Lesson 8

Sow Good
Seeds And
Reap The
Harvest
 What is Kamma?

The Buddha said “I declare, O

Bikkhus, that volition (cetana) is
Kamma. Having willed one acts
by body, speech and thought.”
Kamma, literally means action or doing. Any
kind of intentional action (good or bad)
whether mental, verbal or physical is
regarded as Kamma.
Involuntary, unintentional or unconscious
actions do not constitute Kamma because
volition, the most important factor
determining Kamma, is absent.
In its ultimate sense Kamma means all
moral and immoral volition (kusala akusala
cetana).
 Kamma Is Mind
“By mind the world Made
is led, by
mind it is drawn: And all men
own the sovereignty of mind.
If one speaks or acts with a
wicked mind, pain follows one
as the wheel, the hoof of the
draught-ox.” - Dhammapada
The chief
Verse 1 cause of Kamma is the mind.
All our words and deeds are coloured
by the mind.
When the mind is unguarded, bodily
action, speech and thought are all
unguarded. When the mind is guarded,
bodily action, speech and thought are all
guarded.
 Kamma Is Mind
Made
Verbal actions are done by
the mind by means of speech.

Bodily actions are done by

the mind through the
physical body.

Purely mental actions have no

instrument other than the
mind.
 The Cause of
Kamma
n c e
Ignorance (avijja) or not knowing

r a
things as they truly are, is the chief

o
n
cause of Kamma.

Ig
Dependent on ignorance arise
Kammic activities (avijja paccaya

n g
samkhara), states the Buddha in the

i
r v
Paticca Samuppada (Dependent

a
Origination).
Associated with ignorance is its ally

C
craving (tanha), the other root of
Kamma.
Evil actions are conditioned by
these two causes.
 Kamma and
Vipaka
Kamma = action Vipaka = fruit or
result or reaction
Every volitional activity is
inevitably accompanied by its due
effect.
As Kamma may be good or bad,
so may Vipaka be good or bad.

As Kamma is mental, so Vipaka

too is mental; it is experienced as
happiness or bliss; unhappiness
or misery.
Where is Kamma
stored?
“Where, Venerable Sir, is
Kamma stored? King
Milinda questioned the
Venerable
“O Maharaja,Nagasena.
Kamma is not
said to be stored somewhere
in this fleeting consciousness
or in any other part of the
body. But dependent on
mind and matter it rests
manifesting itself at the
opportune moment, just as
mangoes are not said to be
stored somewhere in the
 Where is Kamma
Neither stored? a is an
wind nor Kamm ,
d u a l f o rc e
fire is indivi
stored in and is m
m it t e d f r o
any trans o
i s t e n c e t
particula one ex
r h e r . I t p l a ys
place, no anot
r h i e f e s t p a rt
is Kamm the c
a e m o u ld in g
in th
stored a c t e r a n d
of ch a r
anywher e
within or
e explains th
without marvelous
e n o m e n a of
the body ph
. n iu s , i n f a n t
ge o
igies and s
 Sowing Good
Seeds
Good and bad Kamma will
become active when the
conditions are favourable.
The Kamma of a person is
like a savings account
Bad where money can be
Kamma
Good
deposited or withdrawn.
Kamma The Buddha had given us
clear instructions on how
we can reduce our evil
deeds and increase our
By
gooddoing so, we can build a
deeds.
treasure store which cannot
be destroyed. Unlike a
savings account, the benefits
of merits cannot be lost and
What are Merits and Why
Perform Them?
Merit (Punna) is defined as
actions of the body, speech
and mind which purify and
cleanse the mind.
Merits purify the mind of
greed, hatred and delusion –
the 3 evil roots.
Fruits of merits: It frees one
from the chains of desire and
suffering and opens doors
everywhere.
 Ten Meritorious Deeds
1 Generosity Generosity is concerned with sharing for
(Dana) the weal of others. Examples: giving food,
money, clothing to hungry/poor; giving
robes, almsfood, shelter and medicine to
the monks; not killing is a gift of
fearlessness which can be given by
everyone.
2 Moraility Observing the precepts and leading a
(Sila) harmless life.
3 Mental Mental culture or meditation aims at
Culture developing insight and the growth of
(Bhavana) wisdom.
4 Respect & Practisinng respect & reverence purifies
Reverence the mind as a man replaces his pride with
(Apacayan humility. The humble man has a flexible
a) and adaptable mind which is never too
proud to learn.
5 Service Helping others is another way of making
 Ten Meritorious Deeds
6 Sharing A person shares the merits of his good
Merits deeds with others so that the performance
(Pattidana) of these deeds are not for egoistic
motives.
7 Rejoicing inCultivating appreciation and gladness at
Others’ others’ happiness is a noble and positive
Good mental quality which eradicates jealousy.
Deeds Speaking and thinking well of others can
(Anumodan cause a person’s enemies to become his
a) friends.
8- Teaching Teaching and listening to Dhamma goes
9 and together because for there to be a giver
Listening there must be a receiver. Teaching
to Dhamma dhamma is showing a practical path which
(Dhamma leads to the relief of suffering. Listening
Savana, to dhamma means concentrating one’s
Dhamma attention to the one who speaks the
desana) dhamma and reflecting on how the
teachings can be applied.
 Everything is not due to
Kamma
The Buddha refuted that everything is
due to Kamma and said:
“So, then, owing to
previous action, men
will become murderers,
thieves, unchaste, liars,
slanderers, babblers,
covetous, malicious,
and perverse in view. Thus for those who fall back on
the former deeds 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 solely from
 Kamma Is Not
Fatalistic
Kamma is however neither a fate
nor predestination imposed upon
us by some mysterious unknown
power to which we must
helplessly submit ourselves. o !
o oo
h
Ya
!

It is one’s own doing reacting

on oneself, and so one has
the power to divert the
course of Kamma to some
extent. How far one diverts
it, depends on oneself.
 The Five Niyamas
According to Buddhism, there are five
orders or processes (Niyamas) which
operate in the physical and mental
realms.
Utu Niyama Physical inorganic
order.
Bija Niyama Physical organic order.

Kamma Order of act and result.

Niyama
Dhamma Order of the norm.
Niyama
Citta Niyama Order of mind or
 The Five Niyamas
Utu Niyama – physical
inorganic order
Deals with seasonal
phenomena of winds and
rains, the unerring order of
seasons, characteristic
seasonal changes and
events, causes of winds
and rains, nature of heat,
 The Five Niyamas
Bija Niyama – order of
germs and seeds
Deals with physical
organic order eg. apple
produced from apple
seed, sugary taste from
sugar cane or honey, and
peculiar characteristics
The scientific theory of of
certain fruits.
cells and genes and the
physical similarity of
twins may be ascribed to
 The Five Niyamas
Kamma Niyama – order of
act and result
According to this natural law, acts
bring their own rewards and
punishments to the individual doer
whether human justice finds him
or not.
The Five Niyamas
Dhamma Niyama – order
of the norm
The natural phenomena
occuring at the birth of
a Bodhisatta in His last
birth.
Gravity and other similar
laws of nature, the
reason for being good,
etc, may be included in
this group.
 The Five Niyamas
Citta Niyama – order of the mind
or psychic law
Processes of
consciousness,
constituents of
consciousness, power of
mind, including
telepathy, telesthesia,
retro-cognition,
premonition,
clairvoyance, clair-
audience, thought-
You Are Responsible
One day, a young truth-
seeker named Subha
approached and asked the
Buddha:
“What is the reason,
what is the cause, O Lord,
that we find amongst
mankind the short-lived
and the long-lived, the
diseased and the healthy,
the ugly and the
beautiful, the powerless
and the powerful, the
poor and the rich, the
You Are Responsible

The Buddha
replied:
“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.”
Transcending Kamma
After a Kamma has borne fruit, it dies
like all other forces. But as old Kamma
die, new ones are created and the life
process goes on.
If there is an aspiration to end craving,
a transformation takes place. As the
aspiration for Nibbana grows stronger,
cravings wither destroying the three
evil roots of anger, hatred and
delusion.
As they wither and no more new
Kammas take their place, the current of
life-process dries up. In the end there
is no craving force to produce another
birth.
The gift of Dhamma excels all gifts
the taste of Dhamma excels all taste,
the delight in dhamma excels all delights,
The Craving-Freed vanquishes all suffering.
- Dhammapada verse 354

End of Lesson 8