Harmlessness (pali – ahimsa) is an aspect of the practice that applies to all areas of the Buddhist Path – from the everyday to the subtle. In a way one could say that this quality of heart, this intelligence, is the essential foundation of all spiritual practice. In technical terms one could also say that it relates directly to the principle of karma or cause and effect – the realization that whatever energy one acts upon will at some point have an effect on either our inner or outer world. Or, put another way, the intuition that ‘self’ and ‘other’ are one in the same. The Buddha didn’t say that karma would return to us in exactly the way it was created, however — only that the corresponding brightness or darkness of energy would condition our state of being – whether in the present moment itself, or sometime in the future.
But what is important is not so much trying to predict in what way, or when our actions will come back to us — it’s more about having a deep connection to the principle itself, and so taking responsibility for our intentions moment to moment. If Karma is based on our own volitions, then, it suggests the possibility of a kind of mastery – if the wellness or illness in our lives depends on how we act, on our intentional actions, then that implies that we are at the hub of this cause and effect process in every moment. However, that’s not how it feels a lot of the time, is it?
Tragically, our consciousness can get quite far removed from the actual quality of intention itself — like for example in an argument where one wants to prove that one is right. We can get so caught up with the details or the content of what’s being said, that we lose touch with ‘Hey, what am I wishing for his person? Am I wishing to hurt them in some way, or put them down, just so that I can feel like I’m right?’.
So the realm of intention is an interesting one. When one gets inside it, things begin to look quite different. If we walk the Buddhist path sincerely, our orientation quite naturally changes, the deeper we see how pertinent the Buddha’s teachings on karma are. That every moment, our own intentions are shaping this very consciousness in terms of well-being or stress. To me this is a revelation all in itself. It opens up a sense of curiosity, of wonder at this thing called ‘mind’.
Our attention can then stay centered at the hub of our experience, rather than being fixated on the details themselves. It’s like tuning into a heart consciousness rather than a head consciousness. The head is always getting pushed around by images and ideas and a particular ‘take’ on this situation or that situation — and being caught in that realm leads to a lot of confusion. Perception and feeling can configure experience in many ways – and if we take those fragmented constructions as absolute, we can get quite pushed around by our own thinking.
Instead, it can be very useful to ask ourselves, ‘What would it be like if I rested in a sense of dispassion towards the thinking mind? What would that be like?’ It’s a kind of friendly suspicion. Knowing that the reality of any situation won’t necessarily be found in the mind’s ideas about it. We can bring forth this attitude of ‘not sure’ in the way we relate to the mind’s thinking and perceiving. The mind is very powerful at concocting images and views about ourselves and others, and when you’re right in the middle of them, they seem so convincing. Whether it’s about ‘me’ in the form of self-criticism, or ‘them’ in the form of judgments and views, they can seem so absolute. But with this trusting in ‘not sure’ we can begin to disengage from the storylines themselves, and bring our attention to the quality of heart itself, asking ‘is this bringing harm to myself and others?’
With that question we come into our true spiritual strength. We can then act or not act according to what we know in our gut. The more intimately we feel how closing our hearts to another, or to ourselves, closes ourselves off from our own well being, the less inclined we become to follow this habit. And the more we feel the fullness and vitality of the open heart, the more inclined we become to treasure whatever brings about its fruition. Harmlessness is then felt in the heart as an opening into wholeness and peace, a letting go of pain, and an alignment with our deep aspiration for well being. The more we trust in its power, the more the path joyfully opens up before us.