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Only We Can Help Ourselves
Namo Tbutta Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhbutta
This essay is based on a talk "The Working of Kamma" by the author at the Kuching Buddhist Society, Sarawak in December, 1997 and was published by the Buddhist Gem Fellowship in their book "K. Sri Dhammananda Felicitation" in 1999. It is reproduced here with some minor amendments.
What is Kamma?
Kamma is usually an interesting subject because it concerns everyone and there are many different aspects of it. There are many natural laws that govern our lives but the most important is the law of Kamma-vip‹ka. In a discourse (A.N. 6.63) the Buddha said "Intention, monks, is Kamma I say. Having willed, one acts through body, speech and mind". This means that intentional action is kamma, and vip‹ka is the result or effects of it. The result may ripen immediately, later in this life or in a future life.
Kamma-vip‹ka is sometimes translated as cause and effect (yinkuo in Chinese books) but that is not a good translation. This is because there are two types of cause and effect - worldly cause and effect, and kammic cause and effect. The difference can be seen, for example, when you are driving a car and suddenly a small boy runs across the road, and you hit the boy and kill him. You did not have the intention to kill the small boy, so you did not create any kamma. However, you did knock down the boy and the boy's family might pull you out of the car when you stop, and beat you up. In addition to that, they might also sue you in court. So there is a result of knocking down the boy, namely, you get a beating and then be sued in court. However, this is worldly cause and effect. It is not concerned with Buddhist kamma-vip‹ka because there was no intention on your part to kill the boy. So we must clearly differentiate between worldly cause and effect and kamma-vip‹ka (intentional action and its result). They are different because one involves action with intention and the other does not.
Then comes the question: how do we create kamma? It is created through the three doors of body, speech and mind. Through the body, we can kill, steal and commit adultery. Through speech, we lie, cause disharmony by carrying tales from one person to another, use coarse speech and idle talk(gossip). Mental kamma is when we have excessive greed and covetousness, malice and hatred, wrong views, etc. Mental kamma is not so much thinking or stray thoughts but thoughts with some kind of intention behind them.
What is wholesome kamma and what is unwholesome kamma? In other words, what is good kamma and evil kamma? Good kamma is that which benefits living beings, helps living beings, and makes them happy. Evil kamma or unwholesome kamma is that which harms living beings, like killing and stealing, that results in the suffering of some living beings. In this way the criteria for good and evil in Buddhism is different from other religions.
The effect of Kamma is also long lasting. For example, in one discourse (A.N. 5.31) a king's daughter by the name of Sumana came to the Buddha and asked if there is a difference between a person who likes to give alms to the monks and a person who does not, if both subsequently are reborn in heaven. The Buddha said that the difference between the two of them is that the alms-giver surpbuttes the non-giver in life span, beauty, happiness, honour and power. Sumana then asked if there would be a difference between the two subsequently when both are reborn into the human realm. Again the Buddha said there would be - the alms giver surpbutted the non-giver in life span, beauty, happiness, honour and power. Sumana then asked whether there would be a difference between the two when both renounced and became monks. The Buddha answered affirmatively. The alms giver will get more offerings of food, robes, medicines from the lay people when he is a monk; more people will like him and he will have more places to live compared to the non-giver. So we can see the long-lasting effect of kamma which follows us.
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