The Question Of Karma

The question of what happens after death, and whether our actions really do have results, has been around for a long time. In these five short teachings, Ajahn Anan tells us how we don't need to look far away for the answer—we can see karma at work right within our own minds in the present moment. With this knowledge, we try to create as much goodness as we can in this life. But we must also accept the mistakes that we've made, learn our lesson, forgive ourselves, and move on.

Transcript

The Question of Kama A collection of short Dhamma teachings by Venerable Ajahn Anand.

Kama Here and Now What makes people come into this world the way they do?

Some people are born into a rich,

Harmonious family,

Strong and healthy.

Others are born into poverty or disease.

Others are born in a place with war,

Famine and other problems.

Why is that?

Why do we have different character traits?

We are born into the world with different characters,

Different ways of thinking.

Is this Kama?

The question of past and future lives,

Beings reborn according to their Kama,

Has been an issue for thousands of years.

Often people in the world have the view that there's nothing after death.

It doesn't matter what we do.

We may as well do whatever we want,

Because when we die,

We won't have to face any sort of consequences.

These views inform the way people live.

And it's almost impossible to prove this matter to someone who's skeptical about past and future lives,

Because it's not something we can bring out and show them in that way.

When people asked Ajahn Chahta's question,

He'd say that actually,

It's not something we need to prove.

The place to learn and understand this issue is in the present life.

We can look at it like this.

If we live in a virtuous way,

Trying to cultivate goodness and conduct our lives skillfully,

What will result from that?

The result will be our own happiness and the ability to help create a happy society around us.

Even if there's only this life,

If when we die,

That's the end of it,

Then there's still no loss,

Because we've experienced happiness in this life from our good actions.

And if there is such a thing as karma,

Then the goodness of all we've done in this life won't just disappear,

But will carry on to bring us happiness and future lives as well.

On the other hand,

If we live in an unskillful way,

Anti-socially,

Aggressively,

Exploiting or harming others,

We can look at the results right in this present life.

What we will find is a lot of suffering and confusion for ourselves and the people around us.

And if there is such a thing as future lives and the fruits of our karma,

Well,

It's not going to be good,

Is it?

But still,

We only need to focus right on this very life.

What are we doing right now?

The way we conduct ourself,

Our attitudes,

Our views,

The way we think,

Everything,

This is bringing results right now,

And we can see it happening.

So the important thing is to understand our own mind.

This is the place to practice.

This is the emphasis.

It's not something we have to project into the future,

Seeing heaven or hell,

Or even Nibbāna as some kind of distant state.

Instead,

We can look at our own mind and see the causes for happiness and suffering,

Or heaven and hell are arising right here,

Right now.

They're not something external or far away.

We're practicing for happiness and liberation right in the present moment.

Karma is action.

Karma is made through intentional acts of body,

Speech,

And mind.

Wholesome intentions arising in the mind will lead to wholesome speech and actions,

While unwholesome intentions will lead to unwholesome speech and actions.

We could say that this is what governs the world,

The collective karma of all beings.

Every individual is making karma each moment,

And this is what leads to the cycle of birth and death,

That is,

Continued existence.

When we contemplate,

We can see the value of making good karma,

For the happiness we experience comes from training and bringing up wholesome intentions of body,

Speech,

And mind,

And this is what Buddha's practice is encouraging us to do.

Whatever effort we put into developing ourself in wholesome ways will bring benefit and happiness.

The more we contemplate karma,

The more we see that we are receiving the fruits of our actions all the time.

We have made both good and bad karma in the past,

And this is giving results which we experience in the present.

When we think about the bad karma that we have made in the past,

The important thing is to reflect on it wisely.

If we can learn from it and change our ways,

Then that's good,

But to keep thinking back and attaching to these negative states of mind isn't correct.

If we practice mindfulness and develop an understanding of the mind,

Then we'll be able to catch those moments of guilt or depression over the things that we have done.

We can see those feelings aren't helpful to us because the past can't be changed.

It's good if we can learn from it and make alterations,

But other than that there's no point in needlessly suffering by feeling self-aversion or remorse.

The correct way is to apply ourself to developing good karma from now on.

We're then creating the causes for happiness and benefit both in the present and in the future,

And this is why we practice.

When we understand the importance of karma,

We'll commit ourselves to generosity,

Keeping the precepts and meditation,

All for the purpose of gradually raising the level of our mind.

As we put effort into the practice,

Creating more good karma,

The result will be more peace within.

This is the truly wise and correct thing for a human being to do,

To develop him or herself in wholesome ways.

No Excuses The question was asked of Ajahn Annan.

Some people think that harmful actions don't always lead to negative results.

They think they can get away without any consequences.

Is this true?

And he responded,

If people don't see the fruits of their actions yet,

It's because of the presence of delusion.

They're not very aware.

Unfortunately,

This doesn't nullify the results of what they're doing or mean that there's no karma at work.

Karma is a natural law.

It's a natural force that we can see at work all the time.

So if people are creating the causes for suffering,

Then that suffering will come whether they recognize it or not.

And it's even worse if they don't see the harm in their behavior,

Because then they don't recognize how they're causing themselves suffering.

But when we do understand karma,

We can look at our life and say,

Ah,

When I speak in this way,

When I act in this way,

That brings suffering.

And because we want to be happy,

Free from regret and worry,

We are motivated to live in a moral way.

Dealing with Pests Wisely The question was once asked,

How do we deal with insects and pests that come into our home?

I don't want to break the first precept or make bad karma.

And Aantjana unanswered,

Practicing with the first precept,

We establish the clear intention in our mind that we're not going to kill other beings.

With the very small creatures,

Like insects,

We just have to do the best we can in each situation.

One can use different chemicals and methods to prevent them from entering.

We still have that basic intention of not deliberately killing beings,

But if in the course of cleaning some insects are harmed,

Then we have to accept that that's their karma.

With bigger animals like rats or mice,

We should be able to find humane ways of dealing with them.

There are certain traps where you put some bait inside and a door closes behind them.

They can then be taken a long way away and be released.

We have to understand that everything is subject to its karma.

It's often very difficult to move around and do things in the world without harming small creatures like insects.

Sometimes it's unavoidable,

Like when they get squashed on the windscreen while we're driving or when they fly into a lit candle at night.

We're not deliberately harming them.

Our intention is not to kill,

But it's the way of the world that some of this will occur.

So we shouldn't take it as a personal failing,

Or as if we're making bad karma.

When we're cleaning or sweeping,

Sometimes a few insects do die.

We should see that our intention is not to kill,

But to keep our place clean.

It's unfortunate some of the insects are harmed,

But this is very different from using poison and baits to deliberately kill them.

With an understanding of karma and intention,

We do the best we can to find skillful,

Humane ways of dealing with pests.

Adrift in the Ocean of Karma Let me tell you about a disciple of mine.

Formerly he was a fisherman by trade,

Going out and pulling in boatloads of fish to be sold and killed.

Now in Buddhism this would be understood as bad karma.

One day,

Far from shore,

He was involved in a boating accident which left him drifting in the ocean for three days and three nights,

Clinging to a piece of wood.

We could say that it looked like he was going to receive the results of his unwholesome livelihood,

Drowning in the ocean and being eaten by fish.

Though he assumed he was going to die,

He made a very firm vow in his mind.

If he did get rescued,

He would enter the monastic order.

Now it's been over fifteen years since he ordained.

Sometimes crisis situations bring out very wholesome aspirations in people,

Positive thinking which can quickly get a good result.

This can change their lives drastically.

But really,

Though,

We should commit ourselves to making good karma regularly,

Not just waiting until times of crisis.

Our lives are so uncertain.

And since we don't know how long we'll live for,

We should really treasure our time.

We should try to live as skilfully as we can,

While we have the chance.

Reviews

One of the best teachings on karma.
Thank You for sharing

I found this very helpful and informative. Thank you

Wonderful <3

I have no words yet. Will need to soak in the wisdom first

Excellent! Thank you! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

🙏🙏🙏

Thank you for this teaching. The Noble aspiration of creating good karma is inspiring.

Excellent

I truly feel I understand Karma now. I’ve always felt we can make life a heaven or a hell … whatever our perspective is. One question I’d like to ask this wise teacher is why do young innocent children die before they have the chance to grow? Is that their karma ..or the family who loves them karma?

Great teacher. Thank you Ajahn.

🙏

Thank you. This is beautiful Buddhist wisdom presented in a way which makes good sense and is easily understood.