the shit in them. And spend time reinforcing this habit by talking to each other about our own negative mental patterns as they relate to others… Another benifit of getting rid of our own divisive speach and recognizing divisive thought patterns is that our negative self talk decreases.

On the other side of this coin is learning to find the good in people (and life) and speaking in order to bring people together. Although building a positive habit is not the same as getting rid of a negative one, it can be useful to focus our energy in a constructive diraction, rather than destruction when looking at the exact same situation.

Whenever I find myself without

Anyone to help me, no friends of my own,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of leading away

Those who were close to another.

From now on then I'll never act

In a way that makes others lose

The ones who are close to them.

Whenever someone threatens me,

Or anything of the like,

Says I'm bad when I've been good,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of speaking badly

About real spiritual people.

From now on then I'll never

Say someone good is not,

Say something bad of others.

When it happens that I suddenly lose

All that I need to live on,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of laying to waste

The things that others depend on.

From now on then I'll always

Find ways to supply for others

The things they need to live.

When the things I try to accomplish

Never seem to work out,

And I feel upset to the core,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of obstructing

The work of holy beings.

From now on then I'll give up

Ever being a hindrance to them.

When my own mind seems to enjoy

The mental afflictions within it

And constantly wanders away,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of failing to think

Of the fact that I'll not be here long,

And the many other problems

Of this vicious circle of life.

From now on then I'll try

To feel more tired of living

Here in the cycle of pain.

When my want for things is great,

But I've nothing to pay for them,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of failing to give to others,

And offer to the Jewels.

From now on then I'll work hard

To make offerings, and to give.

When I look ugly to others

And those around me insult me for it,

It's because the wheel of knives

Has turned on me again:

The karma of making holy images

Without taking the proper care,

And of letting anger drive me

Into a state of turmoil.

From now on then I'll craft

These holy images right,

And learn to endure with patience.