Post # 10 - Karma and Retribution Part 1 

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Karma and Retribution –Do we accept this doctrine in the way they are described in the texts?

Before looking at the Buddha’s doctrine on kamma, it will be helpful to look at the word itself. The Pāḷi word kamma, like its Sanskrit equivalent karma, is derived from the root kṛ and means to work, to act, to do, to carry out or perform.

In the Web there is a comment on this definition that: When it means to work, to act or do in the usual sense of these words, a livelihood or profession like farming, i.e doing agriculture is kasakamma,. the act of showing respect towards someone else is Añjalikamma , and a workman or labourer is a  kammakara.

But as a technical term in Buddhism, kamma has a meaning that intentional mental, verbal and bodily actions have an ethical significance and consequence. Correctly speaking, kamma, the Act as a cause, is a morally significant intentional action and vipāka the outcome, is the consequence or result of such action. When something negative or unwelcome happens to someone nowadays they say: “It’s my bad kamma.” But more correctly they should say: “I’m experiencing a bad vipāka.” or “I’m experiencing the results of bad kamma.”

The importance of intention, volition or will, in kamma can be understood by asking whether plunging a knife into someone would be a good or a bad act. Most people would say it would be bad. In fact, they would probably consider it to be a criminal act. But a Buddhist would answer: “It depends?  The person wielding the knife could be a surgeon performing a life-saving operation on a patient, or on the other hand a gangster attacking a hapless victim in a dark alley. It is the intention behind an act that gives it its ethical quality”.

One may wonder about the wider implications of kamma, which may be regarded without applying any context of religious belief. Indeed, it may be easier to understand the implication of kamma by seeing it as simple cause and effect. If you were to harbour unskillful thoughts, such as anger and hatred, it is inevitable that you would turn to unskillful speech, such as malicious, gossiping and lying speech. This would eventually cause hurt and suffering to the object of your hatred. Once you have established yourself as a malicious gossip or one who causes harm to others, it is likely that you may be alienated from your social circle and will eventually find yourself alone and the victim of malicious gossip. In this way, if you perform an unskillful karmic action you will eventually suffer the effects of this action.

A western researcher on Buddhist studies has posted a statement in the Web which says that:-  “Although most westerners have heard of karma, there's still a lot of confusion about what it means. For example, many seem to think that karma is only about being rewarded or punished in a next life. To be sure, you can find Buddhist teachers who will tell you that karma is all about good or bad rebirth. But if you dig deeper, a different picture emerges”.

Due to the highly personal nature of kamma, it is important to note that there are five conditions that alter the weight or significance of the kamma generated.  If your actions are performed repeatedly, they are more significant. The presence or absence of regret in performing an action changes the weight of the kamma. When an action is performed on those who possess extraordinary qualities, such as a Buddha (an enlightened being), the karmic weight is increased. If the action is performed on someone who has been particularly helpful to you in the past, such as a parent or a teacher, the karmic weight is increased (annantariya kamma). When the action is done with great determination or with strong intent the karmic weight is increased.

In Buddhist terms although we may not always experience the effects of our skillful or unskillful kamma in this life (this is not the rule and exceptions also are known) we will experience the effects of our kamma in future rebirths. A higher accumulation of skillful kamma will lead to more comfortable rebirths, whereas a higher stockpile of unskillful kamma will result in a less comfortable rebirth.

A BBC commentary on Karma and Buddhism; which I expect relate to western perceptions on this subject and how  they may be seeing kamma, states that – ‘all creatures are caught in samsara – the endless chain of birth, death and rebirth. That which determines our capture in this chain is our karma, past and present. Past karma has an effect on our present situation in life and the difficulties or advantages we have experienced, and this karmic cause-and-effect is entirely our own fault and responsibility, not at the whim of any divine being.

 

The law of karma is a law of cause and effect, or an understanding that every deed produces fruit. In Buddhism, karma is not a cosmic criminal justice system. There is no intelligence behind it that is rewarding or punishing. It's more like a natural law. Karma is created by the intentional acts of body, speech, and mind. Only acts pure of greed, hatred and delusion do not produce karmic effects’.

 

As we know, kamma can be divided into two main types – skillful and unskillful – and each intentional action that we take will bring about a similarly skillful or unskillful effect in time. All of our unskillful kamma comes from the three fires that are inherent in our nature: greed, hatred, and ignorance. It is possible to extinguish these fires through mindfulness and selflessness.

 

In accepting that we are unlikely to achieve this entirely in this life without recourse to a monastic routine, it is important to note that we can perform some skillful actions despite the inherent tendency to act unskillfully. Skillful actions often derive from giving, be it the giving of material things such as money etc., or in spiritual actions such as giving hope or kindness and goodwill etc.  Buddhists see that there are three doors through which we act and generate kamma: body, speech, and mind. In accordance with this system we generate skillful or unskillful kamma even from thinking of performing wholesome or unwholesome actions.

 

There is a third type of kamma that may also be noted; this is neutral karma – kamma that is free of intent and has little moral implication. Examples of this may include breathing and walking etc..

The most widespread misunderstanding about kamma is the idea that everything that happens to the individual is due to ethical or unethical deeds they did in the past. Breaking a leg, being poor or similar misfortune, it is asserted, are all due to having done morally bad things in the past. On the other hand, having good looks, winning a lottery or getting a raise etc. is supposedly due to having done something good.

There are sound reasons for rejecting such beliefs. If everything that happens to an individual is due to something they did in the past then logically their whole life must be pre-determined. They would not be able do or refrain from doing anything because the course of their whole life would be fixed beforehand. If they were good it would not be due to any choice or effort on their part, but because of something done in an earlier life, and so on.  If this were true there would have been no need for the Buddha to teach the Noble Eightfold Path because it would be impossible to practice any of its steps unless past kamma made it possible.

The Buddha has said that disease and physical afflictions can have a variety of causes, of which kamma is only one. Some sickness is caused by an imbalance in the bodily functions, some by carelessness, some by accidents, and some are caused by climatic changes. In several other discourses he identified poor diet and overeating as causes of physical afflictions.

Kammic Inevitability

Another popular misunderstanding, related to this is that kammic consequences have to be borne. According to this notion we are fated to experience the vipāka of whatever kamma we have done. For example, if someone commits murder it is inevitable that he/she will be murdered in the next life. We can call this notion kammic inevitability.

Let us see what the Buddha has to say about this. The Buddha sometimes seems to have subscribed to the idea of kammic inevitability.  But in many discourses it is clear that he does not. In one of these he said that an immoral or negative deed done by someone whose character is predominantly virtuous would have a much weaker effect than it would have otherwise. Conversely, a few virtuous deeds done by someone whose character was predominantly immoral would not make a significant difference to the negative effects consequent on the habitual actions. Clearly, a kammic deed does not necessarily have a vipāka of identical strength, but rather can be modified or “diluted” by the general quality of the mind or by subsequent actions.

The Buddha has said that someone born into very disadvantaged circumstances (because of negative past kamma) could, because of the good they did subsequently, even attain enlightenment. Again this confirms that negative kamma from the past can be checked or dissipated by positive actions in the present.

This is where our hopes lie and where we make the right decisions regarding our actions and habitual behavior from now on.

See more discussion on the subject and what we should necessarily be doing from now on, in the next Post on:  Kamma and Retribution Part 2