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Guided Meditation: The Buddha's Five Daily Recollections: Karma; Dharmette: The Buddha's Five Daily Recollections (5 of 5): Karma - Mei Elliott

The following talk was given by Mei Elliott at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA on May 17, 2024. Please visit the website www.audiodharma.org for more information.

Guided Meditation: The Buddha's Five Daily Recollections: Karma

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening everyone. For those just tuning in for the first time, my name is Mei Elliott, and today is the last day of our exploration of the Buddha's Five Daily Recollections. Today we will be focusing on the final phrase. It is sometimes translated in different ways, so I am going to read you two versions.

The first is: "I am the owner of my deeds and heir to my deeds. Deeds are my womb, my relative, and my refuge. I will be heir of whatever deeds I do, whether good or bad."

The second is: "I am the owner of my actions, heir of my actions. Actions are the womb from which I have sprung. Actions are my relations. Actions are my protection. Whatever actions I do, good or bad, of these I shall become the heir."

You will notice that these phrases have a very different flavor than the last four, and we will talk about that today. What is happening here is that the Buddha is guiding us into what seems like totally different territory. Later on, I will share why the word being translated as "deed" or "action" is Kamma¹ (or Karma in Sanskrit). What the Buddha is saying with this phrase is to reflect on how our actions yield results—how they yield consequences, positive or otherwise.

But let's move into our meditation here. As with the other phrases, we will practice in two ways. We will start by sitting in silence, and about halfway through, I will offer the phrase. You can just drop it into the meditation to let it ripple through the system, kind of like a pebble being dropped in a pond, just seeing what happens. After that, I will offer some questions for you to actively contemplate.

Go ahead and find your meditation posture—sitting, standing, lying down—whatever works for your body. You might start with a few deep breaths to put aside any discursive thought about the past or the future, coming into the now.

Take a little time to relax the body. Softening the forehead and the temples. Releasing the jaw. Relaxing the neck and shoulders. Allowing the belly to soften, maybe hanging forward and down if you are in a sitting posture. If there is anything that won't relax and holds tension, see if you can relax around that, making room for that without being in conflict with it.

Connect now with your anchor—what grounds you during the meditation if you get lost. Maybe the breath, where you feel it most predominantly, where it is easiest to feel. Maybe your touch points with the floor, the cushion, or a chair. A global sense of the body sitting, or the soundscape. Traditionally the breath, but do what works for you. Take some time now to settle and collect the mind.

If the body has become tight or tense again, take a moment to tune in, to sense the body, and intentionally calm and relax. Release any extra tension, and then return to the anchor.

We will shift now to our recollection. As a reminder, this is about Karma. In other words, my actions bear consequences. If I act on a loving or generous intention, that bears one result. If I act on hatred, that bears a different result. Wholesome intentions and actions bear happiness, and harmful actions bear unhappiness.

I will offer this phrase now. Again, just allowing it to ripple through the system without intentionally thinking anything through. Just seeing what naturally arises. Maybe a thought comes into the mind, or words, or a picture, maybe an emotion or body sensation.

I am the owner of my actions, heir of my actions. Actions are the womb from which I have sprung. Actions are my relations. Actions are my protection. Whatever actions I do, good or bad, of these I shall become the heir.

For simplicity, we might try dropping this phrase in:

My happiness or unhappiness depends on my actions.

I will receive the benefits or consequences of what I have done.

Notice what arises. It may be that nothing arises, or confusion arises if this idea is new for you or if you are uncertain of why it is included. Be mindful of any response.

Set that phrase down now, coming back to your anchor, and allowing the mind to settle again.

We will shift now to our engaged contemplation. I will offer the phrase again and then a few questions. You can actively think about these questions, making sure to keep a short leash on the thinking so the mind doesn't get too lost. We want to gravitate around the question, staying close to the heart of the matter.

Again, the phrase:

I am the owner of my deeds and heir to my deeds. Deeds are my womb, my relative, and my refuge. I shall be the heir of whatever deeds I do, whether good or bad.

Your actions follow from your intentions. How much attention you pay to your intentions makes a difference.

So, the first question: Are you aware when your intentions are based in kindness, compassion, or generosity? Are you aware when you are acting and the intention behind the action is a wholesome one? Do you notice this?

Perhaps you are so engaged in the action you might not notice the intention. Are you aware when you are acting if the intention is coming from greed, craving, desire, or hatred, aversion, or delusion? Do you notice when your actions of speech, body, or even thoughts are coming from greed, hatred, or delusion?

Do you consider whether your actions will cause harm before you speak or act? That could be harm to others or to yourself.

Knowing that your happiness or unhappiness depends on your actions and the intentions that precede them, are there any new actions that you want to engage in? Are there any present actions or habits that you might want to let go of?

When you are ready, come back to the breath or other anchor and take some time to settle.

The benefits of our wholesome actions of body, speech, and mind benefit all beings. May they be joyful and happy, strong and healthy, safe and protected. And may they live peaceful and at ease.

Dharmette: The Buddha's Five Daily Recollections (5 of 5): Karma

Welcome back. Today we are talking about the fifth daily recollection:

"I am the owner of my actions, heir of my actions. Actions are the womb from which I have sprung. Actions are my relations. Actions are my protection. Whatever actions I do, good or bad, of these I shall become the heir."

As I mentioned before the guided meditation, the word "action" is the translation of the word Kamma in Pali or Karma in Sanskrit. We typically hear Karma in the West, so I will use the Sanskrit. So this last phrase is about Karma.

I saw a quote on a greeting card a while ago that I thought summarized Karma in more familiar language. It said, "Well, well, well... if it isn't the consequences of my own actions." This gave me a chuckle. The part of this recollection that says "I am the heir to my actions"—we might just say colloquially, "What goes around comes around." I will receive the consequences of my previous actions.

Today we will be talking about Karma, but first I want to acknowledge that we have spent the last four days contemplating aging, sickness, death, and the loss of what is loved. Wait a second, hold everything. You may be wondering, what on earth is Karma doing here? This is a little different.

This recollection is a counterpoint to the first four. Having recognized the immediacy, the urgency of our situation, where can we find safety? Where can we possibly find a refuge amongst aging, sickness, death, and loss? This phrase says: Actions are my protection. Our actions are our refuge. Our happiness depends on our actions. This phrase is saying that if you want to be happy amidst these dire circumstances, take great care with your actions.

This is actually great news. The Buddha says that happiness is possible—he was known as "The Happy One." It is possible to be free of suffering in this life, even with aging, sickness, death, and loss. So how do we choose our actions wisely such that the fruits of our actions are happiness and not suffering?

To start, we need to understand that when the Buddha talked about Karma or action, he was specifically talking about intentional action. It is actually the intention behind the action that determines our future happiness. Maybe just a few words to define intention before we put this all together. Put simply, intentions are our motivation—our reasons for saying or doing something. We can think of them as the "about to" moment; it is the urge that we have before we act. We have motives or intentions behind every thought, every word we speak, and every action of the body. This is all fueled by intentions.

How does intention actually function to bring forth happiness? Well, if I speak from a place of kindness or generosity, this will create one habit pattern of mind. If I speak from selfishness, this will create a different habit pattern of mind. Put another way, we can think of our life as a garden and our intentions are the seeds that we plant. If we want to be happy, plant seeds of kindness, compassion, renunciation, and non-grasping. These will grow a beautiful garden; this will yield a mind that is resilient, flexible, and joyful.

If we are planting seeds of greed, desire, hatred, aversion, rejection, or delusion, then that will grow a very different garden. Are you planting the seeds of fear, of self-aggrandizement, of bitterness, insecurity, or craving? These will generate a mind with more suffering. You can't plant a poison ivy seed and expect to get a mango tree. If we are trying to be happy and free, we don't want to plant poison ivy seeds. So we examine our intentions and we act from wholesome intentions because this conditions our future happiness. If we want mangoes, we need to plant mango seeds.

This is Karma: intentional action of body, speech, and mind. Good Karma results in happiness. In other words, an action based on a wholesome motivation results in happiness. This is why the Dalai Lama says, "My sincere motivation is my protection." My good intentions are my protection. We can't control our circumstances, but our wholesome intentions can allow a safe passage through life. This is how we can have safety, some sense of resiliency and ease, and cultivate happiness amongst sickness, aging, death, and loss.

Here is an example about how these intentional actions yield different fruit. This might seem like an odd question, but does stabbing another person lead to happiness or suffering? Apologies for the somewhat violent analogy. Well, it depends on whether the person with the knife is a surgeon or an assailant. Each might use a knife to cut someone, but one has the intention to help someone heal, while the other has the intention to harm. The surgeon is going to have a very different life than the violent criminal.

Rob Burbea², who was a Dharma teacher and author, used to say, "My real investment portfolio are my beautiful intentions." We begin to see the way that paying attention to our intentions is really important. It lays the path for where we are headed in our life. In a way, we could think of attending to our intentions a bit like a compass guiding us towards happiness.

I want to speak now just for a few moments about Sammā Saṅkappa³ or Right Intention, sometimes translated as Complete Intention. Some of you might be familiar with this from the Eightfold Path, the path to freedom. One of the path factors is Right Intention. There are three facets of Right Intention:

1. Renunciation
2. Kindness (or Non-ill will)
3. Compassion (or Non-harming)

We can think of this as our North Star. If you can align your thoughts, your speech, and your action to be based around these intentions—kindness, compassion, and renunciation—you begin to be able to walk North. This is how you calibrate your compass point for where to walk for happiness. Whereas if we find that we are acting on greed, hatred, and delusion, that is going to take us in a different direction.

Now I want to acknowledge a few facets of Karma.

First, we can't understand the details of the working of Karma. For example, if you engage in a wholesome action with good intentions, we don't know when that good Karma will fruit. If you plant that karmic seed, we can't know when it will sprout or how it will sprout or what that plant will look like. The Buddha considered the workings of the law of Karma as one of the four "imponderables." So don't try to figure it out. You can't equate one action to a particular result and say, "Okay, there it is."

Secondly, not everything is based on Karma. In the commentaries, it says that there are several things that aren't based on Karma: weather, heredity, accidents, etc. The Buddha did not say that everything that happens to us is based on our past actions. Other things can lead to our experiences besides Karma.

Third, often when we act, intentions are mixed. That is normal. If that's the case, focus on the positive, on the wholesome aspect of the intention. When I was in college, I made a lot of pottery; I loved ceramics and making art. At one point, I gave a friend a vase that I had made. When I noticed the intention for doing so, I realized that it really was mainly out of generosity. But I also realized that there was a little sub-intention: I also wanted this friend to think that I was a creative and talented artist. So in this case, it was, say, 90% generosity and 10% based in craving and self-view. In this case, I still focused on the wholesome and gave the gift. One wouldn't want to refrain from giving a gift because there is a little sprinkling of "selfing" in there, a little sprinkling of less wholesome intention.

Lastly, as Guy Armstrong⁴ says, "Don't use Karma as a rearview mirror." Meaning, it is not useful to consider our life situation and then think, "What did I do in the past that caused this?" This goes along with the first thing I said—don't bother trying to figure out Karma—but specifically, don't use it as a rearview mirror. We can't see or know what in the past caused our present circumstance; it is just speculation. So instead, use Karma as a compass for where you are going in the future, or as Guy puts it, "The best way to use Karma is as a future GPS system." It is the science of happiness.

By reflecting on this phrase about Karma daily, it can become a reminder of the importance of our intentions—the importance of how our actions of body, speech, and mind bear results.

As you practice with this throughout the day, you might consider as you do things: what intention is behind the action? Today, maybe try it with food practice; this is going to be a really interesting and fascinating exploration. Am I eating for entertainment or am I eating for nourishment? What is the intention behind what you get out of the fridge?

Try it with conversation or speech practice. Are you speaking out of care for others, or is there a little barb in what you are saying? Maybe a tiny intention to make someone know they are wrong or that they screwed up in some way. Are you complimenting your supervisor because you want her to know that you value her and appreciate her—doing it as an act of generosity and authenticity? Or is it because you are hoping to flatter her into giving you a raise? See what you discover, and be kind to yourself. This work is humbling.

I hope through today's teaching that I have helped to calibrate your inner compass to support you in navigating the path to happiness. Thank you so much for your attention this week. It has been so wonderful to have the week with you and to engage in these difficult teachings. Even though they are challenging, the intention is really to align our life with the way things are so that we can learn where happiness lies, align our actions with the way we really want to be in the world, set our priorities straight, and live in a way that is conducive to happiness. I hope you reap the benefits of these teachings in your life, and I look forward to seeing you soon. Take care everyone.