For the purpose of an overview, teachings contained in Buddhadharma can be conveniently divided into two paths, i.e., the mundane Dharma, also known as the "Teaching Regarding the Worldly"; and the Dharma of the Supramundane, also called the "Ultimate Path".  Dharma of the Ultimate Path is the essential constituent in each of the three major traditions of Buddhism practiced today, namely Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana.  We are going to study Buddhadharma by first turning our attention to the Mundane Dharma or the Teaching regarding the worldly.

Our connection with the world is most intimate although the fact usually escapes our attention because we take it for granted; we re-confirm it with each breath we take and every action we perform and there is no way we can control it.  This connection continues after we die and therefore we keep turning on the wheel of birth and death.  The only way to liberation from this fetter is to discern the true reality of our lives.  Addressed exhaustively, this process of discerning will lead to liberation.  According to Buddhadharma, the first step is to become fully aware of the world.

Questions regarding the origin and the purpose of the universe and how is it regulated have preoccupied people as far back in history as evidence can take us.  The scope of the universe in terms of space and time exceeds our capacity for understanding.  The earth's volume makes us insignificant by comparison, and all our attempts to control time and space are equally frustrating; their boundaries keep evading us.  The riddle of the universe daunts philosophers and scientists alike.  In theistic systems the answer to the riddle is invariably relegated to the uppermost echelons of divine power and worldings advised to regard these mysteries beyond their scope of thinking.

Answers to questions regarding the universe offered by Buddhadharma have been recognized on countless occasions as the most plausible; they are being considered seriously by an ever increasing number of scientists.  The universe as posited by Buddhist metaphysics is powered by and depends on the dynamics of karma.  The earth's enormous body and its life consist entirely of a network woven by the dynamics of karma.  What do we mean by the word "Karma"?  According to the Abhidharma Kosa, "to institute an action is karma."  In more detail, every action through the body, speech and mind is manifesting the dynamics of karma.  The karmic momentum is referred to as "karmic force".

Starting from the moment a human being is born into this world he/she enters a round of diverse circumstances beyond his/her control.  Favorable to a greater or lesser degree, they are all a manifestation of karmic force.  The functioning of karmic energy, when understood in terms of a non-spacial continuum or time as an apparently irreversible succession of events spanning the past through the present to the future, is known as "cause and effect".  All that exists is totally controlled by and dependent on cause and effect for its continuation or demise.  Birth and death of a human being, the length of his/her life, his/her prosperity or the lack of it as well as all the countless events he/she encounters during his/her life are the evidence of cause and effect.  Flourishing and disintegration of cities or the establishing and dissolution of countries never happen haphazardly.

The formula of cause and effect can be compared to the simplest mathematical equation.  Given such and such a cause, such and such an effect is inevitable.  The immediate causes and effects are clearer and therefore easier to see, while the distant ones are concealed, hence difficult to discern.  A given effect, though anticipated, may not materialize because additional causes influence the outcome.  Complex causes should be expected to produce complex effects.

As a matter of fact, all that exists ought to be perceived as a complex, constantly changing process that corresponds to the intricate functioning of the human mind.  The ways in which karmic effects are consistent with their karmic causes vary in complexity and therefore the retribution also changes in the course of time.  For that reason conditions of sentient beings in the six realms on the wheel of existence vary so much.  There are those who encounter blessings in the midst of calamity or vice versa.  A good person may give rise to an unwholesome thought while an evil person may entertain a wholesome one.  The overall tendency of a predominantly unwholesome karma may conceal numerous good actions.  By contrast, a great plan for the benefit of all may contain some not immediately perceptible evil or unwholesome features.  It may occur that a person born into the heavenly realm on the wheel of existence prior to having completed retribution for some bad karma will have to do so after his/her rebirth may occur in a much lower realm.  The one born in hell, on the other hand, will have his/her chances for better rebirth improved by formerly accumulated good karma, activated once his/her retribution has been exhausted.  Another example is that of a person whose present karma is good but there is retribution to be endured due to unwholesome circumstances at the time of his/her death; that will come first, while his/her present karma is ripening.

The rice we eat comes from last year's seed and failing to plant this year there will be no seed in the year to come.  This explanation is as clear as can be, because the three-fold karmic action of body, speech and mind likewise continually produces good and bad seeds moment by moment, day by day.  Some of the effects will occur while an action is in progress and others, after the fact.  How soon after will retribution follow and for how long is determined by the karmic causes alone.  Since these change moment to moment, their effect in the form of retribution has to change correspondingly with them.  There are three kinds of retribution according to the length and timing of its occurrence.  One kind is operative in the present, one in the life immediately following, and one kind of retribution will manifest after an interval of undetermined length.  It may be positive or negative, i.e. blessings or trouble.  Though this doctrine may appear complicated on the face of it, the causes within causes, effects within effects never fail.  In the same way a creditor never forgets to collect, retribution is sure to follow each action.

One reaps exactly as one has sow; it is as simple as that.  This doctrine contrasts with the concept of fate or destiny, or God's will.  These concepts contain unexplainable inconsistencies.  Why some live in luxury and others must starve, and why must some newborn babies die before they had a chance to commit good or evil?  Some are born into disastrous circumstances while others arrive into nurturing conditions.  If such things happen as some believe, as a punishment for the parents' mistakes, how can it be explained that some children of very evil people live happy lives?  There is, indeed, a lot about human life that seems unfair and therefore difficult to accept.  The doctrine of cause and effect is the only explanation that is rational, plausible and fair.  Most importantly, it discloses the mind as the creator of karma, thereby introducing the possibility of change.  One can choose to turn it around as the life-stream flows on.

The following example is an illustration of how the karmic force works.  A gentleman named Yuan Liao Fan once had a horoscope cast by a gentleman call Kung, an astrologer.  The horoscope predicted that Yuan Liao Fan would receive fourteen points in national examination, seventy-one points in a state examination, and nine points in college examination.  He was to become a scholar in such and such a year, and appointed to the office of governor on such and such a date.  He was to die childless at the age of fifty-three.  The events unfolded exactly as predicted until the time Yuan Liao Fan became the governor, causing him to experience great disappointment.  Every event in this life is predetermined, he thought, wondering where, in that case, his accomplishment was and if he had any.  At that time he made the acquaintance of Ch'an master Yun Ku of Hsi Hsia mountain who introduced him to Buddhadharma.  By those means Yuan Liao Fan learned to be satisfied with his lot and concentrate on generating good karma.  He was attracted to activities benefiting others to such a degree he eventually left his post and his prominent position in society in order to dedicate himself fully to the welfare of others.  By changing the direction of his karma his life deviated from his horoscope forecast.

The prediction was proven incorrect on three points.  The gentleman holds presently a position higher that of the governor; he has a son; and although he was to die at the age of fifty-three, he is sixty-three, alive and well.  The astrological chart did not prove to be correct, however, we do not know the true bondage of karma force in his case.  His case helps us to realize that fools can become wise and vice versa.  All of us can bring about change in our lives and make it shorter or longer; more or less lucky; more or less rich in spite of it being said that heaven controls everything.  It it does, it is because people have decided so.  Very few of us realize that karma is created by the mind and therefore it can be changed by the same means.  To understand that one is in control of own destiny empowers one to foster the right attitude grounded in self-discipline while endeavoring to obtain blessings for oneself.

One point we have discussed briefly deserves additional comment.  It regards the causes or seeds of karma which, though planted, have not matured in order to take effect.  The question is, where does their karmic energy abide?  If we wish to understand this point we must look at the eight kinds of consciousness.  According to Boddhadharma all that exists is produced by the mind, meaning one's own consciousness.  This is not difficult to understand.  Let us consider for a moment the way in which we edit what we experience.  Although we are surrounded by countless manifestations of matter we notice only those touched by our consciousness.  As for all the rest, although we look we do not see; although we hear we do not listen.

Our consciousness, according to the Teachings, consists of eight components, namely the five senses; the mind-consciousness; the Manah-consciousness; and the Alaya-consciousness.  The five senses and the mind-consciousness correspond to five organs, i.e. eye; ear; tongue; nose; body; as well as the brain.  Every mind-contact or piece of information results in guna or dust, resulting in form; sound; smell; taste; touch; idea.  Each of sense corresponds to its specific kind of consciousness within its specialized field and is not interchangeable with any of the other kinds; its task is to know.  The mind-consciousness has the capacity to rise simultaneously with any one of the seven components, and/or assist its functions: The eye sees form and knows it as form.  Whether the seen is green, small, beautiful or shiny is discerned or decided by mind-consciousness.  Any one of the five kinds of consciousness related to the five senses must have, at the time of its arising, the mind-consciousness arise at the same time in order to function.  When mind-consciousness rises by itself it generates thought.  It is known as the single mind consciousness.  Psychology usually stops here, with the sixth consciousness.

Textual Buddhism recognizes two additional kinds of consciousness.  The seventh is named Manah and it functions as the root of the sixth kind of consciousness.  Mind-consciousness rests at times, but Manah does not.  It is the agency of ego-grasping that functions without interruption.  It is present in all sentient beings.  Whatever is perceived by us as existing, we apprehend and retain because of ego.  This teaching is referred to as the Dharma of Ego Clinging.  Ego-projections constitute what is held as reality by the uninformed; misconstrued as lasting, it is tenaciously held on to.  This holding on to things is known in the context of Buddhadharma as the Dharma of Grasping.  Delusory thought, rooted in a misconstrued notion of self and its objects as lasting and as independently existing, brings in its wake selfish concerns in their countless variations.  Karmas and the concomitant suffering are the inevitable results.  Because of the incessant activity of the Manah, consciousness as such is obstructed in delivering its pure, clear message.  Therefore the great sages of the past referred to Manah as defiled or defilement consciousness.

Where does the ego's counterpart dwell?  It resides in the eighth consciousness called Alaya and constitutes the foundation for the other seven kinds of consciousness.  It acts as the storehouse for all karmas as well as their transmutations.  "Alaya" is a Sanskrit term, literally meaning "non-dissolution".  It conveys that there is no annihilation, only variation on what preceded.  The Alaya is at times referred to as "store consciousness" because it enshrines all the seeds, including the good; the bad; the mundane; and the supramundane ones.  What is meant by "seeds"?  It is just another term for the latent control the three karmas by body, speech and mind exercise over the store consciousness.  The action of the karmas' latent power is known as the "perfume of the store consciousness".  Remaining latent until the opportunity arises, the perfume then becomes outwardly manifest in the process called "manifested action".  Manifested action re-perfumes the store consciousness and becomes a seed.  The sequence from seed to perfume, to manifested action, to perfume and to seed moves on in that order.  The process of one changing into the next never stops.  This is how karma and store consciousness are interdependent and how they interact.

The karmic seeds contained in the store consciousness are countless.  As they ripen, they produce birth after birth, death after death in a never ending process.  Wholesome seeds result in good birth, unwholesome seeds, in an unwholesome one.  Their wholesome quality or the lack of it depend entirely on karmic causes from a previous life.  When sentient beings have produced birth in the six realms, the cycle is then termed "one round of impermanence".  Karmic seeds are rooted in time and, therefore, impermanent, meaning they come into being from non-being only to vanish again, ripening one at a time.  These countless karmic seeds contain the complete range of possibilities or, in other words, the full potential and therefore any sentient being may be a human being in the present life, deva in the next, and a horse in the one that will follow.  The order in which karma ripens is very clear.  It cannot remain the same under changing conditions and therefore rebirth has to change accordingly.

When we consider how diversified are the inclinations of the countless sentient beings, changing as they move through the six realms on the wheel of existence going back in time as far as we can imagine, we can appreciate the enormity of difilements and the resultant suffering.  Innumerable texts handed down from antiquity testify to people's incessant preoccupation with wealth, power, beauty, and honor as the concerns central to their existence.  We may disbelieve the unofficial histories, but the following excerpts are from trusted Chinese annals: Po Kun turned into a bear and Ju I became a dog according to the Book of Han. Yang Hu was the son of Lee in his previous life as can be seen in the Book of Ch'in, while Emperor Liang Yuan Ti was in his previous life a monk with tiny eyes.  A girl of Liu was Lee Shu in her previous life and Liu Hang was Niu Seng Ju.  Fan Tsu You was Teng Yu, Kuo Hsiang Cheng was Lee Tai Pai as disclosed by the chronicle of Sung.  Hsia Yuan Chi was Chu Yuan according to Huan Ming Records.  The above evidence can be verified since it is incorporated in the official annals as indicated.

The wheel of existence is kept in motion by cause and effect and the preceding discussion was an attempt to explain this Teaching and disclose its implications.   It will further our understanding if we spend a little time considering the heaviest karma in the world, i.e., taking life or killing living beings.  Most people are able to see their present lives, never considering they have had innumerable previous existences.  Neither do they wonder what forms of life will be theirs in their further lives.  Since all living beings are very closely related through previous existences, how can anyone take the lives of other beings and eat their flesh?

The Kuang Ren's record reports that he knew of a mutton that was the ghost of his wife deceased several years past, and in the sutra of comparison of dharmas we read about a chicken served to a young man; it had the same features as his father in his previous life.  No one can be sure of the kind of relationship that really exists between ourselves and the creature killed to feed us.  It could be someone very close to us in our previous life.  When we enjoy eating the flesh of other beings in the company of our friends and family in the present we do not give any thought to how much suffering preceded that moment.  Conversely, we are enjoying ourselves in the present and yet, as evidence indicates we will be the flesh consumed by others in our future existence.  When observed with heavenly eyes the situation appears truly tragic.  The reasons used to justify taking of another being's life are irrelevant.  Wherever dying is involved, there is always suffering, more so when force or violence is applied.  The resulting negative energy leaves an imprint in the form of ill will waiting to manifest itself at some future occasion with retribution following in its train.

The eight kinds of consciousness jointly form what is known as "the field".  The field is a feature common to all.  Whoever considers taking the life of another perfumes the field via the Alaya consciousness which in turn releases the karmic seeds on the wheel of existence.  In every birth and every death causes and conditions converge and give rise to retribution in a never ending cycle.  Consider for instance the chronicle of Tso Chiu Ming in the Chou Dynasty: The son of a ranking official P'eng Sheng appeared in a dream as a pig-farm owner and a guide to calamity and revenge.  Chao T'ung and Chao K'uo were transformed into servants by Chin K'uo ghost for letting Chin K'uo die.  Chinese history is replete with officials executed by their emperors in matters of honor; they are still waiting for their chance to avenge themselves.  The picture turns from bad to worse when we consider the massive killings of innocents on a daily basis.  The consequences are bound to be felt; what a pity so many people produce heavy karma during their life-span.  Taking other beings' lives begins with a birthday celebration when a child is one month old and continues from one festive occasion to the next.  Every special date and every celebration provides the opportunity for more killing and when there is going to be a party more killing becomes necessary.  Do we need to mention weddings, national holidays and religious festivals?  People take every opportunity to consume the flesh of dead beings killed for that purpose and whose wish to go on living was not taken into account.  When the mind adjusts to unrestricted killing, there is no end to the heavy karma resulting from it lifetime after lifetime.

People almost never make the connection between their own wish for a long, happy and healthy life for themselves and the daily mass-killing in which they take part.  In order for us to enjoy our birthday another being must die.  When a man and a woman are joined in a wedding ceremony, the event is celebrated by killing other beings of both genders.  For what reason do people act this way?  In the world of animals, killing for survival is common, but human beings consume dead flesh for enjoyment, and in amounts that by far exceed necessity.

The millions of beings killed throughout the world would make a mountain.  Just consider for a moment all the cutting, skinning, scaling, eviscerating, scalding, boiling or even eating these beings alive.  It represents endless cruelty on the part of those who are connected with it.  They shiver at the mere thought of being sick or having to endure the slightest pain, not mentioning losing their own life.  The tragedy of it is truly unspeakable.  Unfortunately, when pain is at its most intense, there is no opportunity to complain of the unbearable suffering.  The unwholesome karma produced by the mouth is unimaginable.  Some of the most vicious crimes have been committed by the mouth, generating ill will for hundreds of thousands of years.

We are not unaware of the amount of evil in the world as the result of the ten unskillful karmas responsible for producing it.  To take the life of a living being is the first of them.  What are the remaining nine?

They are stealing; adultery; lying; double talk; coarse language; foul language; covetousness; anger; and perverted views.  Each of these ten has its specific antidote, non-killing being antidote number one.  This teaching is at the heart of self-discipline as understood by Buddhists.  Voluntary abstention from taking life of any living being holds the first place in each of the six sets of precepts that constitute the discipline of Buddhadharma.  The sets of five, seven and eight precepts for laity, as well as the ten precepts for novices, the Pratimokha for monks and nuns, and the bodhisattva precepts all reflect the essential tenet of non-hurting which characterizes the Buddha's teaching.  Abstention from killing is thus the first requirement for generating wholesome or skillful thought.  To bring about world peace, all that is necessary is to adhere to the Dharma of Ten Precepts.  In the absence of intent to kill war is not possible.  In the absence of intent to steal there would be no transgressions regarding property and in the absence of disregard for marriage and relationships, people's self-respect, reliability and trust would increase considerably .  The degradation and the confusion due to lies, double talk, coarse and foul language would cease.  In time greed, hatred and ignorance would be uprooted and sentient beings would have no further obstacles preventing them from attaining complete happiness and deliverance through enlightenment.