An excerpt from a teaching called How Buddhism Differs from Other Religions by Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo
We tend to do things that give us a rush, but it doesn’t make us happy. For instance, let’s say we decide to drink some alcohol, and we decide to do it a lot, and we decide to get loaded every weekend, and we think, “Boy, you know that gives me something to look forward to because all week long I can be a good person, and then on the weekend I can get loaded, and then I’ll be happy.” Of course, it doesn’t happen. Generally, what happens is your body gets sicker. You get dependent on alcohol in order to feel anything. And you know eventually the mind just churns in samsara and no new habits or no new understandings or anything that will actually make you happy occurs. We just get drunk. And then we sober up on Monday. And that’s it. That’s all that happens. But we keep thinking that if we do it every weekend, and if we do it better every weekend, then eventually one weekend it’s really going to make us happy, and it’s going to last. And of course, that’s foolish because it never works. There’s something about human consciousness that makes it difficult for us to learn from experience. It’s like banging into the wall constantly. And we go on with behavior that actually makes our situation worse rather than easing it or making us happy or making it better in any way.
For instance, let’s say you really feel that you would be happy if you had more money. I can’t say that I haven’t thought that. And I’m sure if I’ve thought that, pretty much everybody has thought it at least once. And so we think, “Wow, if I had some money, I could do some things, and I would be happier. I’d really like to go on vacation this summer, and there’s no money to do it with so wouldn’t I be happy if I could go on vacation.” It’s that kind of thinking. Let’s say that you put a lot of energy into getting this money. Let’s say in fact that you put so much energy into it that you’re not quite kosher about it. You’re not quite above board. Let’s say you lie a little. Somehow that brings you a little money. Let’s say you cheat a little. Somehow that brings you a little money. Let’s say you steal a little bit. Somehow that brings you a little bit of money. You may get the money. You may go to jail too. You may get the money and you may go on vacation, but guess what? You have set yourself up for more suffering than you could possibly imagine, because even if the vacation goes well, the moment that you took from others, and were dishonest and acted selfishly, at that very instant when you gave rise to a negative cause, the result was also born. Did you know that? We think we get away with it until we get caught. And it’s not true. The moment we create a nonvirtuous cause, the result is born – at the same moment.
In our lives it seems different because it seems like time is linear. And it seems like you were really nonvirtuous on Thursday but by Saturday it is still looking good for you. So you think, “I got away with it.” No, it doesn’t work that way because you gave rise to the cause, so the result is already there. Just because it didn’t ripen on Saturday means nothing. It will happen. You will have karma with the person that you were dishonest with or that you stole from or that you harmed in some way, and that person will harm you in the future, whether they want to or not, it will happen, because karma is exacting. It’s cause and effect.
If you can understand how a seesaw works, you can understand how karma works. If you can understand how you could drop a rock on one side of the pond and feel the vibration on another side of the pond, then you understand how karma works. Although we can’t see it manifesting in front of our eyes, that’s our great loss because we still think we get away with it. And it’s simply not true. Let’s say we go ahead and steal, we go on vacation, and we think it all works out, and then six months later, something dastardly happens to us. And maybe it reminds you a little bit of the situation in which you were not nice to somebody, and maybe it doesn’t. If you do catch the connection, bully for you. You’ve learned something and that’s excellent, but if you don’t catch the connection, and most of us don’t, then it’s unfortunate.
© Jetsunma Ahkön Lhamo
