It didn't feel like a problem. Like slapping the table or clapping the hands, the small burn focuses the new member on the immediate experience of the moment, the goal of Zen practice. The mind just becomes that. It's a chance for all karma to be burned away. Under Buddhist teaching, karma is the law of cause and effect ruling a person's life.
Bad deeds create bad karma.
Observance of the dharma may free a person from the bad karma one has created in this or past lives. All Rights Reserved. Please read our full copyright notice . And don't forget, there's more in print.