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KARMA - THE MECHANISM
SUTRAS
learn a new language, to tidy the attic etc. without us ever carrying through with it, to know that it takes far more than just a decision to achieve concrete results.
Only when we realize the immense power our own inertia and laziness hold over us can we assess realistically the enormous energy we need to raise to break this discrepancy between our decisions and action. Fortunately the same mechanism that usually deepens our inertia can also work in our favor: If we get into the habit of always acting on our decisions, it feels natural after a while to raise the additional energy necessary for carrying out our resolves. This also causes our character and willpower to become stronger, more selfassured and reliable.
Apart from recognizing and eliminating the gap between our decision and action, it helps immensely to become aware of the mechanism that creates new karmic attachments.
If we want to prevent new bonds, we need to direct our attention to our very initial attraction to karma (asrava). This is a highly sensitive point: - All initial attraction to karma stimulates us with (new) activity. As long as we feel no emotional reaction to an event, no new karma is bound. At this particular point in time we often can freely decide how to respond to this stimulation. If at this very moment we recall our decision to stop the (beginning of a new) karmic process, and act accordingly, e.g. by consciously following a different (positive) line of thought or to refrain from reinforcing a negative emotional reaction, we attract no new karmic matter. At exactly this time when everything is still open, we have the power to end unwanted karmic processes.5
5 A good illustration of this mechanism is the irritation we always feel in
the presence of a particular person. Yet however strong our reaction may be, whenever we meet this person, there often is a brief initial period during which we are not yet irritated. If we take this brief neutral period as an opportunity not to re-enforce our sensitivity, but decide instead to maintain distance, equanimity and peace of mind, the chances are great that our irritation will either not rise during this
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