Cause and Effect
What determines what body our mind will be reborn into? Causes and conditions. The principal cause is our own actions, or karma. The cooperative condition is what mental state we are in at the time of death. Let's examine these closer...
"Karma" means action, and refers to the volitional actions of our body, speech and mind: what we do, say and think. These actions leave imprints upon our mind stream. It is as if some energy of the action remains in a subtle way. When this energy meets with the proper conditions, then it ripens into our experience. For example, if we steal something, although the physical action of stealing ceases, an imprint remains upon our mind stream. At the time of death, if we die with much attachment to our possessions, this acts as a cooperative condition which enables the imprint of stealing to ripen. When it does, it attracts our mind toward a certain form of rebirth, a particular body.
What types of bodies can we be reborn into? The Buddha described six realms of existence (but remember, he did not create them, our mind does). At the moment, we identify so strongly with our present body and consider it to be "me", that it is hard to imagine being born inside another body, or having the perspective of the world that another life form has. However, our body is like a hotel; we inhabit it temporarily (although 80 years may seem like a long-term lease!), and then move on. Even within this one lifetime, look at the changes in our body. A baby's body, with its small size, fragility and lack of coordination is certainly different from our adept adult body. That, too, varies greatly from the feeble body of old age.
There are great varieties in our mental processes as well. If we imagine looking at the world through the eyes of a newly-born infant, or through the eyes of a senile old man or woman, we easily see that our perception of the world, even within this one lifetime, is vastly different at different stages. Likewise, when we are angry, the world appears aggressive, hostile and fearful. Imagine that mental state being so strong that it manifests as our body and our environment. That can give us a feeling of how it is possible to be born in a lower life form. Similarly, when we have a joyful and confident attitude, our perception of the world is correspondingly pleasant. This positive attitude can be so strong that it influences what body we take and what environment we are born in. Thus, we can have upper rebirths.
It is important to remember that the functioning of cause and effect to produce our experiences is not a system of punishment and reward. The Buddha did not create cause and effect or karma, he merely described how they work. The Buddha has no wish for us to experience pain; he would never judge or condemn us. Our unpleasant experiences arise due to our own actions. Since we create the causes, we experience the results. The Buddha cannot crawl inside our mind and make us think and act differently. We are responsible for our own actions. However, the Buddha, through his superior insight and wisdom, has described how cause and effect work within our mind stream. It is up to us to control our own actions. Part of the beauty of our human potential is that we are responsible for our own experience. Living in the present, we are creating our future.
There are four principal characteristics of cause and effect. The first is that positive actions are certain to bring happy results and negative ones definitely bring undesirable results. In fact, actions are considered positive or negative according to whether they bring the result of happiness or pain. If apple seeds are planted, an apple tree will grow, but chili will not. Similarly, if positive actions are done, happiness will ensue, never pain; when suffering is experienced, it is caused by negative actions, never positive ones.
Some actions are destructive and undesirable by nature. These include killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, idle talk, coveting others' possessions, maliciousness and wrong views. To avoid creating these actions is in itself, positive action. A general guideline for the actions to be abandoned and those to be practiced can also be made according to the motivation for the action. Those done under the influence of attachment, anger, closed-mindedness are negative actions. Those done with detachment, patience and a clear mind are constructive. We have to look to the motivation of the action in order to determine whether the action itself is constructive or not, for without the mind having a particular intention, we do not speak or act.
Secondly, a small action can bring a large result. Just as a huge crop comes from just a few seeds, a large or long result can be experienced by a short or small action. For example, killing an insect can result in a suffering that lasts a long time. You may wonder, "Is that fair?" But since no one created the law of cause and effect, fairness does not enter into it. Is it fair that when an object is dropped it falls to the ground? The law of gravity was not created by anyone, it is beyond being fair and unfair. It is simply the way cause and effect function.
The third feature is that if the cause has not been created, the result will not be experienced. This is quite scientific: if no seed is planted, a crop does not grow. This explains why in a car accident, one person is killed while another is not; why one person gets cancer and dies young, while another does not. One person has created the cause, the other one has not. Similarly, if we want happiness, we must create the cause for it. Just praying to be happy, but not doing positive actions is like praying to pass your exams, but not studying.
Lastly, the imprints of our actions do not get lost. That is, unless a negative imprint is purified or unless a positive one is destroyed by anger or wrong views, it will eventually ripen when the proper conditions are assembled. We cannot do an action and then think, "It does not matter. It will never have a result."
When the imprints of our actions ripen, they can bring several results. They can determine what body we are born into in our future lives. Destructive actions like killing bring a lower rebirth; beneficial actions bring an upper rebirth. Even when we are born human, our previous actions will influence what happens to us. For example, if we have stolen, we will be born in poverty and our own possessions will be lost or destroyed. On the other hand, generosity brings prosperity as its result.
Our previous actions influence our present personality characteristics. A person who is habituated with lying will easily lie in future lives. A person who has trained his/her mind in love and compassion, will be inclined toward those traits in the future.
Also, our actions influence the environment that we are born into. For example, slandering others results in being born in a thorny, irregular place, while abandoning such actions results in rebirth in pleasant surroundings. We are not born in the places that we are born in by chance. It is a result of causes.
The functioning of cause and effect is not predetermination. It is not fate. We have choice, if we are mindful and aware of our actions. If we are negligent and just do, say and think anything that pops into our head, then we are not making use of our choice, we are not taking advantage of our human potential.
Certainly, all of us have made mistakes and have done actions out of anger, desire, closed-mindedness, jealousy or pride that we now regret. This does not mean that we are irrevocably condemned to experience their results. If a seed is planted in the ground, it will eventually grow, unless it is burnt or plucked out. In the meantime, we avoid giving it the water, fertilizer and sunshine that it needs to grow. Similarly, we can purify our negative actions so that they will not ripen, or postpone their ripening, or weaken how they do ripen. This is done by means of the purification process, which has four steps.
First, we have regret for our negative actions; we calmly and wisely acknowledge our mistakes. This is very different from guilt, which leaves us emotionally immobilized. Then, we take refuge by relying upon the guidance of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, as well as generate an altruistic attitude of loving kindness towards all others. Thirdly, we do a remedial action, that is, one in which we generate a constructive motivation and a positive state of mind. This could be, for example, printing or reading Dharma books, prostrating, making offerings, helping the sick or needy, or any other positive action.
Lastly, we make a strong determination not to repeat the negative action.
If, through creating negative actions and not purifying them, one is born in a lower realm, how is it possible to be born as a human again? As a human, one may have created both positive and negative actions. The imprints of all of these remain on one's mind stream. At the time of death, if a particular negative karma is very heavy, or if it has been done repeatedly or if the person dies with attachment, anger and so forth, then he/she experiences the ripening of a negative imprint and is reborn in a lower realm, let's say as an animal.
In the lower realms, it is extremely difficult to create positive actions. Although it is possible for animals to receive some positive imprints from hearing prayers and recitations of Dharma texts or from walking around a stupa (a Buddhist reliquary monument) or a temple, they lack the opportunity to deliberately do positive actions. A cat does not understand when we advise it to stop killing and to contemplate love and compassion! A dog cannot practice the four steps to purify negative karma and has no interest in making offerings or meditating! This, incidentally, is one reason why our present human rebirth is so special. In comparison with animals, it is so easy for us to abandon negative actions and do positive ones. We have so many opportunities each day to do so.
In the case of an animal, this is difficult, so that that being must rely on the imprint of a positive action created while it was a human to ripen. Thus, when the karmic energy that sustains that life as an animal finishes — for rebirth in both the lower and upper realms is temporary, not eternal — then it is possible that an imprint left from a positive action created while previously a human can ripen, and again the person is reborn as a human.
Do not regard the law of cause and effect as a heavy burden to bear. We are not condemned, prejudged and helpless. Instead, knowing that causes bring results on a psychological level is our key to happiness. This gives us the freedom and responsibility to determine what our future will be. First, we put some effort into hearing teachings, thus learning which actions are positive and to be practiced and which ones are negative and to be abandoned. Then, we learn how to subdue the destructive thoughts that lead us to do negative actions. The Buddha gave clear teachings showing us how to transform our attitudes. Then, we put into practice what we have learned, bringing peace in our lives now and happy results in the future.
Freedom
Although there has been no beginning to this cycle of rebirth, there is an end. We are born again and again due to our ignorance, disturbing attitudes and the contaminated actions created by them.
However, since ignorance is an unknowing state of mind, and since disturbing attitudes are based on a misconception about the mode in which we and all phenomena exist, they can be eliminated by generating wisdom. A mind that clearly and directly knows the nature of reality can no longer be under the influence of ignorance. By generating the wisdom of the ultimate truth — that people and phenomena are empty of our fantasized projections onto them — then we free ourselves from the cycle of rebirth and can abide in a state of peace and bliss, called liberation or nirvana.
Freeing ourselves alone is insufficient, as there are countless other sentient beings. Therefore, the highest and most noble aim in our life is to purify completely all our defilements and develop totally all our potential and qualities — that is, to attain the state of full enlightenment — so that we may be of utmost benefit to others and guide them from their unhappiness and ignorance. This brings true meaning and purpose to our lives.
