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to harm any living being including plant life, and utilising their time in spiritual activities, in the belief that if aayu karma is bound during such observance, it would be of auspicious type.
Feeling-producing karma (vedaniya) affects the psychic condition and is of two types: pleasant feeling-producing (saataa-vedaniya), and pain or unpleasant feelingproducing (asaataa-vedaniya). The feeling of delight or anguish is due to the realisation of the above karma; an external object or event acts as a prop and creates the conditions to reinforce the feelings of 'happiness' or 'unhappiness' produced by the realisation of the specific karma at that moment. For example when one is in the process of realisation of saataa-vedaniya karma, there are favourable conditions for gaining objects such as wealth, friends, relations or the occurrence of events such as success or winning which reinforce the feelings. The reverse is the case when one realises the asaataa-vedaniya karma.
Causes of Karmic Bondage Karmic bondage is due to activities of mind, speech and body; passions; spurious faith; indulgence; and negligence. The rise of deluding karma produces attachment and aversion, resulting in the influx of inauspicious karma. Activities that promote spiritual advancement lead to the influx of auspicious karma. Conscious and sub-conscious desires attract karmic particles and further karmic bondage. Fresh karmic bondage is not dependent on earlier karma, but is dependent on our own psychic and physical activities. Restraint prevents fresh influx and can transform the effects of previous karma.
Karmic bondage is characterised by four factors: the amount (pradesa) of karmic particles engulfing the soul, which depends upon the degree of will with which the activity is performed; the nature (prakriti) of the karmic particles which depends upon the type of activity; the duration (sthiti) of karmic attachment which depends upon the degree of passions attached to the activity; the result (anubhava) which depends upon the passion with which the activities are carried out.
Each passion - anger, pride, deceit and greed has four degrees: intense, great, moderate and mild. This makes sixteen types of passion. Some texts enunciate a further nine 'quasi-passions' which are: laughter, pleasure, pain, grief, fear, hatred, and three forms of sexual relations; thus making a total of twenty-five passions.
The root cause of passions is delusion, bringing attraction (raaga) and aversion (dvesa). The intensity of passions clouds discrimination and understanding, bringing perversity of outlook, lack of self-control, and the negligence.
Spurious faith (mithyaatva) means not believing in the true precepts and practices of the faith, and acting wrongly due to perversity of outlook or ignorance. It may be inherent or acquired. It has five varieties: absolutism, doubt, ignorance, indifferent belief and opposing belief, which are instrumental for karmic bondage. Restraint and the observance of Right Conduct reduce karmic bondage. Negligence and observance of the wrong conduct leads to sinful activities. Negligence (pramaada) has fifteen varieties resulting in increased karmic bondage: four types of idle talk relating to women (or men), food, politics and unnecessary activities; four passions; misuse of the five sensory organs; sleep; and attachment.
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