The law of karma is one of the most important laws that shape the quality of our lives. It is one of the fundamental natural laws through which we create these vastly different realities. In fact; we are also constantly creating new karma with every reaction to any experience, and that defines the color of our tomorrow.
It might sound simple but it is highly dictated by our subconscious; which is why it is essential to connect to that part of ourselves daily; give it space to speak up and understand it well so that our repetitive patterns are no longer a mystery. The more your feed your karmic impulsive reaction the more you feed the cycle of creating your habits, identity and general state of being. It is very empowering to understand that you are the creator of your life; and it is up to you whether you allow that cycle to continue in an endless sequence or not. In my coaching sessions I tap into finding the gap and gaining the skill of embracing whatever we are faced with, and extricate ourselves from the cycle, simultaneously building compassion and enhancing our sense of inner ease.
If we apply this to our relationship with food; the concept of Karma is extraordinarily valuable. It clarifies and deepens our understanding - and it can inspire us to get out of our precedented patterns. However, getting familiar with that neuropathway in the heat of an emotional exchange, may not have the luxury of logic, because logic requires time and an unbiased mind. When you are in that trance of acting on an urge; you don’t have time to think, but only to react. So you need a well-honed, quickly deployed skill, something that is familiar and effective.
The law of karma can be understood on two levels; karma refers to the experience of cause and effect over a period of time. We plant an avocado seed, and years later we taste the ripe delicious fruit. The other level of understanding karma has to do with the quality of mind in the very moment of action. Our direct awareness of how the karmic law is working in each moment can be a strong motivation to develop skillful states of mind that create happiness for us in the moment and well-being in the future.
If we break it down; life is composed of multiple experiences; each experience is layered into three stages – The arrival of the experience, our comprehension of it, and then our reaction. This is a practical tool that embodies the core of Mindfulness and mindful living.
When there is this, that is. With the arising of this, that arises. When this is not, neither is that. With the cessation of this, that ceases.
–The Buddha, from the Samyutta Nikaya
UNDERSTANDING THE EXPERIENCE
The First layer - ARRIVAL In the first moment, our senses (eyes, ears, nose, etc) perceive some exterior input. This takes place in an instance (for an example: someone shouting at you, the sound of a cookie pack opening, the smell of your grandma’s baking etc). If one has a pattern of compulsive behavior; they are faced with desire that seems difficult, if not impossible to extinguish, sees no recourse but denial. However, retreating behind ignorance of the consequences only perpetuates the cycle of mindless eating, yo-yo dieting, and deepens its hold.
An ancient Chinese proverb says: Man takes a drink, drink takes a drink, then drink takes the man. Until we can awaken from delusion and acknowledge the consequences of our actions, the pattern of self-destructive behavior will continue and perhaps escalate.
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The Second Layer - ARISING This is where we recognize the sensation; yet often we have an instant, subconscious reaction ruled by the mental conditioning—habitual thinking—and karmic patterns that inevitably lead to certain actions. When we are in denial, we make up stories to rationalize our behavior. Each time we act on one of those stories, we strengthen our belief in it, thereby reinforcing the behavior.
Now the key here is to highlight that it is separate from the first moment; we get to nurture that distinction between the arrival and the arising when we are dedicated to our practice, without judgement, and take life moment by moment. As opposed to the trance experience when we actually respond to the experience without our conscious control.
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The Third layer - REACTING This is where you create your karma; your reaction may be mental, verbal, or physical. If you have classified something as good, you are drawn to it, despite the fact that it might be harmful. If you have classified something as bad, you push it away, sometimes with more force than is appropriate or necessary. In either case, you may do a lot of damage that you will later need to try to undo.
Here we stand at a critical crossroads, where there is still room for conscious choice. The split second between having a feeling or a thought - that is transient and dynamic in nature - and giving in to the craving is the optimal moment to intervene and break the cycle of compulsive patterns. This is our opportunity to awaken and move away from self-destructive behavior. With strong intention and the proper tools, we can develop the strength and concentration to withstand the temptation; and hence create the karma we choose.
THE PRACTICE
My spiritual counselor once told me: “do not let it build up”. This resonated so much; we can’t expect to master our mind and our reactions without investing in our practice, spending time in solidifying our connection with ourselves and emotions. Simply seeing the experience, emotion or whatever arrives; as is.
We need to widen the gap between the cause and the effect, or action and reaction; so that the response is no longer automatic and irresponsible. At the very instant an emotion arises, pause. Notice the emotion you are experiencing. Sit with it and identify it with all your senses. This can take time to really resonate; even though the mind is aware of this process theoretically, the body seems to have made up its own mind. That’s why the first step to freedom is to connect to that internal debate, explore the sensations, thoughts and feelings that lie behind our desires or impulses.
You may be tempted to trace the source of your emotion; that is logical, but in this instance it is not helpful. Instead of focusing on who did what to whom, simply look into your emotion. Don’t do this as an observer, with duality between yourself and the emotion, as though it were external to you. Instead, watch your actual experience; try to feel it directly. Feel your emotion as if you were sitting on the beach and a wave comes splashing you, filling your insides. Don’t pay attention to the water itself; pay attention to what’s happening. What does it feel like? Do not try to rationalize it or reason with it. Do not label it. Just be with it. Over time, as that awareness grows, you will begin to feel ease and peace. This is when you stop being ruled by these emotions and begin to master your life.
To really be free from your mind; you need to mentally create that strength within you and train that muscle of observation without attachment we can ease the grasp of delusion and allowing ourselves to be with the truth of impermanence. Desire narrows our awareness till we see only what we crave; mindfulness helps us see other possibilities. As we observe that our cravings–no matter how strong–eventually pass, we no longer feel compelled to act on them. We discover where in the cycle of craving we can effectively intervene. When mindfulness is strong enough to create space between stimulus and reaction, the karmic attachment that leads to automatic behavior is weakened, giving us a chance to make wiser choices. Even our most intractable habits can be changed.
I leave you with this mantra that you can recite and repeat whenever you meditate or during the day when you want to recenter:
I am not my thoughts, I am not my emotions, I am not my circumstances; I am here only witnessing their arrival, temporary presence, and inevitable departure.
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