Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Hi,

Is there any mention of levels of bad deeds in Pali canon?

Is there any levels to bad deeds/kamma such as;
Getting something which was put aside by a rich person without letting him know and stealing from a poor man.
Killing an insect, a bigger animal or a human?

There are levels of good deeds one can perform as alms giving as it is stated in Velaama Sutta.
http://www.vipassanadhura.com/ScaleofGoodDeeds.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Merits you get by perform some acts are far more superior to others, same way is there any levels in bad deeds?

Hope my question is clear enough.

Thanks,
CJ

There are definitely actions more or less wholesome than one another. For example, killing an Arahant guarantees rebirth in Hell whereas murdering an unenlightened person does not.

The more suffering a bad deed generates, the worse it is.
The more suffering a good deed prevents, the better it is.

David2 wrote:The more suffering a bad deed generates, the worse it is.
The more suffering a good deed prevents, the better it is.

This, but also the more happiness a good dead brings, the better it is.

It is important to consider that some people do not fully understand the mechanism of suffering and therefore do not have permanent happiness and still reside in the world of requirements/satisfaction

Thanks for all replies but still I didn't get the answer I'm looking for. Can anyone please point me to a sutta where I can study this further.

More questions;
So if someone did a bad deed like killing mosquitoes and good deeds like giving alms to meditating monks, does his bad kamma get neutralized by good kamma?

If someone keep practicing metta meditations in this lifetime without doing much bad deeds can he neutralized some of his bad kamma in this life time?

Thanks a lot,
CJ

C J wrote:Thanks for all replies but still I didn't get the answer I'm looking for. Can anyone please point me to a sutta where I can study this further.

More questions;
So if someone did a bad deed like killing mosquitoes and good deeds like giving alms to meditating monks, does his bad kamma get neutralized by good kamma?

If someone keep practicing metta meditations in this lifetime without doing much bad deeds can he neutralized some of his bad kamma in this life time?

Thanks a lot,
CJ

the bad karma can be neutralized if the good karma is equal in goodness as to the badness of the bad karma

try picturing it like a scale, and causing suffering/preventing happiness of you or other people as bringing the scale down , but causing happiness and stopping suffering as bringing the scale up,

karma can be evaluated by how much suffering it causes/prevents and how much happiness it brings/prevents

As I understood aanantariya kamma are the worst, level 1 of bad deeds.
The five heinous crimes(aanantariyakamma) are: patricide, matricide, the murder of an Arahant, the wounding of a Buddha, and maliciously creating a schism in the Sangha.

What is the next level?

With regards to neutralising kamma, my understanding was that effect always follows cause and cannot be avoided by making new causes. I cannot think of any references to this right now.

Mawkish1983 wrote:With regards to neutralising kamma, my understanding was that effect always follows cause and cannot be avoided by making new causes. I cannot think of any references to this right now.

Angulimala is a good example of not cutting off bad kamma.
he became an Arahant yet still had to meet the results of his actions. sure he didn't recieve all before death, but his attainment didn't nullify the actions done.

C J wrote:As I understood aanantariya kamma are the worst, level 1 of bad deeds.
The five heinous crimes(aanantariyakamma) are: patricide, matricide, the murder of an Arahant, the wounding of a Buddha, and maliciously creating a schism in the Sangha.

What is the next level?

IMO, the next level is the five precepts, many times the Buddha said that doing those five actions will lead to hell and by not doing those five actions will lead happiness. I have never read anything worse than violating five precepts and not bad as aanantariya

Regards

LonesomeYogurt wrote:There are definitely actions more or less wholesome than one another. For example, killing an Arahant guarantees rebirth in Hell whereas murdering an unenlightened person does not.

Is this accurate? If so I think my views on Buddhism just radically changed.

"the bad karma can be neutralized if the good karma is equal in goodness as to the badness of the bad karma

try picturing it like a scale, and causing suffering/preventing happiness of you or other people as bringing the scale down , but causing happiness and stopping suffering as bringing the scale up,

karma can be evaluated by how much suffering it causes/prevents and how much happiness it brings/prevents"
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I do not believe this is true. Karma doesn't work on a fixed scale, there isn't a central point that raises with good Karma, and lowers with bad Karma.

You obtain positive Karma, which is basically an action you made that later in life will bring about a positive feeling attached to that action.
And you obtain negative Karma, which is an action you made, that later in life will bring about a negative feeling attached to that action.

And enlightenment is freedom from Karma, you act morally righteous not intentionally, but naturally. Good deeds come about on their own, rather than by decision.

You could have 1,000 Positive Karmic seeds and 1,000 negative Karmic seeds. This won't put you into enlightenment smack in the middle, and it won't negate. You will have 1,000 experiences in life that will bring about positive or negative feelings based on the actions that created the seeds.

LonesomeYogurt wrote:There are definitely actions more or less wholesome than one another. For example, killing an Arahant guarantees rebirth in Hell whereas murdering an unenlightened person does not.

In fact if this is true, I am 100% done with Buddhism, and will be moving along to being a simple unenlightened being of lesser value than the great and mighty Arahant superiors.

CoreyNiles92 wrote:

LonesomeYogurt wrote:There are definitely actions more or less wholesome than one another. For example, killing an Arahant guarantees rebirth in Hell whereas murdering an unenlightened person does not.

Is this accurate? If so I think my views on Buddhism just radically changed.

Yes, it is accurate

Regards

Ahh well, I enjoyed my time learning about Buddhism while it lasted I had a completely different understanding on it's teachings. I don't value myself more than any other, so I do not wish to embark on a journey to become of greater value than anyone else.