Chapter 9: What is Kamma and How Does It Affect Me?

Chapter 9

What is Kamma and How Does It Affect Me?

Kamma, or The Natural Law of Kamma, refers to the fact that everything in life has a “cause and effect” or “action and result”. Essentially, our intentions, speech, and actions, wholesome or unwholesome, have an effect on us. One way to think of Kamma is that Kamma is “the results of our own decisions” or “the effects of our own decisions”.

You may have been exposed to the word “Karma” which is referring to the same natural law but using a different language. Karma is from the Sanskrit language while Kamma is from the Pāli language. The source of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings is in the Pāli language. Those who are learning and practicing these Teachings from The Pāli Canon, the most complete source of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings, will typically use the word “Kamma” instead of “Karma”.

All of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings center on the importance of “not doing any harm”. By doing harm to other beings, we do harm to ourselves because of The Natural Law of Kamma.

If we put out wholesome intentions, speech, and actions, wholesomeness will come back to us. With wholesome, and pure intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood, we know that our life will be wholesome, calm, steady, and peaceful as we eliminate more and more attachments on our pursuit to Enlightenment.

Likewise, if our intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood are unwholesome, unwholesome things will come back to us. If we harm other beings, through our intentions, speech, actions, or livelihood, harm will return back to us.

Kamma is not necessarily instantaneous or immediate. It may not come back in exactly the same form we put it out in. For example, if we put calm, steady, kind, and polite waves into the world’s seas, that’s what will come back to us. Maybe not immediately, but over time we will see this steadiness and calmness come back to us.

Conversely, if we put out damaging and vicious waves into our world’s seas, then that is what will come back to us. Fierce, strong, and violent waters will create havoc and floods in our life. Kamma is not a system of rewards and punishments but instead, a natural law of “cause and effect” or “action and results” - the results of our decisions.

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Kamma does not need to be feared. The Natural Law of Kamma needs to be understood so that we can make wise choices in our life that lead to a more peaceful mind and a more peaceful existence for us individually and all of humanity.

There is no fear in these Teachings and there is no fear in Kamma.

The only one who fears Kamma is the person who does not understand The Natural Law of Kamma and is unable to make wise decisions that would lead to a more peaceful existence.

The more you learn and practice The Teachings of Gotama Buddha, the more awakened the mind will become to The Natural Law of Kamma and the better decisions one can make. This will result in a more peaceful existence to include a peaceful, calm, serene, and content mind with joy.

Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are guiding you in understanding this Natural Law of Kamma to awaken the mind to better life choices that lead to an improved existence.

Each person has 100% ability to make decisions in their life, these are personal choices. Based on the personal choices we make, the resulting effect will be experienced. This is our Kamma.

The Natural Law of Kamma is something that is talked about in modern society but oftentimes as a joke or said in passing. Kamma is sometimes thought to be a mystical or mysterious concept. However, Kamma is the governing factor of all things in life through “cause and effect” or “action and result”.

Kamma is the results or effects of our own decisions.

Kamma is a natural law that exists, and Gotama Buddha’s Teachings are awakening the mind to deeply understand this natural law, so that you can make good wholesome decisions to function peacefully in life. Through understanding The Natural Law of Kamma, you will make much better decisions in life and, thus, experience better results.

There is no one that governs this natural law or oversees its functioning. The Natural Law of Kamma just exists and it is absolutely one-hundred percent truth.

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Examples of Kamma are:

1.) You murder someone and then you are put into jail. Your quality of life is impacted by becoming worse.

2.) You steal something and then you are put into jail and people steal from you. Your quality of life is impacted by becoming worse.

3.) You commit sexual misconduct having sexual contact with a person already involved in a relationship. This relationship is discovered, and the partner finds you and a verbal and/or physical attack transpires. Your quality of life is impacted by becoming worse.

4.) You are someone who speaks with false truth through lying, gossip, and slander. People cannot trust your words and you find it difficult to have relationships, conduct business, and people constantly lie to you. Your quality of life is impacted by becoming worse.

5.) You take substances becoming heedless and find yourself lacking concentration or mindfulness with the inability to focus on work, relationships, and everyday activities. Your quality of life is impacted by becoming worse.

When our intentions, speech, actions, and livelihood are pure without craving, anger, or ignorance (unknowing of true reality), we are creating wholesome Kamma for ourselves, thus, goodness will come back to us.

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It is the goal of Gotama Buddha’s Teachings to eliminate The Three Poisons (i.e. The Three Unwholesome Roots) of craving/greed, anger/hatred, and ignorance/delusion/unknowing of true reality realizing non-self and dissolving the ego to attain Enlightenment. This is the awakened mind that can be peaceful and co-exist with others peacefully.

Through eliminating these Three Poisons, one has eliminated all the unwholesome roots that create unwholesome Kamma, thus, Enlightenment will be attained. The more people who attain the mental state of Enlightenment, the more peaceful existence all of humanity will experience. Through everyone actively pursuing Enlightenment, the world will gradually become a more peaceful place to exist.

Through the entire world practicing the following three Teachings, the benefit and peace on earth will be immense: 1.) Universal Love for All Beings 2.) Do No Harm, and 3.) Be a Good Moral Person.

Kamma is created individually. Each of us individually has our own Kamma. Our individual Kamma is returned to us on an individual level throughout our life, or future lives if we are reborn due to not attaining Enlightenment in this life. One cannot run or hide from their Kamma.

It is important for you to maintain wholesome Kamma individually and as a community or nation.

As you create wholesome Kamma, you should not wait or expect good things to come back immediately. You must create wholesome Kamma without expectation of a return or when it will return.

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The expectation of return of something good just because you did something good, negates the wholesome intention, speech, or action. You must have good intentions, speech, and actions because you know it is the right thing to do for yourself and the world - it is wholesome. You produce wholesome Kamma because you know it’s right, not because you expect something back in return.

To eliminate discontentedness of the mind is to eliminate your unwholesome Kamma production through the elimination of craving, anger, and ignorance (unknowing of true reality) through practicing generosity, loving-kindness, and wisdom. Generosity, loving-kindness, and wisdom are the causes for the origination of wholesome Kamma referred to as the antidotes to The Three Poisons or The Three Wholesome Roots. Practicing generosity, loving- kindness, and wisdom through The Eight Fold Path will transform the mind to the Enlightened mind.

This is done while doing no harm to other beings through practicing The Eight Fold Path. We pollute the mind with unwholesome Kamma every moment through our own thoughts and intentions. You must start there. With a wholesome mind that has no unwholesome Kamma production, you will benefit from a peaceful and calm existence.

All too often we attempt to stop or inhibit others from unwholesome intentions, speech, or actions but if our mind is polluted, our message is confusing and not well received. With a pure mind we have pure intentions, speech and actions so that our message to others is clear and better received. Thus, we have more ability to assist others when the mind is pure through learning and practicing these Teachings.

Additionally, it is The Natural Law of Kamma that governs all things. While laws of society are defined and enforced by human beings, which means errors are introduced, The Natural Law of Kamma is a natural law. It is not created and is not administered by humans, thus, it is completely objective. This is the reason why we should not feel the overwhelming pressure or craving to “right a perceived wrong” which would cause us undue stress, burden, and complications. But instead, we should feel comfortable that The Natural Law of Kamma always exists and there is no need to overwhelm the mind with activities of “righting a perceived wrong”.

The Natural Law of Kamma is similar to that of the natural law of gravity. Gravity is experienced by all, whether they are aware of the existence of gravity or not. Gravity is not monitored or maintained by any entity. Gravity just exists and all things are subjected to its forces.

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When you were a child, you did not understand the natural law of gravity and found it challenging to walk, run, jump, and exist peacefully in the world with the mind unawakened to this natural law. As the mind became more awake to the natural law of gravity, you slowly began to function in the world with ease and smoothness. You found it easier to conduct daily tasks. Life became more straight forward and the world around you became easier to understand and navigate.

The Natural Law of Kamma functions in the same way. The more awakened the mind is to this natural law, you can exist in the world with more wisdom, ease, and smoothness to ensure you are making good wholesome decisions that lead to good wholesome results. Through learning and practicing The Eight Fold Path, you can produce only wholesome Kamma and, thus, extinguish all unwholesome Kamma through producing only wholesome Kamma.

To attain Enlightenment, a Practitioner needs to extinguish all unwholesome Kamma through producing only wholesome Kamma for an extended period of time using The Eight Fold Path as the way leading to the complete elimination of discontentedness in the mind.

There is no entity responsible for monitoring or maintaining Kamma and all are subjected to Kamma, whether one is aware that this natural law exists or not, just like you were affected by the natural law of gravity even though at a young age you were unaware of it. The more you understand The Natural Law of Kamma, the more life will improve.

One cannot run or hide from The Natural Law of Kamma. All unwholesome Kamma will need to be experienced and extinguished from this life and all prior lives through the pursuit of Enlightenment.

For you to escape The Cycle of Rebirth through attaining Enlightenment, you must practice The Eight Fold Path for an extended period of time which will extinguish all unwholesome Kamma from this life and previous lives. As your practice becomes deeper and deeper, you will experience less and less negative events in your life. Life becomes more comfortable and easier when practicing these Teachings through a more awakened mind with a deepened understanding of Kamma.

By practicing The Eight Fold Path completely and entirely for an extended period of time, all unwholesome Kamma production is eliminated. You will eliminate the production of all unwholesome Kamma and your life will become more comfortable, fluid, and easy because you are not creating harm in the world; you have burned off all your unwholesome Kamma from this life and previous lives. Because you are not causing harm through a

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deep understanding and practice of The Eight Fold Path, there is no harm being returned to you.

You cannot escape The Natural Law of Kamma. Your current existence is an accumulation of the results of your decisions from this life and past lives - that is your Kamma. All your wholesome and unwholesome deeds have accumulated into your current existence. Our life is a result of all our past decisions, wholesome or unwholesome. To attain Enlightenment, you will need to extinguish all unwholesome Kamma from this life and all prior lives through practice of The Eight Fold Path.

Craving determines if there is rebirth, while Kamma determines in what realm, what situation, and the condition of the new being upon rebirth. If there is craving, there is rebirth. Craving is the fuel or spark that causes rebirth creating conditions in which a new existence emerges. Each existence is a new being, however, the craving and residual memories of previous existences are carried forward to the new being.

Rebirth occurs when craving from an existence has not yet been extinguished. Craving will be carried forward into the new mind to create a new existence. The new being will create unwholesome Kamma in the new existence based on craving from previous lives that exists in the current life. These unextinguished cravings that exist in this current life will create unwholesome Kamma in the current life. All unwholesome Kamma needs to be experienced in order for the new being to extinguish 100% of its unwholesome Kamma. Through observing Kamma as an indicator to extinguish craving, one can be guided to fully extinguish all unwholesome Kamma.

In this way, one cannot run or hide from their unwholesome Kamma. Through extinguishing craving/greed, anger/hatred, and ignorance/delusion/ unknowing of true reality, one will extinguish their unwholesome Kamma to attain Enlightenment.

You may have bad situations and experiences happen to you in this life that are difficult for you to understand why they have occurred or are occurring. Kamma can be the very best and unbiased Teacher that will help you to observe changes that you need to make to improve your life through wholesome Kamma production. You will only gain this insight if you have a deep understanding of The Natural Law of Kamma through learning and practicing Gotama Buddha’s Teachings.

We actively apply effort to learn and practice these Teachings so that we can extinguish any unwholesome Kamma production. You will need to learn how to not attach or cling to the pleasant feelings, painful feelings, and feelings

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that are neither painful-nor-pleasant that you experience in this life, while learning how to produce only wholesome Kamma through learning and practicing The Eight Fold Path.

Laws of Society

Now that you understand The Natural Law of Kamma and how being a good moral person practicing The Eight Fold Path will produce only wholesome Kamma, let’s discuss laws of society that attempt to govern our daily lives, but are difficult to create, implement, and enforce fairly.

Following societies “laws”, as they are written, does not necessarily mean you will earn your own Enlightenment.

Criminal and civil laws are created by humans. These laws are always imperfect, however The Natural Law of Kamma is not created by humans and just exists. It is completely fair based on the natural goodness or harms of one’s intentions, speech, actions or livelihood. We should all follow laws of society but just merely following the law does not mean we are not causing harm to other beings, and following the law alone will not guarantee you will attain Enlightenment. Instead, one needs to learn, reflect, and practice The Natural Laws of Existence to attain Enlightenment.

We must practice “The Teachings” which are good moral Teachings that far exceed any laws of any land.

Freedom of speech laws are a perfect example. We have the “legal right” to say anything we want, mostly, in some countries. However, hate speech, slander, gossip, or harsh language is not going to earn us Enlightenment.

Wrong speech will harm others and, thus, create unwholesome Kamma that will be returned. An individual will experience the unwholesome results (i.e unwholesome Kamma) of their unwise decisions to practice wrong speech. This is the results of their decisions but they may or may not result in criminal or civil punishments.

Society’s laws are not always in line with these Teachings, therefore, it’s important to understand Gotama Buddha’s Teachings so that we can create a better life for ourselves on this earth through wise decisions that lead to wholesome results (i.e. wholesome Kamma).

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We should adhere to the laws of the land, but we should allow The Teachings of good moral conduct to guide our daily lives through good wholesome decisions. By practicing these Teachings, we ensure we have “universal love for all beings”, “do no harm”, and “be a good moral person”. Laws of the land do not necessarily ensure we are practicing these core Teachings.

To explore and understand The Natural Law of Kamma more deeply, see the book titled “The Natural Law of Kamma” (Volume 6) of this same book series.

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