The perfect subject to talk about in Buddhism is independence, independency, and interdependency. Independence is wonderful. We all want to feel free and independent. I was thinking about that this morning. It seems like there are three stages in our life. First stage is the stage of dependency, where everything is given to us and we're a little bit helpless. And our mother gives us everything, or our father or family. Somehow we're taken care of. And at some point,

[01:04]

We want our independence. So we sever our ties. Somehow we sever our ties because we want to feel that we can take care of ourself. Third stage is stage of interdependence when we realize that we can't just live by ourself. not possible to just live by ourself. We never have lived by ourself, and no matter how much we want to just depend on ourself, it's impossible. So third stage is the stage of maturity, when we realize the interdependent nature of everything together. So maybe our country is in the second stage, groping toward the third stage, or the stage of maturity.

[02:18]

Each stage has its own kind of maturity. But hopefully we'll be able to reach full maturity. So, we have Independence Day, and at some point, maybe we should have what we call Dependence Day, acknowledging our dependence, or acknowledging everything that we depend on for our existence. If we only acknowledge independence, then it's easy to fall into a kind of arrogant attitude. We're the best. We're the most. We're the biggest. We can take care of ourselves. This kind of prideful attitude is very dangerous.

[03:22]

So if we have Dependency Day, then we can acknowledge. Well, I think Dependency Day is maybe Thanksgiving. Dependency Day is Thanksgiving. We already have that. And Independence Day is Fourth of July. But the world, I think, at some point, I would like to see the world have Interdependency Day. I think that's what we need to strive for, to initiate Interdependency Day so the whole world can realize that it's one place. And if we realize Interdependency Day, then we acknowledge our independence and we acknowledge our dependency. Nothing's left out. so we can feel strong and powerful and independent without feeling arrogant or stupid, without getting into trouble.

[04:44]

So the first stage of dependency It doesn't make us feel so good because we need to feel that we're contributing something. If we only feel dependent, we're always in the stage of a baby. And in order to feel good, we have to feel that we're contributing something to life and interacting with the life around us. But before we can do that, we have to feel some ego. Ego, either as a person or as a nation. And I noticed that in my six-year-old, we were at Tassajara last week, and his mother wants him to do things, and he wants to do things.

[05:58]

And they're always a little bit at odds with each other. And so I was talking to him after they had this argument. And I was talking to him about minding. And he says, he was really, you know, in an emotional bind. And he says, but Daddy, I have to be right about everything. Everything has to be my way. I mean, he was really serious. How could life be any other way than that it should be his way all the time? He said, all the time. Very extreme statement. But I think that a lot of us, the time we feel that way, we don't leave room for how things go together. We really want to push our way, insist on our own way.

[07:03]

But that's, you know, we say, well, that's a stage. The child will go through that stage and learn how to interact, learn what life's about, hopefully. But sometimes we get stuck in various stages of our life and we don't move. And then we grow up, but we haven't matured. So we have to go through a painful process of maturing after the time has passed. It gets harder and harder. So, as individuals, we have this problem. And as nations, we have this problem. Hopefully, each one of us will mature in our time to see how we all go together and support each other and move and affect how everything moves and affects each other.

[08:22]

And hopefully, before it's too late, we'll be able to guide this country to maturity. It's a slow, painful process growing up. So, It brings us around to the subject of karma. Karma is our volitional action. And last week I was talking about karma in relation to the so-called six realms of existence. But I just want to talk about karma a little bit more. Karma is our volitional action. means literally action or volition or purposeful action.

[09:30]

And there are many kinds of cause and effect. Karma is cause and effect. It's the cause part of cause and effect. And according to Buddhist understanding, when there's a cause, there's an effect or a result. For every cause, there's a result. When you do something, it causes something to happen. So there are many kinds of cause and effect. There's the cause and effect of cosmic action. of which, or planetary action, or atmospheric action. This is the cause and effect of the cosmos, which is not karma.

[10:34]

It's just because of this, that happens. Simple. When this happens, that happens. So one action gives rise to another action. And various causes and conditions give rise to certain results. And these causes and results are constantly moving and creating our cosmos. And then there's the causes and conditions of nature, plants, and the interaction of the earth with plant life and animal life and human life.

[11:39]

That's another kind of realm of causes and conditions. And then there's the cause and effect of our mind, in which there's an eye which sees an object and consciousness which recognizes that object. And this kind of cause and effect is independent of our volition, although our volition interferes with it. So the kinds of causes and conditions which cause our mind to operate is another kind of causes and conditions, cause and effect. Karma is the cause and effect that happens through our volition or our intentional action. So it's a very specific kind of action

[12:46]

We talk about our karma, but we should be a little careful. There's karma, and then there's the result of our actions, result of this karmic action. So a karmic action can be wholesome or unwholesome or neutral. And basic wholesome actions are those actions which are not involved in greed, hate, or delusion. And unwholesome karmic actions are those actions which are involved in greed, hate, and delusion. And there are many subtopics which you can talk about. So, Karma, so-called karma and its result, is controllable.

[13:53]

It's how, it's the way we lead our life or direct our life intentionally determines our karma or the result of our life. So if we do something intentionally, a result will follow from that. And if you do certain kinds of evil actions, then the result will be, it will have an evil result. It's like if you plant an orange tree, you get oranges. And if you plant an apple tree, you get apples. You don't get apples from orange trees and you don't get oranges from apple trees. So, very simply, the way we live our life or direct our life, that karmic action brings a karmic result.

[15:02]

So, we have the ability to direct and create our life and the life around us. But our life this karmic action also mingles with the other kinds of cause and effect. So sometimes it's hard to tell whether our actions or whether the results that are happening are karmic or just circumstances. If I'm walking down the street and a brick falls off a building Somebody's maybe building a building out of bricks, and I'm walking underneath, and the brick falls and hits me on the foot. Is that my karma? Or is that some other kind of cause and effect? He could say, well, if I wasn't there, that wouldn't have happened.

[16:07]

So it's a little bit mixed, you know, a little bit hard to tell. I didn't cause that action. I didn't cause the brick. My passing didn't cause the brick to fall. So to say that was... that the action was produced by karma is difficult to say. But my action brought me to that spot. So it's a little bit mixed. always a little bit mixed. And the karma of our life is interdependent with the causes and conditions of the world. So our karma influences the causes and conditions in the world and the causes and conditions in the world influence our life. And altogether it's one whole organic process. So Life is us and we are life.

[17:12]

We can't exist independently of the life around us. The life around us is really ourself. And our life is that life. So it's one life. So when we talk about independence, independence is a little bit, if you analyze independence, Pretty hard to put a finger on it. Pretty hard to say, this is independence. It's like saying, who are you? And you try to find a place to point to. If I say, show me you, the real you, where will you point? Is it your heart or your liver? or your knee bone or your head or your thoughts.

[18:14]

Nevertheless, we feel some independence. So because we feel some independence, we should or we need to acknowledge our feeling of independence. But we shouldn't be fooled by our feeling of independence. Somehow, this person feels independent, but just takes something away that we like. and we'll see just how independent we are. So anyway, I think I very much appreciate Independence Day.

[19:45]

Fourth of July is a great time, and it's a great country. And I hope that we can all help to bring each other to maturity in this country, to maturity, and the world to maturity. And I hope that someday we have interdependence, World Interdependence Day, and acknowledge both the oneness and the independence of all the countries and all the people. Do you have any question? Yes. Well, karma is just a word for human action, for our volitional action.

[20:55]

So it's not because it's volitional action. In other words, assuming that there might be some other kinds of volitional action. What other kind of volitional action? I'm not sure, but I'm just, you know, questioning it, rather than leaving it open, rather than thinking it would be special in some way. Anyway, it's just a word that denotes that kind of action. That's all. It's just a word. You could call it something else. You said evil action? I didn't say karma was evil. Well, you mentioned something about what you meant by action. What did you mean by that? Well, what did I mean by evil? It's a good question.

[22:20]

action that... all of our actions come from ignorance. You know, our good actions and our evil actions both come from ignorance. So, what do we mean by that? Wisdom is undivided action, or undivided understanding. And when you divide, then you have good on one side and evil on the other. So what we try to do always is bring up the good and get rid of the evil. But that's still dividing. There's no end to that division. And no matter how much you chop off the tail of the snake, it keeps growing a new one. or the head. So, wisdom is to bring good and evil together.

[23:32]

Karma, in our actions, we do something that produces something good, or evil, or kind of neutral. And evil action is something that's non-beneficial. It's like, you know, killing people. Doing something that is against what humans feel is harmful. I mean, it's simple. We know what evil is. It's the opposite of what's good. But we have to be careful. Even though we know that bringing good and evil together is wisdom, in that they swallow each other,

[24:46]

We don't want to create the kinds of actions that are not beneficial. So when you do something that hurts yourself or others, that's called bad karma. Because whatever you do creates something. And then you do something good, and that creates something good. But there's always some dissatisfaction. Anyway, the human world is, there's the heavenly realms, and fighting demon realms, and human realms, and the hungry ghost realm, the animal realm, and the hell realms.

[25:56]

And we find ourselves constantly moving through one or the other of these. But the human realm is a place where we can really work with our karma, because it's the realm where good and bad meet. The realm where good and evil meet. The heavenly realm is just all good. And the hell realm is just all bad. But the human realm is where sometimes we're happy, sometimes we're unhappy. And we can bring both those realms to one. That's our enlightenment. And our volition, our action, means that we have the possibility to do anything we want.

[26:59]

We create our own life through our actions. But we have to talk about good and evil. You can't get around it. Even though you know that good and evil are just two sides of one being, we're always falling into one side or the other, and we prefer this to that. So we have people who love the good and they cannot stand, understand why some people love evil. And there are some people who love evil and cannot understand why some people love good. But they're just the two sides of our divided mind. And when we bring our mind together, it's not good or evil. It's just what it is.

[28:02]

But nevertheless, we still have to go through these realms of good and evil, and you don't like something that's bad, and you like something that's good. It's complicated. So anyway, it's better to cultivate the good side of your life than the evil side. But it's even better to bring the two sides together so that it's not bad, it's not good. But when it's good, it's a kind of goodness that encompasses good and bad. If you try to get rid of the bad, you never can get rid of it. Haven't you noticed the way there's always a war going on someplace? The reason why there's a war going on someplace is because we don't acknowledge our interdependence.

[29:16]

We always see ourselves separate. Yeah. Selfishness. Selfishness. The reason that there are wars going on is selfishness from one side or another. Unbalance. Selfishness means lack of balance. Lack of understanding of where the center of things is. We think the center is here when it's maybe there. But we want to be the center of everything. We want to draw everything to us. The center is here. But it's also there. The center is everywhere. But if we think the center is just here and not there, then we become self-centered.

[30:23]

and unbalanced. And that unbalance causes big problems in the world. So we lose our understanding of how things work together because we want them to be a certain way. So wars, it's a sign of immaturity. And you can fight a war and be a great warrior. But it's not complete maturity. You mentioned intentionality. It's important. And I have a hard time understanding the interplay between intentions and ignorance. It's like when you mentioned the apple and the orange fruit. If you decide to plant an apple grove, and you go and you gather your trees, and you don't pay much of it.

[31:31]

Your intention is to do this. You don't pay much attention. And you end up with, you know, a smattering of orange trees in your apple grove. Basically, this is sort of what I see happen all the time. And I or someone else says, but my intention was to plant an apple grove. What the fuck do you get to do? What do you end up with? Bad karma. You have to be careful. Not careful enough. Sounds to me like you're not careful enough. You should know whether you're getting oranges or apples. What if you really say what my intention was? Oh, that's just saying your intention. Saying what your intention is different than what your intention is. We have all kinds of ideas about what we want to do, but our real intention is what we do.

[32:39]

But sometimes we're just either ignorant or not paying attention, and then we reap the consequences of not paying attention. That's all. That's what you're talking about. So is that that your intention was not good when you don't pay attention? Yeah, carelessness is where your attention and intention go together. You may have intended something, but your attention was where it was. So you can substitute attention for intention or intention for attention but you're either tending to something or you're not tending to it but you're always doing something so don't get hung up on the word intention doing

[33:51]

conscious doing, but you can't excuse your unconscious doing. You say, well, geez, you know, I didn't know that. Sometimes, but that's why we have to be very careful. And that's why our practice is based on being very careful. And the more you see the consequences of your karma or your intentional actions, the more careful you have to become. That's why people say, well, where's the morality in Buddhism? Or where, you know, if everything is One, why do you have to do anything? Or why do you have to have any rules?

[34:56]

Well, because your actions create your life. And if you lead a wanton life, then you reap the consequences. It's just a matter of doing and consequences. Truth and consequences. That's our life. So, as we go through the school of hard knocks, then we begin to see, you know, how it works, and then become very careful in what we do. So, every time something happens to you, that's a lesson. It's the dharma teaching you something. And instead of being sad or critical of yourself, you just turn and go, oh, I see.

[35:59]

I did this. That happened because I did this. So I won't do that anymore. I'll do this. That's wisdom. So anyway, we have the opportunity always to change our life. On any moment, we have the opportunity to change our life. Change the direction of our life. That's karma. It's not fate. It's just cause and effect. And if you stop making these particular actions, which are causes, then it doesn't make these effects. It makes other effects. So what kind of effect do you want? What do you want to have happen? You can make it happen. Make anything happen. If you want, you can love or you can hate. And everything that you do reinforces what the next thing will be.

[37:01]

So if you get into a mode of hating, which is the evil side, then it's pretty hard to stop that because the effect of your karmic action keeps perpetuating your path. And very hard to stop. And if you cultivate love, on the other hand, then that's what will keep coming up for you. That's your life. That's where you live. That's where you live your life. You live your life where your intention is. And then circumstances, the cause and effect of circumstances, also interact with that volition. So sometimes they say, well, this person was born in that into this terrible situation of causes and effects, but that person also has the ability to create their life within those conditions.

[38:06]

Not independent of them, but within those conditions, within any conditions, you have the ability to lead your life through your own volition, either through hate or love or whatever. But there's always this interaction. We find ourselves in various circumstances and we have to realize, well who, you know, how do I create my life within these circumstances or these circumstances? And we do it moment by moment. Moment by moment we're creating our life through changing circumstances and sometimes they're wonderful seeming, sometimes they're horrendous seeming. but it's just the movement of life. So we like to create nice conditions for ourselves, but the conditions are always changing. So our practice is to be able to find ourself in any conditions,

[39:23]

and to have a life of integrity through all the changing conditions. That's the important thing, is not to finally change the conditions so they won't change, but to find our own life of integrity through all the changing conditions. That's called Sazen. Not to escape. Sometimes avoid what you can avoid. But we can't escape. We finally hit a door where there's no exit. No matter how nimble we are at dancing. And then, who are you at that point? What's your life about at that point? So practice is to cultivate our life so that no matter what circumstances arise, we don't lose ourself.

[40:34]

And it depends a lot on the karma you've created, on the way your life goes, how you will meet situations, how you meet life. Because most of those other causes and conditions are beyond our control, even though we try to control nature. But the one causes and conditions that we can control is our own karma. So it's really up to us what we want to do. We really have to know. What do I really want to do? I ask people, what's your real intention in life? And you may say, well, somebody may say, think about their career.

[41:42]

But career, that's a kind of causes and conditions. But how to be a human being completely, that should be our intention. How to be a complete human being. How to live in this human world. which is sometimes very pleasant, sometimes very unpleasant. And those two conditions of pleasantness and unpleasantness is where our life takes place and gives us the opportunity to find the unity within ourselves.

[42:39]

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