The Laws of Karma explained: The Meaning of Life and Why 'bad' things happen to 'good' people...

This kind of misunderstanding is rife online, and makes it easy to understand why some people spout such nonsense.

Hi there, I hope you are well. Brother's and sisters, as part of the last post, I opened up the forum and asked if people had any burning issues that they wished me to write about. There have been some great suggestions come in, and I would like to say thank you for those - keep 'em coming! The first topic I will write about by request is Karma and Rebirth, and in spite of it's perennially thorny nature, I am more than happy to oblige. Two days ago I received the following email which caught my eye:

"I recently made contact with someone who is suffering from a terminal illness. He believes that his illness is due to karma-vipaka and he will be reborn in a more healthy physical body. We are discussing karma-vipaka and that the body is also impacted by biological/ hereditary/ enviromental facts not solely 'KV' and its important to understand this. What other teachings can we discuss to support him to understand what/ why this is happening to him and to ease his suffering....thank you Uncle Dharma-Farmer..."

Wow... That's a really tough situation to be in. If you read this, my friend, I am very sorry to hear that, and considering that I am going through a cancer scare at the moment, it seems rather fitting to prioritise this request. To answer the question directly, yes, perhaps there are a few things to reflect on here which hopefully will ease your suffering. To keep this VAST subject as short as possible, I will look at Karma-Vipaka this week, and Rebirth will be considered in a few days time, if that's cool? Aside from the obvious suggestion to look into the Four Noble Truths, I hope the following is of use...

The Three Lakshanas:
The first teachings I would suggest discussing in conjunction with Karma-Vipaka are the Three Lakshanas, or marks/characteristics of conditioned existence. This is the teaching that all phenomena, including this screen, you and me, dear reader, are: 

1. Impermanent (Anitya) - not eternal or ever-lasting.
2. Composite (Anatta) - compounded of other things and lacking a fixed, independent nature.
3. Frustrating (Dukha) - ultimately dissatisfying, and eventually, a source of suffering. 

Take a car for example. We all know it doesn't last forever, mainly BECAUSE is it made up of lots of smaller parts which wear down and break through repeated use and as a result cannot provide us a never-ending source of happiness. In fact, eventually it becomes a source of suffering BECAUSE it doesn't last forever and because it is compounded (made up) of other 'things'. It may even become a source of frustration before that... Think of the tax, the insurance, the stress when the paintwork gets scratched, the worry of it being stolen when parking in a decidedly dodgy neighbourhood etc. Not only that, no car, in and of itself, is able to be a fundamental source of uninterrupted happiness and joy. Nothing can, but because of our ignorance in this matter, we project our desires for things to be otherwise onto the world and thus time and time again we set ourselves up for a disappointing fall. 

Cheery huh? It's easy to see why some people might initially think Buddhism is a pessimistic belief system, but when we consider these characteristics, they all offer us a gateway to freedom. If we see things as they really are, or at least try to, they begin to lessen their hold over us. We can see our own lives as they really are: as finite, inter-connected and full of ups and down which we don't have full control over. Life, in reality, is an absurdly complex series of arisings and ceasing of phenomena, people, places, and perceptions that are in a constant state of flux. Deal with it, or not, but don't expect it to be anything other than thus. In fact, there is a real freedom and appreciation that can come with getting your head around the idea that because nothing stays the same or is as it seems, all beings, times and places are to be cherished, honoured and savoured. Experiences are what we make of them. They are just experiences, and we create the labels 'good' and 'bad', positive or negative, based on our emotional responses (usually subconscious and habitual) to them. Life is neutral. It's is just... Life... Fleeting, finely interwoven and fluctuating, forever...

Buddhism in this sense is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. It is simply realistic. In light of this non-judemental realism, we can in fact go one step further and we can confidently assert that Buddhism is in fact melioristic, meaning that it encourages the individual to better society as a whole by their own conscious efforts of self-improvement. The teachings of Buddhism are very empowering, both collectively and for the individual, and as a belief system it refuses to accept any power you try and project onto it. That power is yours alone to squander or make use of, as you see fit. Surely, to work for the betterment of all beings is enough to give life a sense of meaning?

The human body and our minds are no different to a car, or anything else in that sense. They are temporary, and constantly changing. They are made up of mental events and organs and what we call 'the body' and 'the mind' are actually nothing more than linguistic conveniences, a synopsis through nouns, and nowhere can we find one specific thing called 'the body' or 'the mind' which is independent of all their constituent parts. They have a symbiotic relationship with each other, and in fact are both totally dependant and interconnected through a myriad of other obscenely complex and incalculable factors, both internal and external. Even the number of parts it involves changes from person to person, most obviously in amputees or people who have had organs removed.. No two bodies are identical, not even in twins. Each individual body is a not a fixed thing but in reality, a process, constantly changing, just like every other thing in the universe. It is the nature of reality itself, and the idea that our bodies should be any different, that 'we are the exception to the rule' is rationally absurd. If it is a fact of life that all things must pass, then we need to start coming to terms with it pretty sharpish. Often people, once they come to terms with the facts of the Three Lakshanas, actually feel a release, as if a huge burden has been dropped. They are no longer looking at their bodies, their minds and the world around them in terms of what the Buddha described as 'topsy-turvey views' - The Four Viparyasas or 'perverse delusions', we all have to some extent. As a supportive and closely related teaching I would advise us all to look them up and consider. They, along with the Three Lakshanas, explain much suffering in this world. They are, in brief:

The Four Viparyasas.
1. That which is pleasurable is actually a source of future suffering
2. That which is separate is actually inter-connected and interdependant/lacking fixed self.
3. That which is pure is actually impure
4. That which is permanent is actually transient and constantly changing.

Look at a beer for example: 1) at the very least it costs money and kills brain cells, whilst in excess it gives us a hangover. 2) To enjoy a beer outside a bar in a hot summer's day, many factors need to happen in exactly the right order. The beer didn't just magic itself into existence, neither did the bar nor the drinker, and on the most obvious level, your consumption of it is entirely dependant on someone having to (at the very least) provide you with a glass from which to drink. The beer is NOT just the liquid, it is everything that supports the creation of the liquid and it's epic journey from an idea in one person's mind, into a glass, into your actual face. 3) I think the idea of 'impurity' is easy enough to understand - it is made up of ingredients, and most people enjoy the idea of drinking a beer on a hot day more than actually drinking the beer itself... It's almost as if we try and match up the mental construct of 'beer' to the reality, but in doing so, we invariably fail. They never taste as crisp and refreshing as the adverts make out and this, again leads to a disappointment on our part. Jean Claude Van Damme and his unfeasibly restricted denim-clad crotch has much to answer for. Finally, 4) everybody knows that the first sip tastes the best, and the further down the pint you get, the more 'normal' it tastes. Besides, as you drink it, the beer in the glass changes in volume, and then is broken down by the body into different chemicals. In truth, that 'beer' was a process, from start to finish, and above all else it was a choice. It is a conscious, willed decision to drink the enticingly flavoured ethanol (in and of itself, a highly toxic poison) due to it's capacity to induce the pleasant sensation of mild brain damage. Thus we are brought onto the nub of the matter, the issue of conscious decisions and volitional actions of body, speech and mind having undeniable consequences, or Karma-Vipaka, as it is otherwise known.

Firstly then, let us clarify the term first:

"Karma"

Karma is NOT some all-seeing cosmic version of poetic justice, mysteriously floating through the universe, exacting revenge of 'bad' people once we ourselves are no longer looking. It is nothing to do with people 'getting their come-upance'. It has nothing to do with accruing 'merit' (whatever the hell that might be) and certainly isn't something you receive. It is not something to be feared, and almost certainly not what you think it is. Tibetan Buddhists talk about it a lot in relation to past lives, which again will be left to next weeks post exploring rebirth. It is not something which is aware of you, and it is not a creator God (and neither was the Buddha, for that matter). I shall allow my teacher, Sangharakshita, to explain further...

It is NOT a way of justifying treating people cruelly or unskilfully, and must NOT be used to perpetuate social inequality, as it is used in modern Hinduism and in the Brahminical society of the Buddha's day. This type of 'Kamma' is not what we are discussing, and was dismissed by the historical Buddha outright! "It is by worth, and not by birth that one is considered to live a noble life", he was quoted as saying on more than one occasion. Our 'worth' to society, of course, is defined by our contributions to the world's happiness and wellbeing, and not by hereditary honour, education, financial means or IQ. It is our Karma, our CHOICES and DEEDS of body, speech and mind that lend a higher purpose, a meaning and thus a sense of nobility to our lives. Karma is 'chosen action'. Vipaka is the consequence of that action. It is as simple as that.

Karma is one of the five categories of natural laws which the Buddha said govern our universe, called the 'Niyamas'. They are the five orders of unalterable forces which shape our lives, and within which we have to operate. We don't have a choice, any more than a fish chooses to live in water. We need to understand these laws if we are to grow into happier, well rounded individuals. It's like gravity: it just is. Whether you believe in it or not has no bearing on how gravity operates, but how well you understand it (or not) will affect how you operate within. It is a context to reality itself, and by understanding how it works, you will react and respond accordingly, and as with the gravity, a misunderstanding of these natural laws can have serious effects on our lives. It's why ducks take off from the ground, just to be sure. So what are these Niyamas? Briefly and in the most simplistic of terms, they are:

1. The Utu Niyama - The Physical-Inorganic

These laws, such as magnetism, gravity etc cover subjects like geology, chemistry and physics.

2. The Bija Niyama - The Physical-Organic

This covers the laws governing the realm of botany, biology, genetics, stem-cell research etc. 'Bija' means 'seed'.

3. The Citta Niyama - Perception and Mental activity

This is the laws which govern organisms once they are aware of their surroundings, and covers behavioural sciences in animals and psychology. 'Citta' means 'mind'. 

4. The Karma Niyama - Volitions and Conscious Choices

This is the order of existence which is concerned with human beings who have the capacity to be self- aware, and conscious that their actions affect other people. This covers intentions, speech and actions. The world 'Karma' means 'action' and pertains to the world of ethical responsibility. The word 'Vipaka' literally means 'ripening' or 'consequence'. People in popular culture say "Karma" when what they are actually referring to is the "Vipaka".

5. The Dharma Niyama - The Spiritual

The most mysterious of them all is the Dharma Niyama. Once a self-aware person starts leading a 'spiritual' life, they start to come under the operation of these sets of laws as well as the others. Here we are into the realm of the Sublime, The Wordless, The Transcendental and moving towards Ultimate Truth of Reality itself! This covers the arts, poetry, religious experience and music. Here the word is used to mean 'in relation to Ultimate Truth', though 'Dharma' itself changes in meaning dependant upon the context.

From the outset, I do want to be clear that this conception of the Niyamas is a very simplistic one, and I am fully aware that, for example, biology is, ultimately, an expression of physical processes (most things are, as one of my high-school teachers was so keen to self-righteously point out, much to my perpetual irritation. It made me want to set fire to his Lancia Delta). The other thing to note is that like my old physics teacher, we have a tendency to over-simplify things in an effort to make sense of them. We are all, constantly under the sway and influence of many of these laws at once. 

For example: I experience the light of the sun (Utu Niyama) which is perceived by my eyes and my skin (Bija Niyama). This pleasurable experience makes me happy and overconfident (Citta Niyama) and more likely to wear ill-fitting shorts (Karma Niyama). The resulting distress caused to onlookers and passing traffic makes me question my desire to be attractive or the centre of attention. Wishing to be more self-assured or less vain, I start to meditate and after a while I gain flashes of Insight into the transience of life (Dharma Niyama) and more at ease in myself, I bin my disturbingly tight shorts. In this way, we can see the progressive order of conditionality, of reality and of the Niyamas themselves, each one marking a definite evolutionary milestone on the long, long road from the first explosive nanoseconds of the Big Bang to the our present day world of iPads, fracking and frappuccinos.

As should now be clear, the fact that this person has been diagnosed with a terminal disease involves the interaction of many different Niyamas (or groups of Laws). It explains why 'bad' things happen to 'good' people, and in fact urges us to disregard the notion of value judgements altogether. Earthquakes happen because the earth is composed of tectonic plates floating above a molten ball of semi-liquid magma and due to the pressures exerted along plate lines, we experience sudden shifts and pressure release as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The 100,0000 people who lose their lives in a tsunami do so as a result of having mortal bodies, governed by the Bija Niyama, and those bodies being entirely dependant on the earth, on terra-firma, which in turn is dependant on the relative stability of geophysical phenomena, the Utu Niyama... It has NOTHING to do with "their Karma in a past life", and to suggest so is glib and an insult to those families destroyed and leaves the ones left behind heartbroken and confused. 

In life, I personally believe that there are no acts of God, just acts. Acts of kindness, acts of cruelty, but conscious acts which arise in dependence on a VAST network of condition, some social, some genetic, some environmental but ALL of them governed and operating by the natural and unavoidable laws of the different Niyamas. One of the inevitable drawbacks of having a body is that one day, you won't. Not you, not me, none of us are exempt. In little more than 100 years, most humans alive today will be gone, and the world will be in the hands of a hopefully healthier and happier generation. This is why we make the effort to practice and lead by example NOW, to set up better conditions for them to inherit. For BILLIONS of years you and I didn't exist, but that's not upsetting, and it will be no different when we are gone. That's fine by me, just so long as we appreciate what we have whilst we have it and tidy up before we leave, clearing our plates and laying the spiritual table out neatly and with polished silverware for the next diners to enjoy. 

The world is full of real people experiencing very real problems, just like this guy, for whom I have every sympathy, but we need to concede, at the end of the day, that all suffering is born out of our merely rational understanding of the truths expressed above. If I really, and I mean really understood the teachings of the Lakshanas and the Niyamas, I wouldn't be loosing sleep at night about the state of my colon. I wouldn't be bursting into tears at the silliest things - the smell of cut grass, the cool breeze in the air and the curiously gratifying sensation of fishing a cold, soggy tea-bag out of the sink. For some reason, I can't get my head around the fact that my sister will never get to experience this last one ever again... Silly I know, but it's a reminded to me to stay present, to "be here, now" as my father's hippy generation used to say. 

This very sums up Karma-Vipaka and the experiential nature of faith in Buddhism. We must try to think clearly, act decisively and then reflect on the outcome for ourselves and others as to whether they were skilful or unskilful. Operating on the basis of Love rather than Power, we can't go too far wrong.

It all comes down to you and your own actions and choices, about taking responsibility where you can (in the Karma Niyama) and accepting those things you have no control of. If you try and hand all your responsibility and power to the Buddha, he simply smiles silently and hands it back, encouraging us all to take full responsibility for our states of mind and our lives in general. It is worth reminding ourselves that the Hindu conception of 'Kamma' is something very different, and is arguably a belief for self-substantiating and justifying the horrors of the Caste system, but more on that another time. 

Unless this brother of ours has been subsisting solely on red meat, cheep vodka and deep-fried cigars for the last 20 years, it is profoundly unlikely that his actions, his Karma, have been the sole cause of his illness, his Vipaka. Come to think of it, that's been pretty much my life up to the point when I discovered Buddhism in a meaningful way, but even so, if I do have cancer, it doesn't mean it's my fault per se. It just means that I have a body, albeit for a limited time only, and that ahead of you, dear reader, I am going jump the cue and get a sneak preview of the greatest unanswerable question in the world: What happens at and after death? This will be our subject to kick around in a few days time, but for now, I just want to send out lots of love and Metta to this guy who, in the words of the Buddha, is "going through a seriously sh*t time". I may be wrong on that quote, but if I am, it sure as hell ain't my Karma... Besides, all this talk just takes us away from our present moment, this present experience, which fleeting, imperfect and compounded as it is, is the only place we will ever be, the only place our hearts can heal. It's the power of Love. It's the 'wow' of the now.

Yours, wishing you all health, happiness and harmony in your healing hearts,

The Dharma-Farmer xx

This article is dedicated to anyone who is living with a terminal illness, or a serious illness of any sort.
May all beings be well, may all beings be content, may all being find peace in the maelstrom of life.
May all live without fear. May we value each other whilst we still have the time.

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Confession Time: Size does Matter! - The Power of Apology and Devotion in Buddhism.

Hi, and thank you for returning. I (almost) wouldn't have blamed you if you hadn't. Firstly, I just want to make an apology and take ownership of a few minor indiscretions. A few months ago, I promised regular readers that I would write shorter, more concise posts, skilfully offering a few reflections on the topic at hand. My intention was to provide an authentically modern and Buddhist perspective on whatever we were considering before opening up the forum for you, dear reader, to post your own reflections in the 'comments' box at the bottom of the page. I feel that in many ways I have strayed from this brief, and ironically with my lengthy posts, fallen short of the mark. Sorry about that. The monkey learns... 

Speaking of monkeys, I'm afraid I may have done them a disservice too. I regret that in my last post I allowed frustration to seep in, and I want to acknowledge making one or two comments which were not entirely skilful or professional. For example, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osbourne, I referred to as "a strategically-shaved ape". My intention was to highlight that here in Britain many people seem to passively accept our economy being governed by a man who has no qualifications to do the job. Many people aren't aware of this, and many others don't care. It's a real shame, and the fact deserves wider recognition. I wish to stay true to my beliefs, and to raise awareness of things like this, but want to avoid any undue malice in the process. I'm sorry George, but with all due respect, if any, it's hard to see how you are the best man for the job. This man, by the way, earns £145,000 a year, has a personal fortune of at least £5m just from shares in his family business, and has created a tax system whereby (surprise, surprise) he isn't even considered a 'top-rate earner". He then tells the people of Britain that "we are all in it together"... Hence I stand by my position, and so to all tree-dwelling primates out there, please forgive me.

Let the facts speak for themselves... Enough said.

I accused many people of treating their opinions as facts, and of allowing the baubles of our modern consumerist society to rob them of their capacity for self-awareness. On this occasion, in the heat of the moment, I wasn't much better. In an age where many people struggle to find 10 minutes to meditate, why I am writing articles which take 30 minutes to read? Up with this I shall not put! On reflection, I can now see how the message is in danger of getting lost. In the future I will try and present you with easily digestible, bite-size nibbles, leaving you savouring my Dharma-Dunkers, rather than gagging on the foot-long Krispy-Kreme of Truth, if you pardon my rather phallic metaphor...

Sadly, only one or two people pointed this short-coming out. I think it's safe to concede that I wasn't overly harsh but in keeping with the last post, I'd like to point out an obvious irony here: in an article intended to inspire clear thinking, I acted rather mindlessly. That being said, having to point out my own failings to others suggests that I am not entirely wrong in my assessment: the constant bombardment of distractions in modern life make it hard to live life with full attention.  

I know a lot of you may think I am being unduly harsh on myself, but I say these things in an air of kindness, and Nag Champa so all is well. If you choose to try confession yourself, please remember this is NOT an exercise in self-flagellation or trying to make oneself feel bad or guilty. For some, this can be a slippery slope, and above all else, you've always got to be kind to yourself, whatever you are faced with in life. It's all about self-Metta, first and foremost, and it can work alongside contrition. The whole point of the exercise is to gently bring awareness to the discrepancy, however slight, between one's actions and one's ideals.  But such is the strength of my desire to grow, to leave my old habits abandoned at the roadside of life, like unskilful snake-skin, that I set the bar very high indeed. In fact, the bar is ALWAYS being raised, the skin is always being shed. Always be realistic, and never defeatist - you will never conquer yourself by hatred, only by love. 

Ideally, I would like to be moving towards a level of self-awareness whereby I am not reliant on others to point out any transgressions of the five precepts. Hurtful, unskilful actions of body, speech and mind need acknowledging to oneself at least, and going further, in Buddhism a public confession to your peers and spiritually more experienced friends is considered the best way to strengthen one's desire to learn from the experience and change for the better. It really works too, trust me. As I write, the slight (and it is only slight) sting of shame is fast being replaced with an inspiring and positive mustering of my energies, to their very depths. The "Confession of Faults" is an integral part of both our practice and Puja (devotional ceremonies, pronounced 'poo-jah') in the Triratna Buddhist Order, and I am keen to engage the sub-rational, emotional aspect of my being with the intention of growing beyond myself. 

This is the point of Puja and devotion in Buddhism and explains the disparity between our higher aspirations and our actions; Man is not just his or her intellect or rational conscious thoughts. If we plumb the very depths of human nature, we see that there is another dimension to us as beings, possibly much larger than we care to admit. Aside from our reason, our theory, our intellectual knowledge of the Dharma and of life in general, we are also comprised of our emotions, our deeper volitions, and this part is often more unconscious than conscious. Our founder, the Ven. Urgyen Sangharakshita, discusses this in a brilliant series of talks on the Noble Eightfold path, again available on www.freebuddhistaudio.com (click here for the link to download the talks for free, I implore you!). The following, I feel, is very, very true of our emotional core...

(above) Sangharakshita in the early 60's, during his tutorship under Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, 

one of great Masters of the last century. Let no person question the authenticity or the lineage of 

the Triratna Buddhist Order (formerly known as the FWBO).

"It's obvious that we cannot just go against our emotions. The emotions are stronger than reason. If we want to put into practice what we know to be right, what we know to be true, we have to enlist, in one way or another, the cooperation of the emotions. We have to be able to tap those deeper sources within ourselves and harness them also, so that we may implement what we know to be right and true. Only then shall we be able to put what we know into actual practice. And this we may say, in a sense, is the central problem for most people... to find emotional equivalents for our intellectual understanding... Until we have done that, no further spiritual progress is possible."

How often do we fail to achieve something because 'our heart is not in it?' This is the whole point of confession and apology, of poetry and devotion in Buddhism; over time, to bring the emotions gradually in line with our abstract, intellectual knowledge. The following, taken from our Puja itself and arranged by Sangharakshita, is from chapter II of Shantideva's 'Bodhicaryavatara':

CONFESSION OF FAULTS:

The evil which I have heaped up, 

Through my ignorance and foolishness - 

Evil in the world of everyday experience, 

As well as evil in understanding and intelligence -

      All that I acknowledge to the Protectors. 

Standing before them 

With hands raised in reverence, 

And terrified of suffering, 

I pay salutations again and again. 

May the leaders receive this kindly, 

Just as it is, with its many faults! 

What is not good, O Protectors, 

I shall not do again.

Please note: here the word 'evil' is not meant in the Islamic or Judeo-Christian understanding of the word, but rather, in the sense of a volitional fault or unskillful action; that which leads directly, or through a lack of mindfulness to harm to either others, oneself, or both. We need to asses our own intentions when compassionately reflecting on our actions and retrospectively discerning 'good' from 'bad', skilful (Kusala) from unskilful (Akusala). When I recite the above verses and engage with them fully, the results can often be electrifying and deeply moving, with far reaching implications, so long as I 'get out of the way' and allow them to be so.

Myself performing Puja at the Triratna International Retreat 2012. Boom - Puja Power!

I know I don't need to be cruel to be funny, but why do people feel the need to be funny in the first place? For my sake as much as anybody else's, it's worth briefly investigating. For me, on here, is it ultimately coming from a sincere desire to inform with a smile, to help others, to satirise - yes, very much so. That being said, I am also aware that part of my conditioning (I am the eldest of five children) means that I do have an insecure streak, much as admitting it feels a bit uncomfortable. Like most people I am keen to be liked, to be affirmed as worthwhile, but in addition to this, I desire to be widely read, and of this I need to be mindful. Other writers make careers out of snide, harsh, sensationalist comments, but I am better than that.

Going further, when I examine my motivation behind the desire to be a professional writer at all, I happily discover that the intention is skilfull - I just want to make the Dharma available to beings, and I'm sure you'll agree that there's worse things to invest your time and energies in. Land wars in the middle east, for example. It's all part of my learning curve, of maturing as a writer, so thank you for bearing with me. When I attempted to make an audio recording of my previous post, a podcast for a blind friend of mine, it took HALF AN HOUR to read. If this were a book, that would be normal for a chapter, but this isn't a book, it's a blog. I hope that one day I might be published, as I feel compelled to give the gift of the Dharma, and frankly the wider the audience, the better. But I would rather this manifested, if at all, based on my capacity as a writer and your support for my cause, rather than stemming from a neurotic desire to be liked. 

I hope this post has clarified how we can compassionately learn from our mistakes and after which just get on with actually living our lives - it doesn't pay to spend too much time over-analysing everything. I hope you share your thoughts with others, creating ripples of positivity and across the world. I like to provide a bit of comic relief and a place online whereby people can learn about the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha in an environment which is not po-faced or pretentious. I am happy to bear my warts and all, admit my limitations and am keen for this blog to remain tongue-in-cheek, irreverent and iconoclastic. I share my thoughts, albeit with their obvious subjective faults, as an offering to you, so that you too may take the issues raised, and turn them over in your own mind and come to your own conclusions, much as did I in writing them. 

The Power of Confession has long been acknowledged as in integral part of the integration process, as the words suggest, and can be found in every form of transformative psychology and spirituality. 

Thus I come to the end of this post. There is much more I could have said, but I'll leave it there, for now. I will, from this point onwards, make a concerted effort to remain upbeat and kind, taking the subject seriously but holding it lightly. It's a good practice for life in general, as is keeping it short and sweet, and I do encourage people to share their thoughts below, should you have any. Do you have any particular problems you wish to discuss or for me to consider and write about? Do you find a discrepancy between your words and deeds, between your intellectual understanding of the Dharma and it's practical application? If so. how do you deal with it? Believe me, I am very interested in your experiences. We all practice differently, and looking at my 'stats' page, we have visitors here from LITERALLY all over the world, Brisbane to Beijing, London to Lisbon, New York to.. Well... Just plain old York. This is why I urge you consider sharing this using the new links at the top of the page: Beings WILL benefit, and who knows what immeasurable good could come of it...? Exciting stuff, huh? 

Wherever we are, and by whatever means work for us, if we can all keep raising the bar, if we can all take each day as it comes and simply try and become a slightly kinder person to ourselves and others than we were yesterday then it's a hell of a start. Then we can all, one by one, step by step, move ever-closer to that dream of universal emancipation for all beings, in love and peace. My word count is finite, but your potential is limitless - never forget that!

Yours, feeling inspired,

The Dharma-Farmer xx

May any merit gained in my acting thus go to the benefit of all beings.

May we all get better at compassionately critiquing our deeds, and in kindness, getting on with life.

May we all be able to hold up the unstained mirror of truth to ourselves and others. And vote more conscientiously.