Under the different thinking and beliefs or spiritual teachings in the world, some minds believe in everything is happening or manifesting under the will, control and authorization of a superior entity, where they don't need to be solely responsible for whatever happening to them in life, where if it's something good and enjoyable, it's a blessing from the superior entity because they have been good, and if it's something not good or painful, then it's their own sin, being judged and punished under the 'judgment' and 'authority' of the superior entity. While some minds believe in the wheel of karma, where everything is the responsibility of each individual and group of individuals generating the infinite loop of karma.
Certain minds understood the wheel of karma as -
In
the present life now, A is an evil being who performed many evil actions
unto many others, most probably it's because there's a cause from previous life that turn into effect in the present life, as there were evil karma seeds being planted
where all those who are now receiving the evil actions from A in the present
life had also performed the same evil actions unto A or some others in the
previous life. And in the present life now, A's evil actions that is the fruit of the previous karma seeds are inevitably generating fresh evil karma seeds for itself to be
harvested in the future life.
And so, in the future life, A will
be treated with the same evil actions performed by others unto it, where
all of them who are performing such evil actions unto A is because A
or some others had did the same evil actions unto them in the previous life that had generated such cause, and unwittingly, under that cause, they are now performing the same evil actions unto A or some others, but then which will also
generate the fresh evil karma seeds out of that evil actions, so that in the next future
life, they will be treated with the same evil actions
performed unto them either by A or by some others, where fresh
evil karma seeds will be planted again to be harvested in the next next future
life.
This keeps going on and on in an infinite loop.
Under such understanding, this is the law of cause and effect or karma under certain spiritual belief or teachings, where all are acting innocently under an initial existing cause (arising from desire born out of ignorance) which then keeps generating fresh cause endlessly. All existing beings are the karma seeds planters who reap the fruits of karma that unwittingly lead to planting fresh karma seeds ceaselessly. All are equally innocent being influenced by a previous cause, as well as, all are responsible for the initial cause, because all and everyone are ceaselessly acting/reacting in certain way and planting more fresh seeds is due to the previous and previous existing cause or karma that was generated from none other but all and everyone themselves, that had started to push off the wheel that keeps rolling endlessly powered by ignorance, egoism and desire.
Under this understanding, all beings seem to be having a permanent existence of an individual identity who are going through rounds and rounds of different endless transitions in endless life existence in order to reap the fruit of the seeds that one continuously planting, and all are trapped in the infinite loop of the wheel of karma.
Out of ignorance, some minds would believe that, in order to exit the infinite loop of karma, is about those who are now reaping the fruit of their past accumulated evil karma in the
present life now must go through their deserving evil treatment from A or some others in silent, which also means that allowing and encouraging A or some others to
get their redemption for being treated with evil actions by them in the
previous life, while believing that they can be 'burning off' their old accumulated bad karma and stop generating new fresh karma seeds by accepting such evil actions unto them in silence without retaliation or reaction.
But, this
doesn't really stop the loop. In fact, it's a very selfish and evil thinking and desire. Because A is still generating fresh evil
karma
seeds for its evil actions as an effect arise from a cause generated in the past, regardless of whether those who are being treated with such evil actions will react, retaliate, forgive, or be disturbed by it, or not. 'Some body else' will 'have to' be
performing
some evil actions unto A and the others, because there was a cause generated or an
evil seed being planted by A and the others for their evil actions, that are being encouraged by those who think and believe that it will help them to be 'burning off' their previous bad karma by allowing/encouraging A and the others to perform such evil actions unto them.
'I' will be liberated from the
loop of karma, by 'burning off' my previous karma via
going through and enduring other people's ill/evil treatments in silence, and either intentionally or unintentionally, 'I' am actually encouraging others to perform evil actions unto
'I' and planting fresh karma seeds for themselves for their evil actions performed unto 'I', so that 'I' can be
'burning off' my past karma, and be liberated. Isn't that itself is generating another karma seed for encouraging others to be performing evil actions unto oneself and/or others in order to gratify one's selfish intention and desire of to be 'burning off' one's past accumulated karma in order to be liberated?
Then some other minds would think that maybe they can perform self-torture unto themselves, where there's no others involved in such actions under such desire, thinking that it will not generate any fresh karma seeds or cause, in the process of 'burning off' my own bad karma via self-torture or self-harm. That is pure ignorance as well.
Any actions being performed under the egoistic attachment, identification, intention, motivation or desire, is still 'bound' by 'the wheel of karma', even if it doesn't involve some others. Deliberately performing 'self-harming' actions out of the egoistic intention and desire of craving or aversion, in order to achieve certain effect/goal or to gratify certain desire, doesn't liberate one from 'the endless loop of karma'.
And hence, it's about everyone, including oneself, to stop performing any evil/hurtful actions either unto oneself and/or some others, even if there was a pre-existing cause being generated or a seed being planted from the past, to stop generating fresh cause or karma seeds.
None should be encouraging anyone to be performing any evil actions planting fresh evil
karma seeds by ignorantly 'accepting' or 'allowing' any kind of ill/evil
treatments unto oneself and others in silence that empowers such evil actions (the effect of cause or the fruit of karma seed, as well as the fresh cause or the fresh karma seed itself) continuously to
happen.
This is only about be free from generating unpleasant karma seeds that give birth to unpleasant fruits that the minds don't desire, don't like, and disagree with, but what about pleasant karma seeds that give birth to pleasant fruits that most minds desire, like, and agree with? As either good or evil (pleasant or unpleasant) karma seeds are also generating and fueling the wheel of karma. The wheel of karma is not just being powered by evil actions or bad karma, but also good karma deriving from merits and virtues, good deeds, good behaviors, or good actions, according to such spiritual belief about 'karma'. Does that mean everyone should stop performing good and kind actions as well, in order to exit 'the wheel of karma'?
At this point, some minds might think that this karma business is too complicated, and would rather just believe in there's a superior entity being the creator of everything (or the very initial cause/source for all kinds of existence, impermanent changes, and ceased existence) and being the judge of the good and evil, either providing all kinds of desirable and enjoyable goodness for the good behavior ones, or authorizing all kinds of undesirable painful badness or punishment for the bad behavior ones respectively. It's nothing to do with 'I'. 'I' am not responsible for anything. Everything is under the will, control, judgment, and authorization of the superior entity.
x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Now, we inquire towards the teachings of yoga and buddhism about the nature's law of cause and effect and how to be liberated from the seemingly 'endless loop of good and bad karma' under certain spiritual belief (unwittingly performing actions/reactions under the influence of previous cause that generate the fresh cause), of what certain minds confused with the nature's law of cause and effect under the teachings of yoga and buddhism.
The wheel of karma that is binding, is limited and conditional, being limited and conditioned by the duality of good or bad, pleasantness or unpleasantness, desirable and undesirable, agreeable and disagreeable, enjoyment and suffering. It is the product generated out of the egoistic intentional actions motivated by egoistic desires under the influence of ignorance and egoism that gives rise to ongoing seeds and fruits that powered by as well as empowering ignorance and egoism.
It is 'binding' for the mind that is functioning under the influence of ignorance and egoism, where there is desire of craving and aversion towards duality of good and bad, pleasantness and unpleasantness, desirable and undesirable, agreeable and disagreeable, enjoyment and suffering, empowered by attachment and identification under the idea of 'I' deriving from ignorance, where the mind ignorantly and unwittingly generates ceaseless actions and reactions being over-powered by the desire of craving and aversion, which then generate more fresh cause/karma seeds that leads to effect, that are not necessarily what the mind would like it to be, or agree with.
Meanwhile, the nature's law of cause and effect (actions and consequences of actions, as it is) that is influencing all and everything that are selfless and impermanent to be arising, changing, and passing away, is undetermined, unlimited or unconditioned by names and forms, or duality and quality, regardless of so called 'good' beings performing 'good' actions, or 'bad' beings performing 'bad' actions, or imperfect beings performing both 'good and bad' actions, or selfless beings performing selfless actions (inaction in actions). The nature's law of cause and effect is the selfless intentionless indiscriminate power of nature influencing all and everything arising, changing, and passing away, or forming, decaying, and disintegrating, as they are, at their own causation and own pace respectively.
The nature's law of cause and effect is the influencing power influencing all kinds of selfless impermanent changes being what they are, while it is not affected by the selfless impermanent changes. Meanwhile, 'the wheel of karma' is something impermanent and constantly changing, being generated and determined by the egoistic actions/reactions under different intentions and desires born out of ignorance and egoism.
Egoistic intentional or random actions (both good and bad actions or a mixture of both) being performed under the idea of 'I', under the influence of egoistic intention, attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, and expectation, generate the pleasant or unpleasant seeds (cause) that provide the fruit (effect) of pleasantness and unpleasantness, that give rise to 'the wheel of karma', and fueling the infinite loop of karma.
Under the teaching of yoga and buddhism, all are selfless and impermanent. There isn't a permanent infinite self existence of an individual identity existing in all kinds of names and forms. Out of ignorance and egoism, there arise the idea of 'I' in the selfless thinking mind, that attached onto impermanent qualities of names and forms to be identifying as 'I', which empowers as well as powered by ignorance and egoism. All kind of yoga and buddhism practice is for the mind to develop correct understanding, open-mindedness, self-reliance, self-control, self-discipline and self-effort, to purify, discipline, and quieting the mind, to perform self-inquiry, to eliminate the idea of 'I' and egoism, to annihilate the veil of ignorance, to realize selflessness that leads to unconditional peace, and to be free from suffering deriving from ignorance and egoism.
All kind of 'realms', or different states of the mind, manifesting in this selfless mind ceaselessly in the present moment, arising, changing, and passing away. In this present moment, suffering arise upon the presence of attachment
or grasping deriving from the idea of 'I' born out of ignorance. In this present moment, there's no suffering upon the
absence of attachment or grasping, upon the absence of the idea of 'I', devoid of ignorance.
Upon the realization of selflessness, upon the annihilation of ignorance
and egoism in the mind, all actions/activities deriving from the
egoless mind under the presence of wisdom and compassion, are selfless,
intentionless, desireless, and indiscriminate, transcending all kinds of impermanent,
limited, and conditional names and forms, or duality and quality, and are
free from the binding of karma.
Selfless intentionless actions that are free from the idea of 'I' and egoism, are free from generating 'good or bad' karma or are free from the binding of karma. Although all and everything, including the minds that are free from ignorance and egoism, that had transcended the wheel of karma, will still be going through selfless impermanent changes under the influence of the nature's law of cause and effect.
The selfless minds might be free from the binding of karma upon the annihilation of ignorance and egoism, however, the nature's law of cause and effect that is influencing the selfless impermanent changes in all and everything, as well as, 'actions and the consequences of actions, as it is', don't disappear or change into something else upon the annihilation of ignorance and egoism.
Free from the binding of karma doesn't mean that there are no consequences of actions.
All kind of actions, regardless of whether egoistic or selfless, intentional or unintentional, attachment or non-attachment, will give rise to certain consequences respectively. However, for the minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism would be performing many actions/reactions out of ignorance that would give rise to consequences that are unpleasant, undesirable and disagreeable, which the minds don't like and would be in a state of disturbance/unhappiness/dissatisfaction/suffering upon coming in contact with all kind of unpleasant/undesirable/disagreeable experiences, where the mind again unwittingly generates actions and reactions under the disturbed state of mind that gives rise to further consequences of actions/reactions that the mind doesn't like and doesn't desire. And hence, it's binding (under the presence of ignorance and egoism).
For the minds that are free from ignorance and egoism, that are under the presence of wisdom and compassion, they have the awareness and self-control towards not performing any actions that will give rise to painful consequences in oneself and/or others. Under the absence of the idea of 'I' and egoism, the minds are not being determined or disturbed by all kind of affairs and experiences, regardless of whether they are pleasant or unpleasant, desirable or undesirable, and agreeable or disagreeable, due to the absence of craving and aversion, and hence, the minds are free from the state of disturbance/unhappiness/dissatisfaction/suffering, and won't be generate any ignorant behavior/action/reaction that give rise to ignorant consequences in oneself and/or others. And hence, it's free from binding (under the absence of ignorance and egoism), even though 'actions and consequences of actions as it is' are inevitable under the selfless impermanent existence in a world of selfless impermanent names and forms.
Consequences of actions are just being what they are, and it's non-binding, under the absence of ignorance and egoism, devoid of the desire of craving/clinging/greed towards the presence of all kind of goodness/pleasantness of desirable and agreeable experiences/conditions/situations/relationships/interactions, and devoid of the craving/clinging/expectation towards the absence of all kind of badness/unpleasantness of undesirable and disagreeable experiences/conditions/situations/relationships/interactions.
Such as there are ceaseless selfless, desireless, intentionless, indiscriminate actions or activities deriving from the sun, the earth, the wind, the water, and the space, to be enabling and supporting all and everything being here, arising, changing, and passing away, where all and everything are also changing impermanently in certain way respectively influenced by their own specific causation at their own pace, deriving from so called 'good or pleasant karma' that gives rise to pleasant, enjoyable and desirable experiences, and 'bad or unpleasant karma' that gives rise to unpleasant, painful and undesirable experiences.
Regardless of whether all kinds of sentient living beings generating egoistic actions and reactions to show appreciation or non-appreciation, being grateful or ungrateful, being selfish or unselfish, feeling glad towards of all kinds of selfless elements supporting all and everything to be existing, or feeling hurt, sad, and angry towards all kinds of natural disasters, hunger, thirst, extreme condition, challenge, difficulty, unpleasantness, sickness, injury, damage, or death that are directly or indirectly related to the activities of the nature of the selfless elements being what they are, there's neither good karma nor bad karma in such selfless intentionless desireless indiscriminate actions or activities.
The sun is just being what it is, it doesn't generate good karma when all and everything is existing under the existence of the sun, and it doesn't generate bad karma when some people are suffering from sunburn or skin cancer, or there are certain damages and destructions in certain objects deriving from the sun being what it is. Similarly with all the other selfless elements.
Even the selfless existence and activities of the sun and all the other selfless supportive elements are also impermanent, changing selflessly under the influence of the nature's law of cause and effect, even if there are no 'good or bad' karma being generated from such ceaseless selfless actions/activities. Such as Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Swami Sivananda, or Ajahn chah, were still going through selfless impermanent changes under the influence of the nature's law of cause and effect, after they had attained self-realization towards selflessness, but they were no longer being determined or disturbed by the selfless impermanent changes, being free from ignorance and egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment or expectation. And they continued to be performing ceaseless actions of disseminating the dhamma or the teachings selflessly, intentionlessly, desirelessly, and indiscriminately, until their physical body ceased functioning, transcending the infinite loop of 'good and bad' (pleasant and unpleasant) karma that 'exists' and powered by egoistic actions and reactions under the presence of ignorance and egoism, that ceased 'turning' or existing, upon the absence of ignorance and egoism.
Such genuine teachers of dhamma don't go around telling people, "Hey, this is your own bad karma created by yourself from the past. You deserved to be suffering and be treated with all kinds of hurtful treatments because it's your own bad karma. And it's good for you to be suffering. You should accept in silence and with great gratitude, and shouldn't retaliate or move away when other people are treating you badly or inflicting evil actions and painful suffering unto you because it will help you to 'burn off' your bad karma. Also, be nice to me, and I will reduce and take away your bad karma, heal all your painful hurts with my healing touch, and even give you enlightenment."
The ignorant desireful corrupted minds that are still under the influence of ignorance and egoism and impurities, that are still being determined by the perception of names and forms, duality and quality, that are still influenced by egoistic desires, that are still being over-powered by all kind of impurities and incorrect understanding, might be ceaselessly performing all kind of 'intentional' or random egoistic actions/reactions motivated by egoistic desires, while having wishful thinking that "I am thinking and believing that I don't exist. The teachings said that I don't exist, that I am selfless. I am not the doer of all these actions. All my actions are selfless actions. I will not be bound by any karma. All my actions will not be bound by karma. I can do whatever I desire, and there will be no consequences of action in return," however, it doesn't work that way. The consequences of actions, will always be there.
That idea, or wishful thinking, or desire itself, is already indicating that this mind is still very much functioning under the influence of ignorance and egoism, regardless of whether it's a good mind with good intention, good desire, and good behavior, or an evil mind with evil intention, evil desire, and evil behavior.
Inquire the truth of everything.