Karma 5: love

Fate can be altered when the Logos or Christ wants to do so…

If the Intimate Lord had not made forgiveness and negotiations possible, many who could have been saved would have been sunk.

Negotiations and forgiveness were made possible for the salvation of the world.
The Great Compassionate One loves this entire suffering humanity. – Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

Love

Karma is not a blind, merciless law. If it were, God would not be merciful. But God is merciful. God is love, and, in fact, Love is the Law. This Gnostic teaching was given to us out of Love. And it is good, and helpful, and beautiful, but it also hard and difficult to accept. The teachings can seem harsh, bitter, even cruel, but that is what we need in order to see the truth in ourselves. The medicine for the soul does not taste like sugar. Yet, it is still Love.

Karma is medicine that is applied to us for our own good…

If there were no karma, everything would be much worse than it is now. But because there are consequences for our actions, we are kept in check, and we are forced to learn. We learn by suffering the consequences.

Gnosis teaches us that everything in nature has it’s intelligence: rocks, plants, animals, etc. There is a living spirit behind it all. And this is also true of karma. Karma is managed by conscious, active, intelligent forces, but these forces are far beyond the comprehension of our intellectual minds.

Karma itself is managed by conscious intelligence. All great religions and mystical traditions teach that we must account for our actions in the end: there will be a time when we must face a judge of a tribunal, and answer for our lives.

Now, as strange as it might sound, the gods and goddesses of the ancient religions are not all myths; many are awakened beings, buddhas or angels, that are still active in other planes of consciousness. Gnosis teaches us that the vast force of karma is managed by Anubis, the jackal headed god. Anubis is a conscious, awakened being, like an angel or a god, who has the duty of managing our karma. He is assisted by 42 Judges or Lords of the Law, who are also awakened beings. He wears a mask to hide his face, in order to be impartial.
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In the Egyptian Mysteries, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, we can study the process of the measurement of karma. The deceased person is brought before a great tribunal, and the weight of his karma, symbolized by his heart, is measured against a feather. Anubis attends the scale, the balance of actions and consequences, and the scale that measures our deeds. All of our actions are recorded in a book. And so we are judged: if we were self-serving and acted without care, then we owe and must pay. And if we served others, and did good deeds, then we are owed, and must be paid.

But let us not have any fantasies about this. Let us examine ourselves honestly, and look at even the little we know about this life, not even accounting all the past lives: how would we come out?

We demand fidelity from the spouse when we ourselves have been adulterers in this life or in previous lives.

We ask for love when we have been merciless and cruel. We demand comprehension when we have never known how to comprehend anyone, when we have never learned to see the other person’s point of view.

We long for immense good fortune when we have always been the origin of many misfortunes.

We would have liked to have been born in a very beautiful home with many comforts, when in past lives we did not know how to provide a home and beauty for our children.

We protest against persons who insult us when we have always insulted everyone who surrounds us.

We want our children to obey us when we have never known how to obey our parents.

Slander annoys us terribly when we were always slanderers and filled with world with pain.

Gossip upsets us, we do not want anyone to gossip about us, however we were always involved in gossip and backbiting, talking badly about our fellowmen, mortifying the lives of others.

That is, we always demand what we have not given; in all our former lives we were evil and we deserve the worst, but we suppose that we should be given the best. - Samael Aun Weor

We know the truth. We know that we live life as if we had an unlimited balance credit card that we never have to pay back. And we spend and spend.

But surely we, as students of Gnosis, are beginning to see that this is not realistic. Nor is it beneficial for anyone, including ourselves. And so we must find out: what can we do? What can we do, to negotiate our karma? When we are brought before Anubis, what will we have to offer, to pay for all the evil things we have done?

We should never protest against our karma. What is important is to know how to negotiate it.

Unfortunately, the only thing that occurs to people when they find themselves in great sorrow is to wash their hands like Pilate, saying that they have not done anything bad, that they are not guilty, that they are just souls, etc.

I tell those who are in misery to examine their conduct, to judge themselves, to sit even for an instant on the bench of the accused, after a superficial analysis of themselves, to modify their conduct. If those that find themselves to be without work would become chaste, infinitely charitable, peaceful, one hundred percent helpful, it is obvious that they would radically alter the cause of their misfortune, modifying as a consequence, the effect.

It is not possible to alter the effect if at first the cause which produced it has not been radically modified, since as we have already said, there does not exist effect without cause nor cause without effect. - Samael Aun Weor

Action

We must take action. So again, we must look at action and consequence.

There are three types of acts:

1. those which correspond to the Law of Accident.
2. those which belong to the Law of Recurrence, events that always repeat themselves
3. acts which are intentionally determined by conscious will.

For us, who are accustomed to acting always in accordance with desire, with our sense of self, our personal, subjective view, action is never really more than re-action. A re-action is an automatic response to something pleasant or something unpleasant. For us, we are simply going through life reacting to the experiences of life, and being influenced by forces that operate below the level of our consciousness. Our motivations are generally subconscious. And even when we do things and think we are doing them for certain reasons, most of the time the real reasons are hidden from us, or we are ignoring them. Even in those cases when we think we are choosing something “consciously,” we do not recognize the subtle forces of our own mind that influence our impulses and activities.

Even then, we all do things knowing that it is wrong. We know it is wrong to speak badly of others, to criticize, to curse. We know it is wrong to treat one another badly. And yet we do. We feel justified. We feel that it is our right. And we feel that others deserve to suffer.

We do not realize what we are doing.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” We are the crucifiers of purity, and we do not know what we do. We are unaware, and are driven by selfish desire.

And so, we get angry when we are accused. We are envious of other’s looks. We are proud when we are proven right. We are afraid when we may be discovered. We are constantly, from moment to moment, in tension, because we are so under the influence of hidden motivations and impulses, and we are running from event to event, from scene to scene, always with the subtle belief that somehow we will get away with it all.

Perhaps some of us are seeing this, and want to change. But then, when we want to change, when we want to behave better, and find that it is so hard, what do we do?

Will

The Gnostic Esoteric Work teaches us that we do not have real Will: and this is something we can all begin to recognize immediately upon entering into these studies, when we “forget” our exercises, or “forget” to meditate, or “forget” to observe ourselves. You can see how little willpower you have when you try to meditate and the pain comes, when doubt comes, when the mind refuses to accept what is being taught here. Our consciousness, that which is pure and real in us, is trapped in the complication of the mind, and is dominated by the mind, therefore it our own mind that pushes us to act, usually in ways that we do not see.

Every time we set an intention, a goal, we are doing that in the presence of one or more formations in the mind. And because our mind is a chaos of jumbled formations, millions of different “I’s,” a few moments later, without us realizing it, a new “I” or gang of “I’s” creeps in, and there is a totally new agenda. So I go from one direction to another, from one belief to another, from one feeling to another. There is no consistency. Thus, I have no real Will. I cannot set an Aim and stick to it. It is not possible for me, unless I work very hard, concentrate, and make supreme effort. Most everything in life has to be supportive of this aim, or it will not happen. So if I am full of envy and want to be genuinely happy for the well-being of others, it will be very difficult for me to manifest this reality: it will take constant supervision and work. This effort is very important. For while we remain in the state we are in, without real Will, and victim to the surging sea of the mind, and the surging sea of Karma and the Law of Accident and the Law of Recurrence, we are completely out of control, and have no influence on the direction and purpose of our lives. We may think we have some control, but witness anyone you know who has suddenly become sick, or had a bad accident, or been abandoned by a spouse, or fired from a job: there is no real control, it is an illusion.

And witness when you tell yourself, I will not get angry, and yet, you do. Or I will not eat the chocolate, and you do. Or I will not spend more money, and you do. Desire. The mind is in control. And this is a problem of astronomical proportions.

Now that we understand that we are generating a constant stream of unconsciously created effects, and since we have no real Will, no real ability to act without the influence of the mind, what can we do?

This is the purpose of these studies: to teach us, to help us understand what we can do.

The first, and absolutely essential, unavoidable step: recognizing the true state of our affairs.

Self-observation

We must see ourselves objectively, without lying to ourselves. We must be sincere and deeply honest. Otherwise, we are lost.

When we can be truly honest with ourselves, seeing ourselves as we really are, then change becomes possible.

If you wish to untie a knot, you must first understand how it was tied. – Buddha Shakyamuni

So, in this moment, this precise moment, we must begin. And each moment, we must remember. What is motivating you right now? Are you feeling uncomfortable? Is the chair very hard? Are you suddenly besieged by the list of things you have to do? Why? Why in this moment should you think about tomorrow? Are you feeling excited? Are you eager to learn this, to learn this knowledge, to apply it to your life? Good, then notice that feeling: but also notice when it leaves, because it will… and be prepared to see what comes next.

The essential point is to separate yourself from your mind and simply observe: observe yourself and your surroundings as if you have never seen any of it before, as if waking up from sleepwalking, and not knowing how you got here: you must try to see everything in a new way. This curious, constant, active watchfulness must never become passive, an assumption, a casual thing. Remember: the mind, thinking, IS NOT observing. Thinking is thinking. Observing is an act of attention and requires no thought.

Today, tomorrow, the next day, on and on, every moment of every day, remembering: to observe yourself, to remember yourself, to feel yourself in your body, and to look out on the world as a strange place, always new, always changing. To be curious about what is happening in the mind, in the feelings, in the body, and to be looking for those secret motivations, those secret feelings. This is the absolute foundation of everything: because this is the only way you will come to see the truth of your mind, and thus the truth of your life. Likewise, this is the only way you will stop creating formations in the mind.

Meditation

Hand in hand with self-observation must be the consistent practice of meditation. Someone who takes the practice of meditation seriously, just on the most mundane practical level of simply having the discipline to sit down and concentrate for one hour a day, is developing conscious Will. One has to overcome enormous resistence; this is not a pleasant thing to do all the time. It is not something that you can even evaluate, and see, “Yes, I am enjoying this and that, it is very pleasurable for me, I had this and that experience, etc.” This is not the point. Experiences and visions and insight are the fruits of the work of meditation, but they are not the PURPOSE of it. The purpose of it is not satisfactory to the mind, and it will never interest the mind. The mind is only interested in feeding itself, in supporting itself, and the nature of the mind is complexity, conflict, and the satisfaction of desire. Meditation runs contrary to all of these things.

Meditation is profoundly important, because it is here, in this effort, that we begin to stabilize the mind, to calm the inner turmoil, and we begin to develop insight. Insight into ourselves, insight into reality. This is an exact science, and it is laid out for us in a very precise, very detailed way. It is not about spacing out or visualizing one’s desires, or daydreaming: it is about developing the consciousness, sharpening concentration and penetrating the complexity of the mind. And this science, Gnosis, contains the methods and techniques we need to eliminate the formations in the mind. And we must clean out the mind, we must eliminate those “I’s” that cause us so much suffering, if we want to change our karma, if we want to change the momentum that is carrying us around the wheel toward inescapable suffering.

Prayer

Integral with these steps is the glue that will hold them together, and will be the glue that will hold you together when you feel you cannot do it: prayer. Pray. Pray unceasingly, every moment, every day: You must pray, because you yourself cannot change the mess of the mind: only God can.

To pray is to converse with God. We must appeal to God the Mother deep within us if we truly want to disintegrate the “I’s.” He who does not love his Mother, the ungrateful son, will fail in the work upon himself.

Each of us has his particular, individual Divine Mother. She herself is a part of our own Being.

All ancient people adored “God the Mother” in the very depths of the Being. The feminine principal of the Eternal is Isis, Mary, Tonantzin, Cybeles, Rhea, Adonia, Insoberta, etc.

Our individual, particular Divine Mother, by virtue of her fiery powers, can reduce to cosmic dust any one of those many “I’s” that has been previously observed and comprehended.

A specific formula is not in anyway necessary to pray to our inner Divine Mother. We should be very natural and simple when we address her. The child who speaks to his mother never uses special formulas. He says what comes from his heart and that is all. - Samael Aun Weor

Included in our every prayer should always be the following:

Thy Will be done, on earth (the physical body) as in Heaven.

We are in trouble with the Law because we act upon our own Will, the Will of the ego. In order to change this, we must change. We must enact the Will of our own God. Therefore, we should always pray that whatever we ask for, whatever we pray for, whatever we want in life, should always be given in accordance with the will of our Father, and in accordance with the Law of Karma. Otherwise, we can fall into mistakes.

Prayer is fundamental. We must appeal to our Inner God for help, for guidance, for understanding. And we must beg our Divine Mother to disintegrate the evil in our minds.

Now, this is not the complete practice of psychoanalytical meditation, but it gives you the essential idea. (For more information, study the online course Introduction to Gnostic Meditation).

The wonderful thing is, as we clean out the mind with this practice, we begin to experience glimmers of direct experience, of reality, of God, of the higher planes of consciousness. We open up to God, and to the direct perception of reality.

These steps help us begin to develop awareness of the truth of our lives, and give us the insight and knowledge we need to act properly, with conscious awareness. Then, by conscious action from moment to moment, we save more energy than we waste, and we gather conscious experience of life, and we begin to create a momentum of conscious effects: all of which leads to the possibility of escaping the Wheel altogether.

The Three Factors

The Master Jesus said,

If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.- Mark 9:34

If any man would come after me – If any of us want to know God as He does, if any of us want to awaken, to know the mysteries of life and death, to know the Truth, to understand, to be free from uncertainty, to KNOW, then we should follow this instruction.

First: “Let him deny himself.” Deny your desire. Deny your mind. Go against that which drives you. Go against your blind passion, your lust, your anger, your envy… Observe yourself. Develop this profound ability to be aware at all times, in all circumstances, so that you can know the mind and it’s deceptions, and become free of it. To deny oneself is to deny the ego: to cease it’s activities, to meditate upon it, and to eliminate it through transmutation. This is DEATH: the death of the crusty, blackened formations in the mind. The death of desire.

Second: “Take up his cross.” The cross is a symbol of many meanings. First, the cross is a symbol of our karma. We must carry a heavy cross on our walk to mystical death: to complete our work on ourselves requires tremendous willpower, because every step of the path is painful and difficult. The cross is also it is the symbol of Alchemy: the work to create the soul. This is BIRTH: as the ego dies, through our initiations and the comprehension of the ego, we pay our karma, and the soul is born in us.

Third: “Follow me.” Follow in his example. What is his example? Complete service to suffering humanity. He did not live for his own desires or pleasures. He did not live to serve himself, to glorify himself. Every action, every word, every breath, was solely for our benefit, for the benefit of all beings: this truly is the greatest compassion, the greatest sacrifice. To serve others, to give our last drop of blood our of love for others. This is SACRIFICE. Let it be understood that His example is very severe: he did not give only when it was convenient, or when it was affordable or easy. He gave always and without hesitation. He gave everything of Himself for our sake. This is the model we must follow. To sacrifice is painful. To give something away that we do not want or need is not a sacrifice. To give something that we do not care about is not sacrifice. Sacrifice occurs when we give up something precious, vital, dear to ourselves, like Abraham sacrificing his own son because God told him to do it. This is sacrifice.

Behold, the Three Factors for the Revolution of the Consciousness.

The integration of these three factors results in the method to walk the path in equilibrium: if we are denying our ego (death), awakening the consciousness (birth) and serving humanity (sacrifice), we are performing Right Action.

Superior Law

When an inferior law is transcended by a superior law, the inferior law is washed away.
Right Action. Really, this means conscious action. This is the third type of action: produced by conscious will. This means it is action that is done with full conscious awareness of what is being done.

The results are always that which speak; it serves no purpose to have good intentions if the results are disastrous.- Samael Aun Weor

Our intentions are not weighed on the scale: our actions and the results are. Therefore, we need to know how to act properly, not merely relying on our good intentions. This especially applies to meditation and self-remembering: what counts is the hard reality of the dissolved ego. “Meaning well” means nothing in Gnosis. Do not “intend” to meditate: do it! Actions speak!

To enact this understanding in the rest of our life is a daily challenge. On the most mundane, easy to understand level (yet still very difficult to actualize), it means to do things as you would have them done to you. If you want to be treated well, then treat others well, and you create a cycle of actions and consequences.

On a more difficult to accomplish level is action that is conscious, but is a sacrifice, or is opposed to our normal self-serving way. If someone offends you, and does something that you consider to be really terrible, then Right Action may be to forgive them and love them anyway, and to help them without judging them or trying to tell them what you think of them.

A good example of this type of conscious action can be found in the life of Gandhi. There was a tremendous upheaval in India, and the Muslims and Hindus were killing each other. This was a very bitter and very violent civil war, and many, many people were being killed and maimed. To protest it Gandhi was fasting, refusing to eat, because he understood that they were all unable to listen to reason, being so motivated by passionate hatred and anger.

Even though he was Hindu, he was well loved by Muslims and Hindus alike, and so people eventually responded to his protest and stopped fighting and killing, and many, many people came to see him, lying on his bed, near dead from lack of food.

One Hindu man came to him, and was crying in remorse, and said he realized he had done terrible things, and he said he had killed many Muslims, and had killed even women and children. This man was deeply remorseful and asked what could he ever do to make up for it, and because he was so remorseful and recognized that he was responsible, Gandhi knew he was open to hearing. So Gandhi told the man to go find a Muslim child and take him as his own child and raise him, and the man eagerly agreed to this, and was very grateful. But Gandhi said, wait, that is not all, you must raise him as a Muslim. Of course, this stunned the Hindu man: to raise a child of his enemy according to the ways of his enemy? This is, of course, the right thing to do.

This is Right Action. This is conscious action. This is sacrifice, and is a beautiful example for all of us to learn from. But remember: sacrifice means we give something up. The Hindu man of our example was going to have to give up a lot: his social image, his pride, his vanity, his own religion, all for the benefit of a child, and as penance for his wrong actions…

All of these steps, from self-observation, meditation, the elimination of formations in the mind, and conscious action in life, sacrifice, create new consequences.

It is not possible to alter the effect if at first the cause which produced it has not been radically modified… - Samael Aun Weor

It is not possible to radically change our own lives if the causes of our problems are not changed. We need to see the causes of our problems, which are all within our own mind (self-observation of the three brains, and self-remembering), comprehend them (meditation) and change them (sacrifice).

In this manner we can give ourselves more opportunity to act consciously: to do good deeds, rather than continuing to live as a slave of our own selfishness.

To change our circumstances is simple: learn to work with the scale.

Give and you shall be given. The more you give, the more you shall be given, but whosoever gives nothing, even that which he has shall be taken away from him. – Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

The sick, instead of worrying so much about themselves, should work for others, do works of charity, try to heal others, console the afflicted, take persons who cannot pay to the doctor, give away medicines, etc., and in this manner they would cancel their karma and they would be totally healed.

Whoever suffers in their home should multiply their humility, their patience and serenity. Do not answer with insults; do not tyrannize your fellowmen, do not upset those who surround you, know how to forgive the defects of others with patience multiplied to the infinite. In this manner you would cancel your karma and would become better. – Samael Aun Weor

All of these efforts, beginning with the moment to moment effort to observe ourselves, to be conscious of everything we do and to be watching the mind very carefully, send a very strong message to your inner Being, to your True Self, and this will begin to change everything for you.

If you prove to your inner Being that you are serious about the Great Work, if you demonstrate though your actions that you are willing to renounce your desires and comforts and conveniences in order to serve Him, then He can negotiate your karma on your behalf, thus you will receive what you need to continue in your work. Often, this brings more pain: but through painful experiences we pay what we owe, and we comprehend the ego.

There is famous story about a couple who was having problems in their marriage. In their despair, they went to see a Master to ask for help. The Master, upon hearing their story, promised to help them, so the couple, filled with faith and hope went on their way back to home.

Little by little, their problems intensified. The tension grew worse, the problems deepened.

After a few months, at their wit’s end, the couple agreed to go to the Master once more in an effort to save their failing marriage. Upon entering into the Master’s presence, the couple explained that they were very disappointed that the Master did not help them and that they were to the point of divorce. At this, the Master retorted, “Idiots! I have been helping you intensely for months, only you are unable to use the help properly.”

We must understand: to succeed in the Self-realization of the Being, the personality and the ego must die. We are given ordeals in order to see the foolishness of our own mind. If we do not see it, the ordeals will intensify, worsen, become more painful, in order to push our noses further into our own refuse. If we do not change it is our own fault. Therefore, if we ask the help of the Law, we should never expect for life to become more comfortable.

Life is our school: by experiencing the pain of life, the suffering of life, we are given food for our inner growth. If we do not meditate, we cannot digest the food, thus we waste our opportunity. When things are at their worst, this is the best time to meditate even more, because we can move faster through our karma and our process. Most people stop working on themselves when life becomes tough, therefore their inner work becomes stagnant. We have to realize that upon entering into this inner work, life becomes different for us, and we must become different in order to take advantage of it. If we remain the same, we are not performing the Great Work. We must change: and a good first change is to learn how to take advantage of every situation, in order to comprehend our own mind and grow in our conscious development.

All of these steps that we have outlined are essential and must be taken very seriously, but there is another level of negotiation: direct negotiation in the Temple of Karma. A student who has awakened enough consciousness can earn the right to go to the Temple of Karma in the Astral Plane, out of the physical body, and beg the right to see their own, personal book of karma, to know directly and definitively what they owe. Then and there, the student can negotiate with Anubis and the Lords of Karma, to solicit credit, or ask for help.

Within each one of us, there exists our own particular, individual Anubis. He applies the law of Karma to us, within ourselves… The Policeman of Karma exists within ourselves, within our Consciousness. He conduces us before the tribunals of the Law when we violate the Law. – Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

What this means is that we can never escape the presence of the Law: it is within us. Inside of our own consciousness is our own personal KAOM, cosmic police, who records our every action.

In the Astral Plane or in dreams the Lords of the Law will appear to us as lions or wolves. If they are chasing us, it indicates that we owe the Law for something.

The Lion of the Law is combated with the scale.

To pay what we owe, we must perform good deeds.

We cannot perform good deeds when we are absorbed in the ego.

The Great Law is completely opposed to the existence of the “I.”

The Great Law, with intense compassion for the consciousness, delivers our karma unto us as a medicine for our own good, to deliver us from our own evils. When we suffer, it is for us to learn.

The creatures who suffer in hell are there because God has compassion on them, and wants to give them another chance to reach for Perfection.

The Great Law punishes the “I.” Unfortunately, when the consciousness is trapped inside the “I,” the consciousness suffers when the “I” is punished.

The consciousness can appeal to the Law for help. The consciousness can receive assistance, benefits, credits, etc from the Law. However, nothing is free.

To come into harmony with the Law requires that we be cleaned of all ego.

The ego is opposed to the great Law. The ego is the result of our past actions, and is our own karma, and brings us suffering. To come into complete harmony with the Law means to embody the Law.

Karma is beyond good and evil.

Karma is the balance of action.

Within all good there is bad, and within all bad there is good.

The gods transcend good and evil. The gods embody Love, which is the Law.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give my body to be burned (out of pride), but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away.- The Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 13:1-10

Learn to Love Consciously, and you will learn to live in balance with the Law. Deeds, not intentions, are what count.

For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be fulfilled. - The Apostle Paul from Romans 2:13

Love is the Law, but conscious Love. Do what thou will, but know that thy shall have to answer for all thy deeds.

How bitter is the fate of Sophia, the Soul, the Being, after the fall.

The Father of all Lights knows how we have suffered, and by His command and in accordance with the Law, we are here.

We have broken the Law, and we must suffer the consequences.

The human beings, devolving within the Chaos, suffer the inexpressible.

Nevertheless, Christ, the Ancient of Days, can save us.

- Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled

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Karma 3: the chain

In The Key to Theosophy, H. P. Blavatsky defines karma as,

…the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the source, origin and fount of all other laws which exist throughout Nature. Karma is the inerring law which adjusts effect to cause, on the physical, mental and spiritual planes of being. As no cause remains without its due effect from greatest to least, from a cosmic disturbance down to the movement of your hand, and as like produces like, Karma is that unseen and unknown law which adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter back to its producer. — p. 201, orig. ed

We have already examined the creation of karma from moment to moment. We understand the nature of the law of action and consequence: that every action produces an effect, and each effect is in turn an action that produces further effects, and thus, further causes. This creates a cycle of perpetual motion, a engine that runs continually, fueled by it’s own output.

And we examined how our mind, because of our lack of awareness, is continually generating a stream of effects, and thus creates our own future. In the Dhammapada, the first line of this great teaching is:

Your mind creates your life.
You become what you think.
Just as a cart follows the ox it is tied to,
so suffering follows evil thoughts.

The Buddha is telling us that our minds, our internal processes, are the fountain from which our entire life flows. As we think, so shall we act. And as we act, so shall we receive.

But why do we act the way we do? Why do we live the way we do? Why do we have the friends that we have? Why do we choose certain types of relationships? Why do we feel the way we do about work, about love, about honor, about justice?

Do we have any real direct understanding of why we feel justified in expressing our anger? Why do we value anger?

What we need to recognize is that karma is self-created. Our lives, our experiences, our situations, our happiness, our despair, all of these things are simply the effects of past actions. Everything we experience in life. Everything. Every moment is a result of our state. Nothing is without purpose.

And so if we have some goal, some intention, some understanding we want, or some experience we want to have, we must understand that it is not up to anything outside of us. No one else can produce the life that we want. It is not dependent on anything outside of you.

Karma is the Law of Action and Consequence. So if you want a certain consequence, a certain result, all you need to do is produce the right action. That’s all. It’s simple.

But to do that, you must understand first of all where the process of action begins. Because action in itself is a result. Physical action, deeds, are a result of certain conditions. You cannot perform an action if the conditions are not right.

So we must understand the conditions. We must understand the entire process of action and consequence.

Action begins with intention. Intention is will. Willpower. Desire. For you to read this course, you had to want to understand Karma. Some part of you wanted to read this, and that intention was there, and from that you had certain mental processes: planning, arranging, organizing. And feelings: an urge to learn, to understand. And the conditions of your life had to support this: your computer needs to work, you need the time, and your health must be good enough, and you must have your responsibilities for the day complete enough, etc. A lot of things need to be in place. But none of those circumstances would matter at all if the intention was not there. The will to come.

So what is our will? What do we will in life? Do we even know where our intentions come from, and what they are?

Gnosis tells us very clearly that we do not know. Most of us do not really know why we do what we do. Ask us a question today, and we give one answer; but tomorrow we answer differently. And the day after that, another answer.

Today I love my spouse. Tomorrow I am having doubts. Next week, I will consider divorce. Next month, we are madly in love again. And the cycle repeats. THis is true with our jobs, our families, our friends, our politics, our taste in food, etc.

There is no consistency in the mind. There is no clear consciousness of what drives us to action.
This is because we are filled with conflicting desires. We have a multiplicity of conflicting wills. Therefore, we are not one: we are many.

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

And when he (Jesus) was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs (among empty forms: the Klipoth, the “World of Shells”: the unconsciousness, subconsciousness and infranconsciousness. This man lived among the illusions of his own mind, among perceptions and ideas that have no life, or God, in them);

And no man could bind him, no, not with chains:  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. (Because he is filled with conflicts: he does not keep commitments or respect the bonds of friendship; he cannot keep his word. He says one thing and does another. He is only interested in serving himself).

And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones (he is lost in the painful wilderness of life, lost, directionless, with no sense of where he is going or what he is doing, suffering, damaging himself with the abuse of his own stone, the Mercury, the sexual energy).

But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, (because he still has the consciousness inside, and can recognize the Christ)

And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. (already he contradicts himself: he goes to Jesus because he wants the Light, then he tells Jesus not to torment him. We seek out the light of Christ by seeking for Gnosis, yet when we find it, we make demands and want the teaching to come according to our taste, our desires; we want it in accordance with our ego).

For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. (the ego)

And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (because we are a psychological legion: we have millions of inner contradictions. This is the Doctrine of the Many “I’s”). – Mark 5:1-9

We are not aware of what is really happening in our minds, in our hearts, even in our bodies. We are not aware of the subtle processing that is going on all the time in the back of the mind. We do not see what is happening in the subconsciousness. It is ‘sub’: below consciousness. Neither do we see the unconsciousness or the infraconsciousness. We have fallen psychologically asleep.

We have not learned to be watchful, to be observant of the mind and it’s activities. So we do everything out of habit, and as we are accustomed to do. We act the way we want to, we think the way we want to, and we feel the way we want to, because it satisfies our sense of self. What we do not realize is that this sense of self is a delusion. And everything we do to satisfy it is simply complicating an already complicated delusion.

The delusion is this: we believe we are the body, and the feelings we have, and the thoughts we have. We believe we are the ever-flowing uncontrollable flow of thoughts, this chatter in our heads. Somehow, we believe we are this body, and we are the ideas we believe in.

But Gnosis teaches us, in fact, that we are not our mind, and that the mind is the cage that traps our true self.

We go through life mechanically, without any real awareness of our thoughts and feelings, and without realizing that our actions are actually just reactions to subtle thoughts and feelings. As events happen in life, we experience subtle feelings, sensations and thoughts, and we react to these things without being aware of it. So when someone is telling us something unpleasant, there are subtle sensations produced in our mind, in our heart, in our body. And these sensations are deemed unpleasant, we don’t like it, so we react. We get angry, or we run away. Or we build resentment for the person.

The energy of that resentment processes in the mind and creates a formation in the mind: an “I.” That resentment has an agenda: to make the other person pay, to make them suffer, to make them feel pain. That resentment exists for one purpose only, and it becomes hardened and strengthened by unconscious processing, and more so by nursing those feelings consciously. That resentment is an individual will, and separate a distinct entity in the mind. We say “I” resent this person. “I” hate them. “I” want them to pay. And notice: when the feeling passes, when they do something surprisingly sweet for us, we change our mind, and we feel contented. Where is that “I” now? All that has happened is that the conditions have changed, so the “I” is now passive. But if they again stimulate our anger, that “I” will rage up with as much strength as before, if not more…

The experiences of life enter into our five senses, this body, and are taken in without consciousness: they are dumped into the mind in an unconscious way. Thus, they produce effects in the mind. Things happen here, sensations are produced, memories are triggered, and because there is still no awareness present, reactions bubble forth, and we are provoked to act.

This is very subtle. This is something that takes effort to see directly. But you see something of this when you meditate. For example, you may feel good. You’ve had a mocha frappacino, so you feel pretty good, relaxed, happy, etc. And you go home and prepare to meditate. And after a few minutes of just sitting still, the pain you feel in your legs is so excrutiating you think you are going to die. You cannot take it. And you become angry, and impatient, and your mind goes faster and faster, and you begin to plot, maybe pretending to be really sick or injured, something, anything, to just not sit any more. Why? Why do you feel pain just from sitting still? Why were there pleasant sensations before, and then suddenly a lot of unpleasant sensations? What happened? In meditation, even if you cannot concentrate at all, you can directly observe that discomfort, unpleasant sensations, create a powerful impulse to react: to get up, to move. And we do not have much willpower, we do not have much control over this. Likewise, pleasant sensations are very, very powerful. We do not have any real self-control when faced with pleasant sensations. Not only that, we see no reason for self-control: we want it! And we believe there is nothing wrong with that. Now here is an important point: it is not the sensation that is the problem: it is the attachment to sensation, and the lack of awareness in our actions.

You visit a friend. They place on the table a giant, beautiful triple layer chocolate fudge cake and steaming coffee. What happens? YOU WANT IT. Desire arises. Desire for the cake? No – desire for the sensations that the cake produces. The sensation of taste. The flavor, the texture. The sweetness. Is your mouth watering right now? Notice: is your mind stimulating this desire in you? Are you already plotting a trip to the café nearby? You see, these subtle things arise in us, and we do not resist them. We are slaves of sensations. We have no real will.

So when anger arises, we do not resist it. When fear arises, we act the way it wants us to. When lust arises, we become animals, desperate and without control. When vanity arises, we become completely controlled by it’s wishes. The “I” that wants to look good will have it’s way. And we won’t even be aware of it.

It is these influences that prompt us, that urge us, to constantly and repeatedly seek for external comforts, sensations, satisfactions. This is why your father buys a car, keeps it for a while, then wants a new one. This is why we become disastisfied in a relationship and we want a new partner, some new flavor, some new experience.

Your mind needs to be watched very carefully. This is extraordinarily subtle and difficult, and should not be taken lightly. At the same time, it is possible for all of us to develop the capacity to observe the mind, to become aware of how the mind is doing things. Everyone can do this, but we must stop being so lazy first.

Terrible is the effort and the vigilance needed from second to second, from instant to instant, to not fall into illusions.

One minute of unawareness is enough and the mind is already dreaming upon recalling something, upon thinking of something different from the job or deed that we are living at the moment. - Samael Aun Weor

We see before us a goal that we want to achieve. It is not far. It seems very close, and we walk toward it. Sometimes, we may run. But always our eye is on it: “A marriage.” “A new car.” “A college degree.” “A retirement account.” “The lottery.” “A bigger house.” “My own business.” Whatever it is, we have an idea of what will give us happiness and contentment, and we pursue it, however quickly. It is there before us, and we watch it continually. In this we demonstrate that we do know how to pay attention to some degree, to be focused, to be dedicated, at least until another idea comes along, or a bigger goal, or a quicker path to financial security: whatever it may be. Unfortunately, we do not realize that we are watching a carrot on a stick, and we are tied to a post and walking in circles, repeating our mistakes and sufferings, never really getting anywhere.

All the while we dream of having what we desire, and we complain endlessly about our sufferings. We blame everyone else for our problems, and sincerely believe that we have been wronged, that there is no justice in life…

We need to see the truth of our situation.

Laziness, inattention, lack of awareness. These things keep us in bondage. And desire is the carrot that keeps us marching on… We need to wake up and look around.

As we experience life without real awareness of what is happening inside of us, these impressions, these sensations, flood the mind and become lodged there. They fill the mind up with images, feelings, thoughts, etc. This is why when you meditate, there is chaos in your mind and body. Our mind is an accumulation of past experiences, desires, anger, lust, jealousy, memory, fantasy, laziness, self-grandisement, self-depreciation, etc. etc. It is out of this mess of murky garbage that we react and react and react. And we run after friends, lovers, cars, clothes, new and different experiences, travel to other lands, jobs in different cities, etc. etc. etc.

All the different ideas that surge and make us believe that we have the need for something exterior in order to be happy are obstacles to perfection.

The Inner Being is happiness and bliss by it’s own nature; knowledge (of that) is unfortunately covered up by past impressions. – Samael Aun Weor

The Essence

Our real self, that which is our true identity, our true core, is trapped in all of this garbage. It is the Buddhata, the Essence, that spark of divinity, that seed, which can awaken and grow into true individuality, into true Being. But it has to be freed. It has to be nurtured. It has to be grown, moment by moment, consciously. This does not happen as a matter of course. It does not happen on its own, according to evolution. If that were so, then we would not have wars, rape, murder, theft, lying, deception, homelessness, poverty, etc etc. This true self, this true identity, is something that must be earned.

It is earned by stopping the bad habits of the mind.

It is earned by cleaning the mind, by purifying the heart, by becoming deeply sincere with oneself.

It is earned by sacrifice and by work on oneself.

It is compassion, and it is consciousness. They are the same thing.

So the effort to pay attention, to be present, to be watchful, is the effort to observe the experiences of life, and to observe them entering into us, and to observe them being received by the mind, to observe them producing effects in the form of thoughts, feelings and sensations. Having done all of this consciously, everything changes for us. First, we do not react immediately. We can choose how to act consciously. Second, the impressions that entered into us are processed in a healthy way and the mind is no longer filled with garbage. And third, we have learned something, we have gathered conscious experience, and wisdom. This strengthens the consciousness, it nurtures our true self. And gradually, this opens to door to true, direct, conscious, mystical experience.

To earn this we must first understand the way we are now.

Those who live in accordance with the divine laws without complaining, firmly established in faith, are released from karma.

Those who violate these laws, criticizing and complaining, are utterly deluded, and are the cause of their own suffering. – Bhagavad Gita 3.31-32

The Twelve Nidanas: The Chain of Causality

This is a formula taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni, known as Pratityasamutpada.

• pratitya: meeting, relying, depending.
• samutpada: arising.

Pratityasamutpada is otherwise known as the Twelve Nidanas, the Twelvefold Chain of Causality, or Dependent Origination. There are many translations for the original terms, and all of them are correct. This is a very deep, very profound teaching, and it is not something your intellectual mind will ever fully grasp. Even when the Buddha’s primary disciple Ananda claimed to understand it, the Buddha corrected him, saying:

Profound Ananda, this is Pratityasamutpada and profound does it appear. It is through not understanding, not penetrating this law, that this world resembles a tangled ball of thread… and that a man does not escape… suffering from the round of rebirth.

On another occasion he said:

Who so understands the Pratityasamutpada understands the Dharma, and who so understands the Dharma understands the Pratityasamutpada.

Many aspirants to the Path see this Twelve-fold Chain and disregard it, fearing it will be too complicated or too intellectual. Truthfully, any teaching can become too intellectual if we make it that. It is necessary for us to understand the teachings in a very profound way; these structures and laws were not explained in order for us to fill our minds with intellectual complications: they were given for us to use in a practical way so that we may escape suffering. That is their sole purpose. If we take the teachings in an intellectual way, that is our problem. It does not mean the teachings themselves are intellectual.

It is necessary for us to learn how to understand the teachings consciously, in all three brains: in the intellect, in the heart, and in our actions. Typically, we learn through the intellect first. That is why we are reading these materials.

When we understand it, when we grasp how it relates to our lives, we enter into comprehension in the heart.

When we change our behaviors and act in a different manner, then we are begining to grasp it in our motor-instinctive-sexual brain.

But our comprehension moves into levels beyond this when we have these three in equilibrium, and our every moment is filled with the awareness and respect for the laws expressed in these teachings: it becomes intuitive, spontaneous, without thought or concept. At that point, we live the teaching. It is then that we truly become conscious of the teachings.

So we should treat this knowledge with a lot of respect and without any preconceptions, and with the understanding that this teaching will need to be revisited again and again in order for there to be any real conscious understanding of it.

Remember always that we are beginners in this knowledge, and as children, as beginners, it takes patience and practice to learn. Reading something once does not mean we know it. As children in early schooling, we had to work slowly and consistently in order to learn what then seemed overwhelming to us: how to read, how to add, how to speak. The same is true of this knowledge for us now: we are children.

Returning to our theme, the whole formula of the Twelve-fold Chain of Causality could be boiled down to a simple statement:

This being present, that arises;
Without this, that does not occur.

One example that you may have heard is that if fuel, air and ignition are all brought together, fire occurs. But if any of these elements are missing, there will be no fire. This is pretty simple, but this formula takes us into matters that are far from simple, and may even seem to some of us as being downright unacceptable.

Basically, this Chain of Causality teaches us that everything that is existent is dependent on something else. Nothing exists independently. And naturally, this can lead us straight back to how the universe was created and what about a creator god, etc. We will not have time to go into those questions in this course. Our purpose here is to focus on our lives and see the Chain of Causality in our own activities.

This twelve-fold chain is illustrated in the Tibetan “Bhava Chakra,” the Wheel of Becoming, otherwise known as the Wheel of Samsara or the Wheel of Life. We will be studying this wheel for the rest of the course.

These paintings (thangkas) are used as teaching and meditation aids. They are not meant to be literal in any sense: they are meant to aid the practitioner in visualizing concepts so that the imagination and the consciousness can be utilized, rather than the intellectual mind.

Traditionally, the wheel is represented as a vast panorama in the grip of Yama, the Lord of Death, who represents delusion, ignorance, (impermanence) that which supports the whole mechanism of samsara, or the round of life and death.

In the center are three animals, eating one another, sustaining themselves on one another. They are the hub of the wheel, the central axis:

• a rooster (craving and greed; desire)
• a snake (wrath and passion; hatred or self-centeredness)
• a pig (ignorance and delusion; sleep)

These three animals represent the process we have discussed until now: psychological sleep (ignorance, delusion) feeds upon desire (craving, greed, gluttony, the constant feeding of ego) which is fed by unending passion and self-centeredness, which is fed further by the delusion of the self, the delusion of ego, of “Me” as separate from “You,” etc., etc.

This process is the center of all suffering, and thus it is the center of the Wheel of Samsara. It is because of this process of selfish, unconscious desire that our reality is what it is.

Everyone, manipulated by the subconscious elements in the mind, acts selfishly over and over again, under the influence of the “I’s” of anger, greed, vanity, envy, laziness, pride, fear… Because of this, tremendous energies are put into motion, creating what we now experience as life, and we see as our modern world. All of this unconscious thinking, feeling and leads to unconscious action: and the results are what you see in life. Suicide, discontentment, brutality, rampant illness and physical suffering, disease, disability, accidents, disasters, rape, adultery, divorce, poverty, homelessness, anxiety, loneliness… Everything has been created by particular actions. Everything.

How does this manifest? The outer ring of the wheel has twelve pictures, twelve interlocking parts that make up the means of travel: it is by this interlocking chain that the wheel has structure, and it is upon this that the wheel moves.

This is the Twelve-fold Chain of Causality.

Now we will move through the twelve links.

1. Avidya: Ignorance. This refers specifically to the ignorance of right action, to the ignorance of causality, or ignorance of karma. Because none of us fully comprehend karma and the effects we generate from moment to moment, we are steeped in Avidya, ignorance, (represented by a blind man) because we ignore the truth of our actions, and we act selfishly. We believe in our sense of self, that the mind is real, that the mind is our true identity. That is ignorance, because it is directly opposed to the truth, and from that place we unknowingly act out of balance, and create effects.

2. Because of this condition of ignorance, we, by not paying attention, dump all the impressions of life and our reactions into the mind, creating formations in the mind called Samskaras: egos, psychic aggregates. This step is called Fashioning and is represented by a potter. These are formations or crystallizations of energy, and they produce effects.

Every action that you perform produces a two-fold effect. It produces an impression in your mind and when you die you carry the Samskara in the Karmashaya or receptacle of works in your subconscious mind. It produces an impression on the world or Akashic records.

If you eat a mango, if you do any kind of work, it produces an impression in the subconscious mind or Chitta. This impression is called Samskara or tendency. Whatever you see, hear, feel, smell or taste causes Samskaras. The acts of breathing, thinking, feeling and willing produce impressions. These impressions are indestructible. They can only be fried in toto by Asamprajnata Samadhi. Man is a bundle of Samskaras. Man is a bundle of impressions. It is these Samskaras that bring a man again and again to this physical plane. They are the cause for rebirths. These Samskaras assume the form of very big waves through memory, internal or external stimulus. – Swami Sivananda

Because we have built a mass of formations in the mind, the energy of those formations is pure potentiality; that energy must produce effects: thus the condition is set for the next link: Vijnana, or consciousness.

3. Vijnana in this case is the necessity for existence. Traditionally this is represented by a monkey playing with a peach, which symbolizes the animal mind tasting good and evil.

The effects we have put into motion must be completed: this is the law. So, the energy of samskaras, the energy that we have locked into the mind, causes the mind to remain in existence. Thus, even if we die physically, these formations continue, and create pressure to manifest themselves again: thus we are reborn in accordance to their energy. This means that our past actions determine our next rebirth. Thus, the energy of the mind, the samskaras (our latent karma) produces rebirth, and this sets up the conditions for Nama-Rupa.

4. Nama-Rupa is the manifestation of the physical body and is usually represented by two men in a boat. This is the impulse of consciousness, of awareness, giving rise to name and form: to personality, and the embryo of the physical body. When the embryo begins to grow and develop, the conditions are set for Sadayatana: the Six Faculties.

5. Sadayatana is the six-fold base, represented by six empty houses. The senses of the physical body: sight, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and the sixth which is the brain that coordinates them all. When the senses are developed and organized, the conditions are created for Sparsa.

6. Sparsa is the contact between the internal and external. (pictured as sexual union). This is the boundary between senses and sense objects. Life is received by the senses as impressions before being received by the mind itself. This is the stage where physical birth occurs. Once we are born, and have senses active, we enter the next link: Vedana.

7. Vedana is feeling. (Symbolized as being blinded by arrows in both eyes). Sensations are received and are interpreted: pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. This is where past effects begin to manifest in our lives, and are interpreted and reacted to. The reception of sensations, and the evaluation that occurs set up the next link: Trsna.

8. Trsna is craving or thirst, represented by a person drinking. As we label incoming sensations, we experience delight, desire, and we crave for pleasant experiences to be repeated over and over. This craving reactivates all our past cravings and passions. More and more passion is stimulated, more and more craving, which calls up more and more latent samskaras: thus by craving, we create more craving, and by craving one thing we also crave other things, and desire grows and grows. This is the condition for the next link: grasping.

9. Upadana, grasping and clinging. (Pictured by a monkey snatching fruit). We, in our delusion, constantly chase pleasure, not realizing that everything is impermanent. We ignore the impermanence of all things, and chase after pleasure. We suffer because we are not content. Believing sensation will give us contentment, we chase sensations, but because sensations are impermanent, any contentment we find is short-lived, leaving us again in suffering. The pendulum always corrects its balance: the more we push toward pleasure, the more the pendulum pushes towards pain… As we grasp more and more after pleasure, we set the stage for Bhava…

10. Bhava, the process of becoming. (Usually symbolized by a pregnant woman). From the impulse of desire and in a state of ignorance, we seek more and more pleasure, acting out of balance with the reality of impermanence, and thus face more and more things we don’t like, and run from, and we seek more and more pleasure, all of which creates more and more thrust in the overall motion of the wheel… In this stage, there is a massive energy propelling the arising of conditions that promote the arising of more and more latent formations, which in turn brings on the creation of further effects. All of this energy, this motion, must find fulfillment, because energy cannot be destroyed: it must manifest. The pregnant woman must give birth…

11. Jati, birth, or re-appearance… (represented as childbirth) …because of the pressure created by past actions and their indelible effects, the whole sum of formations, in the mind, must re-appear… thus, there is a constant manifestation of effects which must occur, and there is a tremendous impulse toward existence, toward manifestation… so birth must continue…
However…

12. Jaramarana: decline and death. All things are impermanent: they arise, and they pass away. It is this way with plants, animals, lakes, continents, worlds, and it is this way with us, and with our actions. Every action brings its effect, and then passes away. Everything has its cycle. Within one physical life, we are propelled by the effects of our previous existences, and we add the actions of our new existence. Some karmas are paid, others accrued. We enjoy the fruit of dharma, or not. But inevitably every life ends: and without the balance of the scales being achieved: death arrives and we continue carrying the weight of our past actions, and thus must be reborn again in order to satisfy those debts…

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. - Jesus of Nazareth, from Matthew 5

So in the death of worlds, in the death of the body, we are returned to the beginning of the wheel, propelled by past actions, by energies placed in the mind by unconscious, selfish, hateful, desirous action. And we begin the whole round once again.

2:12. A man’s latent tendencies have been created by his past thoughts and actions. These tendencies will bear fruits, both in this life and in lives to come.

2:13. So long as the cause exists, it will bear fruits–such as rebirth, a long or short life, and the experiences of pleasure and of pain.  – Patanjali

The Twelve-fold Chain of Causality is the structure of the Law of Recurrence.

Because we are psychologically asleep, we upset the balance of life, and we do not process the energies of life properly. These energies enter into us and are improperly digested, creating serious mental indigestion. And these energies, these impressions and psychic energies, become latent, trapped atom bombs, that must release their energy in some way: they must produce results, and they will do so in accordance to how they were made.

Anger can never bring contentment.

Lust can never bring satisfaction.

Envy can never give us equanimity.

Fear can never bring us peace. So long as any subjective element remains in the mind, we remain enslaved by its mechanical nature, and thus victim to the churning suffering of the Wheel of Samsara.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”: for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one; but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. – James 1.13-15

To be free of the Wheel is only possible when we are free of what belongs to it: all mechanical psychological elements.

So long as we have desire, we belong to the Wheel of Suffering and Mechanicity.

So long as we have craving or aversion or fear or pride or gluttony or self-pity, we will suffer.

If anger is within us, suffering will occur.

If pride is within us, suffering will occur.

If lust is within us, suffering will occur.

In synthesis, the Twelve-fold Chain of Causality outlines the essential structure of all action and consequence in the world of ignorance. When one comprehends that there is a fixed and determined structure to all ignorant action, one can then begin to use Conscious Action, Upright Action, and break the Chain of Causality.

All beings who have ego are victims of the Wheel of Samsara. The Wheel of Samsara is the law for all mechanical aggregates.

Even the Gods are subject to this Wheel, because they remain dwelling in the manifested worlds, and have not reached absolute perfection. Even the Gods have desire, thus they remain enslaved by the Wheel of Illusion. The Buddhas of Nirvana, addicted to power and pleasure, court death, because they remain with attachment, which will inevitably bring suffering. Only the Beings who incarnate the Christ and walk upon the Straight Path are headed toward complete freedom from the Wheel of Samsara. Every aspirant to the Light must comprehend that in the Light there is nothing of the false self: there is no “I” as we can concieve of it: there is no pride, no desire, no worry, no attachment… to enter into that Perfection we must become like it. We must eliminate within ourselves what cannot enter there. To do this, it is necessary that we comprehend very well the entire mechanism of the mind: and that mechanism is outlined in the Twelve-fold Chain of Causality.

We have understood that psychological sleep is itself a cause of results. There is karma from unconsciousness, karma in the form of samskaras, or “I’s.”

But this, my friends, is only the first stage. Samskaras are not the end of karma. They are, in an of themselves, yet another cause, another form of action. They produce effects as well. This seemingly simple concept of action and consequence is the mechanism behind the tremendous complexity of life. The awesome, overwhelming structure of all existence. The movement of planets, down to the movement of your hands. This is no simple formula. It is the fundamental law of existence.

There can be a modification of circumstances and of problems, but they will never cease repeating themselves and they will never have a final solution.

Life is a wheel that turns mechanically with all the pleasant and unpleasant experiences, always reccuring.

We cannot stop the wheel, the good or bad circumstances always process themselves mechanically. We can only change our attitude toward the events of life.  – Samael Aun Weor

Do not feel despair or overwhelmed because of this knowledge. Yes, it is awesome and very deep. But suffering is not permanent. Remember: one of our fundamental flaws is that we ignore the truth about impermanence. Everything changes, all the time. And we make choices all the time, choices that can create change. So it is possible for everyone to change, and to come into balance.

In each class we have outlined the most basic and important things we can do to begin changing this process: self-observation and meditation. These two actions produce tremendous results. There is no doubt of it. It is assured, that if you have the intention, and you take action by meditating seriously, regularly, and make effort to be aware in every experience, in every situation, there will be strong effects upon your life. This is the law. This is not an opinion. It is the Law. These activities, these actions, work directly upon the processes that we have outlined in this course, and as such they directly change our experience of life.

With the activation of the consciousness comes the possibility of negotiating one’s own karma.

Series do not exist for the Self-Reailzed and Diamantine Spirit; only the eternal present exists for him; he lives from instant to instant; he has freed himself from the Twelve Nidanas.  – Samael Aun Weor

Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin (because he is enslaved to the results of his actions, and will not be free until those debts are paid).  – John 8.34

Sponsored by www.vaness.ws, www.vagel.wordpress.com

Karma 2: sowing and reaping

Everything: you, your family, your skin color, the way you smile, the way you talk, the greed you feel, the happiness you feel, the city you live in, the friends you have… and this is true of everyone, all of us: everything is a manifestation of karma.

The scale of this is unimaginable, unacceptable to our minds. It’s a little like contemplating infinity: the mind cannot hold it. The mind we have now is finite and very narrow. These concepts can never be fully understood by this intellectual mind, the sensual mind.

So in order for us to try an approach this law in some practical way, in order for us to begin to grasp the depth and magnitude of Karma, we will focus on one aspect of it, the part of it that concerns us the most.

How do we create karma?

What do we do, each day, which creates our future? Because really, everything we do is planting seeds that will grow into something in the future. If we are planting flowers everywhere we go, all the time, then in it’s due season we will be surrounded by a fragrant field of beautiful colors. But we must make the effort to plant those seeds. So how do we live now, and are we doing that?

It is vital for us to be very honest with ourselves, very sincere.

Firstly, we need to understand that the term karma is used in different ways. The Law of Cause and Effect is called the Law of Karma.

The result of harmful action, the consequence of that act that returns to the one who performed it, is called karma.

The result of upright action, the consequence of that act that returns to the one who performed it, is called dharma.

A result is created for ALL action, not just “major” things. You don’t have to murder someone to accumulate karma. Neither do you have to give away a million dollars to accumulate dharma.

Drop by drop, little action by little action, you are planting seeds, you are making little deposits in your cosmic account. It is like a savings account. Many people do not save money because they feel that $5 here and $10 there will never amount to anything. So they save nothing. They spend it all. They think that only if we can make a lot of cash can we save something. But really, wealthy people often became wealthy because they understood that things don’t really work that way. I was once told that the rich are only rich because they do not spend their money. And this made a lot of sense to me. Do you understand? They become wealthy by a process of accumulation, by not spending, and saving a little here, and little there. Nor do they become rich by suddenly inheriting a lot of money: most people become wealthy OVER TIME, slowly, by a process of intention and willpower and hard work. It is exponential, and karma works in a similar way. As you plant a little here and a little there, those seeds can grow into huge trees, provided that the conditions are right. Karma ripens when the conditions are right. So it may be that you have planted good seeds in the past, but if your environment is really negative and your actions are really negative, those seeds cannot sprout.

Desire

We live life thinking that life is an unlimited thing, as if we have 100 years or more to do whatever we want, and that there is no real consequence for anything that we do. So we party, and we do whatever we feel like doing, and we spend every paycheck that we get, and we overeat and drink too much and basically do whatever we must to try to satisfy all of our desires.

We think that this is what life is about: the satisfaction of desire. The pursuit of happiness, as interpreted by modern culture. To get whatever sensations from life I want. This is the “American way.”

Anything pleasant and desirable becomes our focus, our goal, our definition of life, and anything unpleasant should be avoided at all costs, and denied. If we are unhappy at work, we say “Work is not my life, my life begins Friday night.” Somehow, even though we spend 50-60 hours a week at work, we don’t think that is really “our life.” And we desire so much to be away from work, to be off work, to be out with our friends or out doing sports or shopping or playing around doing this or that, whatever it is. “THAT is life. That is what life is all about.” Of course, all the advertising these days supports this: life is a big party, everyone is beautiful and desirable, and it’s all about having as much fun as possible, having as many toys as possible, looking good, feeling good, being young, being hip…

And when anything happens that we don’t want, we say we “don’t deserve it.” When we lose our boyfriend, we say we never loved him anyway. And when our friend turns on us, talking bad about us to everyone, we say they are the bad one, we are innocent. When someone hits our car, we blame them for everything, even if we made a wrong turn. They should have been paying more attention. When we are sick, when we are injured, we complain, we suffer, we want to escape from it, we want to feel good again, and we resist it.

The Pendulum

There is a pendulum in all of this: we are constantly craving pleasant things, and avoiding unpleasant things. We spend our entire life believing that somehow, some way, we must avoid everything that is unpleasant, and we must gather up as much pleasure as possible. “Whoever dies with the most toys wins,” right? But really, in terms of karma, whoever dies with the most toys dies, still dies, and with the largest debts. Death is no escape from karmic payment.

Life for us, for our modern ethic, is defined by DESIRE. Everything we do, we do from desire. We desire to look good, we desire to satisfy our lusts, we desire to fill ourselves with particular foods, we desire to be perceived a certain way, we desire to feel certain sensations. This DESIRE is one of the key components to understanding the truth of our lives.

Remember in the Bible that Adam and Eve were sent out of paradise because they went against the law, they acted out of desire, out of self-will. And their karma was severe. This is an allegory about us. This is how it started for us. In the past, we acted out of desire, and we broke the law. And we were removed from paradise. And of course, today, we still live this way. We have not learned the lesson.

In constantly trying to keep ourselves in pleasure and out of what is painful or unpleasant, we are keeping ourselves in constant struggle, and avoidance, and are constantly acting out of ignorance. Death cannot be avoided. Pain cannot be avoided. Suffering cannot be avoided. This is life. Life contains pleasure, and life contains pain. This is the truth. And yet, we never accept this. We do everything we can to avoid seeing it.

This constant pursuit of illusion, the pursuit of unending pleasure, is ignorance. It is blind. We do it because we do not know another way, but it is a way of blindness and ignorance. Ignorance means to ignore: we are choosing to ignore the facts. We know that death is inevitable, but because it is a great uncertainty, and because we are so full of fear and attachments to life, we cannot deal with it, so we run the other way: toward filling ourselves with pleasure, in order to hide from the facts.

It is evident that if our attitude towards daily life is fundamentally mistaken, if we believe that everything must turn out well, just because it should be so, then we are going to be disappointed…

People want things to turn out well “just because it should be so,” because everything must go according to their plans. However, the crude reality is different. As long as one does not change internally, whether one likes it or not, one will always be a victim of circumstances.
- Samael Aun Weor, Revolutionary Psychology

Ignorance

It manifests from moment to moment. Even now, as you studying this knowledge, do you feel uncomfortable? Do you feel resistance to this teaching? Do you feel resistance about talking about your own death? That resistance is precisely what keeps you in bondage. Do you feel resistance to seeing your own anger, your own lust, your own greed? That resistance is precisely your worst enemy.

This resistance to see the truth of your life, the truth of your mind, the truth of your desires and resistances, the truth of your hatreds and jealousies: this resistance to seeing is your worst enemy.

We all believe we are good people. We believe that we do what is right and good, and that we are good in our hearts. We all have good intentions, right? But karma is the Law of Action: Intentions do not count. Action is what determines the nature of our life.

The road to the Abyss is paved with good intentions. – Samael Aun Weor

What counts in life are our actions. The Law of Karma is the Law of Action and Consequence. Good intentions mean nothing if the results of our actions are disastrous.

We may mean to help but instead do harm. How do we avoid making this mistake? By acting with complete consciousness. This, however, is not easy to do. Yet to act without making the effort is act without complete knowledge of what we are doing: and to act in this way is to invite disaster.

Therfore, it is imperative that we learn to act with complete awareness.

To acheive complete awareness in our actions, we must have complete awareness of ourselves.

We don’t like to hear that we have anger. We don’t like it when someone thinks badly of us, and we don’t accept it and tell ourselves and others that it is the other person who is wrong, they don’t understand us. We do not like it when our ugliness shows itself, and as soon as possible we cover it up, we mask it, hide it.

And when we do questionable things, we certainly don’t want others to know about it, And in our covering up, we may lie so well that we ourselves believe the lie.

We ignore that which we really are. We do not allow ourselves to see who we really are. We blame everyone else. We blame our parents, our teachers, our friends, our spouse: and we take absolutely no responsibility ourselves.

We ignore the facts. We ignore our own psychology. We do not see what is really happening inside of our minds and hearts. And we choose this, because we are always chasing after “the good life” and we cannot stand the taste of the bitter truth. We habitually seek to avoid the unpleasant and seek the pleasant things. So we avoid what is unpleasant about ourselves, and we focus 100% on what we like, what tastes good to us.

This is the habit of our minds. We have a very limited way of perceiving life, and it is entirely based on what is most convenient to our sense of self.

We refuse to see anything that questions our sense of self.

Have you, sometime in your life, ever thought of what you like or dislike the most? Have you reflected on the secret causes of action? Why do you want to have a beautiful house? Why do you desire the latest model car? Why do you want to always be wearing the latest fashion? Why do you covet not being covetous? What is what offended you the most in a given moment? What is it that flattered you the most yesterday? Why do you feel superior to this or that fellow in a specific moment? At what hour did you feel superior to someone? Why do you feel conceited when you relate your triumphs? Couldn’t you keep quiet when they gossiped about a known person? Did you receive the goblet of liquor out of courtesy? Did you accept smoking, although not having the vice, possibly because of the concept of education or out of manliness? Are you sure that you were sincere in that chatter? And when you justify yourself, when you praise yourself, when you boast about your triumphs and do so repeating what you have previously told others, did you comprehend that you were vain? – Samael Aun Weor, Revolutionary Psychology

This ignorance controls us because we are so identified, so habituated, to this way of perceiving life. We perceive life through this filter, this particular pair of psychological glasses, and we don’t realize that really, these glasses that we are so used to wearing, are in fact completely distorted and flawed. They make everything in life skewed and unbalanced, and everything that we see is twisted and wrong.

A person is what his life is… Looking at this matter from a strictly psychological point of view, any day in our life is really a tiny replica of the totality of our life. From this we may infer the following: if a person does not work on himself today, he will never change. When someone claims that he wants to work on himself, and he does not do it today, postponing it until tomorrow, such a claim will be a simple scheme, and nothing more, because within today is the replica of our entire life…. This is very similar to a certain sign that some merchants put in their stores: “Today, no credit, but tomorrow, yes. – Samael Aun Weor, Revolutionary Psychology

Consciousness

In order to change this situation, we need to know what the problems are. We need to know ourselves.

In Gnosis we learn the technique of Self-observation. In this technique we learn to separate ourselves from our thoughts, feelings and sensations, and we learn to observe them, as they happen, without reacting to them. We learn to have a sense of inner separation. On one side we have the experiences of life, whatever is happening outside of us in any given moment, and on the other side we have the reactions of the mind, our feelings, and the sensations of the body. In the middle, observing everything, is pure awareness, pure consciousness.

To know and to observe are different. Many confuse observation of oneself with knowing. We may know that we are sitting on a chair in a living room, but this does not mean that we are observing the chair.

We know that in a given moment we are in a negative state, perhaps thinking about a problem, or perhaps we are worried about this or that, or are in a state of uneasiness or uncertainty, but this does not mean that we are observing it.

The observation of oneself, which is one hundred percent active, is a way to change oneself, whilst knowing, which is passive, is not.

Certainly, knowing is not an act of attention. Attention directed within oneself, towards what is happening in our interior, is something positive, active…  – Samael Aun Weor, Revolutionary Psychology

This must become a way of life for us, a new way of living and perceiving, if we want to seriously begin to live in accordance with the law of karma, and if we want to seriously make changes in our life.

So make a resolution for yourself: make the effort to remain aware of yourself, aware of your feelings, thoughts and impulses, aware of your environment, while you continue to study this course. Do not relent in your effort to consciously direct your attention.

We need to understand that going through life in the way we do, without awareness, daydreaming, reflecting on the past, imagining the future, fantasizing, doing all of this while we are driving and eating a hamburger, we are in fact deeply asleep to the reality of the moment. We are living a fantasy life in our heads, and our real life is passing by, moment by moment. We do not realize it, but we are losing our lives in that.

Life is only lived IN THE MOMENT: anything else is a fantasy, a lie, an illusion.

This is why life seems to go by faster and faster,… when we were young, we were much more interested in life, in what was happening in the moment, and the days were long and full of wonder… but as we gathered experience, and got bored with mundane life, and began to live more in our thoughts and feelings, then we lose interest in the immediate moment, and we began to think about the future, the future, what are you going to do for a living, where do you want to live, and we fantasize and dream and imagine… and suddenly we are out of high school and then we are married and have kids and a mortgage and one day we wake up and say, “What happened to me? How did I get here? I didn’t want to do this!!!”

We fell asleep… Psychologically asleep. Our consciousness was put to sleep.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.  – Proverbs 4.23

Sleep

One Gnostic student and his wife took their two children to the doctor, and the mother went in with the one who needed to be treated. This was a serious situation, and so the father was concerned and really fretting over the potential outcome of this visit. So he wasn’t really paying attention to the other child. And naturally, this child was enjoying the freedom of the moment, and began to really get out of hand. In the waiting room was a woman who become very irritated with the child. And she couldn’t take it anymore, so she told the father in a rather rude and judgmental way that he should control his child. So he did. He grabbed his child and went outside. He was upset by what the woman said. And as he thought about it, he began to pace back and forth. And he began to tense up, and grind his teeth, and his mind began to race, thinking that this lady had no right to be that way, she was really rude and mean, and he should go back in there and correct her behavior, she doesn’t understand that this is a life or death situation… His wife came out and saw her husband, bent over, his shoulders tense, pacing back and forth like a caged tiger, fists clenched, jaw tight and grinding…

What happened to him? Do you see? Now he was saved by the bell in a sense, because when his wife came out he was reminded of his practice and was able to immediately see that he had lost his awareness of himself, and he was following his mind down a habitual road: a road that was only taking him into deeper suffering.

This exercise, this effort to be present, to be in the moment, to observe ourselves, is the effort to become more aware of our own reality, to become more aware of what we are thinking and feeling, and why we are doing the things that we are doing. It is the effort to see what our reality is: not what we think it is, not what we would like it to be, not what we would like others to think it is, but what it REALLY IS.

And this is not easy. We have a lot of resistance to this. We don’t really want to see who we are. We prefer to have a positive self-image, and tell ourselves good things about ourselves… and yet, we can’t seem to change these painful patterns in our life, our relationships are just painful, our job is painful, our anxiety, our fear, these things keep coming up, they won’t leave us alone… or maybe we don’t experience these feelings, but we have so much ambition, and we are driven to perform and perform and perform, and we drive ourselves to exhaustion… for what? For some elusive goal in the future, because even when we accomplish something, it isn’t enough, and we set another and another and there is no end to it all…

So we in Gnosis learn: when these things come up, we learn to observe them, to study them, to understand them. The first benefit of this: when we learn to stop reacting to the thoughts, feelings, and impulses that manifest in us, we stop creating harmful actions which in turn bring us suffering.

Right Action

When we are yelled at, normally we yell back. We say hateful things. But when you can observe yourself, and observe the feelings that come up, the thoughts that come up, you can choose to respond differently. And you can choose not to react. You can choose to be peaceful, to walk away. And maybe, you will understand why the person was yelling at you in the first place. Perhaps they were hurting or suffering, or perhaps you did something you should not have done.

When they yell at you, and you observe yourself, you can see: the body becomes tense, there is pain in the body, the heart hurts, heat in the chest, the mind is stunned, shocked, and then a flood of negative thoughts, cursing, vengeance… and all of that, in the past, would have made you react immediately, cursing… because in the past, out of habit, you would have reacted to all these unpleasant sensations, you would want to avoid all this unpleasantness, make it go away… and in that, in identifying with those sensations, with the specific effects of that situation, the energy of that situation becomes trapped, fixed, it becomes a chain that binds you…

Understand that this is not repression. Self-observation is simply the observation of an internal state and an external event. It is pure awareness, which gives one the ability to choose one’s actions.

Only by having the choice can one perform what is right.

If we behave mechanically, automatically, then who is choosing for us? What in us is making our decisions?

Creating Karma

When we react to situations without consciousness, karma is created. When we go through life the way we normally do, thinking all the time, daydreaming all the time, then we are not fully present in the moment, and we are distracted, and we act from habit, from habits of the mind. And the mind is a mess. The mind, even though we love it and idealize it, is not helping us very much. It is, in fact, making life more complicated.

When you see an object that you desire, and you stare at it, feeling the desire for it, the greed for it, you are giving that desire, that greed, a lot of energy. You are feeding it. This is karma: because you are strengthening your desire for something, you will want it more and more… that desire is not going to go away. It may switch to wanting something else, but as long as you feed and water it, it will grow and grow… And when you get what you want, the desire is not abated: it is even stronger. Because soon, you want something else, and this cycle goes on. You are never satisfied. You cannot be satisfied, because in each situation, you are feeding the desire, and doing what it wants, which makes it stronger. This is karma.

The energy of that desire becomes trapped in our subconsciousness, crystallized. That formation contains trapped energy: energy which, under the right environmental conditions, will manipulate you, will impel you to feed it, to let it act, in the only way it can: the way it was created.

So: if you are in a fight, and you hit someone out of anger, the explosion of that action not only produces pain for the person you have struck, but it reverberates inside your own subconsciousness, and the anger becomes a formation in the mind, and traps energy there. If you have a lot of anger, and you keep reacting out of anger, then you are steadily building up a stronger and stronger storehouse of energy, energy that was formed out of anger and whose critical mass will provoke more and more anger, which, obviously, only feeds it more and more…

So little by little, step by step, you are creating a monster in your own mind.

This is why those who are angry cannot simply stop being angry. Nor can those who are addicted easily drop their addictions: they have created a lot of karma for themselves: karma in the form of energy trapped in the subconscious.

So, an addict, someone who is addicted to alcohol, drinks because of sensations. The drug is used because it creates sensations. And because we want so desperately to escape the realities of life, and merge forever in pleasurable sensations, the addict becomes a slave to those sensations: they do this out of desire for sensation (which is avoidance of what is unpleasant, perhaps painful emotions or circumstances) and out of ignorance, psychological sleep, unconsciousness. The more they feed the habit, the stronger it becomes. The more they sleep, the more they ignore, the deeper the unconsciousness…. and the more dangerous they are, the more depressed, the more chaotic….

This is very sad. It is very painful. But each of us, in our own way, with our own style and flavor, are similar. There are things we are addicted to, so much so, that, like a drug addict, we do not see that there is a problem. We do not recognize that we are addicted to some negative psychological habit, some terribly self-destructive patterns of thinking…

We do not see that we are hurting ourselves in the way we think, the way we encourage certain types of feelings. We do not see it. We are blind to it.

So out of this place of blindness, of suffering, we react. We react to the circumstances of life, and we create more karma for ourselves, deepening our suffering, deepening our problems, and bringing everyone else down with us.

We continue this cycle of self-destruction from lifetime to lifetime. If we never awaken consciousness, then we pass from life to life in an asleep state, always longing, always suffering, tossed about by the chaos of karmic energies that we have set in motion and that we persist in intensifying…

We create karma by all kinds of selfish actions. As we said, the story of Adam and Eve is an allegory for us, about us, and their problems began, all the problems of humanity began, when we acted out of desire for what WE want.

So the first thing we must understand is that we are psychologically asleep. Are you still aware of your body? Have you managed to maintain that awareness completely, without a moment’s distraction? No? Then you can see it for yourself: it is very difficult for us to be conscious of ourselves. We are not very aware. We must come to see this. We must come to recognize that we do not pay attention.

From there, from this place of seeing that we do not see, then it becomes possible to change. Then it becomes possible to see the truth.

Meditation vs. Karma

All the problems in your life, all the suffering you experience, all your pain and difficulty, all your questions and uncertainties and insecurities, all your pride and vanity and fear and arrogance: everything you experience in life is dependent upon your mind. So it is in your interest to begin to observe your mind, to get to know your mind.

When we begin this effort, there are certain things that will help us. Because really, in order to understand the mind, in order to deeply comprehend the nature of our own mind, and thus the nature of our own life, we must first stop agitating the mind so much. We must let it settle.

Hand in hand with Self-observation is Meditation. The true and original purpose of meditation is the awakening of the consciousness. The mind, as it is now, out of control and full of surging thoughts and feelings, is a raging sea of chaos. By the practice of meditation we begin to allow the mind to settle, to calm, to become clear and open, and then insight begins.

By combining these techniques, Self-observation and Meditation, we cultivate the ability to choose our own destiny. Hand in hand these two techniques take us to intuitive, direct knowledge of ourselves. Step by step, by gradual cultivation, the technique of meditation begins to sharpen our concentration and our ability to stand calm in the midst of confusion.

Because we are developing the ability to act consciously, to choose how to respond to situations, to choose how to act. No longer do we act out of habit or custom: we act out of a conscious choice.

Thus, we begin to stop the creation of burdensome karma.

Now, in order for us to be successful in this effort, we need a lot of help. We need to know what creates karma, and how to avoid wrong action. Obviously, what we are seeking to do is to reinvent ourselves, to live by a new whole method, and to begin to turn the ship around. The ship, which is the weight of your karma, may be very slow in turning, if you have a lot of karma. It may take some time. It may take a lot of patience. But it can be turned. Drop by drop. Step by step. Little by little, we can turn this wheel that is in our hands every day: this wheel of action, this wheel of energy, and as we turn it, we can begin to turn the direction of this big ship that we are in. It is possible. But it takes effort, every moment, every minute, every hour, every day.

To keep a guard again and yet again
Upon the state and actions of our minds and bodies-
This alone and only this defines
The sense of mental watchfulness.

All this I must express in action;
What is to be gained by mouthing syllables?
What invalid was ever helped
By mere reading of the doctor’s prescription? -The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life by Shantideva.

Dharma, Ethics & Morality

Dharma is a Sanskrit term, a term that has several meanings. It means Law. It also can be seen as positive karma. When you perform a good action, a genuine sacrifice for someone in need, for example, then you accumulate dharma. This means that you earn the right to be helped.

So Dharma is both the law and the benefits of acting in accordance with the law.
There are, in truth, two Laws:

The First Law: received by those who have reached the Fifth Initiation of Major Mysteries; the direct commands of our own inner divine Father. The First Law is synthesized in the Twenty-two Arcana of the Tarot and the Twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

The Second Law: the written law, which is given for all of those who are struggling to reach Initiation. This is from “deutero” which means second. This is the Ten Commandments.

The First Law supercedes the Second Law. This is why certain prophets and great masters were able to kill, to move from one wife to another, and to perform many actions that seem to contradict the Second Law. The Will of God (our own inner Father) is the Law.

For those who have not reached their own inner Father, each religion, each mystical tradition has a set of guidelines, a set of ethical or moral codes. Most people see the Ten Commandments or the Precepts of a monk or nun as a big drag, as limitation on our behavior, or a rigid and strict rules that have no real purpose, and we only invented to keep people under control.

But in fact, these guidelines have a very definite purpose: to help us avoid creating terrible karma for ourselves, and to help us stay in balance with the forces of the universe so that we can reach the First Law.

It’s easy to see, actually: if you kill someone, you send tremendous energies through your own mind, energies of violence, of selfishness, of animalistic passions, of anger, etc. etc. These things not only become lodged in your subconscious, but they agitate the mind, and make it impossible to see anything clearly. Someone who has murdered will be deeply disoriented psychologically.

Likewise, if we drink alcohol, we are sending negative energies into the mind, we are becoming attached to certain sensations, and as a result of the chemicals we begin to act without any sense of judgement or caution. So we drive drunk, we sleep with people randomly, etc.

All of this creates very harmful effects in our mind, and sets up negative circumstances for the future.

So these rules are in fact help to us, because they show us what kinds of things disturb the mind and make it difficult for us to be in balance. And they help to us avoid creating more karma for ourselves.

It must be understood, however, that the ethics of the Path to the Self-realization of the Being have nothing to do with terrestrial ethics. Ethics and moralities are a slave of time; in each culture, morality is based upon subjective reasoning. What is moral in one place is immoral in another. The initiate who strives to free himself of suffering must act in accordance with the morals of the consciousness, which are beyond any terrestrial law. These ethics are taught to everyone who enters into the conscious revision of his own self through meditation and the positive awakening of the consciousness. True upright ethics are determined by the Being, in accordance with the Laws of the Cosmic Christ.

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Karma 1: cause and effect

The Law of Cause and Effect

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. – Galatians 6:7

The true and practical meaning of this word Karma is completely unacknowledged in our modern society, much to our detriment. Karma, in fact, may be the least understood aspect of spirituality in the west. What is most surprising about this is the undeniable importance of Karma in the Christian religion, a teaching most of us are familiar with. But, in fact, the principles that the Law of Karma requires us to live by are completely ignored, in spite of the clarity with which Jesus taught them.

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. – Matthew 5

Karma is the universal law in all of creation: the law of cause and effect.

There are three eternal things:

1. Space
2. Karma
3. Nirvana

The universe arises and falls in cycles of birth and death. These are cosmic days and nights; great periods of manifestation and rest. Through out the birth and death of worlds and suns and cosmic systems, KARMA is the Law which equilibirates everything.

Naturally, the Law of Karma is well understood in the East, in Hinduism and Buddhism. In those teachings, the Sanskrit term ‘karma’ is defined as “the law of cause and effect,” or “the law of consequence.” Karma is derived from the root work Karman.

Karman: (Sanskrit) an act.

Obviously, for every action, there is a result. This is well understood in materialistic physics through Newton’s Laws of Motion:

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. – Newton’s Third Law

In Gnosis we understand that the physical world is inferior to many other dimensions or levels of reality. Scientifically, we understand that light has many levels of vibration. With our physical senses we only perceive an extremely narrow band of vibration.

Through the knowledge of Kabbalah we come to understand that the range of light we perceive physically corresponds to the world of Malkuth: the physical world. But above the range of visible light is a huge expanse of light: thise range corresponds to the superior worlds of the Kabbalah, or in other words, the Heavens. Likewise, the range of inferior vibrations, which is also extremely wide, corresponds to the inferior worlds of the Kabbalah, called the Klipoth or the Hell Realms.

To some degree, we can all perceive the results of action in the narrow band of physical action.
We do not perceive the results of action in the expanse of the ultra- and infra- regions.
All the vibrations of light interpentrate without confusion.

At this moment, we are surrounded by light corresponding to every range of vibration.

When you move your hand, you see the physical action and its results. But you do not see your hand moving in the ultraviolet. You do not see your hand moving in the infrared. It is possible to perceive these realms if we have the means. However, we do not refer to physical technologies, which are merely an extension of the physical senses: we refer to psychological technologies, which traditionally are called meditation, clairvoyance, and dream yoga.

All action has results throughout the range of worlds. The movement of your hand produces results that you cannot perceive with the physical senses.

Karma, cause and effect, is universal and all-penetrating.

The true meaning of the Law of Karma is devasting to the mind. The true activity of this law, the reality of this law, is something that the mind cannot contain. Because the law of karma is real, it is the very fabric of this entire existence around you and within you. In a way, you yourself ARE karma, and everything you think, feel and do is karma.

You may think you can grasp this. You may think, “Yes, I understand that karma is the law of cause and effect and that if I do something bad then something bad will happen to me.”

Yes, that is true. If you hurt someone, then you will be hurt. It is the function of the law to balance all action. The law of karma is the law of the scale.

This law is present in everything. For everything we do there is a reaction, a response. And perhaps some of us DO get this, and we try to behave well.

But the true depth of this law, the profound reach of this law, is something that none of us truly understand. Because if we did, we would not live the way we do.

What would happen if we really understood that everything we think creates karma?

Every thought!

Every single, solitary thought that enters your mind, that processes in your mind…

This is to say nothing of our feelings, our intentions, our fantasies, and our actions! Thought alone can create karma. That means that our thinking is creating something. Our out-of-control mind, that runs and thinks and considers and imagines without control and without awareness is generating a constant stream of energy, an energy that will inevitably have some effect.

In us, by far the majority of our thinking is self-concerned. Most if not all thoughts are about us and what we want. Most if not all thoughts are coming from selfish desire, from concern about MYSELF, ME, WHAT I WANT. And we cannot control it. We cannot stop thinking. Those of us who try to meditate face this tremendous reality everytime we sit. Thoughts are happening on many levels of the mind, both subtle and gross, and they are manifesting without a conscious choice on our part.

This is a wellspring of suffering for us. Because we are ignorant of the effect of this way of living, we persist in deepening our suffering.

This is not a matter of opinion. This is not a matter of what one doctrine says or what another teacher says. This is a matter of life and death, of pain and suffering. The full understanding of this law is vital no matter what tradition you believe in, no matter what you want to do with your life, because whatever you do you are subject to the law of karma and if you remain ignorant of this law, you will create nothing but problems for yourself and others.

Many of us may think that this Law only applies to things like stealing or murder. But really, it applies to everything in life. Remember the words of the Master Jesus, when he said:

You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgement.’ But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, “You fool!” shall be liable to the hell of fire. - Matthew 5:21

Jesus is giving us a tremendous clue in this wisdom, that we should understand the law with our conscience, and know that we can kill with a word, with a glance, with our will. We can kill without a knife or a gun. And he tells us that even these actions, that seem so normal, so acceptable, are cause for judgement and punishment. He is saying what he said over and over: that we will reap only what we sow in life. As we do, so shall we receive.

And if we continue day after day nursing resentments against our spouse, our co-workers, and continue feeding our anger toward our father and mother, and continue generating anger toward people on the street, in the grocery store, on the freeway, what do you think you are sowing in the field of your life? What seeds are you planting there? And what do you expect that those seeds will grow?

It’s obvious, isn’t it? If we plant the seeds of anger, then happiness will not grow there. It’s impossible. Yet we expect this. If we plant the seeds of greed, then contentment will not grow there. It cannot happen that way! If you want to grow green beans you cannot plant a thorn bush, and yet this is exactly what we do, everyday.

Once we deeply comprehend this fact, we can see that we are responsible for the state of our life, we are responsible for the well being of others, we are responsible for everything that we experience in life. But for us, who do not comprehend, we blame others, we blame everyone else, and we never recognize that the primary person who is at fault for our problems is OURSELVES.

Whatever affliction may visit you is for what your own hands have earned.
- Qur’an 42.30

We all say, “If I had a better job” or a better husband or a better car or, “if I get this new computer or this new book or if I can make a little more money or move to a different city, then and only then will I finally be contented and happy and then I will start to do good for others. I’ll do some charity once I have everything I need.”

We all say, “my boss is making me miserable, my sister is making me angry, my wife is making me anxious, my friend is making me jealous,… and if they change, then things will be better for me. If my husband changes, then I can be a cheerful person. But as long as he keeps being the way he is, then I can’t do it.”

Whatever harm a foe may do to a foe, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind can do one far greater harm. – The Buddha Shakyamuni, from the Dhammapada, 42

We are hurting ourselves. It is not my bosses fault that I am miserable at work. It is my reaction to it that creates my suffering. And really, it is karma: if someone is making me suffer, it is my responsibility to see how I have made others suffer in the same way.

Confucius said:

In vain have I looked for a single man capable of seeing his own faults and bringing the charge home against himself.

We must begin to examine our lives, and our minds, in order to see why we are in the situation we are in. And what are we doing in response to it all?

Our habits of thinking, habits of feeling, and habits of action are all self-centered. None of us have selfless habits. And really, this is a tremendous clue to us, a way for us to determine when and where we are acting in an out of balance way: we must begin to recognize when we are acting out of self-will. That is, seeking to satisfy our selves, our sense of “me,” our attachments, our desires, our wishes, our rules, our requirements, our demands, our dreams, our passions. When we are concerned only with feeding ourselves, or our own interests, WHO ARE WE STEALING FROM TO DO IT? Who are we hurting in order to serve ourselves? What imbalances are we creating? Observe the state of the world, the imbalances from culture to culture, and observe this in our city, in our families… It is quite evident that the state of our world is a result of this habitual fascination with “me, myself and I”…

Suffering begins the moment we act from self-will. Remember the story of Adam and Eve: mankind was cast out of perfection when we acted from desire, and went against the Law. Thus, we began to pay for our actions. Previous to that, we were in balance with the Law, with Creation.

It is urgent for us all to recognize our responsibility for our life. Everything in our lives is ultimately our responsibility, whether we like it or not. And the sooner we recognize that, the sooner we can change things. It is only by recognizing that we create our own lives that we can begin to create a better one.

Dreaming does not work. Mind control, positive thinking, etc are nothing when compared to someone who knows how to act in accordance with the Law.

I have heard and realized that bondage and salvation are both within yourself.
- Acarangasutra 5.36

The law of karma is in activity in your life every day. Every moment. And in every moment, in every action, in every thought, in every feeling, we are creating something.

If you push against an object, it will fall over. Likewise, if I scream in anger at you it will have an undeniable effect on you. Even if I feel anger toward you, you will sense it. And even if I think angry thoughts about you, it will affect you. But the most profound thing is that each of these stages, from intention, to feeling, to action, affects me far more powerfully than you. It is as if my anger was a handleless sword, and in trying to cut you, I am cutting off my own arm.

This is so because everything we feel, think and do is energy.

Consider this: it is known in western science now that everything we see is an illusion, because everything is made of energy. Mass is not really solid, nor is it lasting. All mass becomes energy and all energy becomes mass. This is something that was understood long before western scientists “discovered” it, of course, but even now it is something that none of us can really grasp.

At bottom is this fact: everything in the universe is energy. Energy is manifest as vibration, and is characterized by constant transformation and change. Nothing is still or stagnant: everything is moving, and changing.

We ourselves are undergoing constant transformation, though we are ignorant of it. Our bodies change dramatically every day, but we do not have the capacity to observe it.

Our bodies, our minds, our feelings, our thoughts, our dreams, our desires, our intentions, our wishes, everything is energy. A thought is energy. A feeling of love is an energy.

Wherever we are at this moment, there is a tremendous exchange of energy happening moment to moment. There are powerful atomic processes happening all the time, but we do not have the capacity to observe it.

As someone speaks to you they are sending energy to you. As you receive it there is a transformation that occurs in your psyche, in your mind, and hopefully, if you are present and aware and not day dreaming, there is a transformation in your consciousness.

Likewise, as you think and feel there are energies that are being processed: all of this exchange of energy is a process of creation and destruction.

In transformation, there is birth and there is death.

When you think, something is created.

When you feel, something is created.

So karma then, does not concern mere physical action. It concerns the entirety of life, from the first moment to the last. Every moment is a moment in which something is created. And in every moment, something is destroyed.

This is not just a theory or an idea. This is not a dogma or a belief. This is a LAW. IT IS. Ignorance does not excuse you from the law. Neither does opposition to the law. You may not believe the government is just in its laws, and you may oppose the laws, but if you break them, then you will pay for that. You can park in a fire lane, but you will pay for it. Likewise, you can break the Law of Karma, you can do whatever you wish, but you will pay for it. And payment is not pleasant.

So it is better to be fully educated with regard to the Law of Karma.

The Law of Karma is the Law of the Balance. The Law of Karma seeks to keep everything in the universe in balance. That is all. It is not a law of punishment or vengence. Nor is it merciless. In fact, as you will see later in the course, it is deeply compassionate.

And most importantly, the Law is not “out to get you.” Law without mercy is tyranny, and God is not cruel and unjust. Just as your actions have created effects, then you can act further, in a different way, to create different effects, and cancel your debts. You can work with the Law, to be in accordance with the Law, and be in harmony.

The Lion of the Law is combated with the scale.

If you wish to untie a knot, you must first understand how it was tied.  – Buddhism. Surangama Sutra.

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