The master says that practicing gives you strength, strength to say no to your karma and break the chain of unwholesome activities.
Your (bad) karma is like a curse. These unwholesome ways of thinking, rooted in anger, ignorance and greed, solidified into habits, habits of the mind, we sometimes call habitual tendencies. These are what leads us through our lives on a day to day basis.
Zen and Buddhism tells, "hey wake up now! What are you doing?" if we are mindful, this wake up call is often heard. If not, we go along with our habits developed since long ago. The thing is these habits are formed over a long time and they literally created us! We are re-made of them so many times, they are all around and it's hard to notice them. It's camoflaged into the fabric of our thoughts. However, when we become more mindful, we suddenly realise that those habitual tendencies and defilements are driving us to do things. Sometimes, we notice, but as soon as we notice, we get lost in them the next moment, mired in their midst.
It is like being cursed. Curses control our minds, forcing us to see, hear or do things we normally would not see, hear or do. Defilements and habitual tendencies are exactly like that. If you are clear, you immediately know that you are not like this and would not do such things. At this time, if your are strong, you maintain this clarity and do not identify with the curse, thus breaking the curse. This is where the strength that the teacher talks about comes in. The seeing is the first step, the strength combined with the clear seeing breaks the curse. If your seeing is not clear enough, you would not be able to uproot the curse and would need to continually deal with it as it tempts you continuously. If your seeing is clear, you trace it to it's root in your mind and uproot it totally in one full effort.
It is so with curses and also with habitual tendencies and defilements. They chain us without us knowing, prod us in certain directions and we follow them unknowingly. So it is said, clear mind, clear mind, watch, watch! And then at the same time, develop and train your strength. Strength helps to sustain clear mind and clear mind puts strength to good use.
In buddhist meditation we train both. Clear mind in knowing what is and what is not and strength in bring back the mind and not letting it get swept away into the stories of our mind.
Be clear right here right now. Ultimately still, take your place in the centre stage of your life. Remember, all around you, it is all false. Yet, in my tradition, they say, one more step is necessary, what is it? What is worthy enough for us to live and engage our lives in?
One last thing: Be careful, if you are not totally empty, karma will have a hold on you!! If you are totally empty, anything I say is just wind.
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