Instant Karma

Mowing the lawn is one of those activities I have mixed reactions to. My schedule as a yoga teacher is generally flexible enough so that I usually don't have to use up any of my weekend time with my wife, but that means that often I am mowing the lawn during the hottest part of the day so that I can get it done between classes. It's drudge work, but I always have a sense of accomplishment when I'm finished. It's mindless, but it gives me the opportunity to observe my thoughts - oh, who am I kidding. I usually just daydream. Or re-live conversations I've had that day. Or think about what I'm going to have for dinner. Or any one of a thousand thousand ways I can distract myself.

So, last week I was mowing the lawn, and, strangely, was thinking about karma. Not that I DON'T think about karma or other philosophical issues now and then, but I also think about other stuff. Usually the other stuff takes residence when I'm mowing the lawn. Philospophical daydreaming is best suited for long walks with the dogs. Duh!

So, there I was mowing the lawn pondering how all of the random choices I've made in my life have led me to this point, how all of our actions affect other people and things, how really NOTHING is random (or maybe EVERYTHING is), how people manage to cross paths with each other at significant points in their lives, how people tend to attract people who are like them because they tend to make similar choices, how sometimes the results of our actions aren't known for a long time, maybe even another lifetime if you believe in that sort of thing and then as I was completely distracted by all of the thoughts whizzing about in my head I stepped in a loose patch of dirt, fell, skinned my knee and looked in horror at the lawn mower which was rolling down the hill towards me. Fortunately I caught it in time, straining a muscle in my back in my haste to not become mulch. "AHA!" I thought, "There's the lesson! Pay Attention!"

If you've ever spent time with small children, you know that you have to keep an eye on them all them time. They've not yet developed the skill of being aware of their surroundings. They don't have the experience to know that gravity has a funny way of kicking in right when they're tightrope walking along the back of the couch, that parking lots are oversized, slightly more civilized, demolition derbys, that the nice-smelling food on top of the stove is probably still hot enough to burn or scald. So we as adults supervise them. We protect them. Most of all, we try to teach them so that they live to give us another panic attack tomorrow.

Most kids, though, develop some awareness of the potential dangers of their world by the time they reach kindergarten. More develop an awareness of how to get praise or attention at an even earlier age. So, they start making choices about their actions. They begin to notice that if they share their toys with the other kids, the other kids will share with them. They notice that if they talk back to their parents, or are disrespectful to their teacher, they get punished. They understand that if they behave in a certain way, certain results can be expected.

As we grow older, patterns of behavior become more ingrained, turning into habits. A habit is a recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.Habits aren't in and of themselves "bad." We also develop "good" habits like brushing our teeth, praising our children, wearing our seatbelts, etc. However we sometimes also let these patterns of behavior go un-examined simply because we don't notice them.

On our deck, there is a clear path where the finsih has been worn off by our dogs running down to our back yard. This path began the first time we opened the door to let the dogs out, but through repetition, the path has become more visible. Now, imagine all of your habitual thoughts and actions creating similar paths on your mind and body. It's suddenly clear where the term "in a rut" comes from. All of these impressions created by our habitual behavior, going all the way back to the first time we exhibited that behavior, are called "samskara" in Sanskrit.

So, how do these behaviors relate to karma? What do we mean by "karma." Many people see karma as direct cause and effect: if you do good, good things happen to you, if you do bad, bad things happen to you. While this is not entirely incorrect, it is sort of an Afterschool Special way of looking at it. What if all of the "good" and "bad" judgement were removed from the equation, and you were just left with thoughts and actions? Because all of these thoughts and actions create impressions, the more we repeat them, the more ingrained they become. So, if we are constantly acting in helpful, compassionate ways, we create those kinds of impressions, if we are contantly judgemental and selfish, those are the impressions we create.

Just as the path that my dogs have worn down in the deck leads to the back yard, the impressions we create by our thoughts and deeds lead us toward certain outcomes. Now, consider that very few of our thoughts or actions are completely linear; in other words, most thoughts and actions have an affect, direct or indirect, on many things rather than just a simple "I do A, and I get B as a result" scenario. Often this is represented by the analogy of a pebble being dropped in a lake sending out ripples in all directions, however I sometimes imagine it more like the old films I saw in elementary school demonstrating how an atomic bomb works. Imagine a table filled with mouse traps with a ping-pong ball perched on top of the spring of each trap. If you throw one ping-pong ball onto the table, it will start a reaction which causes all of the traps to eventually be set off. Now, imagine that the size of the table and the number of mouse-traps is infinite. You've probably experienced situations where you said or did something, and days, weeks, months, even years, later, an unexpected result of that action occurs.

So, how do we escape this endless cycle? How do we change our karma? The first step is by becoming aware. We recognize that we have had a part, consciously or unconsciously, in creating our present situation. At some point in our lives, a path of behavior began to appear which we reinforced by continuing to follow it. Now, again, habits are neither good nor bad, however our inability to recognize them can lead to outcomes which are desirable or undesirable. By becoming aware of the habit, we are led to the second step, discernment.

As we begin to examine each habit, we start to notice if the result of our actions is leading us toward, or away from, the type of existence we'd like for ourselves. Maybe we start to identify our actions as "skillful" or "unskillful." Once we begin to notice which habits or actions are skillful, in other words, those which lead us closer to our ideal existence, we reinfoce those habits by practicing them more often. When we determine that an action is unskillful, or one which leads us away from our ideal existence, we stop reinforcing them by finding ways to develop new patterns. Instead of reaching for a cigarette, carry gum or carrots. Instead of sitting at home lamenting lonliness, find a social activity which you enjoy like a hiking club or dance lessons.

The third step in this process is to be patient and compassionate with ourselves. Old habits are difficult to break, and, as we discussed before, many of our actions take a long time to catch up with us. If you find yourself getting discouraged by falling back into old patterns of behavior, or if something happens which is the result of a past unskillful habit, recognize that this is a process, and that as long as you continue to practice acting skillfully, eventually you will create new patterns and behaviors which will lead you to the type of life you've dreamed of. Just be sure to pay attention!