BUDDHIST GEM FELLOWSHIP

BUDDHIST GEM FELLOWSHIP BUDDHIST GEM FELLOWSHIP FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHISM DatukDr Victor Wee 24-June-2012 (Sun) LESSON 5 The Law of Kamma FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHISM JKQuek/18092011

The Law of Kamma FUNDAMENTALS OF BUDDHISM

Simple Understanding of Kamma • Kamma (Pali) or karma (Sanskrit) is often though of as the good and bad things that happen to a person, like good and bad luck • This concept oversimplifies the complex of interrelated ideas in Buddhism which are linked with ethics and belief in rebirth

Life in Samsara • The Buddhists conceive of human life as passing through an extended series of births and deaths, which is referred to as “samsara”. • In wandering through samsara, the quality of person’s experiences in the six realms of existence is determined by his good and bad kamma • The term “samsara” literally means “flowing on” to mean “eternal wandering” in births and deaths • Individual existences are thought of like pearls on a necklace—each one separate but strung together in an endless series

Ethical Implication • Kamma is concerned with the consequences of moral behavior, or the moral implications for Dhamma • For Buddhism, kamma is neither random—like luck—nor a system of rewards and punishment given out by God • It is not destiny, fate or predetermination. It is also not pure chance or random occurence but a natural sequence of causes and effects

Five Natural Laws • All phenomena operate according to five natural laws (niyama). • Kamma refers to one of the laws which operates in the moral sphere (kammaniyama) • The other four natural laws refer to • Physical laws (utuniyama) • Biological laws (bijaniyama) • Psychological laws (cittaniyama) • Universal laws (Dhammaniyama)

What is Kamma? • Kammadoes not mean any action but actions of a particular kind. • Kamma are actions where a person makes a moral choice. They are actions performed with intention (cetana) or motivation • Vipakameans the result or effect of our intentional actions • What we are is what we have done. • What we do we will become.

Kamma is based on Intention • The Buddha said, “It is intention (cetana), O monks, that I call kamma; having willed one acts through body, speech, or mind” (AnguttaraNikaya3.415). • Of body, speech or mind, the Buddha considers mental actions as the most potent because intentions and motivations behind every action determine the consequences that follow.

When is An Action Good or Bad? • Kamma is largely a matter of intention and choice • The psychological source of motivation are the three good roots and bad roots • Actions motivated by greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha) are bad or unskillful (akusala) actions • Actions motivated by non-attachment (alobha), benevolence (adosa), and non-delusion (amoha) are skillful (kusala) actions • Having good intention is not enough. It must be translated into right actions which are wholesome and do no harm to either oneself or others

Three Roots of Evil • A person is reborn because he performs deeds that have origin from the three evil roots, i.e. greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha). • These actions cause rebirth to take place in one of the six realms of existence where he will experience the results of the actions. • An Arahant is one who has completely destroyed the three evil roots. Hence, his actions will no longer lead to a fresh rebirth.

Creating Oneself • Human beings have relative free will. By acting out of free will, they create themselves through moral choices • By freely and repeatedly choosing certain sort of things, a person shapes his character, and through his character he shapes his future and destiny • The process of creating kamma is like the objects made by a potter who moulds soft clay into a finished shape • The soft clay is one’s character, and making moral choices is like shaping the clay into a given form

Planting Good Seeds • Another metaphor is an agricultural one. Performing good and bad deeds is like planting seeds that will bear fruits at a later date. • A plant can only sprout from its type of seed, not from another type. Barley comes from barley and maize from maize. • Our actions can produce only results of their own type. Positive (or negative) actions will give rise to a particular happiness (or suffering). • If we want a better existence in the future, we must be mindful of our actions so as to create positive kamma.

From One Comes Many • From one cherry seed grows a big cherry tree, which produces thousands of cherries every year. • Likewise a single action, positive or negative, can produce many fruits of the corresponding type of experience, over a very long time. • A small positive action can bring a great positive result for a long time. We must try to perform even the most trivial good action whenever we have a chance.

Maturing of Kamma • Kammic seeds may mature in both the present and future lives. If a person is constantly angry, his face will be progressively distorted and ugly in the current life (MajjhimaNikaya 3.203-6). • Certain key aspects of a person’s next rebirth are kammically determined. These include the family into which one is born, one’s social status, physical appearance, character and personality. • Any kamma accumulated by not yet experienced is carried forward to the next life, or even many lifetimes ahead. • In this sense, individuals are said to be “heirs” to their previous deeds (MajjhimaNikaya 3.203)

Four Kinds of Actions • Dark actions having dark effects • Bright actions having bright effects • Dark and bright actions with dark and bright effects • Neither dark and bright actions that have neither dark or bright effects • Dark actions are motivated by negative mental states • Bright actions are motivated by positive mental states

Do You Wonder Why? • The Buddha was once asked why some people are born rich, others poor; why some have healthy bodies, others sickly; why some are very beautiful, others ugly; why some have high status, others low status. • What accounts for all the differences that can be seen among people?

Inheritors of Our Kamma • Those who are greedy, miserly, experience great poverty, while those practising generosity experience abundance. • Those who kill have short lives, while those who refrain from killing have long lives. • Those causing harm and pain to other beings experience disease and sickness, while those practising harmlessness experience good health.

Inheritors of Our Kamma • Those who are quick tempered, violent, becomes angry and spiteful are born ugly, while those with loving kindness are beautiful to look at. • Those envious of the gains of others have low status, while those not envious of the gains of others have high position. • In short, all beings are the inheritors, the heirs, of their own past kamma. Our past deeds are the womb from which we are born.

Kamma Conditions Outcome • Kamma is about tendencies and not inevitable, unchangeable consequences. It conditions and not determines outcome. • Hence, Buddhism neither teaches determinism or absolute free-will, but rather conditioned will. • Kamma conditions: (a) whether or not we will be reborn; (b) which realm rebirth will take place; and (c) what kind of experience we will have.

Not Everything is Due to Kamma • The doctrine of kamma does not claim that everything that happens to a person is kammically determined. The Buddha made a distinction between kamma and deterministic fate (niyati). • Many of the things that happen in life—like winning the lottery—may be simply the rsult of luck or chance. • In the AnguttaraNikaya (3.61), the Buddha disagrees with certain of his contemporaries who held the view that “whatever good, bad, or neutral feeling is experienced, all that is due to some previous action.” • Kamma does not determine precisely what will happen or how anyone will react to what happens. • Individuals are free to resist previous conditioning and establish new patterns of behaviour.

Effect of a Small Unwholesome Act • For a person whose character is predominantly bad, a few unwholesome deeds can land him into suffering states. Like putting a small lump of salt in a cup of water. • For a person who is predominantly good, a few small bad deeds may have little or no effect. Like putting a lump of salt in the Ganges River. • The effects of some actions will not mature because they may be cancelled out or dissolved by other new actions. • Hence, the kammic law is about tendencies, not inevitable unchangeable consequences.

Merits and Demerits • Buddhists speak of good kamma as merits (punna, pronounced as punya) and bad kamma as demerits (papa, pronounced aspaapa). • Merit is earned as a byproduct of doing what is right although some Buddhist treat is as spiritual capital—like money in a bank account—which could lead to heavenly birth. • One’s motivation should be clear in perform merits and not make the accumulation merit as an end by itself. • One can make merit by supporting the Sangha, listening to the Dhamma, performing charity, and even rejoicing (anumodana) in the good deeds of others.

Sharing and Transference of Merit • In many Buddhist cultures there is a belief in “merit transference” or sharing of good kamma with others. • “Sharing of merit” is often used with regards to the devas so that they can make more merits by given the opportunity to rejoice. “Transference of merit” to the departed is to help them gain a better rebirth. • Donation of merits actually increase the merit because it is the result of generous motivation of sharing. This is unlike donating money where the pool is being depleted.

Conclusion • There is no one up in the sky who has predetermined us to a particular role, to a particular life. • Understanding how the law of kamma works enables us to begin shaping our own destiny. • There is a path leading to all the high and happy states and one that leads to suffering. • When we understand the paths we are free to choose which one to follow.

THANK YOU DATUK DR VICTOR WEE ddvictorwee@gmail.com

BUDDHIST GEM FELLOWSHIP