Originally a dusty mirror which has never been polished,
Today it must be taken apart and analyzed.


Ordinarily, we think that if we do good things, we will gain merit and reap good results; if we do evil things, the opposite will occur. Good actions result in good karma, and bad actions result in bad karma. Today, a student slapped himself hard during meditation. I asked him why he did it, and he said he did not know. I asked him if he felt better afterward. He said he felt somewhat better, but his cheek hurt. These are examples of cause and effect relationships. Perhaps this student was moved by subtle, unconscious motivations or physiological reactions. During retreats, people laugh and cry out loud for no apparent reason. Some do even stranger things. If an outsider observed these actions, he might think these people were odd, even deranged. Usually, however, they feel better afterward.

Such phenomena are a result of practice, and they almost always have good benefits. They bring relief to practitioners, dissipating their excess energy and allowing them to sink deeper into the method. In truth, however, the purpose of practice is to reach a point where there are no results at all, where there are no expectations ─ no rewards for good actions, no retribution for bad actions. There should be no thought of gain or loss, no thought of benefit or harm, of ignorance or enlightenment.