Kamma?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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manas
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Re: Kamma?

Post by manas »

Hi steve,
as has been pointed out, although there is a general rule that wholesome volitions, words or actions will have a positive result for the doer, and that unwholesome ones will have a negative, still, if we don't look first when crossing the road and get knocked over, I think we should just examine our action in the present, which was wilful carelessness, rather than seek the answer in the past.
:anjali:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
steve19800
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Re: Kamma?

Post by steve19800 »

manas wrote:Hi steve,
as has been pointed out, although there is a general rule that wholesome volitions, words or actions will have a positive result for the doer, and that unwholesome ones will have a negative, still, if we don't look first when crossing the road and get knocked over, I think we should just examine our action in the present, which was wilful carelessness, rather than seek the answer in the past.
:anjali:
Hi manas,

Generally, can we say that something unavoidable is our kamma. If you try your best to avoid thing but they still happen for you to suffer for example.
There are many causes and conditions which form a circumstance for a person to experience. Like you said even just as simple as crossing the road, it involves a lot of things for things to happen. Many causes and conditions form into one situation or one incident so to speak. Causes and conditions themselves are kamma.

I am not a Buddhist expert but I believe there are many levels of kamma. One action leads to a result and causes further results and actions. And they all are dependent to each other. Most of the time what people called kamma is what they believe as the final result or the climax of an incident. But in my opinion, there have been many kamma happening but they were just not as noticeable as the climax.

By being mindful I think we will be able to tell ourselves whether something happening is the result of our own action or just a mere carelessness.
daverupa
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Re: Kamma?

Post by daverupa »

steve19800 wrote:Generally, can we say that something unavoidable is our kamma.
That won't do;
AN 6.63 wrote:"Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.
Kamma isn't unavoidable; the path to its cessation can be followed.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
steve19800
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Re: Kamma?

Post by steve19800 »

daverupa wrote:
steve19800 wrote:Generally, can we say that something unavoidable is our kamma.
That won't do;
AN 6.63 wrote:"Kamma should be known. The cause by which kamma comes into play should be known. The diversity in kamma should be known. The result of kamma should be known. The cessation of kamma should be known. The path of practice for the cessation of kamma should be known.
Kamma isn't unavoidable; the path to its cessation can be followed.
Greetings daverupa,

If you can relate my question to the analogy that I've provided.
Let me just give you another example. Simple one a car accident. I'm not talking about the cessation to be free from accident. Hope this clarify, thanks _/\_
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Doshin
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Re: Kamma?

Post by Doshin »

steve19800 wrote:Generally, can we say that something unavoidable is our kamma. If you try your best to avoid thing but they still happen for you to suffer for example.
There are many causes and conditions which form a circumstance for a person to experience. Like you said even just as simple as crossing the road, it involves a lot of things for things to happen. Many causes and conditions form into one situation or one incident so to speak. Causes and conditions themselves are kamma.

I am not a Buddhist expert but I believe there are many levels of kamma. One action leads to a result and causes further results and actions. And they all are dependent to each other. Most of the time what people called kamma is what they believe as the final result or the climax of an incident. ...
That is not how kamma is defined, in buddhist context. The 'final result' is caused by (many independent) actions, most action had an intention (kamma).

(sidenote: something to ponder about, is there anything, that is really unavoidable ?)
steve19800 wrote:By being mindful I think we will be able to tell ourselves whether something happening is the result of our own action or just a mere carelessness.
Getting closer. By being mindful on our intention, we can be (more) aware on the consequences of our actions, before we initiate them.

We can not foresee all/every consequence of our actions, but we can begin to see that some intentions, most likely leads to (generally) more suffering, and some leads to less suffering. The more mindful we get, the better we get to "guess" the overall result of a given action.

In other words, our kamma (intention) is like planting seeds, that will grow into consequences (once/many) at some point(s) in the future. Mindfulness is a tool, that gives us a pointer, so that we can avoid planting "bad" seeds, before intention initiates action.

I would recommend a podcast, that once helped me a lot, with understanding (the buddhist way of seeing) kamma:
http://diamondpath.blogspot.dk/2006_08_01_archive.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Episode 7. I do know that the "source" isn't Theravada, but it explains kamma in layman-terms, in a very easy language.

_/\_
Knowing about dhamma, does not imply knowing dhamma
Goob
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Re: Kamma?

Post by Goob »

Can someone remind me what the definition of wholesome and unwholesome intentions are and how they are known and differentiated? Thanks!
hermitwin
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Re: Kamma?

Post by hermitwin »

since we have a past that we dont remember,
we cant know whether it is karma or not.
the important thing is to try our best not to create
more bad karma. and to create good karma.
daverupa
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Re: Kamma?

Post by daverupa »

richard_rca wrote:Can someone remind me what the definition of wholesome and unwholesome intentions are and how they are known and differentiated? Thanks!
I think that any action tied up with greed, hatred, and delusion is unwholesome, while non-greed, non-hate, non-delusion are wholesome. MN 73 talks about this.

---
steve19800 wrote:Let me just give you another example. Simple one a car accident. I'm not talking about the cessation to be free from accident.
I'm not sure how you see the analogy working, unfortunately.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
steve19800
Posts: 240
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2011 1:20 am

Re: Kamma?

Post by steve19800 »

Doshin wrote:
steve19800 wrote:Generally, can we say that something unavoidable is our kamma. If you try your best to avoid thing but they still happen for you to suffer for example.
There are many causes and conditions which form a circumstance for a person to experience. Like you said even just as simple as crossing the road, it involves a lot of things for things to happen. Many causes and conditions form into one situation or one incident so to speak. Causes and conditions themselves are kamma.

I am not a Buddhist expert but I believe there are many levels of kamma. One action leads to a result and causes further results and actions. And they all are dependent to each other. Most of the time what people called kamma is what they believe as the final result or the climax of an incident. ...
That is not how kamma is defined, in buddhist context. The 'final result' is caused by (many independent) actions, most action had an intention (kamma).

(sidenote: something to ponder about, is there anything, that is really unavoidable ?)
Yes, definitely there is. But not everyone's unavoidability is different.
steve19800 wrote:By being mindful I think we will be able to tell ourselves whether something happening is the result of our own action or just a mere carelessness.
Doshin wrote:Getting closer. By being mindful on our intention, we can be (more) aware on the consequences of our actions, before we initiate them.

We can not foresee all/every consequence of our actions, but we can begin to see that some intentions, most likely leads to (generally) more suffering, and some leads to less suffering. The more mindful we get, the better we get to "guess" the overall result of a given action.

In other words, our kamma (intention) is like planting seeds, that will grow into consequences (once/many) at some point(s) in the future. Mindfulness is a tool, that gives us a pointer, so that we can avoid planting "bad" seeds, before intention initiates action.

I would recommend a podcast, that once helped me a lot, with understanding (the buddhist way of seeing) kamma:
http://diamondpath.blogspot.dk/2006_08_01_archive.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Episode 7. I do know that the "source" isn't Theravada, but it explains kamma in layman-terms, in a very easy language.

_/\_
Thanks for the link Doshin, will listen to that later.
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