Baizhang's Fox

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Being clear about cause and effect, intention, karma.

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making is possible
although our past a low karma has greatly accumulated in being cause and condition
of obstacles and practicing away
may all buddhas and ancestors
have retain the boot away be compassionate to us and free us from comic effects allowing us to practice the way without hindrance

huh
when all buddhism ancestors who have attained the blood away
be compassionate and free us from karmic effects
one of the ways they might
be compassionate
in free from karmic effects
his bike encouraging us to
pay attention
to karma
and karmic effects
which is what
the dogs who have attained the way have pay attention to
so it's a tradition of
some people attain the way
some people wanting to attain the way but feeling that there's some comic
obstruction to obtain the way
requesting knows who have attained the way to help
us free ourselves from these karmic obstructions so the weekend join the way practice the way without hindrance and that help others who may have hindrance to paxson away also
the country of comic hindrance and into the way and so on
there's a story in the tradition about
a chinese
zen monk zen master named by jiang y hi
in japanese they we say chicago angel
right in jaco your ak
is the way of pronouncing
chicago or by john
so one way the stories told his and is in historical present
that's the way the
a co so
the high priest of a hey
tells the story
when master a chi when master
why hi
ah
of bhaijaan gives his informal preaching
generally present there is an old man
he always listens to the dharma along with the assembly of monks
and when the people in the assembly retired
the old man also retires
then suddenly one day he does not retire
then suddenly one day he does not retire
the master eventually asked him
what person is this standing before me
the old man answers
i am not a person
the it's better to say i'm not a human
in the past age of cash shop our buddha i used to preside on this mountain
once a student asked me
do even the people in the state of great practice fall into cause and effect or not
i answered
they do not fall into cause effect
since then
i have fallen into the body of a wild fox four five hundred life
now i beg you master to say a few words of transformation
say a few turning words
i longed to be rid of the body
a wild fox
he then asks
the master to even people in the state of great practice fall into cause and effect or not
the master says
do not be unclear
about cause and effect

the old man
under these words
realizes great realization
he does not prostrate who what he does prostration and says
i am already really rare him already rid of the body of a while fox and would like to remain on this mountain behind this temple
asked the mask to to performed for me the rights of a deceased monk
huh
the master orders the supervising monk to strike the hon
and tell the assembly
after the meal we shall see off a deceased monk
all the monks discuss this saying
the whole saga is well and there is no sick person in the nirvana hall
what is the reason for this announcement
after the meal master is simply seen leading monks to the foot of the of iraq on the mountain behind the temple
and picking out a dead fox with his staff
they then cremated according to the formal method
used for monks
in the evening the master preaches in the hall and discussed the preceding episode
one bowl then asks
the man in the past answered mistakenly with words of transformation
and fell into the body
a fox for five hundred lives
if he had gone on
without making a mistake
what would have become of him
the master said step up here i will tell you
one will find these steps up and gives the master a slap
the master claps his hands and laughs and says
you have just expressed the foreigners beard is red
but it is also a fact
that a red beard is a foreigner
oh
this story has also found in the a book of serenity
it's about case eight
it's also found in the
memon can
the guiltless barrier
the second case
and it's also discussed in other places by the high priest of a
simply simply
looked at the munk the yeah that students a monk is asking
the head monk if
a person of great practice thousand cause and effect and he says no he doesn't fall into it
and then as and then partly as a result of that
not just as a result of that but partly as a result of those turning words
that the monk gives to the other monk
he's turned into what's called a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes
and then he comes and aspirin some more turning words to turn again into something else
and the he i asked the same question
this time they answer is
i think in this case he says
the way this is written is
do not be unclear about cause and effect
it's sometimes is translated as
is not
unclear about cause and effect or is not blind to cause and effect
a person of great
practice is not blind to cause and effect
how a person who has not attained
end
who not in the state of the great practice
who's in a state of lesser
ah
lesser practice was not fully realized the great practice
i'm that person is somewhat unclear
about cause and effect
a person who is really not
hoping to the practice at all is also
somewhat
i'm clear about cause and effect sometimes to the extent that people
they're so unclear about it they don't even think it's worth looking at
they they just think it's not important they don't pay any attention cause and effect
they don't pay attention to
conditions and consequences they don't think it's important they don't see the relationship between intention
and the consequences
and also as i pointed out in class last monday night
the buddha did not teach that all experience is due to past
intention
not all experience is due to past come to the to the maturation of past action
but
it
is due in part
two
the maturation of past current and past karma has something which we can watch we can see because
it is a cognitive process
you don't have to go to medical school to study
intention is with you all they want
an intention also
is very closely related to past intention of course
so it
if we say
a those who have attained the buddha free phrase from karmic effects
then
if we mean that then let's received the teachings about how to be free of karmic effects
and wanted some of the teachings are let's look at comic effects let's look at comic comic cause and effect
the zen master a dog and has a nice commentary here on this story
and
yeah
let's see here
in this is no text is called karmic
come in the three times
and there he also talks about carmen three times
and various interpretations by various masters
he discusses it so there's not a place where we can hear
this answer should talk about it

so

the the the master
the tradition called bhaijaan he didn't say that people have great
practice
he didn't say whether they fall into cause and effect or not
he didn't say they didn't fall cause and effect and it didn't say they did
so one possibility is if you didn't say
maybe they don't find a cause and effect or not
maybe we don't fall into cause and effect or not
on cause and effect
maybe that's not really how it goes
maybe we don't fall into cause and effect because maybe
when nothing but cause and effect so we can't fall into cause and effect
but also we can't not fond of cause and effect because we are nothing but cause and effect
maybe it's as simple as that
however if we don't appreciate
what we are
then it may seem like we found a cause and effect and are very uncomfortable or it may seem
that we don't fall in a cause and effect and then other people are very uncomfortable
and then they lock us up so then we feel uncomfortable but not because
we think we've fallen and cause in effect but because we think we're in prison or on
what is it a psychiatric locked ward
i'm imprisoned but i found cause and effect i just i'm just in prison because these other turkey's think that i have the wondered cause and effect
in that they have to and latest don't like me saying that i don't and take taking revenge on me which is innocence true that they
the people who think they have fun a causal effect will put those who think they have and in prison
i'd usually what is what will happen or some other kind of treatment program
but masters do not really as far as i can say take a position on this
while they take a position between those extremes of you're doing a doubt in the position between them would be
not just to take that position but see that position and be that position
be the position of
cause and effect
and be it very clearly
and
then there will be no comic obstructions to the boot away
did you will say something
wherever needed
pardon

asking

you're wondering
yeah

like something

why does it look like it looks like it looks like what to whether we're looks to world looks like we're falling into cause and effect
yeah that's where it looks
on its way it appears or it appears that we're not falling into cause and effect looks those two ways
those are two appearances
like sometimes people are lie or unkind and it looks like they're happy so it looks like they didn't have much of effect
so it looks that's why it the way it looks as that you do fall into to you don't
and
when somebody
does something good and then something good follows than it looks like the person's fallen into cause and effect
kind of happily but anyway that looks like cause fact they give the teacher and apple and the teacher gives him an a
looks like person's phone and cause and effect are they give the teacher and app apple the teacher you know punches him in the nose looks like they've fallen into cause and effect
or the you don't see any relationship you think they don't fall into cause and effect
that's how it looks
some people ask questions and also the out there the idea that falling into cause and effect is
sometimes really painful
so they think well maybe if you practiced you would you wouldn't fall into that painful situation anymore
so then maybe that's what freedom would be
that freedom from prize effect would be that you don't fall into a maybe that's what freedom would be
there was as soon as one place the question could have come from
what does it mean to be
ah
freed from comic effect and to practice the way without hindrance what does that mean maybe it you might think well maybe that means you don't find the cause and effect
that's one story you could tell about that

the questions coming from kind of consciousness
yeah seems like that

ah cosmic consciousness as regular consciousness of people that
that's you know if the consciousness that's
it least in part icon a consequence of past com
and it's driven by it's a consciousness which is driven by an by past it intentions it's manifesting present intentions and an expresses intentions expressed so it's kind of clay driven
comically manifesting and come and expressing com that's the usual kind of consciousness and
this develops hindrances to the buddha away this this this practice because it is
it tends to create a kind of closure
around
the person
a kind of entrapment
so the simple a simple rendition are becoming free of karmic effects would be to become free of
our habitual imagination
about what's going on

share my story
hmm
i feel like

three days
into the saves clean you say
he clean
sick
here

yes
it just seems like this this process is somewhat completed
yeah it feels like
exactly

just
my ancestors
and
then it just disappeared
it came up and then it just
and it came up for thirty years and came up yeah
and the last three years where
hell
hey the freedom
paying attention to what you just said paying attention to what's happening and seen that and seen
the roles that we all play with each other
and making new intentions
letting go of the old ones
is
i mean i'm just experiencing it firsthand
it's so freeing
it's wonderful
they give her to sharing your story of
paying attention and freedom
mary continue
to pay attention
two intention
which is
her access to the process
how obstruction
her the process by which obstruction
is a consequence
he's curious about he said not all of our experiences sound
from karma can be say something else as also said something
ah
it is as there's this text is called them
what is a collection and it's an it's a collection of scriptures and one of the short scriptures is the
a monk basically as the booty said some people say that all experience has due to
past action it all experiences and maturation of past action
past karmic activity
patna was passed intention past cognitive
processes
and you know what is a buddha say about that and the buddha said the
that on
it is the case that
some experiences certain experiences are due to for example
bile
and
and what he said you could know this for yourself
this is so and also
in the world is also the case that people say some experiences are due to bile
and then it goes on to say also on
certain experiences arise independence on flam
and some experiences arise and dependence on wind in some independence on imbalance between this previous three
in summarize from changes in the season
in some arise from attack
in summarize from blank
and summarize from
the maturation of karmic activity
the maturation of cognitive intention it's eight and i forgot the seventh
i forgot one of the seventh and were think it was about to set what what
attack i said attack
ha ha ha fill-in-the-blank
and he says if someone says at all
action experience experiences due to ah
on
pass karma
that would not just not with the world says
and also that would not be something of someone directly experiences so so somebody who says that would be innocence wrong
if they say that because they don't really have a basis for saying that
you just the i just the just the opinion without actual direct experience of it
is a
it's now not even if you have direct experience of it in the people in the world didn't agree with you then you wouldn't necessarily be wrong
but he says if you'd nobody has a direct experience that
all experience is due to past karma
he says which says it doesn't say very often but he says at least that one scripture
so we have that one statement
usually he's emphasizing that
it's very good to pay attention to karma and consequence because
if you pay attention to that
it opens the door to the realization of other kinds of causation
i'll talk about this more tomorrow the green dodge by basically
you can see you can actually witness kind of causation in your own cognitive processes
now r bondage and misery is not just do the karmic causation
he stood it's due to causation but not karmic cause i should not only comic causation it's also do it to flam change in season and on
have you can't see that
because cut pile of conduct causation is that your vision is enclosed
in your cognitive sphere
we we are are we have a cognitive closure on what's going on we see the world
as mind because our relationship with the world manifests as mind
and in that mind
we see the world but the world's not as it appears in the mind that just one way it is plus our intention in this round is not the causal processes throughout the cosmos although that they are contribute to this
the enclosure
even the enclosure is not just karmic and also the liberation is not just come
but the turning point seems to be in
the cognitive comic round turning point does not seem to be in the phlegm realm
even though it's totally part of the causation process the film realm doesn't enclose us
an open us the same where the cognitive does
yeah
study
you study like this
he stepped my men were to study this study feelings
because feelings are both
they're not just due to past action but they are they're not just due to past action but they are according to the tradition the maturation of past action
so on so i would is it like your past action matures as feeling
even though it's not just past actions that are making the feelings
so
the your past actions will mature in this ballpark even though there's other factors influencing the maturation you can see your past actions mature in this arena called feelings
without saying that your past action is totally determining the feelings still you can see the maturation of it
then you can watch how you respond to those feelings and the way you respond to those feelings and if you can't see how you respond to the feelings
you can see what your intentions are vis-a-vis feelings
and your intentions
are different from the feelings but they are also conditioned by the past actions which led which matured as the feelings
and now they are the past actions are also a condition for the periods of new intentions in relationship to the feelings and that way you can observe intention you can observe karma

no positive negative and neutral that their evaluative
there are no their the way you experience your sensations so they're the experience of sensation in terms of painful pleasure full and neither that's when you buy feel is in this case it's the way it's the way you experience your sensations
and that that is the that is the maturing
of past action among other things

does it involve
no you don't have to
i mean if you're involved in discursive activity in the than you would be discursive activity but is possible to
to see the a feeling
in such a way that you actually are not being discursive with it then you come down with it
i'm not being discursive with it
isn't very conditioning and that it doesn't have much conditioning effect on it at that time
so in a sense they not been discursive
with a feeling is a little bit like not doing what was done in the past is somewhat different and so that not being discourse with feelings actually promotes tranquility
however
even if you weren't tranquil even even if you if you're not tranquil or if you are tranquil and either case you could notice that there isn't
a leaving the feeling just to be the feeling that there's some messing around with it going on you could notice that now noticing that doesn't have to be very discursive better could get a little discursive but when you could notice that there's some meddling with the sensation the met and if you can notice
meddling with the sensation you're noticing the conditioning pattern the basic conditioning pattern
have of their cognitions
if you can't notice that you might notice that there's some intention that arises with the feelings
that's pretty much the same as the conditioning pattern in the form of an intention
and it's easier to see sometimes the intention other words when a positive sensation arises it may be easier to notice that you're going towards want to do something about it there is to notice that your kind of like conditioning it with some preference or some aversion
there but they're pretty much the same thing just one you're seeing in terms of of preferring are not preferring in the other you notice it in terms of some kind of wish or intention or vow or will around
and this will
doesn't come from nowhere it depends on past wills past politians past intentions is of synonyms will volition intention is and these are the definition of com these words katana in sanskrit
and she denies pretty much the same thing as the way we condition everything but in particular since feelings i'm are particularly the maturation of
to past karma that's a good place to look and that as you know feelings are a whole skanda and wonder is is why it's a whole aggregate her whole skanda is because you're so pivotal in com information
so you get a whole scanned for this one
phenomena it's so important to watch to focus on as as a key a key thread in in the conditioning process in the process of developing obstructions to the boot away

once you see it when you see it wants you me
said
you see in one particular moment yes
it just guessing
that's it for starters and i'll do it again
to an interest sort of basically be my just continuously be mindful of that it's all you know every moment has a feeling
so i just always be mindful of that no question you move on to be other scandals yes you could but in terms of this particular meditation maybe she'd stay with feelings for a long time until he really see the comic that they can comic conditioning pattern
you can't always see feeling because it's not the only thing that's happening you don't just go around having feelings you have to have other families have to other experiences to get up and down those stairs
but you can have quite a few feel is going up and down a set of stairs because they have turned out to be quite a bit of
moments from the bottom of the stairs to stop if it's top of the stairs and you go very fast
so there will be some feelings probably going up and down a set of stairs but the lot of other experiences to so you can't just focus on i should say you can't but we're not recommending only books and feelings because then you'd be skipping over a lot of other stuff in your life but you do get chance a lot of chance to
to be aware of your feelings a lot often they're strong enough to that's what they do come up and you do notice but some people although they're having feelings they don't even notice him
if you ask him i have a positive negative or neutral sensation
the can of the question not because they're not having them but because they haven't learned how to spot them
so when you're having a feeling hey you don't have to go to your way to have it
when you're conscious of pain it's no skin off your nose to be conscious of having pain
and so wired and why you're there you might have you might also practice a little meditation and karma
just in case you have any obstruction to the buddha away
you must check out that think of there's where your days where the obstruction occurs that's that's where they extract the obstruction production the of structured productions exposed around that thread of feeling
okay
there's lot of other stuff to do but that don't miss those chances
because that's that's the place to turn into the process
of comic hindrance and find the pivot the pivotal experienced there
yes plan
could you speak up
well present