Category: Buddhist Path | Recent Meditation Posts
How to develop the agency we need to work with karma
As our practice deepens and we see ourselves more clearly, we may feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of karma, of baggage, that we’ve unwittingly been carrying around. We realize that our karma results not only from the thoughts, habits, and actions of this life, but that there is also residual karma from previous lives.
According to the Buddha’s teachings, if we do nothing to purify the karma we have accumulated through actions based on ignorance and disturbing emotions, suffering will inevitably follow. When certain conducive conditions come together, our karma will ripen and we will experience the results. It could be this life, it could be a future life; there’s no telling what our circumstances will be when this happens.
The ripening of our negative karma could have the effect of removing the positive conditions for practice that we have now. We may find ourselves in a situation where we don’t have access to the Dharma. Our conditions could deteriorate and we could spiral down into the lower realms where our harmful actions create ever more suffering and the suffering leads us to engage in ever more negative actions. It is very, very difficult to reverse such patterns once they gather momentum. When we’re truly aware of how this could play out, waiting and doing nothing is not an appealing option.
The good news is that right here, right now, we have agency: we can purify negative karma and build on positive karma. We have met the Dharma, we can practice, and we have everything we need to devote energy to purification. We can look to the example of bodhisattvas for inspiration. Bodhisattvas wish to experience the ripening of their negative karma sooner rather than later so that they can work on eliminating it. The end result is freedom from the burden of karma, which gives them a much greater capacity to benefit others.
It’s helpful to remember that the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the past had the same problems that we do. All of them, without exception, had a lot of karmic baggage, personal obstacles, and shortcomings. Studying their life stories and learning how they overcame those obstacles can help us realize that we too can cast off the burden of negative karma.
When we follow the example of the bodhisattvas we’re not seeking to increase our allotment of suffering, but we are making the wish that any negativities created in the past come to fruition now so that we can deal with them effectively. There are purification practices that are designed for this very purpose. Every effective purification practice relies on the four powers, also called the four opponent powers. Different Buddhist traditions may present them in different orders, but the powers are generally the same.
The first power: the power of support
Who and what can help us recognize and eliminate negative karma? To support our purification practice, we naturally rely on the power of the three jewels and of bodhicitta. If we don’t have the support, teachings, tools, and methods we need to guide us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and confused by it all. This is why taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the sangha, and generating bodhicitta every day and each time we practice, gives us the strength and the confidence we need to carry on. The fundamental practices of refuge and bodhicitta charge us with their power and reinforce our efforts. This is the first power, the power of support, which has also been translated as the power of the object or the power of reliance.
The second power: the power of regret
Until you’ve experienced remorse, you won’t be able to effectively purify the negative or harmful actions that you’ve engaged in. True regret requires looking very piercingly and honestly at your experience and taking complete responsibility for it. You acknowledge what you’ve done; you don’t cover it with any veils, excuses, righteousness, or attempts at passing the buck. “I committed this negative action and I regret it. I have remorse.” Owning your actions is very important if purification is to take place.
On the other hand, you should not let regret slide into guilt. With guilt, you’re actually grasping at the experience of remorse. You’ve made it into a thing, a storyline, and now you continue to recreate it and worry about it. You’ve turned it into a habitual pattern of dragging yourself down: “I’m a bad person because I did this negative thing and now I can’t fix it. I’m hopeless,” and so on. Wallowing in guilt is decidedly not what we’re aiming for. The power of regret is simple, clean, and laser-like: you see what you’ve done, you’re honest with yourself, you know it was wrong, and you own it. This is the second power, which may also be translated as the power of remorse.
The third power: the power of resolution
Resolution is the firm intention to abstain from making the same mistake from now on. Having realized what you’ve done, you formulate the clear intention to stop performing the harmful action and stop recreating the negative karma. Your bodhisattva motivation—your very strong aspiration—makes this possible. “My wish is to be able to benefit others, yet I did this. I see that it was destructive and counterproductive and I’m not going to do it again.” This then is number three: the power of resolution, also translated as the power of rejection, of resolve, or of determination.
The fourth power: the power of action as antidote
With this power, we engage in certain positive activities with the express purpose of offsetting the harmful ones and righting the balance. This is called the power of using virtuous actions as an antidote to non-virtuous ones. For example, let’s say we’ve killed an animal. The virtuous antidote in this case could be saving other animals’ lives. We might do a practice called life release where we buy animals that are destined to die—lobsters, live fish or bait. We can take them to a safe environment and let them go. We could release fish back into water or bait worms into leaf mulch—safe and sound. These very powerful positive actions serve to counteract the effects of the negative ones.
In general, we don’t have to worry about what the perfectly corresponding antidote might be. It could be any positive action so long as we arouse bodhicitta, develop generosity, and deliberately engage in practices that benefit other beings. Within this framework, any such positive actions can fall into the action as an antidote category.
You can always rely on these four powers for purification. Suppose you’ve committed a negative action—and unless you’re a saint, it happens all the time. If you go through the four powers, that is, if you take refuge and rely on bodhicitta, regret your action, vow to never do it again, and purposefully undertake positive actions instead, what are you doing? You’re taking something negative and, through the four powers, turning it into something positive. You’re cleaning up, improving your karma, and creating positive circumstances so that you can continue to practice and help others. This is how karma is purified.
When we practice wholeheartedly in this way, we weaken the force of those negative actions, and the resulting suffering is much less severe. If our practice is very strong, the negative karma may be completely purified. As always, intention is key. When our motivation is informed by bodhicitta, there is a much greater chance that we will have more opportunities to benefit others in the future as a result of our efforts.
It is said that one good thing about suffering is that it can be purified. Suffering, when understood through the lens of the Buddha’s teaching in the first Noble Truth, becomes a powerful motivation to embark on the spiritual path. If we lived forever and didn’t have to worry about dying, taking on another rebirth, and manifesting another karmic situation, maybe we could afford to put the four powers on the back burner. But it does matter because our lifespan is limited and the time of death is uncertain. And at this particular time, we have a very precious opportunity to practice: let’s not waste it! Because we want these positive circumstances to continue, we rely on the four powers—the power of support, the power of regret, the power of resolution, and the power of action as antidote—to help us purify karma.
This article was written by Bart Mendel from mindworks.org
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