Page 26 - Suffering

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* Pali: Niyama – 1. Utu Niyama is the natural law of non-living matter. This
natural law orders the change of seasons and phenomena related to climate and
the weather. It explains the nature of heat and fire, soil and gasses, water and
wind. Most natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes would be governed
by Utu Niyama. Put into modern terms, Utu Niyama would correlate with what
we think of as physics, chemistry, geology, and several sciences of inorganic
phenomena. The most important point to understand about Utu Niyama is that
the matter it governs is not part of the law of karma and is not overridden by
karma. So, from a Buddhist perspective, natural disasters such as earthquakes
are not caused by karma.

2. Bija Niyama is the law of living matter, what we would think of as biology. The
Pali word bija means “seed,” and so Bija Niyama governs the nature of germs and
seeds and the attributes of sprouts, leaves, flowers, fruits, and plant life generally.
Modern scholars suggest that laws of genetics that apply to all life, plant and
animal, would come under the heading of Bija Niyama.

3. Kamma Niyama is the law of moral causation. All of our volitional thoughts,
words, and deeds create an energy that brings about effects and that process
is called karma. The important point here is that Kamma Niyama is a kind of
natural law like gravity that operates without having to be directed by a divine
intelligence. Karma is not a cosmic criminal justice system, and no supernatural
force or God is directing it to reward the good and punish the wicked. Karma is,
rather, a natural tendency for skillful (Pali: kusala) actions to create beneficial
effects, and unskillful (Pali: akusala) actions to create harmful or painful effects.

4. Dhamma Niyama has several meanings. Is often referred to the teachings of
the Buddha, but it also is used to mean something like “manifestation of reality”
or the nature of existence. One way to think of Dhamma Niyama is as natural
spiritual law. For example, he doctrines of anatta (no self), sunyata (emptiness),
and the marks of existence would be part of Dhamma Niyama.

5. Citta Niyama means the factor of the “mind,” “heart,” or “state of
consciousness.” Citta Niyama is the law of mental activity—something like
psychology. It concerns consciousness, thoughts, and perceptions. We tend
to think of our minds as “us,” or as the pilot directing us through our lives but
in Buddhism, mental activities are phenomena that arise from causes and
conditions like other phenomena.

In the teachings of the Five Khandhas, mind is a kind of sense organ, and
thoughts are sense objects, in the same way the nose is a sense organ and smells
are its objects.

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