A Selangor Buddhist Vipassana Meditation Society Publication
No. 29-B, Jalan 17/45, 46400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

Published by The Penang Buddhist Association, 1997
No. 168, Anson Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia.

Printed by Majujaya Indah Sdn Bhd
No. 68, Jalan 14E, Ampang New Village, 68000 Selangor Darul Ehsan.

THE BUDDHIST DOCTRINE OF KAMMA AND REBIRTH

Kamma is the law of moral causation. Rebirth is its corollary.

Kamma and rebirth are inter-related, fundamental doctrines in Buddhism, These two beliefs were prevalent in India before the advent of the Buddha. Nevertheless, it was the Buddha who explained and formulated these two doctrines in the completeness we have them today.

What is the cause of the inequality that exists amongst mankind?

How do we account for the unevenness in this ill-balanced world?

Why should one be brought up in the lap of luxury endowed with fine mental, moral and physical qualities, and another in absolute poverty, steeped in misery? Why should be one be born a millionaire and another a pauper? Why should one be born with saintly characteristics and another criminal tendencies? Why should some be linguists, artists, mathematicians and musicians from the very cradle. Why should others be congenitally blind, deaf and deformed? Why should some be blessed and others cursed from their birth?

There must either be a cause or causes for this inequality of mankind, or it must be purely accidental.

No sensible person would think of attributing this unevenness, this inequality, this diversity to blind chance or pure accident.

In this world nothing happens to any person that he does nor deserve for some reason or other. Usually the actual reason or reasons cannot be comprehended by men or ordinary intellect. The definite invisible cause or causes of the visible effect is not necessarily confined to the present life, but may be traced to a proximate or remote past birth.

With the aid of telesthesia and retro-cognitive knowledge, may it not be possible for a highly developed seer to perceive events, which are ordinarily imperceptible to the physical eye? Buddhists affirm such a possibility.

Some religionists conveniently attribute this inequality to a single cause such as an incomprehensible God-Creator. The Buddha explicitly denies the existence of a Creator, interpreted either as an Almighty Being or as a causeless cosmic force.

The Pali equivalent for the God-Creator in other religions is either Issara (Sanskrit-Isvara) or Brahma. In the Tipitaka there is absolutely no texture reference whatever to the existence of a Creator or to his relation with man.

Despite the fact that the Buddha placed no supernatural God over man, some scholars assert that the Buddha was characteristically silent on this important controversial question. The following quotations will clearly indicate the viewpoint of the Buddha towards the concept of a God-Creator.

In the Anguttara Nikaya the Buddha speaks of three divergent views that prevailed in His time. One of which was:

"Whatsoever happiness or pain or neutral feeling this person experiences, all that is due to the creation of a Supreme Deity (Issara-nimmanahetu)."

According to this statement we are what we were willed to be by a Creator. Our destines rest entirely in his hands. Our fate is pre-ordained by him. The supposed freewill granted to his creation is obviously false.

Criticising this fatalistic view the Buddha says:

"So then, owing to the creation of a Supreme Deity will become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers, abusive, babblers, covetous, malicious and perverse in view. Thus for those who fall back on the creation of a God as the essential reason, there is neither the desire to do, nor effort to do, nor necessity to do this deed or abstain from that deed."

In the Devahada Sutta the Buddha, referring to the self-mortification of naked ascetics, remarks:

"If, O Bhikkhus, beings experience pain and happiness as the result of God's creation (Issara nimmanahetu), then certainly these naked ascetics must have been created by a wicked God (papakena Issara), since they are at present experiencing such terrible pain."

Kevaddha Sutta narrates a humorous conversation the occurred between an inquisitive Bhikkhu and the supposed God-Creator.

A Bhikkhu, desiring to know the end of the elements, approached Mara Brahma and questioned him thus:

"Where, my friend, do the four great elements-earth, water, fire, air-cease, leaving no trace behind?"

The Great Brahma replied:

"I. brother, am Brahma, Great Brahma, the Supreme Being, the Unsurpassed, the Perceiver of all things, the Controller, the Lord of all, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Chief, the Victor, the Ruler, the Father of all beings who have been and are to be".

For the second and third time the Bhikkhu repeated his question, the Brahma gave the same dogmatic reply.

Then Maha Brahma took the Bhikkhu by the are, led him aside and made a frank utterance:

"O brother these gods of my suite believe as follows: "Brahma sees all things; knows all things; penetrates all things." Therefore was it was it that I did not answer in their presence. I do not know, O brother, where these four great elements cease, leaving not trace behind. Therefore it was an evil and a crime, O brother, that you left the Blessed One and went elsewhere in quest of an answer to the question. Turn back, O brother and having drawn near to the Blessed One, ask Him this question, and as the Blessed One explains to you, so believe."

Tracing the origin of Maha Brahma, the so-called Creator, the Buddha comments in the Patika Sutta:

"On this, O disciples, that being who was first reborn (in a new world evolution) thinks thus: 'I am Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Vanquisher, the Vanquised, the All-seeing, the Disposer, the Lord, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief, the Assinger, the Master of Myself, the Father of all that are and are to be. By me are these beings created. And why is that so? A while ago I thought: Would that other beings too might come to this state of being! Such was the aspiration of my mind, and lo these beings did come.'

"And those beings themselves who arose after him, they too think thus: 'This worthy must be Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Vanquisher .... the father of all that area and are to be.'

"On this, O disciples: that being who arose first becomes longer lived, handsomer, and more powerful, but those who appeared after him become shorter lived, less comely, less powerful. And it might well be, O disciples, that some other being on decreasing from that state, would come to this state (on earth). So come, he might go forth from the household life into the homeless state. And having thus gone forth by reason of ardour, effort, devotion, earnestness, perfect intellection, he reaches up to such rapt concentration, that with rapt mind he calls to mind his former dwelling place, but remembers not what went before. He says this: 'That Worship Brahma, the Vanquisher,....the Father of all that are and are to be, he by whom we were created, he is permanent, constant, eternal, unchanging, and he will remain so ever and ever.. But we who were created by that Brahma, we have come hither all impermanent, transient, unstable, short-lived, destined to pass away.'

"Thus was appointed the beginning of all things which ye, sirs, declare as your traditional doctrine; to wit, that it has been wrought by an over-lord by Brahma."

In the Bhuridatta Jataka (No. 543) the Bodhisatta questions the alleged justice of the Creator as follows:

"He who has eyes can see the sickening sight;
Why does not Brahma set his creatures right?
If his wide power no limits can restrain,
Why is his hand so rarely spread to bless?
Why are his creatures all condemned to pain?
Why does he not to all give happiness?
Why do fraud, lie and ignorance prevail?
Why triumphs falsehood-truth and justice fail?
I count your Brahma one th' unjust among
Who made a world in which to shelter wrong"

Refuting the theory that states everything is the creation of a god, the Bodhisatta states in the Mahabodhi Jataka:

"If these exists some Lord all powerful to fulfil
In every creatures bliss or woe, and action good or ill;
That Lord is stained with sin. Man does but work his will."

Now, how do modern scientists account for the inequality of mankind?

Confining themselves purely to sense-data, they attribute this inequality to chemico-physical causes, heredity, environment and so forth.

Julian Huxley, a distinguished biologist, writes that "some genes control colour, other height or weight, other fertility or length of life, other vigour and the reverse, other shape or proportions. Possible all certainly the vast majority, of heredity characters, especially the more complex and subtle ones, the proof is more difficult, but there is every evidence that they are inheritable, and no evidence that their inheritance is due to a different mechanism from that for bodily characters. That which is inherited in our personality and bodily peculiarities depends somehow upon the inter-action of this assorted battery of genes with which we are equipped at fertilisation."

One must admit that all chemico-physical phenomena, revealed by scientists, are partly instrumental,-but could they be solely responsible for the subtle distinctions and vast differences that exist amongst individuals? Yet, why should identical twins who are physically alike, inheriting like genes, enjoying the same privileges of up bringing, be so temperamentally, intellectually and morally totally different?

Heredity alone cannot account for these vast differences. Strictly speaking, it may account for the similarities mare than the differences.

The infinitesimally minute chemico-physical perm, which is bout 1/120th of an inch inherited from parents, explains only a portion of man, his physical foundation. With regard to the more complex and subtle mental, intellect, and moral differences we need more enlightenment. The theory of heredity cannot satisfactory account for the birth of a criminal in a long line of honourable ancestors, for the birth of a saint in a family of evil repute, for the arising of infant prodigies, men of genius and perfect spiritual teachers.

According to Buddhism this inequality is due not only to heredity, environment, "nature and nurture" but also to Kamma or, in other words, to the result of own past actions and our present doings. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own heavens. We create our own hells. We are the architects of our own fate.

Perplexed by the seemingly inexplicable, apparent disparity that exists amongst humanity, a young truth-seeker approached the Buddha and questioned Him about this intricate problem of inequality.

"What is the cause, what is the reason, O Lord," questioned he, "that we find amongst mankind the short-lived (appayuka) and long-lived (digyuka), the healthy (appabadha) and the diseased (bavhabadha_, the ugly (dubbanna) and the beautiful (vannavanta), the powerless (appesakkha) and the powerful (mahesakkha), the poor (appabhoga) and the rich (mahabhoga), low-born (nicakulina) and the high-born (uccakulina), the ignorant (duppanna) and the wise (pannavanta)?"

Briefly the Buddha gave the following profound reply: -

"All living beings have actions (Kamma) as their own, their inheritance, their congenital cause, their kinsman, their refuge. It is Kamma that differentiates beings into low and high states."

He then explained the cause and effect.

We, no doubt, are born with heredity characteristics. At the same time we do possess certain fixed abilities that science cannot adequately account for. To our parents we are indebted for the gross sperm and ovum that from the nucleus of this so-called being. There they remain dormant until this potential germinal compound is vitalised by the Kammic energy needed for the production of the foetus. Kamma is therefore the indispensable conceptive cause of this being.

The accumulated Kammic tendencies inherited by individuals in the course of their previous lives, play at times a far greater role than the heredity parental cells and genes in the formation of both physical and mental characteristics.

The Buddha, for instance, inherited, like every other person the reproductive cells and genes from His parents. But physically, morally and intellectually there was none comparable to Him in His long line of Royal ancestors. In the Buddha's own words, He belonged not to the Royal lineage, but to that of the Ariyan Buddhas. He was certainly a superman, an extraordinary creation of His own Kamma.

According to the Lakkhana Sutta the Buddha inherited these exception features, such as the 32 marks, as the result of His past meritorious deeds. The ethical reason for acquiring each physical features is clearly explained in the Sutta.

It is obvious from this unique case that Kammic tendencies could not only influence our physical organism, but also nullify the potentiality of the parental cells and genes-hence the significance of the Buddha's enigmatic statement, - "We are the heirs of our own action".

Dealing with this problem of variation the Atthasalini states:

"Depending on this difference in Kamma appears the difference in the birth of beings, high and low, base and exalted, happy and miserable. Depending on the difference in Kamma appears the difference in the individual features of beings as beautiful and ugly, high born or low-born, well-built or deformed. Depending on the difference in worldly conditions of beings as gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, happiness and misery."

By Kammas the world moves, by Kamma men
Live, and by Kamma are all beings bound
As by its pin the poling chariot wheel.

"By kamma one attains glory and praise,
By Kamma bondage, ruin, tyranny.
Knowing that Kamma bears fruit manifold.
Why say ye, "In the world no Kamma is'?"

Thus, from a Buddhist point of view, our present mental, moral, intellectual and temperamental differences are preponderantly due to our own actions and tendencies, birth past and present.

Although Buddhism attributes this variation to Kamma, as the chief cause amongst a variety, yet it does not assert that everything is due to Kamma. The law of Kamma, important as it is, is only of the twenty-four conditions (Paccaya), described in Buddhist Philosophy

Refuting, the erroneous view that "Whatsoever weal or woe or neutral feeling is experiences, all that is due to some previous action (pubbekatahetu)," the Buddha states:

"So, then, owing to a previous action, men will become murderers, thieves, liars, slanders, babblers, covetous, malicious and perverse in view. Thus for those who fall back on the former deed as the essential reason, there is neither the desire to do, nor effort to do, nor necessity to do this deed, or abstain from that deed."

This important text contradicts the belief that all physical circumstances and mental attitudes spring from Kamma. If the present life is totally conditioned or wholly controlled by our past actions, then certainly Kamma is tantamount to fatalism or determinism or predestination. One will not be free to mould one' present and future. In this case free will too becomes an absolute farce. Life becomes purely mechanistic, not much different from a machine. Whether we are created by an Almighty God who controls our destinies and fore-ordains our future, or are produced by an irresistible Kamma that completely determines our fate and controls our life's course, independent of any free action on our part, is essentially the same. The only different lies in the two words God and Kamma. One could easily be substituted by the other, because the ultimate operation of both forces would be identical.

The Buddhist law of Kamma is not a fatalistic doctrine.

In this connection it should be stated that, according to Buddhism, there are five orders or processes (Niyamas) which operate in the physical and mental realms.

They are:

1. UTU NIYAMA, physical inorganic order, e.g., seasonal phenomena of winds and rains. The unerring order of seasons, characteristics season changes and events, causes of winds and rains, nature of heat, etc., belongs to this group

2. BIJA NIYAMA, order of germs and seeds (physical organic order); e.g., rice produced by rice seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane or honey, peculiar characteristics of certain fruits, etc. The scientific theory of cells and genes and the physical similarity of twins may be ascribed to this order.

3. KAMMA NIYAMA, order of act and result, e.g., desirable and undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. As surely as water seeks its own level so does Kamma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.

4. DHAMMA NIYAMA, order of the norm, e.g., the natural phenomena occurring at the advent of a Bodhisatta in his last rebirth. Gravitation and other similar laws of nature, the reason for being good and so forth may be included in this group.

5. CITTA NIYAMA, order of mind or physical law, e.g., processed of consciousness, arising and perishing of consciousness, constituents of consciousness, power of the mind, etc. Telepathy, telethesia, retro-cognition, premonition, clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought reading, all physical phenomena which are inexplicable to modern science are included in this class.

Every mental or physical phenomenon could be explained by these all-embracing five orders or processes which are laws in themselves. Kamma as such is only one of the five orders, which demand no law-giver as is the case with all natural laws.

Of these five, the physical inorganic order and the order of the norm are more or less mechanistic though they can be controlled to some extent by human ingenuity and the power of mind. For example, fire normally burns and extreme cold freezes, but man has walked scatheless over fire and meditated naked on Himalayan snows; horticulturists have worked marvels with flowers and fruits; and Yogis have performed levitation. Psychic law is equally mechanistic, but Buddhist training aims at control of mind, which is possible by right understanding and skilful volition. Kamma law operates quite automatically and, when the Kamma is powerful, man cannot interfere with its inexorable result though he may desire to do so; but here also right understanding and skilful volition can accomplish much and mould the future. Good Kamma, persisted in, can thwart the reaping of bad. Kamma is certainly an intricate law whose working is fully comprehended only by a Buddha. The Buddhist aims at the final destruction of all Kamma.

WHAT IS KAMMA?

The Pali term Kamma (Sanskrit-Karma) literally means action or doing. Any kind of intentional action whether mental, verbal or physical is regarded as Kamma. It covers all that is included in the phrase "thought, word and deed." Generally speaking, all good and bad actions constitute Kamma. In its ultimate sense Kamma means all moral and immoral volition (kusala kusala cetana). Involuntary, unintentional or unconscious actions, though technically deeds, do not constitute Kamma, because volition, the most important factor in determining Kamma, is absent.

The Buddha says:

"I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition (cetana) is Kamma. Having willed one acts by body, speech and thought."

Every volitional action of individuals, save those of Buddhas and Arahants, is called Kamma. The exception made in their case is because they are delivered from both good and evil; they have eradicated ignorance and craving, the roots of Kamma. "Destroying are their (germinal) seeds (khina bija); (selfish) desires no longer grow," states the Ratana Sutta. This does not mean that the Buddhas and Arahants are passive. They are tirelessly active in working for the real well being and happiness of all. Their deeds ordinarily accepted as good or moral, lack creative power as regards themselves. Understanding things as they truly are, they have finally shattered their cosmic fetters - the chain of cause and effect.

Kamma does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both path and present deeds. Hence, in one sense, we are the result of what we were'; we will be the result of what we are. In another sense, it should be added, we are not totally the result of what we were; we ill not absolutely be the result of what we are. The present is no doubt the offspring of the past and is the present of the future, but the present is not always a true index of either the past or the future; so complex is the working of Kamma.

It is this doctrine of Kamma that the mother teaches her child when she says: "Be good and you will be happy and we will love you, but if you are bad, you will be unhappy and we will not love you."

In short Kamma is the law of cause and effect in the ethical realm.

KAMMA AND VIPAKA

Kamma is action and Vipaka, fruit or result, is the reaction. Just as every object is accompanied by a shadow, even so every volition activity inevitably accompanied by its due effect. Like potential seed is Kamma. Fruit arising from the tree, is like the Vipaka, effect or result. The leaves, flowers and so forth which correspond to external differences such as health, sickness, poverty, etc., are Vipaka, Anisamsa and Adinava, inevitable concomitant consequences. Strictly speaking, both Kamma and Vipaka pertain to the mind.

As Kamma may be good or bad, so may Vipaka, fruit of good or bad. As Kamma is mental so is Vipaka too mental; it is experienced as happiness, or bliss, unhappiness or misery, according to the nature of the Kamma seed. Anisamsa are the concomitant advantageous material things, such as prosperity, health and longevity. When Vipaka's concomitant material things are disadvantageous, they are known as Adinava, "full of wretchedness," and appear as poverty, ugliness, disease, short life-span and so forth.

By Kamma are meant the Moral and Immoral types of mundane consciousness and by Vipaka, the resultant types of mundane consciousness. The eight types of supramundane (lokuttara) consciousness are not regarded as Kamma and Vipaka, because they tend to eradicate the roots of Kamma. In them the predominant factor is wisdom (panna), whilst in the mundane it is volition (cetana).

As we sow, we reap somewhere and somewhen, in this life or in a future birth. What we reap today is what we have sown either in the present or in the past.

The Samyutta Nikapa states:

"According to the seed that's sown,
So is the fruit ye reap therefrom,
Doer of good will gather good,
Doer of evil, evil reaps,
Sown is the seed and thou shalt taste
The fruit thereof."

Kamma is a law in itself which operates in its own field without the intervention of any external, independent ruling agency.

Inherent in Kamma is the potentiality of producing its due effect. The cause produces the effect; the effect explains the cause. The seed produces the fruit; the fruit explains the seed, such is their relationship. Even so are Kamma and its effect; 'the effect already blooms in the cause.'

Happiness and misery, which are the common lot of humanity are the inevitable effects of some cause or causes. From a Buddhist point of view they are not rewards and punishments, assigned by a supernatural, omniscient ruling power to a soul that has done good or evil. Theists who attempts to explain everything by this one temporal life and an eternal future life, ignoring a past, may believe i a post-mortem justice and may regard present happiness and misery as blessings and curses conferred on his creation by an omniscent and omnipotent Divine ruler who sits in heaven above, controlling the destinies of the human race. Buddhism that emphatically denies such an Almighty and All-merciful God-Creator and an arbitrarily created immortal soul, believes in natural law and justice which cannot be suspended either by an Almighty God or an All-compassionate Buddha. According to this natural law, acts bring their own rewards and punishments to the individual doer whether human justice finds him out or not.

Some there are, who cavil thus: "So you Buddhism too administer capitalistic dope to the poor, saying:

"You are born poor in this life on account of your past evil Kamma. He is born rich on account of his past good Kamma. So be satisfied with your humble lot; but do good to be rich in your next life."

"You are being oppressed now because of your past evil Kamma. That is your destiny. Be humble and bear your sufferings patiently. Do good now. You can be certain of a better and hppier life after death."

The Buddhist doctrine of Kamma does not expound such ridiculous fatalistic view. Nor does it vindicate a post-mortem justice. The All-Merciful Buddha, who has no ulterior selfish motives, did not teach this law of Kamma to protect the rich and comfort the poor by promising illusory happiness in an after-life.

Admittedly we are born to a state created by ourselves. Yet by our own well-directed efforts, there is every possibility for us to create new favourable environments even here and now. Not just individually but also collectively are we at liberty to create fresh Kamma that tends either towards our progress or downfall in this very life.

According to the Buddhist doctrine of Kamma, one is not always compelled by an iron necessity; for Kamma is neither fate nor predestination imposed upon us by some mysterious unknown power to which we must helplessly submit ourselves. It is one's own doing reacting on oneself, and so one has the possibility to divert the course of Kamma to some extent. How far one diverts it depends on oneself.

Is one bound to reap all that one sown in just proportion?

The Buddha provides an answer:

"If anyone says that a man must reap according to his deeds, in that case there is no religious life, nor is an opportunity afforded for the entire extinction of sorrow. But is anyone says that what a man reaps accords with his deeds, in that case there is a religious life, and opportunity is afforded for the entire extinction of sorrow."

Although it is stated in the Dhammapada that "not in the sky, nor in mid-ocean, nor entering a mountain cave is found that place on earth, where abiding one may escape from (the consequences of) an evil deed,: yet one is not bound to pay all the past arrears of one's Kamma. If such were the case, emancipation would be an impossibility. Eternal recurrence would be the unfortunate result.

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF KAMMA?

Ignorance (avijja) or not knowing things as they truly are is the chief cause of Kamma. Dependent on ignorance arise activities (avijja samkara) states the Buddha in the Paticca Samuppada.

Associated with ignorance is its ally craving (tanha) the other root of Kamma. Evil actions are conditioned by these two causes. All good deeds of a worldling (puthujjana), though associated with the three wholesome roots of generosity (alobha) goodwill (adosa) and knowledge (amoha) are nevertheless regarded as Kamma because the two roots of ignorance and craving are dormant in him. The moral types of supramundane Path consciousness (maggacitta) are not regarded as Kamma because they tend to eradicate the two root causes.

WHO IS THE DOER OF KAMMA? WHO REAPS THE FRUIT OF KAMMA?

Is kamma a sort accretion about a soul?

In answering this subtle question Venerable Buddhaghosa writes in the Visuddhi magga;

"Nor doer is here who does the deed:
Nor is there one who feels the fruit:
Constituent parts alone roll on:
This indeed is right discernment."

According to Buddhism there are two realities - apparent and ultimate. Apparent realiity is ordinary conventional truth (sammutti sacca). Ultimate reality is abstract truth (paramattha sacca).

For instance, the table we see is apparent reality. In an ultimate sense the so called table consists of forces and qualities.

For an ordinary purposes a scientist would use the term water, but in the laboratory he would say H2O.

In the same way for conventional purposes such terms as man, woman, being, self and so forth used. The so-called fleeting forms consists of psycho-physical phenomena which are constantly changing nor remaining the same for two consecutive moments.

Buddhist therefore, do not believe in an unchanging entity, in an actor from action, in a perceiver apart from perception, in a conscious subject behind consciousness.

Who, then, is he doer of Kamma? Who experiences the effect?

Volition of will (cetena) is itself the doer. Feeling (vedana) is itself the reaper of the fruits of action. Apart from these pure mental states (suddhadhamma) there is none to sow and none to reap. In this respect Buddhists agree with Prof. William James when, unlike Descartes he asserts - "thoughts themselves are the thinkers."

WHERE IS KAMMA?

"Stored within the psyche," writes a certain psycho-analyst, "but usually inaccessible and to be reached only by some, is the whole record, without exception, of every experience the individual has passed through, every influence felt, every impression received. The subconscious mind is not only an indelible record of individual experiences but also retains the impress of primeval impulses and tendencies which, so far from being outgrown as we fondly deem in civilised man, are subconsciously active and apt to break out in disconcerting strength at unexpected moments."

Buddhist would make assertion with a vital modification. Not stored within any postulatory "psyche," for there is no proof of any such receptacle or store-house in this ever-changing complex machinery of man, but dependent on the individual psycho-physical continuity or flux is every experience the so-called being has passed through, every influence felt, every impression received, every characteristics-divine, human or brutal. In short the entire Kammic force is dependent on the mental flux (citta-santati) ever ready to manifest itself in multifarious phenomena as occasion arises.

"Where, Venerable Sir, is Kamma?" questioned Kind Milinda from the Venerable Nagasena.

"O Maharaja," replied the venerable Nagasena, "kamma is not said to be 'stored' somewhere in this fleeting consciousness or in any other part of the body. But manifesting itself at the opportune moment, just as mangoes are not to be said to be stored somewhere in the mango tress, but dependent on the mango tree they lie, springing up in due season."

Just as wind or fire is note store in any particular place, even so Kamma is not store in anywhere or without the body.

CLASSIFICATION OF KAMMA

Books state that there are actions which may produce their due effect in this very life (ditthadhammavedaniya), or in a subsequent life (upapajjavedaniya), or in any life in the course of one's wandering in Samsara (aparapariyavedaniya). When such actions that should produce their effects in this life or in a subsequent life do not operate they are term 'ineffective' (ahosi).

This classification is according to the life time in which effects are worked put.

With respect to different functions, Kamma is classified into another four kinds.

Every birth, according to Buddhism, is conditioned by a good or bad kamma that predominates at the moment of death. Such an action is termed Reproductive (janaka) Kamma. As a rule the last thought-moment depends on the general conduct of a person. In some exceptional cases, perhaps due to favourable or unfavourable circumstances, at the moment of death a good person may experience a bad thought and a bad person a good one. The future will be determined by this last thought irrespective of the general conduct. This does not mean that the effects of the past actions are obliterated. They will have their effects as occasions arise. Such reverse changes of birth account for the birth of virtuous children to vicious parents and of vicious children to virtuous parents.

Now, to assist and maintain or to weaken and obstruct fruition of this Reproductive Kamma, another past Kamma may intervene. Such actions are termed 'Supportive' (upatthambaka) and 'Conteractive' (upapidaka) Kamma respectively.

According to the law of Kamma the potential energy of the Reproductive Kamma could be totally annulled by a more powerful opposing past Kamma, which, seeking an opportunity, may quite unexpectedly operate, just as a counteractive force can obstruct the path of a flying arrow and bring it down to the ground. Such an action is called 'Destructive' (upaghataka) Kamma, which is more powerful than the above two in that it not only obstructs but also destroys the whole force.

There is another classification according to the priority of effect.

The first is called Garuka Kamma, which means weighty or serious, as it produces its effect in this life or in t net for certain, In the moral side of the Weighty actions are the Jhanas or Ecstasies heinous crimes (anantariya kamma) which are matricide, parricide, the murder of an Arahant, the wounding of a Buddha and the creation of a schism in the Sangha.

In the absence of a Weighty Kamma to condition the subsequent birth, a death proximate (Asanna) Kamma might operate. This is the action one does or recollects, immediately before the dying moment. Owing to its significance in determining the future birth the custom of reminding the dying person of his good deeds and making him do good on his death-bed still prevails in Buddhist countries.

Habitual (acinna) Kamma is the next in priority of effect. It is the action one constantly performs and recollects and towards which one has great predilection.

The last in the category is 'Cumulative' (katatta) Kamma which embraces all that cannot be included in the above-mentioned three. This is, at it were the reserve fund of a particular being. The last classification is according to the plane in which the effects take place, namely -

i) Evil actions (akusala) which may ripen in the sentient plane (Kamaloka).

ii) Good actions (kusala) which may ripen in he sentient plane.

iii) Good actions which may ripen in the Realm of Form (Rupaloka)

iv) Good actions which may ripen in the Formless Realm (Arupaloka)

NATURE OF KAMMA

In the working of Kamma, it may be mentioned, there are maleficent and beneficent forces and conditions to counteract and support this self-operating law. Birth (gati), time or conditions (kala), beauty (upadhi), and effort (payoga) act as such powerful aids and hindrances to the fruition of Kamma.

Though we are neither absolutely the servants nor the masters of our Kamma it is evident from these counteractive and supportive factors that the fruition of Kamma is influenced to some extent by external circumstances, surroundings, personality, individual striving and so forth.

It is this doctrine of Kamma that gives consolation, hope, reliance, and moral courage to a Buddhist

When the unexpected happens and he meets with difficulties, failures and misfortunes, he realises that he is reaping what he has sown and is wiping off a past debt. Instead of resigning himself, leaving everything to kamma, he makes a strenuous effort to pull up the weeds and sow useful seeds in their place, for the future is in his hands.

He who believes in Kamma does not condemn even the most corrupt, for they have the chance of reforming themselves at any moment. Though bound to suffer in woeful states, they have the hope of attaining eternal peace. By their doings they have created their own hells and by their own doings they can create their own heavens too.

A Buddhist who is fully convinced of the law of Kamma does not pray o another to be saved but confidently relies on himself for his emancipation. Instead of making any self-surrender, or propitiating any supernatural agency, he would rely on his own will power and work incessantly for the weal and happiness of all.

This belief in Kamma 'validates his effort and kindles his enthusiasm,' because it teaches individual responsibility.

To an ordinary Buddhist Kamma serves as a deterrent, whilst to an intellectual it serves as an incentive to do good purely from an altruistic point of view. He becomes ever so kind, tolerant and considerate.

This law of Kamma explains the problem of suffering, the mystery of so-called fate and predestination of other religions and above all the inequality of mankind.

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