與宇宙同化，日月同流，慈悲歸來~

銀行現在提供一種「額度透支」來往帳戶。這類帳戶可根據保險值的額度讓存戶透支到一個預定的限度。當餘額出現負結餘，更多的提款就會讓赤字更嚴重，然而當你開始存入款項之後，負結餘就會減少。只要存款還是出現負結餘，那你就是欠銀行的債。而只要餘額呈現零的時候，你的負債就結束了。

我們的「業庫」就如同額度透支的帳戶。來到這個娑婆，或多或少都是因為過去世的業習而讓「業庫」呈現透支狀態。於無明狀態下所造作的業行，正如我們繼續自這個「業庫」透支額度。另一方面，善行則如我們在銀行存款一般，慢慢的減少負債，直到最終額度下降到零。

我們並不知道前世透支了甚麼業行，因為業的因果律是錯綜複雜的。即便我們造作了某些善業，但是在造業的同時，內心很有可能於有意或無意間擁有某種貪求。例如當我們把錢幣投在行乞者的碗中時，或許會生起這樣或那樣的念頭：希望他不再受餓，那就不需再對其布施了。

一切身語意，從離不開世間欲望。

即便是一個有意或是無意的感覺，認為「我是在行布施，而我未來將得善報」的念頭，都有如在透支「業庫」。

而最好的是，行布施時，應作如是想：「這本來就是我當下該做的啊。」

對未來一切善果的憧憬都應該放下，如此的業行，就會如同存入款項一樣，逐漸減少負結餘。

把當下每一個業行或是經驗當作是清償債務。

換句話說，切莫把當下的業行或是經驗當作是未來果報的業因。

我們通常會將每一個行為跟過去或是未來的情境作因果律的聯想。那是業力法則的基礎。 事實上，我們應將當下每個行為單純地視為減少累世業債所應做的事。於臨終之前，倘若我們無法將餘業清償至零，那麼剩餘的就只能靠來生了。而我們就是如此的一再輪迴，直到所有的業債償清為止。

經文和倡導靈性的著述者都以種子和乾果為譬喻。沒有欲求的行為就如同乾果，永遠不能發芽。另一方面，無論是有意、或於無意中帶有欲望的業行，就有如活的種子，將會生出業種，長出業的果實；而這些業果則進一步、綿延不斷的長出新的種子，故而，業果緣於欲望使然，一再循環了。

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      敏林堪千仁波切 Minling Khenchen Rinpoche / How the Karma works: modern analogy.

( 本文為尊貴的敏林堪千仁波切於百忙中親書開示。

謹祝福您~ 法喜充滿，菩提道上究竟了義! )

How the Karma works: modern analogy
   

Banks offer a type of current account with an overdraft facility against security. The balance in this kind of account can become negative up to a certain prescribed limit depending on the value of the security. When the balance is already negative, further withdrawal will make the balance even more negative. However, if you deposit some money into that account, the negative balance will reduce. So long as the balance is negative, you are liable to the bank. But once the balance becomes zero, your liability is over.

Our karmic accounts is similar to an overdraft account. We all come into this world with a negative balance in our karmic account due to our past lives. The actions that we perform with some underlying desire are like further withdrawals from our karmic overdraft account that increase our “liability” further. On the other hand, the actions that we perform without any desire are like deposits into the overdraft account that reduce the negative balance, eventually brining it down to zero.

We do not know what kind of karmic overdraft we are born with. The law of karma is complex. Even if we perform a supposedly ‘good’ deed, we are, more often than not, likely to have some conscious or unconscious desire while performing that good deed. For example, when we drop a coin into a beggar’s tin, we may have a hidden desire that the beggar’s hunger will eventually be satisfied so that we are not required to give more again or any other similar thoughts.

All said and done, it is a worldly desire.

Even a conscious or subconscious feeling that ‘I am doing a good deed and it will benefit me in some way in the future’, is like withdrawing from the karmic account. A better way is to drop a coin into the beggar’s tin thinking that you are in a position to do so and that it is the right thing to do at that moment. All thoughts about future consequences of our actions should be shunned. Then the action will be like a deposit into the karmic account reducing the negative balance.

Consider every actions or experiences in the present moment as setting off a past karmic debt. In other words, do not regard your actions or experiences in the present moment as a cause of something that will happen in the future.

It is our normal tendency to link every action to a scenario, past or future, in a cause effect relationship. That is the basis of the law of karma. Instead, we should regard each action as simply a duty appropriate in the present moment which is nullifying a part of the accumulated karmic debt. If we cannot manage to bring down the negative karmic balance to zero before we die, we must come back to this planet for another life. This has to repeat again and again until the karmic overdraft balance becomes zero.

Scriptures and spiritual writers use the metaphor of sowing live and roasted seeds. Desireless action is like roasted seed- it can never germinate. On the other hand, action with some conscious or unconscious desire is a “live” seed that will sprout into a tree bearing fruits of karma that will, in turn have further live seeds. Thus, the karmic cycle perpetuates due to desire.

─Minling Khenchen Rinpoche / How the Karma works: modern analogy