What Is Karma? (Easwaran Inspirations Book 4)

by Eknath Easwaran

On the night of his enlightenment the Buddha made the profound discovery that nothing happens by chance – not because events are predestined, but because every act, every word, every thought is connected by cause and effect. What we do, say, and even think has consequences. Words and thoughts are included, for they cause things to happen. What we say and think has consequences for the world around us, for they condition how we act.

Actions in harmony

with dharma bring good karma and add to health and happiness. Selfish actions, at odds with dharma, bring unfavorable karma and pain.

Nirvana comes when all the karma has been worked out, not before. When all the debts of karma have been paid, it means that our mind is still. Then all the fetters of karma have at last been released, and we are not capable of accumulating more karma.

No one is condemned to a life of misery. Little by

little we can lighten the load of our karma. That is the important point. It is not fate, it is not the stars, it is we ourselves who are in control of our own lives.

don’t add to your karma by striking at others. It will only bring you suffering and prevent any progress on the spiritual path:

This is the law of karma put in the frankest language: whatever injury you do to others has to come back to you – and whatever good you do has to come back to you too.

The computer could tell you that a particular hit was given to you by Alice in return for the hit that you gave Ellen.

For example, the law of karma

says that if I am impolite to my parents, I will have children who are impolite to me. My children observe the way I conduct myself to my parents, and that is what they learn. As my children observe my attitude towards my parents, they are learning to conduct themselves in exactly the same way towards me. When I respect my parents, my children will learn how to respect me. It is so simple – and yet not simple at all.

Refrain from evil deeds, which cause suffering later. Perform good deeds, which can ...

We can begin by accepting that karma is a benevolent force, intended not to punish but to educate, so that we can fulfill our purpose in life.

the Buddha discovered that cause and effect are not different. The result of an action is not separate from the act itself. Cause, passing through the tunnel of time, becomes effect, but the result is already contained in the cause. Therefore, right effort must produce a right result – and wrong effort will produce a wrong result.

The father, a sage living in the forest, said, “I give you pardon gladly. I am not capable of anger. But I cannot stop the law of karma. Just as you have broken my heart by killing my only son, your heart will be broken when your son leaves you.”

It is a hard story for a child’s ears, but that is how my granny taught me to never bring harm to others, even carelessly or unintentionally. She would always explain, “When you help people, you bring joy into your own life; when you hurt people, you bring sorrow. When you support people, you bring happiness; when you attack people, you bring grief.”

we can’t do harmful things and escape the consequences under any circumstances. When that becomes part of your faith, as it has become mine, you will never do anything harmful, whatever the provocation. Once you come to believe that this is a law, something in you will protect you from harming others – and something in you will inspire you to help others, even at a cost to yourself.

“You see only one brief flash that you call life. There is much more to life than that. If you could see the whole vast saga of evolution, all the things done, said, and thought in the past that come to bear on the present life, you would see an almost infinite web of cause and effect.” This attitude is not fatalistic. Rather, it allows us to assume responsibility for our own lives.

hands. I can go into a better context in my next life by traveling swiftly, lightly, in this life.

library of karma is called “store-consciousness.”

Tibetan Book of the Dead

This in-between state is called bardo, and we can think of it as a place very much like a bus station – a lively scene which we all will visit eventually. Between two lives, according to this exposition, there is a waiting period because we have to get the right context for rebirth. If we have lacked respect for our parents, we have to wait in bardo until we can be born in a situation where we are likely to have children who will show us the same lack of respect. There is no mystery about this. There is nothing vindictive. It is simply a natural law. We can’t blame any outside force or fate and complain, “Why do I have to have children who don’t respect me?”

Better than ruling this world, better than attaining the realm of the gods, better than being lord of all the worlds, is one step taken on the path to nirvana. [178]

Here the Buddha is supremely practical. Instead of dwelling on the past and feeling dejected about our karmic ledger, he says, why not begin adding entries to the credit side?

Conquer anger through gentleness, unkindness through kindness, greed through generosity, and falsehood by truth.

When we give freely, as Bimbisara did, we lighten our backlog of karma. We feel light-footed, with renewed energy for the journey. Suddenly we feel that a big lump of our burden has fallen from our shoulders.

But my granny said: “You are going to make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to fail, but when you have made a blunder, don’t make excuses. Say ‘I have done that. I will not do it again.’”

In our later years we should never ask, “Why did I commit this mistake?” The right question is, “Have I learned from this mistake?” It is the splendid capacity of the human being to learn from mistakes, and therefore the second half of life can be even more beautiful than the first. During the first half of life we learn how to live. We make many mistakes, just as I have done, but in the second half of life we have wisdom and can travel towards nirvana swiftly.

According to the Buddha, the ability to remember past failure is a precious capacity. If we were to lose that capacity, we would keep on committing mistakes, and no amount of suffering would teach us not to fall short again.

It’s a grim reminder from a compassionate teacher: when

The tendency to dwell on the past and develop a guilt complex is one of the cleverest tricks of the ego. Guilt is ice cream for the ego; it can really enjoy it!

Instead of dwelling on how bad we are, it is much better simply to resolve not to commit those mistakes.

Those who are selfish suffer here and hereafter; they suffer in both worlds from the results of their own actions. But those who are selfless rejoice here and rejoice hereafter. They rejoice in both worlds from the results of their own actions. [15–16]

The most difficult person to win over is yourself.

Only a change in the internal state can enable us to function freely wherever we are – even in the midst of difficult people, even in the face of provocation. When the mind is at peace, that peace will be reflected in our outward world.

When we go across to the café, there will be someone

to serve our coffee with a smile. This is not something exceptional, because there is a connection between our state of mind and our environment.

When the Buddha uses terms such as “heaven” and “hell” he is referring to states of mind we can experience right here in this life. Violence and anger in the mind bring about a state of insecurity and despair which can truly be called hell. What i...

What we can do is offer help to someone else who is in need, and in that way repay the debt. That is what the Buddha means by balancing the books of karma.

Because all of us are human, all of us are likely to commit mistakes. It is essential that we be patient with ourselves – and, for the same reason, be patient with others too. The Buddha’s point is, we have done it. The karma has been accumulated. The karma books have made a record of it, whether debit or credit. Once we open our eyes and become sensitive to this, life could become intolerable if we do not have compassion for ourselves. We should always remember – whatever our faults, whatever mistakes we have committed – that we can all cross the river of life by balancing the ledger of past mistakes.