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Law of Karma and Interdepen den ce Origination by Venerable Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen RinpocheAu gust, 2, 1997at Ratnashri Meditation Center, Swed enThe philosophy of interdep endence origination is a very imp ortant su bject because we all live in a

relative state in a relative w orld. This relative state and relative w orld constitute the institution of

interdepend ence origination. We are all interconnected by cause and effect. The resu lt does n ot arisewithou t a cause and the effect does not arise from th e wrong cause neither. What our m inds are going

throu gh right now and wh at we are going through in our lives are all arisen from causes and

conditions. Karma , a Sanskrit w ord translated into action, is included in the su bject of interdependent

origination. Action becomes the cause and condition for manifesting effect and result. For example,

walking th e first step is the result of initiation an d it becomes the cause of the second step. Taking the

second step is the result of the first step and it creates the cause for the th ird step and so on. The

ph ilosophy of interdep endent cause and cond ition, cause and effect is not a Bud dh ist belief, but

rather it is how everything is constituted and how everything functions universally. We are all

functioning w ithin the institution of cause and effect. Without clear und erstand ing and awareness of

interdependent cause and effect, it is easy for us to become short-sighted . We perceive this body as

perm anent, un ique and real. Therefore we attach to ourselves and m ake effort only to bring

hap piness to this bod y. But how is this body originated? H istorically, some great practitioners,

pratyekabu dd has and solitary realizers meditated at the cemeteries and they saw bones, skeletons

scattered here and there and aroused sad feelings. We cherished th is body so mu ch in our lives. We

sacrificed m any th ings for this body. This was the result. They investigated further by asking where

did the bones come from? From death. After death , we saw bones. Where did death come from?

Death came from aging. We got older and older and wh en we d ied, we saw bones. Therefore, bones

are not independ ent. It d epends on death and death d epends on aging. Aging d oes not necessarily

mean old. We are aging every moment right after birth. Aging comes from birth. We age because w e

are born. How does birth come abou t? It comes from causes and conditions that exist. Anything can

hap pen w ithin that existence.Because of ignorance, we fail to recognize our own intrinsic awareness and as a result our existence is

overpow ered by grasp ing. Grasping, holding on to or to keep, is a pow erful mental factor. When we

see or hear something w e like, we wan t to get it or achieve it. Things that we d o not like, we w ould

like to get rid of them. This is a type of grasp ing. Grasping comes from crav ing, craving objects.

Craving comes from feelings. Feeling comes from contacting objects with ou r 5 senses -- we see with

our eyes, we hear with our ears, we taste with our tongue, we smell with our nose and touch with our

body. These 5 senses together with m ental form 6 senses. Feeling and contact come from 6 senses. Six

senses in tu rn come from names and forms. When we see form, we label and n ame it. This is a

person, a table, this is beau tiful, this is sweet, this is good, this is bad... We do not realize that all these

are just labels and names. Labels and names come from consciousness. Consciousness creates labels.Consciousness comes from m ental formation. We continuou sly create karma, m ental formation that

imprints in our consciousness. What d rives our karm a? Ignorance is the root cause of all these.

Ignorance is a m ental factor. It is a typ e of obscuration that p revent the awareness of mind to perceive

wisdom . It obscures the mind . When the mind is obscured, we see things as real, as substan tial and

we cannot see this interd epend ence and interconnectedn ess. Originated and un originated -- that

wh ich is born free from causes and conditions is un born, un originated . Everything arises from that

un origination is originated in the interdep endence. Since everything is interd epend ent,

interconnected in this relative state, all energy and forms are em pty. For example, this table here, is it

short or long? If you say that it is long comp are to that, then th is table is long. But if we comp are it to

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the base of the stage, the base is longer than the table, so the table is short. So the table being long is

emp ty. It d oes not exist. I d id not create emptiness, namely, table being long or shor t. It is emp ty by

itself. Being long or short are just labels. Withou t label, we cann ot commun icate. "What is your

name?""Alexander.""Without th e nam e Alexand er, we cannot call you. Where is Alexander?""is nowhere."Everything h as a label so that we can commu nicate and fun ction p roperly. Therefore, there is nothing

to attach to or hate. We should not attach to labels -- table being long or short. Knowing th is, we can

free our m inds from grasp ing, craving. Mind is also empty. For instance, our h ead d oes not have any

horn, so w e have n o mind to project horn to your head . This table being long is illusion. You eating

lunch is also illusion. Your hap piness, your emotions are illusion too. Illusion d oes not m ean

negative. This table being long exists illusory, not inheren tly, only temp orarily when compared to

that. We cannot d eny that this is not long comp ared to this, but not being inherently long because it is

short w hen comp ared to the base. Therefore, in th is interdepend ent relative state, everything that

exists is illusory, temp orary, transitory, momentary, imperman ent. Experiences are just illusions and

can arisen at any m oment. They are all empty. So there is nothing to attach to, nothing to hate,

noth ing to comp ete with , nothing to reject, no subject or object, no self or others. Because of our

ignorance, we fail to recognize the independence and emp ty natu re among all things.So our lives start with ignorance. From ignorance, life goes down to the 12-interd epend ent link.

When ignorance is there, a chain of this life continu es just like a wheel with no beginning an d end ing

go around and arou nd no matter what w e do. In this wheel, no matter how m uch we d o, we are not

free from suffering. Even if you are very successful in you r business and you can do an ything that is

expected, are you free from suffering at that mom ent. Why? Because w e cannot break the chain.

Arhats, pratyekabu dd as realized th is: everybody, Bud dh ist or non-Bud dh ist, is constituted in th is

institution of interdep endent origination. This is the un iversal law and it does not matter w ho you

are. As human beings however, we are sp ecially gifted with our intelligence. We can u tilize ourspecial brains in the best possible way so that w e may h ave the opp ortun ity to cut th e chain of

suffering and confusion and attain liberation. Therefore, know ing the p hilosoph y of interd epend ent

cause and condition is a special method to d ispel ignorance, cut the chain of suffering and confusion

and blossom w isdom . Right now, we are h ere and think that we are one solid independ ent body. We

are not solid ind epend ent bod ies. Our bod ies are mad e up of six elements: fire, water, w ind, earth,

space and consciousness. All 6 elemen ts have to be balanced. If any of them is absent or imbalance,

we cannot function. Therefore, we are n ot one p iece but a combination of many pieces. When there is

imbalance, we h ave to balance it throu gh d ifferent w ays. For example, wh en w e feel cold, we need

more heat. When w e feel thirsty, we need to dr ink. Suffering and hap piness are not independent.

They depend on causes (primary causes) and conditions (contributory causes). For instance, wh enfarmers farm potatoes, the seed of the potatoes is the p rimary cause. To grow potatoes, we need good

location, good soil, good climate and adequ ate wa ter. They are contributory causes. Neither one

cause is sufficient, we need both to grow and man ifest. We look into ou rselves, when w e have

suffering -- physical or mental, we usually blame soomebody else. We have this p roblem now

because of this or that p erson. So this or tha t person is the contributory cause of our problem.

How ever, the primary cause, the real cause, we p lanted the seed long time ago. For example, we have

headache due to sunshine and strong wind , therefore to avoid h eadache, we wear hats, take pills and

avoid sunshine. How ever, these are just th e contributory causes. The real primary cause, the karma

that causes us headache, the seed of the karma w e planted long time ago . If in case sunshine or w ind

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is the only real cause for headache, then anybody w ho goes outside and exposes himself or herself to

sunsh ine or wind w ill definitely get a headache. Knowing the ph ilosophy of interd epend ent cause

and cond ition is a sp ecial method to d ispel ignorance, cut the chain of suffering and confusion and

blossom w isdom. When w e clearly know the causes and conditions interdependen t on each other, we

can be sincere and truth ful to ourselves. We become fully aware of wh at karm a we are creating. We

watch our thou ghts and actions carefully and consciously so that we do n ot create negative karma.

We will whole-heartedly try to create positive cause/ karma an d avoid negative cause/ karma. We

will have the courage to take responsibility, accept consequences and to correct and improve oursituations. It is impossible to deny suffering or avoid su ffering. We have to accept it and learn from it

We cannot ignore karma, but we can always purify negative karma. Once upon a time, a mother w ho

had only one child and that child d ied. She could not bear th e pain and could not accept that. She

held on to the child and pu t him on her left shou lder. She w ent from p lace to place crying bitterly

wh ile asking "Can you revive my child?" She asked on e after the other and nobody could show her

anyth ing. In d esperation, she cried in front of Bud dh a and said, "Please make alive my child. I cannot

accept th is. This is my only child." Bud dh a said, "Go and find a hou se where no one has died in that

house and bring a han dful of mu stard seed from tha t same house then you r child w ill revive." After

hearing this, she left the bod y of the child next to Bud dh a and went from hou se to house, place to

place asking th at qu estion. At the end , she finally realized th at its not on ly her child died ., everybody

died. It is natu re. So she shou ld accept this because there is no other choice. The next story illustrates

how easy it is to hurt or d estroy others and how difficult it is to help others. It is easy for us to create

negative karma, have negative though ts such as anger, attachm ent, pride and jealousy and it is very

difficult ind eed to h ave positive karma , cultivate positive thou ghts such as compassion and loving

kindn ess. Once up on a time, there is a village in a country. Inside that village, lived a giant d emon

wh o ate hu man flesh. One day, the d emon came an d gave the p eople two choices. "Either I eat all of

you tod ay or I eat you one by on e each d ay." The people were all very frightened and decided th at its

better to be eaten one by one. They suffered so m uch so they asked Bud dh a for help. So Bud dh a came

to the village and met th e dem on. The dem on said, "Ill eat you ." Bud dh a said, " That is w hy I am

here. But before you d o that, I would like to ask you tw o questions." The demon replied, " What are

they?" Bud dh a asked, "Can you cut down all the branches and leaves on th is tree?" The demon raisedhis big knife and cut dow n all the branches and leaves on the tree in a short m oment. "What is the

next question?" asked the dem on imp atiently. Bud dh a said, "Please pu t all the branches and leaves

back to the tree." The demon was shocked an d stunn ed. "How can I put them back? It is impossible. I

cannot d o this.", cried the demon. Then Bud dh a explained, "You have taken man y peoples lives and

for you, its easy. How ever, to keep peop les lives is not easy. Look at your own life. If someon e take

your life , how wou ld you feel? Think about it. Meditate on it. If somebod y helps you , how w ould

you feel?" He felt deep remorse and received Bud dh as blessings and gave u p taking lives. The p oint

is that, because of our deep ly-rooted h abits, it is so easy to create negative karma and hard to create

positive karma. Some peop le say, "I believe in karm a" or "I do not believe in karm a". Karma, as

mentioned before, is a Sanskrit w ord translated into action. Action becomes the cause to man ifesteffect or result and is not a belief system. If it is the case that if we believe in karma , there is karma

and if we d o not believe in karm a, there is no karma , then it is better not believe in karma, includ ing

myself, since we create m ore negative karm a anyway. Lets forget it. Just becau se it is not the case, we

cannot d eny, reject or ignore karm a. It is a un iversal law as stated in the Bible -- If you p lant p oison,

poison w ill grow. If you p lant med icine, medicine w ill grow. Once we create karma , we either have

to experience it or pur ify it. It is un avoidable. This is the profoun d wisdom .Interdepend ence and emptiness are not created by Bud dh a, but rather Bud dh a realized how

everything functioned w ithin that relative state. Emptiness does not mean negative or negation. It is a

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wisdom. Knowing the interdepend ent and emp tiness philosophy op ens up w isdom and provide

great space to develop unconditional comp assion, loving kind ness. This great space is unoriginated

and infinite. The self-occurring intrinsic awareness, that dwells there in its natural place of rest, is not

sullied by any flaw.Indeed, infinite supreme qu alities manifest unceasingly from that. This great space does not d epend

on anyth ing but w e all depend on space. Without space, we cannot function and the whole planet

wou ld not exist. The natu re of mind living in that space is infinite, beyond causes and conditions.Our lives which is functioning in th at mind is unlimited. If we do not know this, we suffer. Even

though we know this intellectually, our m inds still wand er. Our mind s are controlled by two

opp osite forces. On the one hand , we wou ld like to cultivate good thou ghts while the other mind

resists that. Its very d ifficult to hold p ositive thoughts. It is because we have been so habitu lize in our

concepts and ways of thinking --- attachment, hatred, p ride, jealousy, afflicted emotions and so on.

The seed of inveterate prop ensity has grown so large that we feel that they are natu ral. They arise

effortlessly when we encounter the proper conditions. We suffer unnecessarily. Because of our

deep ly-rooted h abits, it will take us a lot of time, patience and wisdom to fully cultivate positive

thoughts and develop Bodd hicitta, uncond itional loving-kindn ess and comp assion. Therefore, we

need to d o med itation p ractices--meditate on the interd epend ent cause and effect, med itate on

imperm anence and meditate on the Bodd hicitta, in order to train our m ind and to penetrate into the

wisdom , the essence of all know ledge.Knowledge is infinite, like stars in the sky. There is so much to learn and our lives are short. We do

not have enough time to stud y them all. Therefore, it is imp ortant to know th e essence of knowledge,

app ly it and pu t it into action. Just like Milarepa, w ho w orked so hard , said, "When I know one thing

it opens the d oor to everything." So wh en he attained enlightenment, withou t stud ying all subjects,

he knew everyth ing. He got "the special button" to pu sh and this button opened u p every door of

know ledge that existed in th e wh ole universe. In ord er to cultivate Bodd hicitta, we need make effort

to train ourselves on the six perfections and 10 virtues and avoid 10 non-virtues. (The six perfections

are -- generosity, patience, perseverance, moral ethics, med itative concentration, w isdom awareness.The 10 virtues are: protecting lives of others, practicing great generosity, maintaining moral ethics,

speak tru thfully, harm onizing those who are un friend ly, speaking peacefully and polite, speak

mean ingfully, practicing the r edu ction of attachment and development of contentment, practicing

loving-kindness and engaging in the p erfect meaning. The 10 non-virtues are: taking life, stealing,

sexual m iscond uct, lying, d ivisive speech, harsh words, idle talk, covetousness, harmful though t and

wrong v iew.) Bodd hicitta is a special cause, a special techniqu e to purify negative karma , open ou r

wisdom and dispel all ignorance which is the root cause of suffering.