Buddhism is the law of cause and effect, or cause and result. When we don't pay attention to the law of cause and result, or if we ignore this law, we find ourselves in all kinds of trouble. So this is probably the most fundamental thing that we should understand, is this law of cause and effect. Sometimes we call it karmic retribution.

[01:05]

But we have to be careful how we think of karmic retribution. It's not as if there's somebody up in the sky, some big daddy up in the sky, giving us our just desserts. more the inevitability of impersonal cause and effect. Strictly impersonal. So if it works something like this, If we do an action, perform an action which is good, that action will have a result which is good.

[02:14]

And if we perform an action which is bad, that action will have a result which is bad. It may be possible to have a good result from a bad action or a bad result from a good action, but that's very rare. I haven't heard of that. By and large, good results come from good actions and bad results come from bad actions. This sounds very dualistic. It's a very dualistic way of talking about our activity. But it's necessary to talk about it in this way.

[03:16]

It's easy to get lost in Zen practice. because we talk a lot about non-differentiation and we talk a lot about non-discrimination. We have to understand what discrimination on the basis of non-discrimination. And we have to understand non-discrimination on the basis of discrimination. So what I'm talking about here is discrimination. How we choose and pick. So

[04:24]

Moment by moment we have to choose and pick. We have to make decisions and we have to do something. And whatever we do has some result. So how we actually watch our practice How we keep our attention mindfully through the 24 hours of the day is through picking and choosing, making good decisions, and knowing what direction our actions will take. When we become a Buddhist, I don't mean become a Buddhist formally, but when we practice Buddhism, we live by precepts.

[05:39]

Actually, to practice Buddhism means to live by precepts. And these precepts help us to do good actions which lead to good results. If we violate those precepts willfully, then our life becomes difficult and the results of our actions will go in a bad way. It's complex, but not complicated. Very complex. But on the one hand, very complex, but very simple on the other hand.

[06:43]

The complex part is that our lives are subject to so many different influences. so many things acting on our life, so many influences. But very simple in that when you do something good, something good results, and when you do something bad, something bad results. So the more we begin to understand this law of cause and effect by watching it, by watching what kind of results we get from our actions, the more we begin to study ourself more and more clearly. And the deeper our practice becomes to where we become very, very careful how we do something. And that carefulness

[07:53]

is part of mindfulness. When we see how our actions lead to our suffering, then we become very careful, begin to become very careful about what we do. And even though we may realize how our actions have caused our suffering. And we turn away from that, we still feel the results of our past actions. It doesn't really eliminate the results of our past actions to realize it. But it helps us to stop creating that. Once a month we have the Bodhisattva Ceremony, Full Moon Bodhisattva Ceremony, where we affirm our karma, the actions that we've done.

[09:27]

We avow or acknowledge all of our past actions and what we call our ancient twisted karma from beginningless greed, hate and delusion. It's very important to acknowledge what we've done. Practice is a matter of always getting down to a point of freedom. Constantly, we should be reaching a point of freedom.

[10:40]

If you become enlightened, you may feel, well, now I have great freedom and I'm no longer subject to the effects of my karma. my connection with the universe. You may feel that way, but there is no such thing as freedom. There is such a thing as freedom from karma, but there's no such thing as not being subject to the law of cause and effect. So even an enlightened person is subject to the law of cause and effect. But if we know how to act within the law of cause and effect, then we can have some freedom from it, or freedom within it may be better.

[12:02]

So in this Bodhisattva ceremony, the first part of the ceremony, we affirm or confess our bad actions. And then we renew our effort. we renew our direction. It's very, very important to do that. The ceremony is pretty good. The Theravadins, you know, have more of a a ceremony where they can talk to each other, and upasatta, they confess their sins to each other.

[13:14]

In Zen, we don't believe in sins. But I think we have to be careful, you know, how we look at that. Someone who doesn't look at their bad actions is ignorant. And it's very easy within Zen practice to feel that whatever you do is okay because it's all practice. It's really not okay. If we do something bad, you know, people will mostly forgive us.

[14:18]

That's okay. It's good to be forgiven and you forgive yourself and you start all over again. That's very good. That gives you a renewed lease on life. But just because we're forgiven and just because we have a new lease on life doesn't erase anything. If you look at your past actions, you can see that the result is still, or the action itself is still working out its result in your life. So this kind of ceremony, bodhisattva ceremony, on the full moon of every month, It does not absolve us for our past actions.

[15:21]

It makes us feel good. We feel kind of renewed and refreshed and mindful. And in a sense, we're starting new. dragging our karmic effect with us. But the effect of our karma is very strong and keeps working itself out until it finally ends, dissipates. But I think the important thing about this kind of ceremony where we acknowledge our karma and renew our vows, is that it reminds us that we should be doing that constantly.

[16:26]

We have to do it over and over again, every day. We can't just wait till next month's full moon. The point is that it reminds us that our practice is to carefully watch our actions moment by moment. If we do something bad, something bad results. If we do something good, something good results. Moment after moment. So to be able to look at our karma, look at what we're doing bad is the most difficult thing that we have to do. Mostly we don't look at our bad actions. We like to be doing good things.

[17:29]

We like to feel that we're doing the right thing. And we don't like to be told that we're doing the wrong thing. Don't tell me I'm doing something wrong. We can't stand it. Mostly. But we have to be able to listen and to observe. And if someone tells us that's not so good, that you did that wrong or this isn't right, we have to be able to listen and to accept how we're off. It's easy in the Bodhisattva ceremony to say, all my ancient karma I now, all my ancient twisted karma from beginningless, so forth, I now fully avow.

[18:31]

It's easy to say in the Bodhisattva ceremony. But when someone comes up to you and says, you did that wrong, or you're not doing so well, or this is bad, or you're causing a lot of trouble, That's not so hard to accept. I mean, it's not so easy to accept. And we have to be able to see ourselves as we're reflected in our surroundings. All of our friends reflect who we are. And all of our family reflects who we are. And all of our activities are a mirror for us. And we get messages from this mirror, which is our surroundings.

[19:36]

Surroundings, which is our mirror, give us this reflection. And we should be able to see it accurately. We should be able to see our reflection accurately. And we should be able to say, I'm sorry. That's a way of accepting who we are. It's very difficult for a lot of people to say, I'm sorry. or I made a mistake, excuse me. It's very hard for a lot of people. And in some circumstances it's easy for us to say it. In other circumstances it's very hard for us to say it. But if we can do that, if we can see ourself in the position of having done something that

[20:44]

It's not to our liking. At that moment, we're free of our karma. So the most important thing is how we can be free of our karma. To recognize it is first, and to be free of it is next. So practice moment after moment is how we unburden ourselves of our karma, moment after moment. We're constantly creating karma. And to practice Buddhism is to constantly be free of it, moment after moment. Not to not be subject to it. We're always subject to it because we're always creating it. But the point is how to free yourself from it, and how to free others, help others be free from it.

[21:52]

So, moment after moment, we're unburdening ourselves, standing within the truth. As soon as we start to defend ourselves for some action, some bad action. We're caught by karma. So ignorance, if we're ignorant about what we do, it's really no excuse, because karma is impersonal. We do something bad because of ignorance, And we're caught by our karma. We don't know how to get out, how to get free. And if we do something willfully, and can't accept

[23:14]

the truth of the situation, we also are caught. What happens is that generally when we justify our actions, which we know are not good actions, but because we don't want to feel bad, we justify And that justification leads to the next justification. And we start to believe that we're right even though we're wrong. And so we continue to do the same thing over again in order to justify ourself. And more and more we get ourself into a corner where we believe, we talk ourself into believing that we did the right thing. So, it's best, you know, if someone says, oh, you did the wrong thing, say, oh, okay.

[24:27]

If you accept what someone says, then you can find out whether it's right or wrong. But if you start to justify yourself, you can't find that out. because your defenses cage you in, so you become entrapped in your defense. So in order to have real freedom in the situation, You should be willing to see what you did. You should have the openness of non-personal.

[25:31]

It's hard to do, to be non-personal. If someone, some situation says, oh, that wasn't right, or this is wrong, or you're doing that, or something, to be able to say, Oh, I see, or okay, or just accept. But it means that you're looking at it. You're willing to see it. You're willing to see if that's so or not. And it means that you're standing out of the way in order to see the truth. And when you're standing out of the way, You're more interested in the truth than you are in whether or not you're right or wrong. And as soon as you enter that space, you're already free.

[26:33]

You already have the freedom. It doesn't matter. You're willing to accept the truth. As long as you're willing to accept the truth, you have the freedom already. Whatever the verdict is, it doesn't matter. because you're living in the truth. And when you're living in the truth, you have freedom. So it allows us to accept our bad karma, and it allows us to accept our good karma. But we have to have that kind of freedom Otherwise we are caught by karma. And the point of Buddha, Buddha's message is how to be free from karma.

[27:36]

That's the whole point of Buddhism. we should be very careful about our actions so that we don't cause problems that come back to us and that hurt other people. Sometimes our the karmic result comes at a time much later than the action.

[28:43]

So we may feel, well I can do this over and over again and nothing's happening. There's no result. But sooner or later the result appears. We're very fortunate if when we do something we have an immediate result. That's the best way. If you put your finger in the fire, ouch, I'm not going to do that again. But we may do something where the result is 10 years from now. And because we don't feel the result, we feel it's OK to continue that kind of activity. That's more dangerous. because by that time it's hard to change. So the more, actually the more I practice, the more I realize how important it is to

[30:01]

pay attention to the law of cause and effect. Do you have a question? Yes? Wendy? I have two questions. First of all, is karma like the law of sowing and reaping in that if you plant, say, a cup of corn, you could get a bushel of corn cheese? And the second question is? Let's answer one at a time. Okay.

[31:08]

Karma is action. Okay? Karma is the act that you do. It is a karmic act. So, we have to, we should realize that that's what it means. Karma means action. And then, an action has a result. So if you plant corn seeds, the result of that, if the ground is prepared right, and the season is right, and the moisture is right, then very likely a shoot of corn will come up. But I don't think that tomatoes will come up. it's very unlikely that if you plant a corn seed that tomatoes will come up. Is that what you're talking about?

[32:14]

Yes. I was also wondering if one small act can have just enormous repercussions. One small act can have enormous repercussions. That's right. My second question had to do with I'm not quite clear on how to even express it, the form and emptiness of karma. Yes. I guess it's karma. I'll have to think about it some more. All right. that pain is a sensation that, in some way, that one hand is not pain, and the other hand hurts, or the other foot hurts.

[33:53]

So I think that it's real important to remember that it, in fact, hurts, and that when And how to work with that pain is real important. And the more I practice, the more I see the importance of saying, wait, wait a second, that's not just sensation, that's pain. And by admitting that, I can work with it and say, well, then it's just sensation. can see and admit that to myself, I can communicate that to someone else, and can be more receptive to someone else's criticism, like what you're saying.

[35:13]

So, anyway, end of my comment. If I take the pain in my legs personally, then it gives me a lot of trouble. But if I see it as something that's happening and I can not get angry and try to locate it, I say, where is that? What's this about? Then I can see it just for what it is. And when I can see it just for what it is, then I can deal with it.

[36:16]

And if I take it as an affront, or take it personally, or say it's my pain, then I put up a a fence around myself. And I get locked into my feelings. And I want to defend myself from it. And I get caught by it. And I'm no longer free. I no longer have any freedom. Only when I can just completely accept it am I free from it. It's not that it's not there. It is there, definitely. But while it's there, I'm not a prisoner of it.

[37:17]

I'm free of it. So I can still enjoy my life, even while I'm sitting in pain in my legs. I wanted to ask about the last few days I've done two things which you could say were really wrong, but they produced extremely valuable information that I needed in the circumstance that would not have happened if I had not done those actions. So it's very complicated what right and wrong is. Yeah, that's right. So what do you do with that? Is that good or bad karma? Well, we should learn from our bad karma.

[38:22]

A bad thing has its good side and a good thing has its bad side. But that doesn't mean that the bad thing isn't bad. We have to learn from the bad things we do. In that sense, it's good. It produces something very good, a good result, but not strictly speaking. Secondarily, it produces a good result. That's it. if there would be a better way to have gotten the same result without doing it through bad karma? Well, let's look at it this way. You do something bad and you say, uh-oh, I can see where that bad thing is bad and that makes me do something good. Or I can see where to go because I did something bad, I can see where to go that's good. But that's producing something good.

[39:24]

that's producing good karma, that second thing. So they're two different things. But there's still bad karma from the original bad thing? Yeah. It produces both bad and good karma? No. I forgot to say something. Something... It's complex. The bad karma did not produce the good karma. The bad thing produced bad karma, but the fact that you could see that and do something good because you saw that is good karma. It's two different actions. Two different actions. Okay.

[40:26]

Speak up a little bit. I'm sorry. People in the back can't hear you. Okay, I'm sort of thinking about the idea of I'm sorry. Yeah. Is that what you're talking about when you say acceptance? Well, it's like you can say I'm sorry as an excuse. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about real sorrow. Yes, if you can do that, if you can do it in a correct way, then you have some release from it. Okay, so you're not talking about an objective kind of awareness, but more like some feeling involved. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, if you say you're sorry, it should come from here, not just from here. At least in the case of other people, the careful lever to lapse into thinking, oh well, they must have, it's all their fault, probably they did something wrong and this is why it's happening.

[41:59]

Oh yeah, we have to, if we don't know why, we shouldn't conjecture, or try to speak in conjecture, but we shouldn't believe our opinion, as if it was the truth. Is that what you're saying? Well, I mean, I'm thinking about things like, that really don't look like a person did anything to preserve it. I see. People having disabilities, and sickness, and so on. And sometimes you hear people saying, oh well, they must have done something for a lifetime or something. That upsets me. Things happen to us, right? There are certain things that we do that cause things to happen. And there are certain things that act on us which we really don't call into existence exactly. You know, we're walking down the street and a brick falls on our head, right? Now, in order to justify the law of karma, you can make a case for that as being, you know, the fact that you were walking down the street at that time and so forth, and try to make it all connect in order to justify the law of karma, karmic effect.

[43:12]

But I don't want to do that. I don't think it's so healthy to do that. So we can say certain things happened to us that we didn't really bring about by our actions. So when we talk about karma and the law of cause and effect, we're talking about really basically things that happened from our actions that are the result of things that we did. I don't want to carry this on too long because you have to eat Simple. This is helpful for me, thinking about compassion. What Malcolm said was really helpful. And I think I'm more guilty of the other, well, I'm guilty of both sides, but certainly of the other side that you didn't mention so much about feeling like things are all my fault rather than feeling like they're not at all. Oh yes, that's the other side.

[44:14]

And I think that there's something about trying to find the truth in there and not take it along and not be the I'm sorry, I'm terrible. Yeah, that's right. That's also not looking at things from the point of view of the truth. That's just the other side of avoiding. But there's some difference between right compassion and wrong compassion for yourself and others. Yeah, I would say so.

[44:45]

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