No 876 of Living Life Series 1
This is a Wesak flagship article based on advice by Lord Bo Tien 武天菩萨 to believe and appreciate in context all religious cultures, sages and saints.
Buddha is certainly worthy of belief and he even exhorts us not to believe out of faith but to test even his teachings like gold is tested by fire in the old days or by any means we know today.
Know more and be better but do this in more complete and wholesome way even if we may not be perfect. It is the ideal that counts. We cannot arrive straight away. We need time.
Many do think that anything about life was caused by actions in the past. Everything that happens happened because of something we did in the past. But the Buddha differs. There are five types of causal systems or orders at work that cause things to happen - the Five Niyamas. Karma is one of the five.
Buddha is certainly worthy of belief and he even exhorts us not to believe out of faith but to test even his teachings like gold is tested by fire in the old days or by any means we know today.
Know more and be better but do this in more complete and wholesome way even if we may not be perfect. It is the ideal that counts. We cannot arrive straight away. We need time.
1. Utu Niyama - physical inorganic order
Utu Niyama is about the system of how non-living matter operates. This is the system behind the change of seasons and phenomena related to climate and the weather. It explains the nature of heat, earth, water gases and wind. It explains disasters such as floods, earthquakes. Natural disaster is not due to karma and is not overridden by karma.
2. Bija Niyama - physical organic order
Bija Niyama is about system based on which living matter manifest and exist. The Pali word bija means "seed," and so Bija Niyama governs reproductions and germination - the nature of germs and seeds. Plants and greenery come under this system not just animal and biological species. Perhaps, the laws of genetics that apply to all life, plant and animal would come under the heading of Bija Niyama.
3. Karma Niyama - order of act and result
Karma is the law of moral causation. All of our volitional or purpose directed thoughts, words and deeds create an energy that brings about effects, and that process is called karma. Karma Niyama is a kind of natural law, like gravity, that operates largely without having to be directed by a divine intelligence. In put it very simply, karma is the tendency for skillful (kushala) actions to create beneficial effects, and unskillful (akushala) actions to create harmful or painful effects.
4. Dharma Niyama - order of the norm
The word dharma has several meanings. It can mean doctrine and it can mean norms or phenomena. It often is used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha - the norms. But it also is used to refer to the manifestations or characteristics of reality or nature around us - such as imperfect, impermanent and insubstantial hallmarks of phenomena in life we know.
5. Citta Niyama - order of the mind
Chitta is "mind," and is driven by the heart. It is the state of consciousness. Citta Niyama is the system by which there will be mental activity. It has to do with consciousness, thoughts, and perceptions.
We think of our minds as "us," and directing our lives. But mental activities too are phenomena in us that arise from causes and conditions, like other phenomena in universe outside our being.
Discussion - The learning points
There are more than five sense organs and mind is the sixth sense organ. Thoughts are sense objects of the mind, in the same way the nose is a sense organ and smells are its objects.
We want to go beyond the six sense organs to the vastness of reality or true light beyond the sense organs. Jhanas or pleasurable mental ecstasies (absorption) are sense objects of the mind and mind you, enlightenment is beyond mental ecstasies.
But to many what they need is mindfulness so as to be at peace in the moment and many moments of peace will add up to more. Eventually, all will know mental ecstasy is still clinging and not the ultimate peace of the Buddhas and saints. It is still a form of sense pleasure. It is a refined non-physical indulgence of sorts.
Many have to go through the various stages of jhanas or mental ecstasies to attain the ultimate peace, for jhanas are attachments of the mind sense organ. But is it necessary? Some say so, as we need concerted focus or concentration and not just insight meditation to be Buddhas and saints. Without focus and convergence, how far can we go? We need balance of both focus and insight.
On the occasion of Wesak, this post is motivated by and dedicated to the Buddha and adds to the wonders of the enlightenment and the great wisdom of the Buddha.
Utu Niyama is about the system of how non-living matter operates. This is the system behind the change of seasons and phenomena related to climate and the weather. It explains the nature of heat, earth, water gases and wind. It explains disasters such as floods, earthquakes. Natural disaster is not due to karma and is not overridden by karma.
2. Bija Niyama - physical organic order
Bija Niyama is about system based on which living matter manifest and exist. The Pali word bija means "seed," and so Bija Niyama governs reproductions and germination - the nature of germs and seeds. Plants and greenery come under this system not just animal and biological species. Perhaps, the laws of genetics that apply to all life, plant and animal would come under the heading of Bija Niyama.
3. Karma Niyama - order of act and result
Karma is the law of moral causation. All of our volitional or purpose directed thoughts, words and deeds create an energy that brings about effects, and that process is called karma. Karma Niyama is a kind of natural law, like gravity, that operates largely without having to be directed by a divine intelligence. In put it very simply, karma is the tendency for skillful (kushala) actions to create beneficial effects, and unskillful (akushala) actions to create harmful or painful effects.
4. Dharma Niyama - order of the norm
The word dharma has several meanings. It can mean doctrine and it can mean norms or phenomena. It often is used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha - the norms. But it also is used to refer to the manifestations or characteristics of reality or nature around us - such as imperfect, impermanent and insubstantial hallmarks of phenomena in life we know.
5. Citta Niyama - order of the mind
Chitta is "mind," and is driven by the heart. It is the state of consciousness. Citta Niyama is the system by which there will be mental activity. It has to do with consciousness, thoughts, and perceptions.
We think of our minds as "us," and directing our lives. But mental activities too are phenomena in us that arise from causes and conditions, like other phenomena in universe outside our being.
There are more than five sense organs and mind is the sixth sense organ. Thoughts are sense objects of the mind, in the same way the nose is a sense organ and smells are its objects.
We want to go beyond the six sense organs to the vastness of reality or true light beyond the sense organs. Jhanas or pleasurable mental ecstasies (absorption) are sense objects of the mind and mind you, enlightenment is beyond mental ecstasies.
But to many what they need is mindfulness so as to be at peace in the moment and many moments of peace will add up to more. Eventually, all will know mental ecstasy is still clinging and not the ultimate peace of the Buddhas and saints. It is still a form of sense pleasure. It is a refined non-physical indulgence of sorts.
Many have to go through the various stages of jhanas or mental ecstasies to attain the ultimate peace, for jhanas are attachments of the mind sense organ. But is it necessary? Some say so, as we need concerted focus or concentration and not just insight meditation to be Buddhas and saints. Without focus and convergence, how far can we go? We need balance of both focus and insight.
