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HERMANN KUHN
SUTRAS
The simplest method to stop this cycle is to prevent the bonding of new karma (samvara). This process takes two steps: - Step one is our decision to stop all activities that cause the binding of new karma - it is our resolve to end prejudice, intolerance, laziness, skepticism, lack of knowledge, intense negative emotions etc. - Step two is the actual prevention of the acquisition of new karmic matter. This happens automatically when we put the deci
sion taken in step one into action. Splitting this strategy into two steps may appear like superfluous exactitude. Yet we only need to realize how often in our life we make highly concrete decisions - and then fail miserably to carry through our resolve. When we - for once - discard the thousand excuses we normally justify these failures with, then we know with dead certainty that a huge gap exists between our resolve and us actually doing what we intended.
We only need to remember how often we decided to exercise our body regularly - starting tomorrow' - and then tomorrow never came. When we simply recall how often we were determined to slim down, to stop smoking, to drink less, to learn a new language, to tidy the attic etc. without us ever carrying through with it, then we know that it takes far more than just making 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 what enormous energy we need to raise to break this discrepancy between our decisions and action. Fortunately the same tendency that usually deepens our inertia can also work in our favor: If we get into the habit of always acting on our decisions, it begins to feel natural after a while to raise the additional energy needed for carrying out our resolves.
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