Physical Karma – Tangible Residue
All physical actions requiring touch are physical karma. Physical karma leaves behind physical residue. Let us say you have an apple. You peel and deseed it to enjoy better taste. You eat the apple leaving the skin and seeds behind. Your action of eating the fruit has resulted in the residue of apple skin and seeds. You dispose of the uneaten parts. A cow comes and gladly accepts that as its food. The residue you left behind has now impacted someone else you may not even know. That apple you consumed is now in your body. It is processed by your digestive system. Two sets of residues are formed. The one that gets absorbed in your body is now traveling in your veins by way of blood and the unabsorbed portion (read: residue) is let out of your physical system by way of urine and faeces. Further, bacteria and other microorganisms may feed on such excreta.
Your physical karma of eating an apple has left an imprint on you and other lifeforms. The residue from the apple that is in your blood directly affects your physical health. The residue eaten by the cow has a bearing on its health and on the quality of milk it produces. The excrements from your body have an impact on microorganic life forms as well as the environment.
Now imagine seven billion humans on the planet doing that. Further, envision billions of other living creatures in the equation. The physical world is a residue of the collective karma. It is the residue that matters. Your physical karma has a telling impact on you and your immediate surroundings. Plus, it has an impact on the whole world. It is for this reason that the path of meditation requires a degree of self-discipline and restraint. No matter how miniscule an action, eventually it will impact everyone in the world.
Verbal Karma – Psychic Imprint
An instruction, statement, question, or anything else you utter is verbal karma. All verbal karma leave behind psychic residue. Words uttered by you have a great impact on your mind and consciousness as well as on the mind of those at the receiving end. A conditioned mind is supported and driven by psychic imprints. It is relatively easy to clean up physical residue but psychic residue takes much greater effort.
Let us go back to the example of the apple. Assume you are a person of fine taste and you are eating an apple. The apple is delicious, fresh and crunchy with perfect sweetness. You remark about its taste and how you have never had such an amazing apple. A few weeks later you may not recall the taste of the apple but you are likely to remember what you had said at the time of consumption. In fact, anytime anyone else is going to make a similar remark about other fruits, it may remind you of that apple. And here is the interesting point: had you not uttered anything while eating that apple, it would be much easier for you to forget about the apple. Why? Because you left no psychic imprint beyond the taste and sight of the fruit.
Mental Karma – Emotional Imprint
The subtlest and most powerful of the three karma is a mental karma. It leaves behind a longer trail, a form of psychic residue that I call an emotional imprint. It’s the hardest to erase. The origin of all karma of any type is a thought. Pursuit of a thought is mental karma. It has an immediate impact on your mental state, a lasting impact on your consciousness and an everlasting effect, however subtle, on your mind. Once again, let us go back to our example of apple. This time, you do not have the apples with you. The thought of an apple crosses your mind. You do not drop that thought. Instead, you start to pursue it.
From the original thought of the apple, you are recalled of the time you last had an apple. That thought may link you to the thought of you buying apples from a shop. Just note that the initial thought about the apple has now been replaced with that about the shop. The shop owner’s picture and communication flashes in front of you. You recall giving money to the seller. You are reminded of another customer, who was shopping for bananas, standing next to you. You further recall how she was carefully picking the bananas and her physical attributes. You are now reminded of her statements, her voice and how she paid to the shop owner. You may experience love, lust, or some positive emotion arising in you.
You are tossed back to the thought of the shopkeeper because he returns you the change with your bag of apples. You take the bag and start walking. You are now reminded of the market conditions. You may further recall some unpleasant incident that happened one time in the market. This shopping cart had scratched your car. You feel angry and frustrated that how could some people be so inconsiderate and on and on and on…
Had you dropped the thought of the apple at the very moment it emerged, you would not have gone through the grind of mental karma. And all this depends on your memory. If only you had remembered that thoughts are empty in their own right and that you didn’t have to pursue them, you would have not felt any negativity at events of the past over which you have no control in the present moment.
Memory plays a pivotal role in correct meditation. When you are able to retain only a part of your memory – that is, the object of meditation – you move towards achieving the tranquil state. However, memory is also your greatest hurdle in meditating correctly. Primarily because your memory is an accumulation, a storage tank, of your psychic imprints. Simply put, memory is the residue I’ve talked about.
anubhūtaviṣayāsaṃpramoṣaḥsmṛtiḥ12
A function of consciousness, memory is the unaltered collection of words and experiences.
It is not possible to empty your memory store. However, it is possible to drop the thought as soon as it starts to emerge. That leads to a state of non-recollection. When you hold your mind in the tranquil absorptive state, afflictions from psychic imprints start to fade.
Your mind operates on the famous computing principle of GIGO – garbage in, garbage out. If you do ill, speak ill and think ill, the residue is going to leave you sick. If you do well, speak well and think well, the outcome is going to be well. Excess of anything results in excess residue. The more you eat, the greater the inventory, the bigger the headache of managing it. Imagine having a warehouse stocked up with unnecessary widgets. Your mind is a warehouse. Do you really wish to stock it up with useless stuff? Watch what you do, say, and think, transformation will begin automatically.
A mind that has gone empty fills with love naturally. An empty mind is not a devil’s workshop. A restless mind is. An empty mind is infact a meditator’s nirvana. A mind that holds no grudges against anyone, no desires, no expectations is a hotbed of noble intentions. Good meditation naturally leads to that exalted state.
What Meditation is Not
“What have you gained from meditation?” someone asked Mahavira, founder of Jainism, a contemporary of Buddha and equally enlightened.
“I have gained nothing actually,” the sage said smilingly. “But, I’ve lost much including my anger, pride, lust and misconceptions.” Start with the premise that meditation is not about gaining anything. The notion of gaining or losing is a rather material (and not spiritual) way of thinking. Spirituality is not bothered with losing or acquiring. The right action for the greater good of
our universe is its only concern.
I don’t wish to portray meditation as a solution to all your problems, that won’t be fair. Even the closest disciples of Buddha, who meditated diligently, fought amongst themselves, remaining clueless and oblivious all their lives to the teachings of the great Buddha. Meditation never was or will be a substitute for virtuous conduct. Before I share with you what is meditation, it is absolutely critical that I tell you what meditation is not.