Conscious Choice: Karma... Ultimate Poker

January 1996

Karma... Ultimate Poker

by Jim Kenney

Karma...well, we all know about karma, don’t we? It was "bad karma" that screwed up the deal...bad karma that made the accident inevitable...bad karma that ground the relationship to dust. Right? And then there’s the "good karma." Good karma made that deal just happen. Good karma brought us together. Good karma accounts for my most recent killings in the market. Right? Right?

Wrong. In the essential teaching of the Indian traditions which gave rise to the doctrine of karma, the word doesn’t carry the positive and negative associations which the western mind is conditioned to expect. Karma, properly understood, is the law of moral cause and effect, with a concomitant promise of constant challenge and growth. And karmic effects are never easily interpreted. What seems "bad" may well be in the long term "good." And no one ever dare assess the karmic implications of the life-transitions of another. Karma, in other words, is the creative energy with which the universe confronts our choices.

One of the most influential teachers in my own life was the director of my doctoral program at Northwestern University. Dr. Isshi Yamada is a renowned Japanese Buddhist scholar, the author of a number of vitally important works, and an innovative and thoughtful contributor to the modern effort to clarify Buddhist wisdom for the modern world. I can only hope that Dr. Yamada would recognize his insights in what follows.

He imparted to me a view of the universe as interdependent, compassionate, and creative beyond all measure. There seemed to be no room in his scheme of the moral and spiritual landscape for any notion of sin and punishment or of excellence and reward. Instead, his students were challenged to understand the insidious and invidious nature of the cycle of human ignorance and desire. Because we are ignorant of the sacredness of life and consciousness, our desires are inappropriate. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, puts it quite powerfully: "Ignorance dispatches the desires in foolish directions!"

Since we so often fail to recognize the intimately interdependent character of the universe, we tend to choose inappropriately. Ferraris and comfortable accommodations, jewels and electronic magic, travel and adventure....they captivate us. And more to the point, victory over adversaries and public acclamation shape our decisions and focus our agendas. This, the Indian traditions urge, is the essential source of the modern human malaise. Karmically, it produces only angst...only dissatisfaction. What goes around, comes around. And this is a key dimension of Indian karmic doctrine.

And that’s the bad news. But the karmic teachings of India’s great religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism — have some very good news to offer as well. Karma, they tell us, should be understood as the dynamic, transformative, teaching power which ultimate reality brings to bear on the lives of struggling human beings. We should note, of course, that each of these traditions has a very different symbolic way of defining, approaching, and addressing the ultimate. Hindus and Sikhs tend in general to be more comfortable with conversation about God. Buddhists and Jains would rather talk of the One, One Mind, or the Ultimate. But India’s several indigenous religions speak with one voice when it comes to the power of karma to craft new realities, new situations, and new challenges in the lives of seekers.

Imagine if you will that the creative agenda of the universe in which we live and strive is to shape every moment of every life so as to provide the greatest opportunity for each person (actually, for each sentient life form) to overcome significant obstacles; to grow morally, intellectually, and spiritually; and to progress toward enlightenment.

Imagine that the most essential task of the universe is to track and then to respond to each individual’s progress through life’s journey, and then to shape and to articulate the "ideal" encounter for that person. Just imagine.

Imagine that when next you are confronted by one of those obstacles which the world or the community or your own friends seem so often to put in place...imagine that you let go of the anger, release the frustration, and focus for a moment on the lesson which might just be in place. Perhaps you’ll find the "stuff" to respond creatively. Perhaps not. But be assured that the lesson will "re-present."

I remember when I first came across the reflections of the late Sarvepelli Radhakrishnan, past President of India, and past Indian Ambassador to the United Nations. Radhakrishnan was also one of the premier philosophers of India. It seems that the Ambassador, during his New York tour, fell in with a crowd of diplomats enamoured of poker. He was soon "hooked." Later, he would write that he had never been able to articulate his understanding of the operation of the law of karma, until he had mastered the intricacies of this very American card game.

There is, he would say, nothing you can do about the hand that you are dealt. It’s just a matter of fate, of the luck of the draw, or — of karma. And as the player surveys her or his several cards, skill enters the picture. Radhakrishnan equated the skill of the experienced poker player with the accumulated wisdom of the karma-sensitive seeker of enlightenment. I might draw a very unfavorable hand. But my skills might just make the difference. It’s all a matter of attention, memory, and intention.

No poker afficionado could deny that Amarillo Slim comes to the table with a considerable advantage. In what does Slim’s advantage consist? Well, it’s simply this: he’s been there, seen all the hands, understood all the permutations. He knows how to choose. And he knows how to play the hand he’s been dealt.

Radhakrishnan wanted to suggest that the serious spiritual seeker comes to the karmic table with all the advantages of an Amarillo Slim. She or he knows the path that has led this far. And the likely outcomes. And so this player/seeker has at least some clue as to how to proceed.

But what’s the nature of the player’s/seeker’s advantage? It seems to me that, with respect to poker, the player has the ability to track the play thus far. He or she knows the cards that have turned up and has a clear sense of the cards yet left to play. That knowledge yields up an enormous edge. And Amarillo Slim’s record testifies to this reality.

With respect to the larger game, the seeker’s edge consists in this: attention to the play as it has proceeded thus far, a strong understanding of the dynamically confrontational wonder of the universe, and a deepening commitment to creative response.

In both situations, the player/seeker has to understand that there are lessons to be learned. Attention to what has gone before can yield up a world of creative response. And the game, of course, goes to those who breathe deeply, center consciousness, and act with commitment.

Trust in karma is the greatest blessing and the greatest challenge of the spiritual life. It offers, on the one hand, the certainty that every moment, every choice, and every step somehow advances the greater reality. It consoles and condoles. It energizes, encourages, and enthuses. On the other hand, it reminds those who attend to its vagaries and its apparent inequities that there is a larger purpose and a larger hand at work. It demands that each of us regard his or her immediate moment as in service to life’s ultimate purpose. But it never constrains us. It facilitates. Karma means "making" or "doing." And the teaching reminds us that every step we take, every move we make, the universe is watching.

And somehow, the universe responds.

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