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The body and mind exist within a matrix of cause and consequence. Every event is the consequence of a host of events that preceded it. Looking backwards into time, one can trace a cone of causal events that led to the occurrence of any event in the present. While some causal events may be more significant than others, no single event is ever the entire cause of anything. It is always a combination of causes that results in something happening. Similarly, looking forward into time, one can track the consequence of any event combining with other parallel consequences to cause something to happen. This cascading of consequences will also spread forward into a cone of consequences.
Visualising from outside the time stream, one can take a slice of a single instance in time and examine each event which occurs in that time slice. Every event will have a cone of causes converging towards it and a cone of consequences diverging away from it. For events that are adjacent in the time slice of the present, these cones of causal and consequential events will overlap and many causes and consequences will be shared by the events of the time slice. Sometimes events that are far apart in space could be linked to a common cause or consequence. As we add more and more events in the slice of present time, more and more cones of cause (past) and consequence (future) will overlap and be shared to become an interlocked web of cause and effect. Effectively, all of those events in that slice of time will be preceded by an interlocked matrix of causes and will be succeeded by an interlocked matrix of consequences. And this will repeat for every slice of time, both backwards and forwards in the flow of time. This is the Cause-Consequence Matrix, the deterministic flow of events in the time stream.
Every event is the inevitable consequence of preceding events and the cause of succeeding events. Some cultures refer to this as fate while others call it karma or kismet. The Sanskrit word karma actually means action. Implicit in the word are the causes and consequences of the action. Such a deterministic flow of events runs counter to the notion of free choice. The idea of free choice is needed in order to make people take responsibility for their actions. If people think of their actions as pre-determined, there is the risk of them behaving irresponsibly in trying to do whatever they please or just giving up and doing nothing. Society could fall apart if that were to happen. This is why the notion of responsibility for actions is strongly advocated and ideas about a deterministic world are not promoted outside the sphere of philosophical discussion.
Religions that do not embrace the concept of reincarnation and multiple lifetimes have difficulty in dealing with the idea of a deterministic cause-consequence matrix. Whatever the beliefs, events do occur that are clearly unfair and defy principles of justice. They are explained away as the Will of God - followers are told to believe that God is doing everything with their best interest at heart and that they must accept whatever befalls. But that still leaves the question of free will hanging – if God is arranging everything, then what about free will?
The other theological challenge posed by a deterministic world is the need to see transgressions met with justice. If all events are predetermined, then how can wrongdoers be punished? Is there no justice in this world or in the afterlife? The dharmic viewpoint addresses these questions quite neatly.
This material world is nothing more than maya – an illusion. It is a time-locked box within which all of the predetermined life streams are being played out. All of those life streams are locked into the mesh of karma and will play out their roles as predetermined by the matrix. The true Self, the chitta, chooses a life stream which will provide the lessons and challenges which that chitta needs in order to grow. When the chitta enters that life stream, it becomes confined to the perceptions of those layers of maya kosha and can only silently nudge the buddhi of that life in the making of choices. Those choices may not change the outcome of the action, but the memory of making those choices will remain with the chitta. So long as the chitta is able to reconcile entanglements, resolve responsibilities and relinquish the desires that keep pulling it back into a material body, it can escape the repeating cycle of deterministic karmic streams.
If the choices presented to the buddhi are predetermined, is there any possibility that the chitta can effectively nudge the buddhi into making alternate choices? It could be that some events do occur at a nexus where the chitta can actually transit into a parallel lifestream with a different outcome in line with the choice that was made. But that should not matter because the real purpose of the chitta is to carry forward memories of having offered the right choices. The illusory outcomes within the karmic matrix will not affect the journey of the chitta.
Notes:
- Deterministic is where the course of events has been predetermined and will proceed accordingly.
- Karma effectively has 3 meanings – the totality of a person’s actions, the law or principle governing the consequence of actions and the resulting fate or destiny.
The Cause-Consequence Matrix
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