CONTINUED FROM PART 1
There are three kinds of karma (actions). One is physical, the other verbal, the third mental. One may think a thought (form an intention in mind) then speak it (create a verbalization) then do it (carry it out). If one did, that is THREE acts, three DEEDS, not one even if they are all related. We may think one thing, say another, and do a third or exhibit integrity by aligning them. For instance, we sincerely promise to do something and then we do it.
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| I can't wait to kill 'em all on GTA VI |
The sincerity is mental, the pledge is verbal, and the carrying it out is physical. They are integrated, and this is called having integrity. Often, however, we say we'll do something, without really meaning it, and then we may or may not do it. The point is, they are three different things, three distinct kinds of karma, three ACTS.
The mental act is the one that concerns us here. If karma takes three forms (by way of vehicle, body, tongue, or brain), it is qualitatively different but nevertheless effective in producing some kind of results (one act, many results).
- Could how we roleplay impact how we live outside the game? D'uh. It seems obvious it would, but is there scientific data to back up that suggestion?*
If one feels guilty about so much as thinking of doing harm, for example, that is a kind of mental resultant. If one is joyful over thinking of doing something wonderful and helpful, that is also a mental resultant.
When the fruits of that action ripen, when those seeds we planted sprout, those results will be experienced as welcome, neutral, or unwelcome depending on the act. Any act can also be distinguished by the motivation underlying it.
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| I prefer the term Sofa Spud to Couch Potato |
The idea or argument that because it is "just" a thought it has no result is wrong. To prove that, let us look at the Buddha's own words in this short sutra:
Before killing, what acts are warriors already doing?
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| We wish to ask a question of the Blessed One. |
(SN 42.3) The village headman Yodhajiva (the "Warrior") went to the Buddha (the Blessed One), paid his respects, sat to one side, and asked:
"Venerable sir, I have heard it passed down through the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that, 'When a warrior strives and exerts himself in battle, if others strike him down and slay him while he is striving and exerting himself, with the breakup of the body, after death, he will be reborn in the [good] company of the devas who were slain in battle.' What does the Blessed One say about this?"
"Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask."
But a second time and a third time, the headman Yodhajiva asked.
"Apparently, headman, I am unable to get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask,' so I will answer it directly.
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| What did you say, man? I'll F you up right now. |
"When a warrior strives and exerts himself in battle, HIS MIND IS ALREADY SEIZED, debased, and misdirected by the thought, 'May these beings be slaughtered, struck down, destroyed, annihilated, and may they cease to exist.'
"If others strike that warrior down and slay him while he is thus engaged in striving and exerting himself, with the breakup of the body, after death, he will be reborn in a hell called the realm of those slain in battle.
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| This simulation is mentally real yet not corporeal |
"Now, there are two destinations for a person holding such a wrong view, I say, either a hell or the animal world.'
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| I was lied to and fooled. |
The Buddha then said, "That is what I could not get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, set that aside and do not ask.'"
"Venerable sir, I am not crying because of what the Blessed One said, but rather because I have been deceived, misled, and fooled for so long by that ancient teaching lineage of warriors." — SN 42.3
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| The Workings of Kamma (Pa Auk) |
The Buddha points to that mental harm: The warrior's mind (heart, citta-stream) is ALREADY seized, debased, and misdirected.
The person need not do anything else yet bad karma (unskillful, unwholesome deeds) will have already accrued. The seeds with the capacity to produce results in the future will have already been planted. The gamer need not go any further (with speech or bodily action) to have already made karma.
What kind of karma was made? There are six kinds: wholesome, neutral, or unwholesome (mundane or supermundane). All of this so far is mundane. What makes a deed good or bad?
ALL bad deeds have only three roots. The same is true for all good deeds. Those unwholesome roots are greed, hatred (which includes fear), and delusion. If one thinks, speaks, or does (acts) motivated by one or more of these roots, the outcome is bad (unskillful) karma. It is called "bad" karma because it will produce, when it ripens, unwelcomed, unwished for results.
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| Karma is NOT punishment but like-for-like |
What is one nourishing while playing Grand Theft Auto VI? It must be goodwill, kindness, love, affection, sympathy... Who knows who's playing that game. When we get in the hotseat and start shooting, we as gamers are exercising the worst qualities: grand theft, mass murder, rape, psychotic violence, endangering others, and so on.
If only psychology had something to say about this
*When I was a graduate student in psychology at UCLA, I remember a very powerful piece of information passed down to us by our famous psychology professor. At the time, all the way down to today, it was being disputed whether or not WATCHING PORNOGRAPHY was harmful. (Is watching online porn unskillful or "bad" karma?)
You watched what, you pervert? - It was a study!
If I were a good scientist, I would have the references at hand to back this up. But it's not necessary because many researchers followed suit, so whoever did it first hardly matters. This was a robust finding. (Smithers! Get my professor on the line to ask her for the citation ASAP.)
The design of the study
What researchers did was a two-part experiment. Part 1, expose subjects to hardcore violent pornography. Part 2, have them engage in a "learning" trial. This trial consisted of a female "learner" engaged in some task or other. When observed doing the task correctly, press the green button held in the subject's hand. When observed doing the task incorrectly, press the red button to electrocute or "help teach" the learner to do it correctly.
Experimental subjects gave the learner just as many "shocks" as those not exposed to violent pornography. BUT, unconsciously, they held the red shock button longer. They held it down for a statistically significant greater length of time = more electrocution, more shocking, more pain administration.
When asked afterward, "Do you think you were fair in praise and blame (green button, red button administration) of the learner?" They all reported, "Yes, I was quite fair and objective." This is what most if not all of them must have thought.
However, the data revealed what they seemed to be unaware of but what researchers could clearly see: Those not exposed to violent pornography administered punishments in this proportion. Those exposed to violent pornography administered punishments disproportionately -- the same number of shocks but unconsciously held down longer.
- Now imagine this study but exposing subjects to 15 minutes of first-person shooter roleplaying GTA 5 (to say nothing of the new better, brighter, more densely pixelated magic of GTA 6) then running the Part 2.
- This is only said for the personal, private realization: "Might I be behaving differently in the real world because of what I do in the virtual one as I spend my free time immersed in a very engaging (dopamine producing) fantasy as a first-person shooter engaged in role play for hours and hours, days and days, years and years?
- It's something to think about because, suddenly, we're outside the scope of this article. All that is being said here is that mental karma is being generated by just playing. Now there is evidence that how we play negatively impacts how we live real life. Yikes! Who knew?
- Why get religious, but I asked my very devoutly Christian mother, "Mom, does Jesus ever talk about distinguishing SIN into bodily, verbal, and altogether only mental?" Asked in this way, she suddenly kicked into action with many examples. It was almost, one could believe, as if Jesus Christ Born to Humans (aka "Son of Man") had heard the Buddha's teachings from five centuries earlier. Most people playing GTA VI, I would hazard to guess, are going to be nominal Christians. So even if they didn't believe a word any teaching on "karma," they might nevertheless remember how the Good Shepherd taught about SIN (missing the mark) and how long before it becomes an action, say adultery just to pull one out of the hats of so many sins, one by looking upon a female in that way (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) has ALREADY committed adultery in his or her heart. Just saying. Ask Jesus or his Dad about it when you see them. ⛪
- CONTINUED IN PART 3
- Dhr. Seven (text) edited by Amber Larson, Ashley Wells as taught to videogame aficionados Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
