Karma and Self-Empowerment

The extensive study of understanding Karma and its myriad shades requires more than one sitting. With that in mind, the aim of this blog is to give a decent introduction by:

1. Broadening the lens through which we look at karma
2. Understanding how we create karma
3. Understanding how to empower ourselves to change it

I was moderating a Buddhist meeting recently, where the main theme was Karma (literal translation means action in Sanskrit). A lady who looked like she’d had enough of serving her time in the land of hell (lowest of 10 life conditions in Buddhism), said “Karma is a real bitch.” I wish I had a holographic projector attached to my brain at that moment. If I did, I would have said, “Well technically the following also come under the category of “bitch”:

The slight digression is intended to highlight that we often have only negative associations with Karma. However, from a Buddhist perspective, when viewed in its totality, Karma does encompass both negative and positive aspects of cause and effect. For example, it is rare to look at Richard Branson, lying on a hammock in his private island paradise of Necker, “working” as he sips a Pina Colada, and say, “Now that’s his Karma.” And yet it is!

I often erroneously associated Karma only with hopelessness and trepidation, thinking of it as an accumulation of causes made in the past, over which I have little control.  To subscribe to this view is what can often disenfranchise us and leave us in a David and Goliath situation, where we believe that the Goliath of Karma is much more powerful than our inner David can slay.

As President Ikeda says, “The teaching of karma doesn’t encourage resignation, but empowers us to become the protagonists in the unfolding drama of our lives.” This is one of the most profound aspects of Buddhism that attracted me to it initially – rather than dejectedly holding out our wrists for life to snap on the shackles of fate, we can not only shake them off but also write our own script from this moment on.

For this it is crucial to understand how we create Karma. In Nichiren Buddhism, we believe that Karma is created through thought, words and action. Each with increasing intensity of impact – thoughts create lesser karma than words, which in turn bow to action. But each of these three factors does creates a cause, which has an effect – either manifest (immediate) or latent (takes a while to appear).

While studying for this meeting that I was moderating, I wondered how on earth it was possible to monitor/fine comb every thought, word and action without becoming paranoid and stifling one’s natural style. Luckily as I read further, I found out that that was the wrong approach.

In order to change Karma, the mere knowledge or awareness of cause and effect, though important, is insufficient. Even if one were to make a strong determination to completely purify ones heart, and think, speak and act from this life state, it would be unsustainable. Why? As mentioned in the last blog, positive and destructive tendencies have existed and will continue to exist within us across the expanse of eternal life. So it is impossible to only think, speak and act purely for the rest of our lives. (Thank heavens for that. I was beginning to get a constriction in my chest with the pressure of taking on that mammoth responsibility. Mission Impossible aborted).

As human beings, we are prone to falling into the four lowest life conditions of hell, hunger, animality, anger and the things we think, say and do when we are operating in those life conditions could create corresponding negative effects. The point is not to feel guilt or inflict self-blame, but recognise that this occasional tendency is a reality of our lives. More importantly, there is a faster, healthier way of changing our Karma without needing to constantly monitor the debits and credits of our karmic bank balance with the universe.

So how do we actually change Karma? First some good news: both types of Karma (mutable or easier to change/ heal, like a superficial scratch on the skin and immutable, or heavier, with a tendency to recur across lifetimes) can be changed within the span of this lifetime.

In addition to positive self-reflection to understand what tendencies we can change in our lives that are causing us/others suffering, below is the two-fold guidance in this philosophy to changing Karma:

1. By not denying or doubting the potential in our lives or others’ lives to manifest the highest life condition of Buddhahood. (Buddhist speak: denying/doubting this would tantamount to slandering the Law or the Lotus Sutra, because the central belief is that every person, no matter who they are or what they’ve done, can attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.)

It’s extremely hard to see how seemingly despicable people like Jimmy Saville, Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot could possess this potential. Judging their actions as pure evil is not slandering the Law. However, believing that they did not possess the potential to enlightenment/Buddhahood is. They possessed the connection to their highest selves all along. They just failed to access it.

It gets even more interesting when you click-in closer to home – do you feel any of your colleagues, relatives or acquaintances is an absolute dunce/selfish megalomaniac/treacherous two-timing reptile/total coward? They will provide the deepest learnings for us to widen our vision to see that they too POSSESS (even if it’s hidden under billions of thick layers) the potential to manifest Buddhahood. The real challenge lies in first believing this, and then testing how we can draw out their Buddhahood in our interactions with them. Not easy. But definitely doable if we set our mind to it.

2. By believing in the mystic power of cause and effect, exerting oneself assiduously in practice to draw out our full potential and enabling others to unlock the limitless potential within their lives (or shakubuku people).

The real icing on the cake is that transforming our Karma is a win-win situation. Not only do we feel incredibly empowered at having won over Karma, but in the process we also encourage others to do the same. This struggle for victory for self and others, this sharing of actual proof of the limitless power of the self, is the foundation stone of Nichiren Buddhism.

Further, this two pronged approach (self and others) not only increases our good karma, but also blunts the knife of any bad karma that was due to come our way. How?

Take a simplistic example of a man who has eaten buckets of French fries, Big Mac burgers and bottles of fizzy, enamel dissolving drinks on a daily basis. He has created a cause for a cardiac at some point in the future. That’s a bit of a no-brainer. However, if the person realises what he is inflicting upon himself, and changes his lifestyle to include exercise, healthy foods etc, he will be able to dull the impact of the imminent effect of health deterioration. Instead of a cardiac, he may get high cholesterol and be put on statins for example. A mild warning compared to the ravages of a heart attack. In the process, he can also help prevent others from destroying their health.

The point is not to liberate the Bacchanalian self in us and go crazy, thinking we can always “mend” things later. The point is to understand that instead of despairing over certain causes we have created in the past, we can indeed change any Karma, as mentioned above. We can simultaneously create good karma and lessen the intensity of any arrows of “effects” that were aimed our way. And in the process, we can truly experience for ourselves that not all bites hurt.