How Do Our Inverted Appearances Arise?

How do our inverted appearances come about? “They arise only from causes and conditions, generated by inversion.” “Existence through causes and conditions” is karmic force; “generated by inversion” refers to the grasping and discrimination that arise in our minds. “Therefore it is said: always joyfully contemplate such dharma marks.”

We can regularly turn to this wisdom of emptiness, contemplating it to extinguish the love and grasping in our minds. “This is called the second approach-place for the Bodhisattva-mahasattva.” This is the approach-place. The first, discussed earlier, is called the practice-place: this is principle-contemplation. What we address here is object-cultivation.

We should clarify these inverted thoughts, for this is exactly what we must confront: the very thing the contemplation of emptiness is meant to eradicate. Inverted thoughts arise from two key sources. First, “existence through causes and conditions” is your karmic force. The good and evil karma you created in past lives will inevitably manifest as specific circumstances in your present life.

Second, “generated by inversion” is your clinging. Once karmic force manifests, know that it’s inherently impermanent: any karma you create, whether sinful or meritorious, only lasts for a set period. But why do these impressions, once they enter your mind, linger there, shaping your character across lifetime after lifetime? Because you grasp at them—clinging to their marks and discriminating among them.

In short, inverted thoughts are a blend of two elements: karmic force, and delusive imagination.

Master Jingjie, The Lotus Sutra