choices. They never knew choices were there. Once
again, we encounter what Buddhists call
"unawareness," or ignorance. It is ignorance of how
unexamined impulses, especially those colored by
greed or hatred, however justified, rationalized, or
legal, can warp one's mind and one's life. Such mind
states affect us all, sometimes in big dramatic ways,
but most often by more subtle paths. We can all be
imprisoned by incessant wanting, by a mind clouded
with ideas and opinions it clings to as if they were
truths.
If we hope to change our karma, it means we have to
stop making those things happen that cloud mind and
body and color our every action. It doesn't mean
doing good deeds. It means knowing who you are
and that you are not your karma, whatever it may be
at this moment. It means aligning yourself with the
way things actually are. It means seeing clearly.
Where to start? Why not with your own mind? After
all, it is the instrument through which all your thoughts
and feelings, impulses and perceptions are translated
into actions in the world. When you stop outward
activity for some time and practice being still, right
there, in that moment, with that decision to sit, you
are already breaking the flow of old karma and
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