--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@>
wrote:
> > >
> > > > > > So, you had
> > > > > > better be sure you're doing the right thing or you will
have
> > > > > > adverse karma as a result.
> > > > >
> > > > > ...so it's still a crapshoot.
> > > >
> > > > Not entirely, nature gives us two resources to 'check'
> > > > behavior, One is scripture and the other is intuition
> > > > or 'conscience', which is an expression of intuition.
> > >
> > > There are at least three. :-) Another taught in
> > > some Buddhist traditions involves assessing one's
> > > *own* state of attention as a measure of "right"
> > > and "wrong."
> > >
> > > That is, one is trained in discerning the minute
> > > variations in state of attention as it fluctuates
> > > day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute. Your
> > > state of attention changes all the time; it's just
> > > that most people haven't ever gained the discrim-
> > > ination to notice how *much* it changes from minute
> > > to minute. The training involves discerning which
> > > shifts in state of attention are "up" (meaning one
> > > has shifted to a higher state of attention) and which
> > > are "down" (shifted to a lower state of attention).
> > >
> > > Then, after having become somewhat practiced at
> > > this, you just watch your *own* state of attention
> > > as you act and make your way through the world.
> > > If you perform Action X, in Context Y, and your
> > > state of attention goes "down," you can pretty
> > > much be sure that your choice of action in that
> > > context was "wrong," or at least not as "right"
> > > as it could be. Similarly, if you perform Action X
> > > in Context Y and your state of attention goes "up,"
> > > then you did the "right" thing.
> > >
> > > This -- for those who can practice it -- is actually
> > > looked upon as a more efficient method of determining
> > > "right" and "wrong" than either scripture or intuition.
> > > Scripture has the drawback of being "fixed" and unaware
> > > of *context*, so a "rule" that says "Never kill pigs"
> > > might be inappropriate in the case of a crazy pig
> > > about to kill a young toddler. And intuition is a hit-
> > > and-miss proposition for most seekers; sometimes it's
> > > right on, sometimes it's not.
> > >
> > > But watching one's own state of attention, once you've
> > > gotten the hang of it, never fails. The reason is that
> > > there is a long-term aspect of karma that says that if
> > > you do something wrong ALL of the negative energy your
> > > actions produce will return to you. That's "long-term"
> > > because it may take lifetimes for all that energy to
> > > return to you. But there is also an *instantaneous*
> > > aspect of karma -- do something "wrong* and your state
> > > of attention goes "down." Immediately. Do something
> > > "right" and your state of attention goes "up." Immed-
> > > iately. Thus you can use your own fluctuating states
> > > of attention as a guideline.
> > >
> > > The drawbacks of this approach are two. First, the
> > > discrimination necessary to practice it can only be
> > > taught via transmission -- by "broadcasting" states of
> > > attention to the students and then varying them some-
> > > what and asking them what they perceived when the
> > > shared state of attention changed. The second, of
> > > course, is that when you do "wrong" you only really
> > > find out about it *afterwards*, as you state of
> > > attention has started to slide "down." The latter
> > > becomes less and less of a problem as you become
> > > used to the discernment. You *start* to act a certain
> > > way, get an instantaneous "readout" that you're going
> > > the "wrong" way by realizing that your state of atten-
> > > tion is lowering, and thus you correct your path and
> > > go a different way. The whole process is that fast;
> > > you can make such decisions in microseconds.
> >
> > [Dryly] Works very well in your case, Unc.
>
> I haven't been practicing it. I'm still not,
> but I'm considering taking it up again.
>
It can also be practiced just at the level of thought or intention,
before any action is initiated. I used to do it a lot. Now, not much.
