Sunday Times 2
Time travellers in Sansara: The energy for process is Kamma
View(s):By Dr Channa Ratnatunga
In a contemplative mood, I wondered; It could be conceptualised according to Buddhist philosophy, that in reality, we as humans are, Time Travellers in Sansara. All life-forms, it could be also alleged, that they too could be so classified as well. That they too are in varying stages of ‘mental-evolution (in regulating the mind)’, if it can be so described.
The Buddha preached, it is said that the energy for the process, is Kamma. I contemplated the generation of a life-form could be metaphorically likened to a ‘tornado’ existing while the ‘Kammic force’ lasts, assimilating matter from its whereabouts, giving it form, but like all such constructs, decaying (anicca), when the force is spent. The forms (guises) in Sansara will be by necessity protean.
Why we humans unwittingly commit ‘bad’ Kamma.
With my biological training, I realise that, ‘self-preservation’ is a fundamental principle underlying a living organism’s behaviour. The so-called ‘bad’ Kamma is dominantly done to survive and procreate the genus. The human psyche – the ‘Self’, is conditioned from childhood to adulthood by Neuroplasticity to secure this end. This neuroplastically conditioned self, the experience-based personality-Self, is a source of security, a sort of social security whilst living among the group. One’s narrative-me; memories, behaviour, should conform within the accepted norms of the group. This enhances the chance of survival. Hence one who gets attached to the ‘Self’ clings to it. “But there is no permanent being but merely a construction of the mind by neuroplasticity, to survive (the concept of An-atta). Intrusions to the personal space of the so constructed ‘Self’, lead to the mind, ignorant of this fact, to commit so-called ‘bad’ Kamma.
Humans are in reality living organisms i.e. sophisticated animals. The Human brain harbours its evolutionary antecedents, in that it has structures within; a reptilian and a pre-mammalian brain. The latter constitutes the Limbic system in the brain.
They are part of the basal brain. Satisfying the needs of hunger, thirst, reacting to fear, ‘Flight or Fight’ reaction is mostly dictated to by the Reptilian and pre-mammalian Brain. The limbic system includes the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and thalamus. The Limbic system of the human brain is associated through its connections to the Default Mode (Neuronal) Network (DMN) of the brain with emotions such as, greed, craving, anger, hatred, rage, jealousy, ruminating on ill-will, etc, are part of the survival kit of man. Getting some kind of priority in reproductive rights while living within a group could also evoke such emotions. Protecting the newborn young is one of the many ‘issues’ that can provoke emotion. Hence emotions are consequent to, the perceived violations of one’s personal space (i.e. boundaries, values), which are important to the neuroplastically constructed self. Which in turn are essential for survival in challenging social environments. Hence survival and ‘bad’ Kamma are inclusively related. Kammic Force so generated will, by the Natural law of Conditionality (Paticca Sammupada) as hypothesised by the Sages of yore, including the Buddha, will continue to keep us as Time Travellers in Sansara for eons more to come.
How ‘bad’ kamma can be avoided
Regulating the basic brain by overriding the emotional brain with the medial Pre-Frontal cortex (DMN) is possible, by living in the ‘now’ as advocated by Vipassana meditation. This will activate the Central Executive (Neuronal) Network (CEN) of the dorsolateral Pre-Frontal cortex of the brain (Fig 3) the task-related network of the brain, which will in turn attenuate the DMN, as shown by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging- Scan (fMRI) studies of the Brain. Making living in the ‘now’, a trait of habitual behaviour rather than a transient state of mind, is what is needed. Regulating thought i.e. the intent (Chetana) component of the trio, ‘thought, word and deed’ of volition Sankhara, seems the most dominant need, as it soils the psyche, potentiating the hippocampal based memory traces and perpetuates a like reaction to infringement of the boundaries of the ‘conditioned self’.
Focus on deeper reality
My trajectory of thought split at this point. The Buddha, it is said, was able to ‘see’ the reality of Kamma and Sansara, by fine-tuning his consciousness by deep meditation to a level we find difficult to achieve. Science, as of now, has not been able to verify these realities. Studies by Stevenson and others at the University of Virginia, USA on the existence of Rebirth, the reality that we all are not born equal; the birth of geniuses, those born with blindness, being deaf and dumb needs some sort of explanation.
Further, what is the force that is responsible for birth and motivates life? This is different to the energy derived from the sun via photosynthesis, fed to cellular mitochondria, that provides our daily energy needs. The driving force for all life-forms in the Universe, the ‘Élan vital’, a creative principle held by Henri Bergson to be immanent in all organisms and responsible for evolution. What is this force? Emeritus Professor of Neurology Ramon Lim, of the University of Iowa, claims that Self is the driving force that, under selective pressure, propels evolution forward. That such a natural force must exist, is rationally transparent. What is this Force? Science has yet no answer, is it Kamma?
(This information is detailed in my
150 page book ‘Buddhist Philosophy and Neuroscience’. Priced at Rs. 800, the book is sold at Sarasavi Bookshops. The proceeds are entirely used to fund the Migara Trust that funds needy
medical students of the
University of Peradeniya.)