Something I like to do as we head into the end of a year is spend some time in reflection. We do this practice of meditation as a spiritual path, developing our hearts and minds to try to be good people in the world. Cultivating the mind is important because it’s from our minds that we act — that we help others or harm others. The Buddhist ethical guidelines—Mahasi Sayadaw called them human guidelines for ethics—are given forth in the five precepts: to refrain from killing, to refrain from taking what has not been given, to refrain from lying, to refrain from being harmful with one’s sexual energy, and to refrain from overindulgence and intoxication, which leads to carelessness and harming. So we have these beautiful guidelines as a value system for us to return to, and the more conscientious we are about the fact that we are ethical, the more a quiet confidence grows in our hearts.
One of the things that’s listed in Buddhist psychology that happens to us as we refine our ethics is that it leads to something called remorselessness. That never struck me as all that interesting when I first started hearing about it, until I started to see, very subtly in the mind, the way we experience anxiety is often remorse, although we might not name it that way. Cause and effect is an ever-working law of the psyche and in this universe. It’s observable, and with the practice of mindfulness, you will see it. You’ll see as a thought arises in the mind, you’ll feel a reverberation of sensation in the body. If it’s an angry thought, it will be painful sensations. If it’s a thought of love and kindness, it will be pleasant sensations. We can see it in these moments, but seeing it to the deepest degree is something that comes over time, when you understand that every single thought, word, and action has an effect.
We’re always putting in causes, and there’s a moral component to that—which, to me, is really good news. It points to the goodness of the universe, that we’re ruled by a natural goodness. It’s not talked about a lot that this is actually a beautiful thing—that we live in a universe that does reward, not through an external being handing things out, but through this very law itself. So there’s no shame, because there’s nothing to be shamed of. When we act in ways that harm ourselves or others, it’s because we didn’t see clearly. And we will experience the effects of those actions. The Buddha was very clear: nobody can take away the consequences of your actions, and you can’t take away somebody else’s consequences either.
The spiritual path shows us that the deepest happiness comes from living this life well—meaning we don’t hurt others and we try to help others. The more we live like that, the more fulfilled and happy we feel. So as we come toward the end of the year, I like to reflect. Does where I’ve been, who I’ve spent time with, and what I’ve done this year align with the deepest values of my heart?
Warmly,
Melissa Mckay