The significance of the doctrine of kamma in Buddhism

Introduction

According to cūlakammavibhanga sutta and mahākammavibhanga sutta of majjhima nikaya, The Buddha’s teaching on kamma has an important place in the doctrinal foundations of Buddhism. The nature of its moral efficacy is essential to Buddhist philosophy and practice. Unfortunately, attempted analyze o kamma doctrine itself seem doomed to failure. This failure consists in failing to establish a model of kamma by which its workings can be understood in a clear and comprehensive manner.  [1]

Significance of kamma

Kamma simply means actions of deed. In its actual sense kamma means good and bad intentional actions which Buddha says “Kusala akusala cetanā”.

Everything that we intentionally do, except the actions of a Buddha or an arahant are so called kamma. The Buddha and arahants do not accumulate anyway new kamma because they have abandoned all their cankers.

Kamma actually does not mean only the past actions; it can be considered both present and past actions. Karma is the law of moral causation. The theory of Karma is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism.  We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate. All living beings have actions as their own, their inheritance, their congenital cause, their kinsman, their refuge. It is Karma that differentiates beings into low and high states.

Certainly we are born with hereditary characteristics. At the same time we possess certain innate abilities that science cannot adequately account for. To our parents we are indebted for the gross sperm and ovum that form the nucleus of this so-called being. They remain dormant within each parent until this potential germinal compound is vitalized by the karmic energy needed for the production of the foetus. Karma is therefore the indispensable conceptive cause of this being. Atthasalini states that:

"Depending on this difference in Karma appear the differences in the birth of beings, high and low, base and exalted, happy and miserable. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in the individual features of beings as beautiful and ugly, high-born or low born, well-built or deformed. Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in worldly conditions of beings, such as gain and loss, and disgrace, blame and praise, happiness and misery."

From this point of view our present mental, moral intellectual and temperamental differences are, for the most part, due to our own actions and tendencies, both past and present. According to Buddhism everything doesn’t not happen due to kamma, there are five orders or processes which operate in the physical and mental realms. They are as follows: 1. Utu Niyama, 2. Bija Niyama, 3. Karma Niyama, 4. Dhamma Niyama and 5. Citta Niyama.

1)    Utu Niyama - physical inorganic order, e.g. seasonal phenomena of winds and rains. The unerring order of seasons, characteristic seasonal changes and events, causes of winds and rains, nature of heat, etc., all belong to this group.

2)    Bija Niyama - order of germs and seeds (physical organic order), e.g. rice produced from rice-seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane or honey, peculiar characteristics of certain fruits, etc. The scientific theory of cells and genes and the physical similarity of twins may be ascribed to this order.

3)    Karma Niyama - order of act and result, e.g., desirable and undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. As surely as water seeks its own level so does Karma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.

4)    Dhamma Niyama - order of the norm, e.g., the natural phenomena occurring at the advent of a Bodhisattva in his last birth. Gravitation and other similar laws of nature. The natural reason for being good and so forth may be included in this group.

5)    Citta Niyama - order or mind or psychic law, e.g., processes of consciousness, arising and perishing of consciousness, constituents of consciousness, power of mind, etc., including telepathy, telaesthesia, retro-cognition, premonition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought-reading and such other psychic phenomena which are inexplicable to modern science. In anguttaranikaya Buddha said

"I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma. Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought."

As we sow, we reap somewhere and sometime, in his life or in a future birth. What we reap today is what we have sown either in the present or in the past. Inherent in Kamma us the potentiality of producing its due effect. The produces the effect; the effect explains the cause. The seed produces the fruit; the fruit explains the seed and both are inter-connected. So as the kamma and its effect which we call vipāka or result are inter connected. The Samyutta Nikaya states:

"According to the seed that’s sown, So is the fruit you reap there from, Doer of good will gather good, Doer of evil, evil reaps,Down is the seed and thou shalt taste The fruit thereof."

We all know that every story has two subjects so as the kamma. There are moral kamma and there are immoral kamma which produces their due result in this very life or life after death. There is “Immediately effective kamma” which take surely take effect in this life itself if they do not operate in this life they become ahosi which means ineffective. [2]

 There are some kammas which produce their due effect in a subsequent life. They are called “Subsequently effective kamma”. They also become ineffective if they do not operate in the second birth. Those kammas that produce their effects in any life co existence in samsara are known as “indefinitely effective kamma”. They too become ineffective if they do not operate in any life co existences of samsara.

With respect to different functions, Karma is classified into four kinds: reproductive kamma, supportive kamma, obstructive kamma and destructive kamma. Their brief explanations are as follows:

Reproductive kamma - Every birth is conditioned by a past good or bad karma, which predominated at the moment of death. Karma that conditions the future birth is called Reproductive Karma. The death of a person is merely ‘a temporary end of a temporary phenomenon’. Though the present form perishes, another form which is neither the same nor absolutely different takes its place, according to the potential thought-vibration generated at the death moment, because the Karmic force which propels the life-flux still survives. It is this last thought, which is technically called Reproductive Karma that determines the state of a person in his subsequent birth. This may be either a good or bad Karma.

 Supportive kamma - which comes near the Reproductive Kamma and supports it. It is neither good nor bad and it assists in the course of one’s lifetime. Immediately after conception till the death moment this Karma steps forward to support the Reproductive Karma. A moral supportive Karma assists in giving health, wealth, happiness etc. to the being born with a moral Reproductive Karma. An immoral supportive Karma, on the other hand, assists in giving pain, sorrow, etc. to the being born with an immoral reproductive Karma, as for instance to a beast of burden.

Obstructive kamma - Which, unlike the former, tends to weaken, interrupt and retard the fruition of the Reproductive Karma. For instance, a person born with a good Reproductive Karma may be subject to various ailments etc., thus preventing him from enjoying the blissful results of his good actions. An animal, on the other hand, who is born with a bad Reproductive Karma, may lead a comfortable life by getting good food, lodging, etc., as a result of his good counteractive or obstructive Karma preventing the fruition of the evil Reproductive Karma.

Destructive kamma - According to the law of Karma the potential energy of the Reproductive Karma could be nullified by a mere powerful opposing Karma of the past, which, seeking an opportunity, may quite unexpectedly operate, just as a powerful counteractive force can obstruct the path of a flying arrow and bring it down to the ground. Such an action is called Destructive (upaghataka) Karma, which is more effective than the previous two in that it is not only obstructive but also destroys the whole force. This Destructive Karma also may be either good or bad.

Not knowing things as they truly are does one accumulate kamma. No kamma is accumulated by one who has completely eradicated craving and has understood things as they truly are. Ignorance and craving are the chief causes of kamma. So now we always have a question like who is the doer of the kamma and who gets the result? Venerable Buddhaghosa says in visuddhimagga as follows:

“No doer is there who does the deed, nor is there one who feels the fruit”

Actually we all know that we Buddhists cannot conceive of any unchanging entity, any being in the form of a deva or an animal. These forms are merely the temporary manifestations of the karmic force. And the word being is just used conventionally knowing that a being is only composed of mind and matter. We Buddhists believe that no actor apart from action, no receiver is apart from perception, no consciousness subject behind consciousness. Volition is itself the doer of all kamma apart from the mental states, so therefore there is no one to do the act and there is no one to get the result.
There is another example we can show to people to say that there is neither doer nor the perceiver of kamma. In milinda panha the king milinda questions venerable Nagasena. Where is kamma?  Then venerable nagasena answered to the king like this as follows:

“Kamma is not stored in any parts of the body but dependent on mind and matter. It rests manifesting itself as the opportune moment. Kamma is an individual force which is transmitted from one existence to another.”[3]

Again the kamma is classified into classes according to the priority of effect know as: Garuka kamma, Āsanna kamma, acinna kamma and katatta kamma. The first garuka kamma means a serious kamma. This kamma is which either good or bad and it produces the results in this like itself or in the next life existence for certain. It is purely mental as in the case of jhana. Otherwise it is verbally or bodily. So now you may ask what are the serious kammas? So therefore these are some of the serious kammas mentioned below. Matricide, parricide, the murder of an arahant, the wounding of a Buddha and the creation of a schism in the sangha. The second āsanna kamma conditions the next birth, a death proximately kamma shall or might operate. This is the kamma that one does immediately before dying moment. The third Ācinna kamma is the next in priority of effect. It is the kamma that one habitually performs and recollects and for which one has a great liking. The final one katatta kamma embraces all that cannot be included in the above three. This is just like something that is reserved fund of a particular being.[4]

The Awakening of kamma lets us see that the choices we make in each moment of our lives have consequences. We are not strangers in a strange land. We have formed and are continuing to form the world we experience. The fact that we are empowered also means that we are responsible for our experiences. This helps us to face the events we encounter in life with greater equanimity, for we know that we had a hand in creating them, and yet at the same time we can avoid any debilitating sense of guilt because with each new choice we can always make a fresh start.[5]

The Buddha’s doctrine on kamma has metaphysical implications, but these must be understood through textual analysis that takes into account the context of the Buddha’s discourses. Culture, language, myth, social life and religious rivalries all play a part in the composition of the text, both with regard to what is said and to how it is said. The ideas of ‘perennial movement’ and an endless cycle of death and rebirth are governed by kamma. Buddha’s reformulation of kamma was to establish the importance of individual ethical responsibility. Each person’s volitions, desires, will and intentions became pivotal in the cause-effect chain. Stressing the importance of human agency had huge ramifications. By emphasizing individual responsibility the Buddha changed the metaphysical significance of kamma.[6]

Kamma is the only possession we really own and it is what we take with us from life to life. Every intentional act of body, speech and mind is like a seed planted that will grow when conditions are right. Thus as we should sow so shall we reap. Our lives are inseparable from it and happen according to it. To be more precise, we can say that life is actually a stream of kamma. Desire to do deeds causes one to perform actions and receive the results of those actions; then, desire to do deeds arises again and again endlessly. Therefore, life is merely a pattern of kamma. If we rightly understand kamma, we can lead our lives at peace, without any problems.[7]

Our understanding of how the results of kamma are received must always be self-apparent, immediate, and inviting of inquiry, and should never contradict the truth that the five aggregates of human life are not-self. Mind is merely a phenomenon pushed this way and that by conditions, stimulated to do things by environmental factors. The resulting reactions are accepted and regarded as good or evil according to one’s feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Either kind pushes us into suffering, thus we should aim at ending kamma and getting beyond it. Then, we will have realized, awakened, and fully blossomed, which is genuine Buddha hood.[8]

In conclusion

As Buddhists let’s try to do only the kamma that is the end of kamma. When we see that kamma has occupied and ruled our lives, we will strive to practice, improve ourselves, and fight in every possible way to triumph over both good and evil kamma, so that none of them will oppress our minds. Let’s develop minds that are clean, clear, and calm because no kamma and no results disturb it. Nowadays, most people understand kamma as something bad and undesirable. This is correct because both good and evil kamma are despicable in that they cause the vicious cycles of birth and death to go on without cessation. Kamma leads to the end of all kamma so that life is above and beyond kamma. Far from despicable, it is something to be understood and fully integrated into our lives. "Living beyond kamma" is something to be realized and attained.

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[1] Majjhima nikaya, Culakammavibhanga and mahakammavibhanga sutta.

[2] Thera Narada, Kamma, A Manual of Buddhism, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre. Singapore 128607, 27/11/1989, page – 84-85.

[3] Milinda panha

[4] Thera Narada, Kamma, A Manual of Buddhism, Singapore Buddhist Meditation Centre. Singapore 128607, 27/11/1989, page – 86-87.

[5] Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1997-2011” The Meaning of the Buddha's Awakening” www.accesstoinsight.org, 18/02/2011.

[6] Dh.Manishini/Alice Collett, “Kamma in Context: The Mahakammavibhanga sutta and the culakammavibhanga sutta” www.westernbuddhistreview.com, 18/02/2011

[7] Chaiya Mokkhabalarama, Kamma in Buddhism, www.suanmokkh.org, 18/02/2011.

[8] Chaiya Mokkhabalarama, Kamma in Buddhism, www.suanmokkh.org, 18/02/2011.