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Guided Meditation: The 4th Reflection; Dharmette: I Am Subjected to the Results of My Own Actions

Guided Meditation

Greetings, sangha, wherever in the world you are in this moment in time, whatever the circumstances. Living^[1] in Mountain View, California, where the air is filled with smoke from the nearby fires. So, holding all those who are affected and all the fires right now in California and elsewhere, as well as the fire of the pandemic, economic injustice, and racism—all of that in our heart this morning.

Starting with that, just sitting with all the challenges in our world in this moment, not to mention the challenge that our environment, our planet faces. To be human: ten thousand joys, ten thousand sorrows. To sit in the midst of all of this, especially with these Five Reflections^[2] that really, really bring us in touch with our humanity.

So let us continue today together. We've come to the fourth reflection. Similar to the previous days for the guided meditation, I will guide us in settling with our breath and our body. When there is some stillness—whatever level of stillness—we will drop in the reflections. All four of them build up to the fourth one. The fourth one, the one that we will focus on today, and I will speak more about it in the dharmette in the 15 minutes afterwards, is the topic of actions or karma^[3].

The fourth reflection is: "I am subjected to the results of my own actions, and I am not free from these karmic effects."

Just to say a couple of words: the first three reflections have to do with our making friends with aging, sickness, and death—the human condition, the lawful way of unfolding. The fourth one also has to do with the lawful way that the world unfolds, that for every seed that's planted, the same kind of fruit sprouts. You can't plant a mango seed and expect to get a fig tree. So whatever seeds are planted, similar fruits are reaped.

The same is true with our actions. And here, actions refer to actions of the body, but also actions of speech, as well as actions of the mind. The first time I came across this in Buddhism, I thought it was quite profound to consider the actions of the mind. The way you think, the thoughts that you are planting in your mind every day—the thoughts you're planting in your heart, I can say, every day—those thoughts also are considered actions, and we're not free from the karmic effects.

There's a lot more I can say, but let's just practice together this morning, and consider this idea of karma afterwards.

I'd like to invite you to get into your meditation posture, whatever is appropriate for you this morning, or this afternoon, or evening, whatever your time zone might be. You may need to sit up a little straighter in order to feel more awake, or maybe your body needs to lie down. Maybe your body needs to relax and soften more. Maybe there's been tightness and tension. Noticing what your body needs in this moment.

Landing in this body in this moment. Arriving, fully arriving, just for this moment. Not that there's anything wrong with thinking and planning and remembering—very useful in our day—but for this moment, taking refuge. Refuge in this moment, in this sense of presence.

For the benefit of taking refuge, offering up the thoughts. Perhaps you can imagine the proverbial altar, or an actual altar, and you're offering them up. You're putting your thoughts on the altar for them to be held right now. Concerns, worries, fears—you're putting them on the altar to be held safely, sacredly. To be held by the Buddha, or Kuan Yin^[4], representing compassion and wisdom. Offering up the thoughts and worries, and allowing you to settle in this moment, this body, with this breath. Taking refuge, just simply being this body, simply sitting and breathing.

As you invite yourself to a moment of refuge, being in touch with the body, with the sensations of the body. Feeling the sensations of your feet and the earth. Connected to the earth, Mother Earth, grounded, rooted. You're sitting on a cushion, the underside of your legs touching the earth. Your sit bones, your bottom, the entire underside of your legs, connected to the earth, rooted^[5] on this earth, just like a well-rooted tree.

On this planet of ours, you too, feeling yourself connected to the earth. Rooted as if you had roots that went deep into the ground. Feeling yourself embodied, grounded, firmly planted. And just as if you were a tree, feeling your trunk—the beautiful, magnificent trunk—raised upright from the earth, supporting verdant green, lush branches. Just as a tree breathes air, feeling yourself breathing, being breathed, supported by oxygen.

Staying connected to the body, to your trunk, feeling well-rooted, connected to the earth, being breathed.

And if you wish, I'd like to invite us now to drop in the reflections. And again, similar to the previous days, dropping these reflections into the body, letting them resonate, reverberate. Not so much thinking about them, but just dropping them in to see what arises. Something or nothing is just fine.

The first reflection: Just like everyone, I am of the nature to age; I have not gone beyond aging. Breathing with it.

The second reflection: Just like everyone else, I am of the nature to sicken; I have not gone beyond sickness.

The third reflection: Just like everyone else, I am of the nature to die; I have not gone beyond death.

Dropping in the fourth one today: I am subjected to the results of my own actions, and I am not free from these karmic effects. I am subjected to the results of my own actions, and I am not free from these karmic effects.

If you find that rumination has arisen, maybe offering up a chain of thoughts, maybe putting it on the altar again to be held sacredly so that you come back to it later, and feeling rooted, connected to the body, breathing.

Okay, let us drop in the fourth reflection one more time. Just like everyone else, I am subjected to the results of my own actions, and I am not free from their karmic effects.

Thank you. And for the last moments of the sit together, I'd like to invite us all to engage in some wholesome mental actions of kindness. Holding ourselves with kindness for whatever arose, or did not arise, during this meditation. Whether the mind was very settled, or whether you were sleepy or distracted, without attachment to outcome, holding yourself with kindness. You've tried, you planted the seeds of wholesome action by showing up, by doing your best, by trying to align your actions with your wholesome intentions to grow in wisdom and compassion.

So appreciating yourself, extending mettā^[6], goodwill, friendliness: "Thank you, me, for showing up." And extending that mettā, goodwill, friendliness, kindness, and appreciation to all those in the sangha who are practicing with you in this moment, near and far. We're supporting you, and showing up right now.

And extending it also further—this appreciation, this mettā, goodwill, friendliness—not just to all who are practicing right now, but to all practitioners everywhere. And even further, all beings everywhere. All beings.

May our actions in the world—whether they are mental actions, actions of the mind, speech, or physical actions in the world—be of goodness and serve all beings everywhere. Serve wisdom and compassion for all beings everywhere, which includes ourselves.

Dharmette

Thank you, sangha. I'd like to say a few words about this fourth reflection especially. All of these reflections, they are a way for us to face, to accept, to make peace every day with the reality of being human. This is what it's like. Instead of hating it, instead of, La la la la la, I wish it were otherwise—it's not. We will age, we will get sick, we will die. This is just a part of being human. And also, we are subjected to the karmic effects of our own actions. It's part of it.

One thing that I also appreciate about this fourth one is that even though the regular mind might treat the first three as bad news—"Oh yeah, getting old, getting sick, dying"—which it isn't, it's just the way things are. Like what I shared with you the first day: "It's raining. Okay, it's raining." It's just sort of, "Oh, I wish it weren't raining, I don't like rain, I get wet." That's just the way it is: it's raining, okay?

So even though a non-accepting mind could see the first three as bad news, even though they aren't, as I'm trying to point out, it's just the way things are. Especially with the fourth one, there are actually two ways to consider it. Because as we're subjected to the karmic effects of our own actions, whatever seeds we plant, it could be wholesome seeds, it could be unwholesome seeds. I appreciate seeing the two sides of this fourth reflection, just realizing: yes, whatever seeds I plant, I am subjected to their karmic results, whether I plant wholesome seeds or unwholesome seeds.

So it's not so much an admonition—"Oh, I am subjected to..."—like, yeah! Yay, I am subjected to it! It can be considered actually a celebration, that's what I'm trying to point out. Yes, I am subjected to the results of my own actions. Yay! How empowering is that?

That's my lead-in, actually, to speak about karma. Karma is one of these words that the West has adopted and is used so willy-nilly everywhere. Somebody's having a bad day, "Oh, it's my karma." It's used in a very unproductive, unhelpful way, this concept of karma. So my invitation is to not think about karma as something that's passed down miraculously, magically, from some life you don't even know if you lived or not, or this rebirth thing. Without getting into all that, and especially something coming from the past—put that aside. Really consider karma as an empowerment, as an empowering teaching.

Whatever actions, whatever seeds are planted in this moment, they precondition what fruits arise in the future. Even right in a few seconds, or months, or years, or decades. So think of it as the seedlings that you're putting in the ground in this moment. Think of it moving forward, not coming to you from some unknowable past, magical thinking. Here you are in this lifetime. You are planting seeds all the time. You're planting seeds of thought, you're planting seeds of speech, planting seeds of action in the world. How empowering! And you are subjected, just like everyone else, to the seeds you are planting.

If we wanted to think about this teaching from a neuroscience perspective just for a moment, what the neuropsychologist Donald Hebb^[7] said years ago: the neurons that fire together, wire together. This has been co-opted by everyone. So as we engage more and more in particular patterns of thinking, particular patterns of speech, patterns of action, that becomes connected, becomes who we are. So of course we become subjected to their results! You don't have to even engage in magical thinking; that's who you become.

If you keep thinking angry thoughts, you will act angrily in the world, and you'll become an angry person, and then the world seems like it's an unsafe and angry and hostile place, because that's your perception. Your thoughts will affect your speech, your actions, and your perception of the world. So that's how it will affect you.

Besides, of course, there are actions in the world. If you slap a friend, they won't be happy. They'll slap you back, perhaps, or be very upset. So there are also those actions in the world that we are seeding. Or if you're kind to someone, even if it's not repaid by them, there is a sense of goodness, gladness in your own heart, that you feel you have been generous. You're a generous person. Ah, wow, you sleep better, your heart is less tight, is more relaxed, is more spacious. You become happier. You become subjected to the results of your own actions. So there are many ways to really consider this.

So yes, the Five Reflections, today with the fourth one. My invitation to you for the rest of the day, as you are moving about, as you are planting seeds—we plant so many seeds every day, even if you don't interact with a single person. We're planting actions of the mind. So many seeds of thought.

For example, the practice that we do on the cushion, of course, it plants seeds, but going around our daily life, we're planting so many seeds. So mettā, cultivating kindness, friendliness, goodness towards ourselves and towards others, is a wonderful way to plant seeds of kindness, goodwill, wholesome seeds towards ourselves and others.

So, for example, as you're going through your day today, just pay attention to the actions of the mind, to the actions of speech, the actions of the body. Again, not like, "Oh, what seeds am I planting?" Not that kind of an attitude. Notice also the way you're holding these teachings. Hold them with curiosity, hold them with delight, hold them with awareness to be more awake. The whole point of all this teaching is so that we become free and more awake to our humanity.

See all your action seeds with curiosity, and maybe bring this reflection in with you: "Oh yeah, I am subjected to the results of my actions. Ah, interesting, fascinating! This is a part of the lawful way things unfold to be human." It's awe-inspiring.

And just to say one last thing: this cosmology, that actually your actions matter. At the time of the Buddha, there were many different philosophies. Some believed that your actions didn't matter, whatever you did didn't matter, etc. So this really stands in contrast to many different philosophies in the world, and it makes sense. I invite you to practice with this today, with this reflection.

Announcements

One announcement I have: yesterday I asked if you would be interested in a community meeting on Friday after a teaching, which is tomorrow, so that we come together and discuss these Five Reflections. These are such precious, interesting teachings, so for us to come and discuss how you have been affected, and learn from community wisdom. There's so much wisdom in this community to really practice together in this way. Many people said they were interested, thank you for expressing your interest by either sending an email to IMC or putting it on YouTube. So yes, we will have a community meeting, and the information is already on the website, and we'll put the link also in the chat tomorrow.

May you be well, may you be safe, especially with everything that is going on in our world. And may we all wake up to the results of our actions, wholesome and otherwise, in this human life we all co-create together. Take good care. Be well till tomorrow.