Use Your Karma To Help This World

Student: So, karma controls me, or I control my karma and help other people. These two are different, but same karma.” Please elaborate on these sentences. Does this mean "my karma” originally is helping others? Only this?

Jason: My favorite teaching from Zen Master Seung Sahn was, "are you using your karma to help other people or is karma using you?" A teaching I find helpful is about the Buddha. Before he started practicing, the Buddha was attached to name and form like many of us. Then under the Bodhi tree he realized his enlightenment and was no longer attached to name and form. Then he got up from the tree and for 49 years USED name and form to help other people. We already have experienced attachment to name and form. We attach to this concept of "I" and we attach to karma. Next step is to experience the mind before karma and "I". How do you do that? What are you? Where does karma come from? Use a great question to realize this mind before thinking. We call it a "Don't Know" mind. If we take another step, we see that there is a body. There is thinking and emotion. We can perceive clearly our thinking, our words, our actions, our habits, and our karma. How can we use that in this moment to help others?