Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Hi,
I heard a talk by Bhante Gunaratana where he said there's kamma and there's HEAVY kamma, in which a single action can determine where you're reborn. You make heavy bad kamma when you kill your parents for example, or an arahant. And you make heavy good kamma when you attain jhana.
My question is: what other actions lead to heavy good kamma, besides stream-entry (that doesn't count because that's what I want the merit for)?
Thank you.

If you give dana to any enlightened being, even accidentally, that's massive merit.
I remember in the suttas somebody gave some food to an enlightened one, and was reborn in a heaven realm. The layman didn't even realize the monk (could have been the Buddha?) was enlightened.

Hello:

You can look Jataka tales, in most of them the Buddha (or someone else) does some heavy good kamma in order to develop his perfections (paramis).
By reading about paramis you can understand the whole different modes of heavy good kamma.

Regards.

Thank you, noble friends. All of those are things I can certainly do.

Heavy kamma or in pali garuka kamma, is a classification mentioned in the commentary.

Technically there are only 6 of them:

Kusala garuka kamma
1. Jhana attainment

Akusaka garuka kamma
2. Killing one's own mother
3. Killing one's own father
4. Killing an arahat
5. Wounding a Buddha
6. Creating conflict inside the sangha

Below garuka kamma there is asanna kamma (kamma that is performed just before death), acinna kamma (habital actions that is repeatedly performed over the lifetime), and katatta kamma (other actions that is performed occasionally).

Normally what one should focus is on acinna kamma (habit) because this is the one that is most likely to bear the most fruit.

Rejoicing in the dhamma practice and/or attainments of others.

Haniver wrote:My question is: what other actions lead to heavy good kamma

From Iti-60:

This was said by the Blessed One, said by the Arahant, so I have heard: "There are these three grounds for meritorious activity. Which three? The ground for meritorious activity made of giving, the ground for meritorious activity made of virtue, and the ground for meritorious activity made of development [meditation]. These are the three grounds for meritorious activity."

Whether the good kamma generated by practicing those three grounds becomes "heavy" or not really depends on how sincere and intense one implements them.

char101 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 2:20 am Below garuka kamma there is asanna kamma (kamma that is performed just before death), acinna kamma (habital actions that is repeatedly performed over the lifetime), and katatta kamma (other actions that is performed occasionally).

Normally what one should focus is on acinna kamma (habit) because this is the one that is most likely to bear the most fruit.

Habitual kusala also increases the probability that one performs kusala just before death.

It is claimed that the last thought at the moment of death creates heavy kamma.

char101 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2019 2:20 am Normally what one should focus is on acinna kamma (habit) because this is the one that is most likely to bear the most fruit.

Thank you, this is common sense advice I needed to hear.

On a note aside, reading this I had the thought: "I should form the habit of watching all phenomena without attachment" and I could clearly hear my teacher saying: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Haniver wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2019 6:54 pm ...
My question is: what other actions lead to heavy good kamma...

All actions based on or connected with:
Right View
Right Resolve
Right Speech
Right Action
Right Livelihood
Right Effort
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration

Having said that that does not mean that only those actions that are based on or connected with the limbs of the path with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions** lead to "heavy good karma". Not at all! Those actions that are based on or connected with the limbs of the path that are noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path** lead to a kind of "heavy good karma" that is far beyond the former and is inexpressible. That means that the really immeasurable "heavy good karma" is acquired starting with sotapanna who actually does not care about good karma at all since his path is without effluents.


**https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

JamesTheGiant wrote: ↑Tue Dec 17, 2019 8:23 pm If you give dana to any enlightened being, even accidentally, that's massive merit.
I remember in the suttas somebody gave some food to an enlightened one, and was reborn in a heaven realm. The layman didn't even realize the monk (could have been the Buddha?) was enlightened.

A sutta quotes " sabbadanan dammadanan jinati" which means that the best of all doings to get the highest Kusal is
giving damma knowledge to others. The next being giving whatever clothes and meals to noble (Arya puggala) ones.
Another similar Kusal is treating the sick Sangha.
( Verse 354 of Dammapada in order to explain the values of Dana narrates this and follows up with few more givings or Dana)
Lonaphala sutta too explains the values of good Dana Kusal.
Velama sutta too is valuable in understanding values of Dana.