In todayand#8217;s Dharmabyte, we meet Sangharakshita in his usual uncompromising form as he explores common and#8220;Misunderstandings of Karma.and#8221; From the comprehensive and excellent introductory talk, Karma and Rebirth given in 1970.
Dharmabytes from free buddhist audio
Misunderstandings of Karma
[Music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you, and happy listening. [Music] Now, there is not very much time left. We've in fact gone considerably over time already. So let's come at once through the third and the last part of our lecture. And this is concerned with misunderstandings and difficulties. And I won't detain you here very long. Some of these misunderstandings, at least, have no doubt already been cleared up. Karma is not fate, it's not destiny. Karma is one's own deliberately world action. It's all through the results of that deliberately world action, as well as the law by virtue of which the one follows upon the other. In the same way, karma is not conditionality. It's not the law of cause and effect in general. This is what the teaching of the five nearmas made clear. Karma is just one kind of conditionality, albeit a very important one among others. So it's therefore wrong to say that whatever happens is the result of karma. Some people imagine that if they say when something happens, "Oh, well, that must be my karma." Then they're being read past and very Buddhist. But this is not in fact the Buddhist teaching. The Buddhist teaching is that whatever happens happens as a result of conditions. But not all those conditions are karma. There are many other conditions that work in the universe. Karma is only one among five. So it is not the Buddhist version, not the Buddhist teaching, that whatever happens, happens as a result of karma. It may be a result of karma, but it may not. How we find out is another question altogether. Now, there are various other misunderstandings and difficulties. I am going to mention any two of them. Others may arise in your minds. And if we have time, there will be a few minutes after the lecture during which people can ask questions. Now, the first of these two concerns, the relationship between rebirth and the anathema teaching. I'm going to deal with it in the body of the lecture because it always comes up. People say, "What is them teachers that there is no self? What is them teachers that there is no soul? This is the famous anathema teaching. Well, if there's no soul, how is there rebirth? If there's no soul which passes from one life, one body to another, how does rebirth take place? So let's say either you've got to sacrifice the anathema doctrine or sacrifice the teaching of rebirth in Buddhism. You can't have both. But this whole misunderstanding is an artificial one. It's an artificial difficulty. An anathema does not mean no soul, no psychic life. It means no unchanging soul, no unchanging soul. It means that there is a substratum of mental activity that flows as it were from life to life and is linked now with this body and now with that. And it's this linking of a fresh body with this stream as it were of mental activity flowing on from one life to another which constitutes what we call rebirth. So there's no contradiction. You're going to have anathema that is no unchanging soul or self, and you can also have rebirth side by side together. The second question is does one have to be or does one have to believe in karma and rebirth in order to be a Buddhist? I was asked this question very shortly after I arrived in England for my first visit after 20 years, some six years ago. Does one have to believe in karma and rebirth before one can be a Buddhist? Before one can be a Buddhist. And on that occasion I answered, no, one doesn't have to believe but on one condition. And the person asking the question was very interested to know what the condition was. So I said well, you need not believe in karma and rebirth provided you are willing to go all out for enlightenment in this life itself. And he was very happy with this reply, really satisfied with this reply. But I think that more can be said on the subject than that. The teaching of karma and rebirth provides an answer, perhaps the answer, just certain questions. It helps solve the mystery of death, helps solve the mystery of human life. And very few people are able to follow the path to enlightenment without bothering, at least sometimes, about such questions. A few people can no doubt go ahead, practice meditation and all that, without asking philosophical questions, without wanting to know whether there is a life after death. But the majority requires some sort of answer, they really want to know. It is only within the framework of this sort of noise that they can practice at all. There must be some minimum intellectual comprehension, some minimum intellectual understanding, some general philosophical framework, however rudimentary, however sketchy within which they can operate and act and progress and follow the path. So karma and rebirth, or the teaching of karma and rebirth, gives, in part at least, this sort of understanding, this sort of framework, this sort of context. And the question which arises is if we don't accept this one, then we just have to find some other solution. And I don't think that is very easy. I personally believe that the teaching of karma and rebirth is the most satisfactory answer or solution. Two, many of the questions raised by the fact of death and by the nature of human life and human existence. It is not only true, but it gives meaning and purpose to life. It makes it clear that man is, as it were, a pilgrim through the world, a pilgrim through successive lives. And that by changing his consciousness, something which is very much within his own part according to Buddhism, he can determine his own destiny, not only in this life, but in future lives as well. And this means that no real effort is ever wasted. The good is conserved from life to life. There's no question of reward, there's no question of punishment. By performing a consciously real action, we modify our own consciousness, here and now, and for the future. And that surely is reward or punishment, enough. I would say personally that the teaching of karma and rebirth is an integral part of Buddhism. And that for the majority of people, it would be difficult to be Buddhist without accepting this teaching of karma and rebirth at least in principle. This does not say, or this is not to say, that the teaching of karma and rebirth makes everything crystal clear. That it answers all concealer questions or clears up all possible difficulties. Again, I personally feel that the teaching, the traditional teaching of karma and rebirth requires a thorough reformulation. Now, I think this reformulation should give consideration to various matters that have not been considered, apparently, in the East. For instance, there's the whole question of the relation between karma and rebirth on the one hand and time on the other. Then there's the relation of karma and rebirth, the whole question of the nature of consciousness, especially individual consciousness. After all, karma and rebirth operate within time. So, what is time? Karma and rebirth pertain to the individual consciousness. What is their individual consciousness? And then again, there's that rather naughty question of population explosion, where have all the people come from? Is there a sort of fission of souls? Is there a sort of gamation of souls? Have they come from other planets, other stars, some Buddhist in the East Teles very lawfully? Well, of course they've come from other planets, everybody knows that sort of thing. But do we know it? Or is that the only solution possible? This is another question, another difficulty that has to be considered. So, these and similar questions will have to be given, as I've said, full consideration in this new formulation of the traditional Buddhist teaching of karma and rebirth. And this reformulation will be the work, perhaps one of the works, or Western Buddhism. And if this can be done, if this great teaching for so long an integral part of Buddhism can be given this sort of reformulation that takes into account more than knowledge, that takes into account philosophical problems which have been raised in the West, which takes into account also really genuine practical difficulties. If such a reformulation can be achieved, then I'm sure I'm confident that the true nature of the teaching of karma and rebirth will stand out more clearly, even than ever before. And then we should be able to say, really and truly, that death will no longer be a mystery, that life itself will no longer be a mystery. And that, with the help of, within the context of this teaching of karma and rebirth, man will advance with greater certainty than ever towards his ultimate goal. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [BLANK_AUDIO]