Dober dan! Good morning Friday! Were extremely fortunate to have H.H. The Dalai Lama blessing the Great Boston area these few days. Yesterday some of us had the great merits to attend a teaching given by His Holiness. We are forwarding some photos here (Photo Credits: Mr. Sonam Zoksang) and also sharing some enlightening quotes by His Holiness during yesterdays teaching. Note: There will be no Tibetan Langauge (entry level) class today. Heads-up: Our weekend schedule is running as usual. This Sunday (Guru Rinpoches day), there will be a Padmasambava Peaceful Group practice at 7 pm. Sundays Intermediate Tibetan Language class will be at 3 pm (just this Sunday). ******Dharma Quote of the Day******* [On Wednesday, we shared an excerpt teaching about the significance of being mindful with our actions, of which we often refer as Karma. Today we continue to share another excerpt given by H.E. Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche about various types of Karma.] Karma is the wholeness of a cause/action and its effect/fruition, which the latter becomes another cause. Buddhism is a non-theistic philosophy. We do not believe in a creator but in the causes and conditions that create certain circumstances that then come to fruition. This is called Karma. It has nothing to do with judgment; there is no one keeping track of our Karma and sending us up above or down below. Karma is simply the wholeness of a cause, or first action, and its effect, or fruition, which then becomes another cause. In fact, one karmic cause can have many fruition, all of which can cause thousands more creations. Just as a handful of seed can ripen into a field full of grain, a small amount of Karma can generate limitless effects. Every conditioned phenomenon is the result of individual or collective Karma. Every conditioned phenomenon, human beings, the environment, and so on, is the effect of individual or collective Karma manifesting in completely diverse ways. For example we can talk about First Karma, the reverberation of one Karma striking, or coming together with, another. One karmic moment can immediately split into the ten directions and three times, and each of those ten directions can again explode into ten more directions. The expansion and multiplicity of Karma is said to be like a billion universes colliding with another billion universes. This is the fruition aspect of Karma, which we will talk about in more detail below. Karma can be subtle. So Karma does not just refer to big blocks of anger, ignorance, or negative emotions; it can be subtle. A flicker of movement, a simple nod of the head to indicate a feeling, a subtle movement of the eyes can establish karmic cause and eventual fruition. The textures of our sense perceptions, sights, sounds, smells, touch, feelings and thoughts, create hundreds of karmic causes at every moment. The moment we shift from our fundamental ground, we create a karmic cause that produces some effect, for better or worse. Contemplation on our entanglement with sensory display leading to actions creating Karma helps. Our entanglement with sensory display leads to actions that create karma. Reflect on the fact that, in this precious and pure moment, all attachment and aggression could completely disintegrate; nevertheless we detour again and again into the display of the senses. The Samsaric cycle continues, and all our hard work becomes meaningless and lacking in benefit or fruition. Suffering is meeting every fresh moment absolutely capable of transforming it and not taking the opportunity to do so. What could be sadder than that? Different types of Karma Karma can be intentional or unintentional. The actions were aware of and those were not aware of, which are most of our actions, produce karmic effects for ourselves and others. To understand how this works, we need to watch ourselves in action and to understand our potential for immensely diverse karmic production, good and bad. Collective Karma We can also talk about collective Karma. The Karma of many sentient beings bringing a lack of awareness to their actions can lead to the collective fruition of war, famine, and diseases that are experienced by everyone. All the pain and suffering in Samsara are the result of individual or collective karmic creation. As individuals or groups, on a tribal or national level or just Samsara itself, we are all creating Karma and being affected by the Karma created by others. Similarly, the others are creating Karma and being affected by the Karma we create. There is always this interchange of Karma. At the same time, Karma can be changed; Karma is exhaustible and Karma is impermanent. Creating Good and Bad Karma The simplest way to understand good and bad Karma is this: virtuous actions produce virtuous results and negative actions produce negative results. Good karma produces a good fruition such as happiness, and bad Karma comes to fruition as suffering. Abandon unvirtuous actions and cultivate virtuous actions The fundamental discipline of Buddhism is to abandon unvirtuous actions and cultivate virtuous action. To know which actions to abandon, we need to know what unvirtuous actions are. In general, they are any actions arising out of non-awareness and selfishness. In particular, they are actions contaminated by the three root poisons: aggression, attachment, and ignorance, which together with jealousy and hatred these are known as the five root poisons. When any of these root poisons creep into the actions of our body, speech, and mind, whether were aware of it or not those actions are unvirtuous. How to truly understand Karma instead of feeling guilt, regret and blame? When we see how much pain and suffering our self-clinging causes, we may feel a sense of guilt, regret, or blame. Its important to look at this carefully. To truly understand karma, the words guilt, regret, and blame arent necessary; we need only know its cause. The root cause of karma is ignorance, which was not our intention. If we intended to be ignorant and generate suffering, there might be something to blame or regret. But exactly whom are we going to burn at the stake? Thats something to contemplate! We have to understand the totality of samsara. We can talk about how it all comes down to ignorance and self-grasping with all its habitual tendencies, but what good comes from this unfortunate point? The real point is to appreciate our inherent awareness and develop our human potential. Cultivating awareness of our body, speech & mind – the essential way for mind transformation. Awareness is the ground of good Karma and the fruition of happiness. Seeing your negative tendencies and ignorance should only cause you to strengthen that positive ground. Your good human qualities so far outweigh and are so far superior to any negative circumstances. There is also the tremendous potential inherent in external circumstances. Given this positive ground, you could completely liberate all confusion and ignorance this very moment. This is the essential way for a meditator to train the mind. - Excerpt teaching taken from The Law of Karma given by H.E. Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche. *Photo credits of all His Holiness The Dalai Lama in this post: Mr. Sonam Zoksang
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 12:50:35 +0000
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