Questions to Master Deshimaru

Question

Where does one's personal karma begin?

Answer

Here and now. It is manifesting itself all the time, at every instant, even during zazen. It ceases to appear only in the grave. And when you are asleep? You dream; that is karma coming back to the surface. You move, you scratch yourself; even in bed people perform actions. When they have had too much to drink they snore. Karma arises, manifests itself everywhere. That is what karma is. If you have come here and practiced zazen, then your past karma has surely come to the surface. The very fact of coming here means that a good karma in the past incited you to come. It is not so easy to choose deliberately to perform nothing but good deeds. But practicing zazen is absolute action. That alone creates an infinite good karma, and that karma too will inevitably come back to the surface. Even if a person practices zazen only once and never comes again, that karma will influence his existence later on.