Karma is caused by
cling.Clinging is strong attachment to something. It is compulsive
or obsessive craving. We refuse to let go. Even if we do not
actually possess something, we are mentally obsessed by it. We
think of it constantly. We will do anything to get it. Do we
therefore not create more kamma formations? Thus, upadana paccaya
bhavo; "through clinging is conditioned the process of volitional
acts
We meet
with something we like and we are all smiles. We meet with
something we dislike and we are all frowns. So life is nothing but
likes and dislikes, smiles and frowns. We meet with something we
like, and we be come strongly attached to it. We cling to it
mentally, and we react. We react if we like something, and we react
if we dislike something. This is karma bhava(life).
If we wish
to judge a person's character, we need only look at his behaviour,
and how he reacts physically and verbally to external stimuli. It
is said that the famous palmist Cheiro once said that he could
judge a person by looking at his hands. Regarding this, Napoleon,
the famous French general, is reported to have replied that he
judged a person by looking at his face. It is a person's face that
betrays his clinging (upadana) to his likes and dislikes, and to
his views and opinions.
We
might ask ourselves why karma is so extraordinarily complex, and
why it has such a wide range. Why do people engage in wholesome or
unwholesome activities? The answer is given in the
Paticcasamuppada: upadana paccaya bhavo, or "through Clinging is
conditioned the process of karma (volitional activities)." It is
because our individual clingings are so extraordinarily complex and
wide-ranging, that our kamma-bhava or existence-forming volitional
activities are so complex and wide-ranging.
Individuals vary greatly. Some are soft-spoken, some are coarse and
abrupt, some are kind and gentle, some are callous and cruel. Some
are selfish, others are altruistic or civic-minded. All these
differing characteristics have been developed and nurtured through
many lives. Clinging is a strengthened form of desire. It is desire
become obsessive. Buddhist scriptures recognize four main
types:
Types
of Clinging:
1.
kamupadana: clinging to sensuous pleasures
2.
ditthupadana: clinging to views and opinions
3.
silabbatupadana: clinging to rules, rituals, habits, and
4.
attavadupadana: clinging to self or ego.
Kamupadana, clinging to sensuous pleasures, is
easy enough to understand, and it is the cause of a great many of
our deeds. We speak, we do, we imagine and fantasize because of our
sensual clingings, or our intense liking for someone, something, or
some activity. The basis for our clinging is of course our
nama-rupa (mind and matter), salayatana (six sense bases) as a
result of which we get phassa (impressions) and Vedana
(feeling).
There are as many types of clinging as there are individuals. Some
of us cannot do without watching certain television programmes,
some of us are compulsive smokers, or betel-nut chewers. Some
cannot stop drinking, even though it is leading them to social and
financial ruin. Others spend huge amounts of money buying beautiful
objects to satisfy their clinging to beauty in form. Of course,
such craving and clinging can never be satisfied
Ditthupadana
is clinging to
erroneous views and opinions such as "alms and offerings are
useless, ...there is no fruit and result for good and bad
deeds,....".
Silabbatupadana
is clinging to
mere rules and rituals in the firm belief that one may thereby
reach purification. There were, and there still exist, many strange
and interesting rules and rituals. In the time of the Buddha, there
were many weird ascetics. Some lived like dogs, ate like dogs,
slept like dogs curled up on the ground, and even urinated like
dogs with one leg raised. Some lived like cows, ate grass, and
slept like cows with hands and legs tucked underneath their
bodies.
Nigantha
Nataputta and Makkhali Gosala were leaders of sects who believed
themselves purified of all defilements. They went around naked.
Even to this day, followers of Nigantha Nataputta, known as Jains,
are to be found in India, wandering the streets
naked. People may wonder how they could be so shameless. Their
answer is that the human body is neither desirable nor attractive.
Just as there was no need for adornment, there was no need for
concealment. The human body should neither attract nor repel. There
was surely no need for clothes! What can others give in
reply
Attavadupadana
is clinging to self or ego as an enduring, independent entity.
Attavadupadana results in persons with inflated egos, "know-alls"
who know everything, can do everything, and want to be involved in
everything, and who are inordinately self-important.
We all have a wide range of things to which we cling, to greater or
lesser extents, giving rise to a great variety of personality types
or characteristics. Consequently, we have differing outlooks on
life, differing purposes or objectives, differing reactions to
people and events that we encounter. Since we think, speak and act
in differing ways, we are all constantly creating vastly differing
types of karma. The fruits of differing karma are differing
conditions of rebirth and differing lives. Is it any wonder that
among the billions of individuals on this planet earth, no two
lives can be identical; all lives are different when looked at
closely.
We are
where we are today because of past causes, and whatever we do now,
there will be wholesome or unwholesome consequences. Daily we are
bombarded with impressions through the six bases. Sights, sounds,
smells, tastes, touch and thoughts. May we be ever mindful of how
we react to these impressions. May we be able to react to them
mindfully in wholesome ways. May we thus find ourselves on the
Right Path, the Buddha's Path, to release from suffering, to the
attainment of the eternal peace of Nibbana.
It
is translated from Mogok Sayadaw teaching (originally from
world largest book
)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_largest_book
For Mogok Sayadaw biography link
http://www.dhammaweb.net/mogok.html
