1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:11,520 Good morning everybody. This morning I would like to 2 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,880 spend some time with the idea of karma, but maybe not karma in 3 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,120 the way that we usually think about it. 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:24,240 Often we hear the word karma, karma comma, Laura. 5 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,040 What comes to mind is the traditional understanding of 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:32,360 karma, the moral cause and effect system, the what I 7 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,160 typically think of as the you're going to get IT system. 8 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,000 For example, I do something that action has consequences, and 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,880 those consequences come back to me at some later point. 10 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:46,920 If I act good, good things happen. 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,600 If I act poorly, suffering follows. 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,000 In this way of thinking, karma is consequential. 13 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,720 It unfolds over time and it's affected. 14 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,120 It explains why I'm happy or unhappy, why things go well or 15 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,840 poorly for me. And to be to be clear, this way 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,760 of understanding karma isn't necessarily wrong, right? 17 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:14,160 It's intuitive and it kind of makes a lot of sense, and it's 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,080 often the first way people encounter the teaching of karma. 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,160 But this way of thinking about karma isn't actually, I think, 20 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,080 how the Buddha usually talked about it. 21 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,360 And it also comes with a few of its own problems. 22 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,480 One of them is that it assumes that we know what something 23 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:37,080 means in well, it's called the fullness of time, right? 24 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:42,200 That this happened, therefore it must be good or bad. 25 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:46,880 This suffering has occurred and therefore it must have been 26 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,480 deserved. This success came, therefore I 27 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:55,160 must have earned it. As many of you are well aware, I 28 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,240 am pretty fond of the story about the farmer whose horse 29 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:01,680 runs away. The neighbor says. 30 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,600 How unfortunate, The farmer replies, Nah, who knows? 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,720 The horse returns with wild horses, How fortunate, farmer 32 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,120 replies, who knows? The farmer's son breaks his 33 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,240 legs, breaks his leg. How unfortunate, Farmer replies. 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,120 Nah, who knows? The point of the story isn't 35 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,080 that, you know, what happens doesn't really matter, It's that 36 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,240 our view is always partial. We're always standing right in 37 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,040 the middle of the things that are happening and not outside 38 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,560 them. And yet karma can quickly tempt 39 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,800 us into believing that we see the whole picture. 40 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,720 Another difficulty with karma is how easily this understanding of 41 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,760 karma turns us inward and unskillful ways. 42 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:54,120 Case in point, if I'm suffering, it must be because of something 43 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,040 I did. If someone else is suffering, it 44 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,160 must be their karma. Sometimes this can lead to 45 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,440 resonation, such as saying things like wow this is just my 46 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,760 karma. And sometimes they could become 47 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,360 judgmental, like, well, they got what they deserved. 48 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,760 And finally karma can start to feel like a thing, which I wish 49 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,760 Curtis was on because that is a thing that would make him smile. 50 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,360 So what do I mean by a fake? It becomes something we carry, 51 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,640 something we accumulate, something that we are 52 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:36,720 perpetually waiting to arrive. We can feel like something like 53 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,040 a spiritual account balance that's always waiting to come 54 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,800 do, which is, I think, interesting because hoodism 55 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,760 tends to spend a lot of time warning us about turning 56 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:53,040 processes into things. So this morning I want to offer 57 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,360 a different way of understanding karma, one that I came across 58 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,040 with my students and that has changed how I understand 59 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,720 meditation as a practice. To do this, I want to start with 60 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,200 a question. What if karma isn't about what 61 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,920 happens to us? What if karma isn't about what 62 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:15,640 happens after an action, but all of the things that happened the 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:21,079 4th? What if karma is the set of 64 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:28,160 conditions already shaping how we see, feel and respond before 65 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:36,920 we start doing anything at all? So what if karma is our habits 66 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,120 and our histories and our belief, Beliefs about ourselves 67 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,800 in the world, our fears and our expectations? 68 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,400 What if all of that is karma? Karma isn't a moral judgement, 69 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:56,480 but the conditioning we accumulate over the course of 70 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:01,000 our lives. It's not the something that we 71 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,920 deserve, but the way our experiences have learned to 72 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:10,400 happen. And this is where the Buddhist 73 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,640 teachings on intention become important. 74 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,280 The Buddha. The Buddha often defined karma 75 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:23,040 in terms of intention as the movement of the mind toward or 76 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:29,760 away from experiences. Not intention is a plan or goal, 77 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:36,720 but the subtle leaning that happens before an action, before 78 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,880 we speak, and before our thoughts really fully form. 79 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:46,280 Intention kind of acts as the mind's inclination. 80 00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:52,440 It's the quiet kind of tilts of what you mean to do before you 81 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:57,960 actually do it. It's the way our conditioning, 82 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,680 all the things that have happened to us before, nudges 83 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:07,080 toward grasping or resisting toward what we want to happen or 84 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:12,400 what we don't want to happen. In this way, karma isn't what we 85 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:16,080 do. Karma is the tendency, 86 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:22,440 tendencies we have behind what we do, the things before what we 87 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:28,400 do. You might say it like this. 88 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:35,880 Karma isn't what happens to us. Karma is how we enter into what 89 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,960 happens. From this perspective, karma 90 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,760 isn't primarily concerned with explaining why pleasant or 91 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,880 unpleasant events occur, why we suffer, or why we don't. 92 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,840 It's concerned only with suffering, with how suffering 93 00:06:54,840 --> 00:07:00,320 continues, because even pleasant experiences can lead us to 94 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,560 suffering. If they reinforce attachment and 95 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,440 aversion, Even success can deepen our reactivity. 96 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,960 And reactivity is really what we are getting at here. 97 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:17,960 Reactivity is the way our perceptions immediately turn 98 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:21,480 into judgements. Reactivity is the way our 99 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,720 sensations turn into stories. Reactivity is the way our 100 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,280 experiences become about ourselves. 101 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:38,400 And I will say, for me, this shows up most clearly with my 102 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,640 irritation. I can feel it when a tiny spark 103 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,400 of irritation arises, and it's always something small, 104 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,520 something ordinary. And then before I even know it, 105 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,760 my mind has built a whole narrative about it. 106 00:07:56,520 --> 00:08:00,280 I've built any conclusion about the situation, a conclusion 107 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,680 about the other person, sometimes even conclusions about 108 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:09,640 myself. And that's is what karma is. 109 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,080 It's not a dramatic manifestation of justice. 110 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,600 It's not a mystical process outside the self. 111 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,160 It's just the mind doing what it has learned to do. 112 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,640 And this is where meditation as a practice can become very 113 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,919 practical. Because when we sit on a 114 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:38,919 cushion, we get to watch karma happening in real time. 115 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:47,720 We get to see our thoughts arise, our sensations arise, all 116 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,360 of our memories, our judgements, our plans and anxieties. 117 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:59,560 And then almost immediately they turn into something we take to 118 00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:04,720 be reality, such as, you know, this is bad or this is good or 119 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,160 this shouldn't be happening or this should be, this means 120 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,040 something about who I am or who they are. 121 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:18,240 All of these things arise in the moments and they turn into 122 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:24,360 stories. And so meditation really isn't 123 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,000 about stopping any of that necessarily from arising. 124 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,640 It's about seeing what arises clearly enough that we don't 125 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:39,040 have to make it into reality. Say that again, because it's 126 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:43,200 real important. Meditation is about seeing what 127 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:48,640 arises clearly enough that we don't have to take what arises 128 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:53,720 and make it reality. And this is where I think the 129 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:59,120 idea of a perception can be really helpful, even if the word 130 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:06,680 itself is a weird word. The word literally means without 131 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:13,520 perception added on. Not the absence of seeing, but 132 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:17,520 see before we Add all of the things that we like to add to 133 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:21,760 it. The meanings, the judgements, 134 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:26,680 the stories. A perception is a no perception. 135 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,840 It's perception before we turn it into reality. 136 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,360 It's perception without all of our baggage. 137 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,160 It's a perception without the stories we create and the 138 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:44,320 stories we tell ourselves. And on the cushion, this looks 139 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:51,960 pretty easy. A photo rises, we notice it, and 140 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,760 instead of following it or fighting it, we let it go. 141 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:02,320 Same thing with sensations. We feel it without immediately 142 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,880 turning it into a story or into a conclusion. 143 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,800 The Buddha responded to. The Buddha described the second 144 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,920 part as the second era, right? It's the suffering that we add 145 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,800 when we react to what we're already experiencing. 146 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,920 And each time we don't add that second area, something really 147 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,320 important happens. We interrupt the momentum of 148 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:32,120 karma, not by force and not by suppression, but by not feeding 149 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:37,320 our reactivity. And over time, this practice of 150 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:43,800 interrupting the momentum of Lord karma, this practice begins 151 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:50,240 to show up as space, kind of space between perception and our 152 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,240 reaction to it, a space between sensations and the stories we 153 00:11:55,240 --> 00:12:00,200 create, a space between experience and the reality that 154 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:07,320 we wish that it was. And it's these things are not 155 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:12,080 indifference and they're not detachment, They're just space. 156 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,640 And in that space, something becomes possible and something I 157 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:24,600 think is really beautiful. We have the space to respond 158 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:29,400 rather than reacts. We can act without being 159 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:36,520 compelled by our previous karmas into actions dictated by those 160 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:41,680 karmas. We get to meet reality more as 161 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:47,000 it is, as interdependent, as independent, as changing and 162 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,840 unfinished. The kind of reality we then have 163 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:58,480 access to is difficult to describe, but I like the term 164 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:06,080 suchness, or maybe something like immediacy or something like 165 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:12,200 just this and that. Reality is not special, it's not 166 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:21,600 dramatic. It's just unrest unattached, and 167 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:26,920 from this perspective, awakening or liberation or enlightenment 168 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:33,160 or Nirvana isn't a state or bowl or some esoteric outside thing. 169 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:38,360 It's just the cessation of your karmic reactivity. 170 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:45,640 It's life continuing, its conditions continuing, but it 171 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,000 doesn't give suffering of attachment and aversion the same 172 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:55,880 footing that it had before. And then we can start then. 173 00:13:55,880 --> 00:14:01,000 When we start to talk about eliminating karma, we're no 174 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,400 longer talking about stopping actions. 175 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:07,480 We're talking about ending the conditions that keep reactivity 176 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:14,880 running our stories, and stopping the conditions that 177 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,880 cause us to act in ways that cause us to suffer. 178 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:24,240 And then meditation is Hwy. to practice that, breaking the 179 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:29,440 cycle of our alert karmic reactivity as it arises. 180 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:37,680 Never really perfectly and never really permanently, but enough 181 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,760 to get a taste of what that freedom might look like. 182 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,960 I'm not. I think is what's karma is in 183 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,720 reactivity and a perception. So that's what I got for you 184 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:50,000 guys. Thank you. 185 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:55,720 Yeah, that was a long. Long, but I don't think it's 186 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:57,480 possible to talk about karma without. 187 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,680 Going along. Thanks, Joe, that that gives me 188 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,600 a lot to think about. Yeah, we may be discussing this 189 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:10,080 for a few weeks just between us, but. 190 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:22,520 Three things came up for me. First, your talk, your mention 191 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:31,240 that karma is not a thing that we carry because of Theravan 192 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:37,440 thought. It is Karma is what is reborn, 193 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,400 not our personality or anything else. 194 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:46,280 Our karma is reborn, we carry it through life and it becomes the 195 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,960 next rebirth. I don't think there's anything 196 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,280 wrong with it being a differing view, but I think you are 197 00:15:55,280 --> 00:16:01,080 correct that in the Maya tradition it is much less they 198 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:06,240 think that we carry. It is somehow related to the 199 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:23,160 actions in your discussion of karma being the things that the 200 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:33,560 things that not fully cause but that set up our future actions 201 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:43,040 is that's very interesting to me because there's a even during 202 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:49,040 the Buddhist life, there was a philosophical debate over are 203 00:16:49,040 --> 00:17:02,920 our actions completely set by our karma or are they not bashy? 204 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:09,079 The divide was are our actions completely set by our karma, or 205 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,440 are our actions completely free of our karma? 206 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:17,000 And the Buddha came down in the middle and said our actions are 207 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:22,400 influenced by our karma, but not necessarily set by them. 208 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:28,800 But I think that falls with what you're saying because our karma 209 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:33,720 sets the the ground from which we act. 210 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:40,440 We still have free will within that to act against that karmic 211 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,000 ground. So to be there, you're coming 212 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:51,400 down directly with the Buddha in that middle half between those 213 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:57,560 two philosophical arguments. And the third thing that came up 214 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:07,360 for me was your last point. All I could think of was Moses 215 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,000 addressing the burning Bush and say, Lord, what is your name? 216 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:21,440 And God responding, I am that. That's basically what you're 217 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:28,760 saying. It is not I do or anything else. 218 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:38,800 It is I am, I exist. I am within this reality and all 219 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:47,920 I could do was wow, what a cool confluence of God's sake. 220 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:53,160 What are you to an answer to what are you or who are you 221 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:59,320 saying I am? I exist as a wonderful 222 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,760 confluence today. Thank you. 223 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:12,600 That was a very thoughtful song. Thank you, I remember a couple 224 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,240 weeks ago, I don't remember exactly what happened but 225 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:21,480 realizing how quickly your brain can in infuse fear where there 226 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,280 wasn't any. And when I was just in Akron 227 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,080 this week with my mom, my sister was coming over and her husband 228 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,040 was going to drop her off on his way to work. 229 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:36,080 And they never said a time, but he was just on his way to work. 230 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:40,000 Well, in my mom's mind, he always worked 5:50. 231 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,320 So when she wasn't there by 10:00, my mom was worried. 232 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,200 And you know, the weather was bad and was there a car 233 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:52,960 accident, blah, blah, blah. And here his schedule that day 234 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:56,880 was 11 to 7. And you know, after some texts 235 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:00,320 and everything, she came and everything was fine and. 236 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,920 It was simply a miscommunication. 237 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:09,600 And again, you know, just a miscommunication can cause so 238 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,560 much. Something terrible happened. 239 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:23,680 And the other thing is I did not grow up, luckily, with anyone in 240 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:29,160 my immediate family who was addicted to alcohol, to drugs. 241 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:36,560 And obviously, if it were easy to stop those behaviors, people 242 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:43,280 would stop those behaviors. And sometimes I think we have to 243 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,760 remember some people what this is where judgment comes in. 244 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:54,160 We have to remember some people were not given the tools or need 245 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:04,400 help with the tools to fix their karma and and a lot of it is 246 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,160 beyond our understanding if you've never been through it. 247 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:17,280 No, I think officially addictions are a good way of 248 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,600 kind of entering into this, looking at karma differently, 249 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,400 right? Because the question with I had 250 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,000 with karma is I would do something. 251 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,960 I'd be like, why did I do or why did I feel that or what? 252 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,360 What was that? And for those of you that are 253 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:45,440 wondering, this presentation of karma is not mine. 254 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:50,480 It is by a gentleman named David Kalupahana who is required 255 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,400 reading for us. And if you would like to read 256 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:59,400 it, it is in a book called Buddhist Philosophy and it is 257 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,280 very technical, very difficult. And so if you thought my Dharma 258 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:09,120 talk was hard to follow, I will encourage you to read that. 259 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:15,040 But what the reason I brought up, I think your addiction thing 260 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:22,920 is apartment, is that we learn all of these habits and 261 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:28,560 predispositions and we are so usually unaware of them that 262 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:33,640 when we start to act, it comes from this pool of ways that we 263 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:39,080 have acted before. And then we start to act in ways 264 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:46,400 that cause us to feel ways that we sometimes want to, sometimes 265 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:50,040 don't want to, but in ways that we really do have more control 266 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:55,040 over than we think that we do. If we can realize that our 267 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,360 actions a lot of times are predicated on this, what we'll 268 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:03,600 call karma now, that we bring into every situation and then 269 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,840 apply to things that then 'cause us to react to things in ways 270 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:10,960 that we have been habituated into. 271 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,280 The Mia thought that comes into mind sometimes is my mother. 272 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:23,680 Like, I love my mother, she's a great woman, but when she comes 273 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,640 at me sometimes, or would, she just proposes something from the 274 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,520 vast history of our interactions together, our karma together. 275 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,640 I will then react to her in ways that aren't always appropriate, 276 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,680 that are based on what my perceptions are from things that 277 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:42,840 have all happened before. Not based on this interaction of 278 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,240 what is occurring in this moment in time, but based on this 279 00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:49,440 history of actions. And then I will treat her in a 280 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:54,080 way that will cause her to to act in ways that I am used to, 281 00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:58,920 in ways that I am comfortable with that reinforce all those 282 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,680 predispositions. And in that way, I am 283 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,320 perpetuating the cycle of karma, right? 284 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,800 I am then reacting to her in a way that will cause her to react 285 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,960 in a way that will feed into this cycle. 286 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,800 And before I know it, I will be irritated. 287 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,200 She will have done nothing. And I'll be like, well, there's 288 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:23,040 my mom acting like it's irritating and and most of the 289 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,680 time I am completely oblivious to this process. 290 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,600 And most of you probably are as well. 291 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:32,000 You have no idea why you're acting and reacting to certain 292 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:37,680 places, events and sensations until they are they have the 293 00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:40,840 train is well left the station and you have arrived at whatever 294 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,000 feeling that you were predisposed to feel. 295 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:52,120 But the good news is that with meditation, we can see these 296 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:55,840 things happening as they are occurring and we can stop them. 297 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:01,600 And if we can stop them, then that karma doesn't have to be a 298 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:06,480 self perpetuating cycle. We can begin to whittle away at 299 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:11,840 it so that we can build karma that causes us to react in 300 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,400 better ways. Or the better thing is respond 301 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:21,040 as opposed to react. And this is, if you don't like 302 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,480 to think about it in Buddhist terms, you could think of this 303 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:27,720 in psychological terms, right? This is your mind's reactivity 304 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,800 based on all of the different neurons and synapses that you 305 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,280 created, that when a situation that is similar to something has 306 00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,880 happened, all of these pathways light up because they're the 307 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:39,880 ones that light up the way they did before. 308 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,560 And all of a sudden you are at X synapse when you would prefer to 309 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,600 be at Y synapse. But if you can break down this 310 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:53,920 automatic conditioning, you can get to where you want, but it 311 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:59,680 takes a process and that processes meditation. 312 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,560 I, I just want to follow up with what you were just saying, Joe, 313 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:18,280 I, I struggle with anxiety. And one of the things that I've 314 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:25,400 learned is that that part of that part of your amygdala just, 315 00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:27,800 you know, can override everything. 316 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:33,000 And there's a famous, you know, metaphor about your brain 317 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:34,880 thingy. It's a, you know, something that 318 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,160 snaps in the wood and you think that it's a bear, but actually 319 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,800 it's just your foot snapping a, a twig. 320 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:49,280 And what has helped me is specific anxiety exercises, 321 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,160 which are built on scientific principles, But those scientific 322 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:58,640 principles also vary very well with Buddhist principles, which 323 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,520 is, I think, why a lot of people find it to be effective. 324 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:09,480 But yeah, it's always like a, you know, cause and condition. 325 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:18,040 It's never one thing that leads to a, you know, reactivity. 326 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:25,880 That is something that I don't find being very pleasant and 327 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,760 causing myself suffering as well as the suffering of others. 328 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:38,560 And as we also, we often talk about this, driving is a great 329 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:45,880 opportunity to practice, to practice this regardless of 330 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:50,840 what's going on and whether you're driving and it's fine or 331 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:54,240 you're driving and you're stuck in traffic or the person in 332 00:27:54,240 --> 00:28:01,000 front of you is really slow. But at any rate, I found it to 333 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:06,960 be particularly effective. Well, anyway, that's all I have 334 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:08,000 to share right now. So thank you. 335 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:08,560 Oh, thank you. Thank. 336 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:16,600 You for your contribution. I'm thinking about especially 337 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:21,000 one of the things when Glenn mentioned how the Buddha felt 338 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,280 like if I'm kind of in the middle of how much control you 339 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,120 have when it comes to karma, the physicality of it, and we could 340 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,040 just kind of started touching on that. 341 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,320 Then some of the comments, you just talked about neurons and 342 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:42,720 everything, but I'm thinking about both like nature and 343 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,200 nurture and how much control you have over it. 344 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,520 So we like to be in our heads about it, and it's very like the 345 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,960 way we were talking about it initially was very much mind 346 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,760 over matter in some ways. I don't think that's the way you 347 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,080 meant it, but I was thinking about like the physicality of an 348 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:05,840 extreme case like Phineas Gage. Who? 349 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,480 He used a key case in neurology and understanding the brain 350 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,080 where he was this wonderful foreman, like great with people, 351 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,440 his company loved him, all his workers loved him. 352 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:22,760 And then one day he was tamping down a rod for some explosives 353 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,120 and it accidentally went off and went through his brain and he 354 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:28,480 survived. But afterwards, he was a 355 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,000 completely different person, and it was literally because a 356 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,040 portion of his brain had been damaged and destroyed. 357 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:40,160 And that's not something that he could control, but it's somehow 358 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,640 still part of it. And just thinking about how the 359 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:50,360 physical world and our environment can put limits on 360 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,720 what or how much we can. Influence. 361 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,800 And I want to think about it some more, but it's just 362 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:08,640 recognizing that those habits, those things that set the 363 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,600 grounds, part of that is our physical conditions and some of 364 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,280 that we have control over and some of it. 365 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,440 We. Don't so how much it's about 366 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:25,600 influencing and recognizing that as part of this idea around 367 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:30,000 karma and putting more nuanced in it because I think as. 368 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:34,400 Oh, who was? That Mary earlier with the 369 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:40,400 addiction, which is both like physical and mental and 370 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:42,720 influenced by environment and society. 371 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:44,760 There's lots of big thoughts here. 372 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,120 And then also the level you've been talking about it at very 373 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:53,480 individual level, because that's where we have the opportunity to 374 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:57,360 impact it in a lot of ways and where we do a lot of our work. 375 00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:04,560 But almost the idea of also societal level karma, societal 376 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:11,120 level habits that no one person necessarily creates, but the 377 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:15,600 conglomeration makes and it's hard to set away from. 378 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:22,920 So kind of thinking about both the physical, personal, physical 379 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:28,400 in your body, how karma is ingrained physically in your 380 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,400 body. And then also kind of ingrade in 381 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,120 culture and society as well. Yeah. 382 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:39,360 So those were the thoughts going through my head and I'll leave 383 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:48,280 it there. Yeah, I on a side note, the 384 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:54,080 Phineas Gage thing, I've always felt this kind of suspects 385 00:31:56,200 --> 00:32:00,880 because the way the story is told in most by most 386 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,560 psychological journeys since he was this great guy with no 387 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,080 context before and then this thing happened and then he was 388 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:12,680 completely different story end. And that always it seems to it 389 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:18,880 seems to fit a narrative that's especially with that era of 390 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,280 psychology makes me worry. And so, but but the premise that 391 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:31,280 we'll say is true and that's it is possible that's the brain has 392 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:40,920 quite a bit of physical, but that that the brain is if as far 393 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,320 as environment goes, is wired to do certain things. 394 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,080 I think what the Buddha got at is that we have more control 395 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:56,240 that we think and it is even if it's not complete control. 396 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,480 Is that fair, you think? Oh, yeah, that that's the part 397 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,440 where Glenn's comment that the Buddha came down sort of in the 398 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,360 middle. You don't have full control, but 399 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,040 you also have more than you think because setting aside, 400 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,560 yeah, there's lots of things in psychiatry and that time and 401 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:15,560 age. Setting aside Phineas gauge, 402 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,760 even though it was probably a major change in personality, 403 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,920 whether he was a good person to begin with or not. 404 00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:25,520 You could even just say lobotomies that a lot of women 405 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,480 were subjected to you in a certain period certainly change 406 00:33:29,560 --> 00:33:32,120 how they were able to access the world. 407 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,720 But yes, it's fair to say. No go. 408 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:36,760 Ahead. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to 409 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:37,200 interrupt. Yeah. 410 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,680 No, it's just it's I have a tendency to be in my head and 411 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,760 one of the things I've been working on is recognizing that 412 00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:46,800 physicality. And then also, as Beth said, a 413 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:51,160 lot of the anxiety exercises and things where you need to like 414 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,320 refer back to your body and functions that are actually 415 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,680 going in it on in it. And that helps. 416 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,920 So just thinking about how this isn't just thought processes, 417 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:07,720 but this is actual like physical things going on in the world, in 418 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:15,400 your in your body and how, yeah, how changes to those can impact 419 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:23,400 how, I guess karma unplays how much control you have. 420 00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:27,880 Yeah. And just looking at it as a 421 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:35,520 larger process, I don't disagree with you. 422 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,600 That's what I'm saying. But it's just, it's the thing 423 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,080 that's coming up. Yeah. 424 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:44,239 And I don't, I don't, I'm not. This isn't, this is just a thing 425 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,639 that popped into my head and I can't go on without saying 426 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,600 something says pumpering works. Take care. 427 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:57,000 Buddha said that liberation was available to all of us, right? 428 00:34:57,920 --> 00:35:03,520 And in this conception, the elimination of reactivity is 429 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:06,160 what Nirvana is, is what liberation is. 430 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:16,760 So that I think that the elimination of reactivity, the 431 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:23,840 mind over matter thing is a thing that is available to all 432 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:32,200 of us and is, yeah, I don't know how I feel about that. 433 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,040 So I don't want, I don't really want to discuss it right here. 434 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,440 I'm just thinking that like, yeah, I think, I think the 435 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,680 Buddha was saying that this is a thing that you can do no matter 436 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:44,120 what, no matter what your circumstances were. 437 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,760 If you had a lobotomy, you could still access it. 438 00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:50,440 If you were born in XY or Z condition, you can still get to 439 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,560 the point of 0 reactivity. But I don't know that for sure. 440 00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:56,320 I'm not. I was just thinking of it as a 441 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,360 thought experiment, so sorry. But then I said it. 442 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,960 No, I feel better. Yeah, go ahead. 443 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:06,000 Sounds. Good about the Phineas thing. 444 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,800 I think the same thing happens when people die, like especially 445 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:12,720 young people. It's a very sad thing. 446 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,280 And suddenly the people they went to high school with, even 447 00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:20,800 if they bullied someone, they're just a St. and and it to me, 448 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:23,800 that's OK. You want to remember the good in 449 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:27,480 someone. But it could be a situation like 450 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:31,920 her. Has anybody not said something 451 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:38,520 that would like to say something I'll mention Beth. 452 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,400 Put into the chant, It's not survival of the fittest, it's 453 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:47,840 survival of the nurtured. Tara Brock said. 454 00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:53,200 That and Jerry, whose left just says Thanks for the talk, 455 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,560 Gerald. Yes, that, that is. 456 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,880 Yeah, that's a quote by Tara Brock which I find to be very 457 00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:07,800 illuminating and comforting. I OK, I will. 458 00:37:08,240 --> 00:37:14,400 The one thing I wanted to say at the end is that's the version of 459 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,080 the Harsi trip that we tend to read the most, the second 460 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:24,080 version by day. The linchpin of his version is 461 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,600 the residing and receptive emptiness. 462 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:33,800 And then it gives the list of ways of what I think are 463 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,200 understanding our reactivity. And so for those of you that 464 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:40,960 wish to endeavour to understand this a little bit better, I 465 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:46,360 would say look at the second version of the Heart Sutra and 466 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,800 look at what that receptive emptiness versus reactivity 467 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:55,280 looks like and see how your mind does all of these things in 468 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:59,880 order to get to conclusions that we are, I think, karmically 469 00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:03,480 reinforced. So with that, I want to thank 470 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:10,000 you all for this lovely talk and we will go ahead and close.