Hi,
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When a painful 'trigger' situation arises, you try to observe both the event and your emotional reaction to it in a detached manner. In that way you de-power the subconscious imprint (karma) and prevent it from re-emerging. A process of dis-identification.
Is that correct?
To be more specific, but still not nearly as specific as could be: one observes both the event and reaction to it, neither expressing nor repressing any thoughts or feelings regarding the situation, while sincerely trying to understand why one is having a reaction at all. Through that sincere investigation, or perhaps for another reason, one decides to eliminate that identification entirely. ("Well, it is silly for me to be upset just because someone else believes something I don't." or better yet "Well, it is silly for me to believe in anything at all... if god still exists after I stop believing (just like tables and cups and trees do), then hey, that's nice too!") In that way, one eliminates the source of the karma at the root and prevents it from re-emerging. It is a process of dis-identification, yes; the kind which removes the karma entirely, rather than simply "dis-embedding" oneself from it. One is extinguishing the fires of passion completely.
C C C:
Say a person misses a few meals as a child, gets a bit anxious and reacts unskillfully, then the karma relating to food/survival has begun.
Yes, and it is important to realize that children (and adults) generally have no idea how to react skillfully, nor do they know that there's even a reason to do so (this is why the root of many identifications/karma end up being buried deeply in one's past). In other words: it is all done blindly.
C C C:
As an adult, that imprint will re-emerge as some sort of stressful circumstance relating to food. Maybe he goes bushwalking, gets lost, has no food for a few days and becomes so anxious about the availability of food that he reacts by hoarding a pantry full of food 'just in case'. So the subconscious imprint builds.
This seems viable. I would shy away from worrying about whether it's subconscious or not, though (it just isn't important, but viewing it in such a way could cause confusion or inaction).
C C C:
After a few lifetimes of unskillful reaction, the person may have built the karma to a level where he manipulates and steals food from others, even if it means they have nothing to eat and die.
If by "lifetimes" it is understood that we are still talking about the same physical life (and thus are referring to "lifetimes" in the sense of a "being"), then yes, I suppose that could happen. But it could manifest in many other ways. A few examples: fear of poverty, a fear of letting go of valued things in general, pride in one's food stores or the means by which they were gained, shame in times of less plenty, desire for more even if needs are met, aggression if one's valuables or means by which to obtain them are threatened, projected resentment toward those less fortunate; even nurturing feelings could arise if one shares that food with another and thus feels this to be more significant than it would feel for someone who did not have that identification.
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In the next incarnation (if there is such a thing), the thing he most fears actually happens. He gets born as an African kid with nothing to eat... and he dies.
There is no such thing physically, but if he were to have a wife or children or some other companions his actions could influence, his karma (this identification) could "rub off" on them. Thus, the next incarnation of the identification/karma would be in the child, the wife, or the other companions. I would venture to say that every child picks up some of their elders' karma; 'I' for one had many blindly acquired identifications from both 'my' parents and 'my' siblings. And unless the child uproots the identification prior to having children of his own, he would likely pass it on to them too. Thus: "I" am reborn each generation again, "my" karma becomes "his" karma; "I" am quintessentially the same in each person.
C C C:
If this is how karma works, perhaps a simple summary might be to say that we need to face our demons when they emerge.
Better yet, when one faces them directly, one can look at them so intently and so clearly that one realizes that the demons are utterly insubstantial; they don't even exist in the actual world you are sitting in right now. Peace on earth is happening right this very moment!
Trent