Good morning, thank you all for joining with me this morning to celebrate the Lotus Sutra and practice according to the instructions given to us by Nichiren Shonin. Continuing with my weekly reflections on the Lotus Sutra I offer you this from Chapter II.
“All things are devoid of substantiality.
The seed of Buddhahood comes from dependent origination.”
Lotus Sutra, Chapter II
Originally I had planned to go in a different direction reflecting on this passage, however just this morning I received an interesting question by email and decided to respond.
The question posed is roughly this: why do we have to suffer from unskillful causes in our past if we made those causes in ignorance, not knowing the skillful way to act?
The idea of karma being a result of some previous action is an incorrect concept of Western understanding of Buddhist teachings about karma. This is probably due in part because of the way it was translated but also because we as humans have a tendency to want to blame something or someone for what is happening to us. There is a desire to wish that we were not some how responsible for our actions, and that we are in some way a victim.
At any rate let me state simply karma is not what is happening to us. Karma is not the effect. Karma is what we are doing now. Karma is the causes we are making in this very moment. Karma is the cause we make and not the effect we receive.
Your karma is not what is happening to you; instead it is what you are doing in this very moment. Karma is how you respond to situations and events in your life. Karma does tend to be repetitive because we generally tend to respond in certain ways, which we have learned or developed. Those repetitive ways of responding generate similar effects. For example if we are prone towards anger and respond angrily to every event in our lives then we will continually receive the same results. The results are not our karma but our responses are. The two are not easily separated but by changing our responses to events in our lives is changing our karma and that intern changes our results.
The idea of dependent origination is simply that nothing comes into existence or exists independent of something else. So too our lives did not come into existence without the necessary sperm from a man and an egg from a woman, even if we were artificially produced in the so called test-tube. The egg and sperm gave us our genetic background from which we have grown. Our very life and existence is dependent upon many individuals both known and unknown to us.
There is no way possible to completely separate ones self from others. Also there is no way to separate this moment from the last or the next. There is no moment that arises independently of a series of previous moments.
So this very moment contains all of the previous moments and in this moment we are able to practice Buddhism and affect all of our future moments. It is because of this connection to the past causes that we are able to practice Buddhism now. In a way our enlightenment exists only in this moment you could say, because it is in this moment that we awaken to the true nature of reality, which is this dependent origination.
To wish we were somehow devoid or not accountable for our previous causes, however they were made, is to in effect wish we would never become Buddhas. I believe that enlightenment is partially if not completely about continually awakening to awareness and understanding about our current behavior in response to those countless unrealized and unaware causes we made in the past.
The theory in education is that each successive level of achievement is based upon the foundation of previous learned lessons. It is the rare individual that is able to attempt calculus without some previous understanding of basic math principles. So too our enlightenment is based upon not being perfect and not having lived a flawless life. If we had lived a perfect or flawless life then we would no longer be seekers and as the theory goes we would have left the stream of rebirth.
Let me say that it does seem rather naïve to think that in life we should be absolved of any action because we plead ignorance. We don’t always treat ourselves that way nor do we treat each other that way. We may concoct a story in our minds that says we treat ourselves and others fairly and in all instances forgive ignorance but I believe that is a myth we delude ourselves with. Society says ‘ignorance of the law is not excuse’ and guess what, that is pretty much how we all operate. There are even people of other religions who teach that just because you were ignorant of some savior or teaching does not get you out of hell.
Buddhism doesn’t teach that you are a victim of your ignorance, instead it says that regardless of how you arrived at where you currently are in life your happiness exists in this very moment and the way to that happiness is by changing your karma, your actions. It also teaches that the truth is, because of your ignorance you are actually able to become a Buddha, because all of those past causes you made got you to this very point enabling you to practice Buddhism now.
The final question in the email asks how can we learn from our past mistakes if we do not remember them. Because of the dependent origination and the continuity of past, present, and future we need only look at our lives in this very moment to begin to see what our previous causes were. Is that easy to do, is it pleasant to do, it is neither easy nor always pleasant. However, in reality the most important practice, and even the Buddha said this, is not about looking over your shoulder to the past but simply examining your present and acting according to Buddhist teachings. After all, the past we have no way of undoing except by changing our present thereby ensuring a future of happiness.
I hope you will consider carefully what your karma is; what actions you are engaged in. Karma is what you are doing now, not what you did in the past. Chanting Odaimoku, the Sacred Title Namu Myoho Renge Kyo is the most effective way to begin to change our lives and attain enlightenment in this very moment.
Thank you all again for today, and I wish you a happy and joyful week ahead.
