by Tiongho Poh

Created on: March 29, 2010

Fire has always been fair. It tells you your danger by letting you feel the heat by degree. If you still want to ignore it and put your finger into it, you deserved it. It burns anything, regardless of whatever it is, an innocent child, or a convict. The Kamma discovered by the Buddha was and is still the same. Regardless of whether the beings are celestials or terrestrials, they cannot escape the kamma for the deeds they have done.

Tendencies that have been set up in the past are carried forward to the next life, and they determine the quality of the new psycho-physical aggregates when the new beings are born. Depending on his deeds, a person may be reborn as a hell being, an animal, a hungry ghost, a human being, a frightened ghost, a god of the sensuous heaven, an embodied brahma, or a bodiless brahma. The humans and animals have gross physical bodies, while the ghosts and devas have subtle nonphysical bodies. The beings in the Brahma realms, if they have the chance to listen to Vipassana Dharma, will attain Nibbana from these realms. One example was Dhananjhani, who practiced metta to attain the jhanas, and ended up in the Brahma realm, under the supervision of Sariputta. As advised by the Buddha, Sariputa visited Dhananjhani, at the Brahma realm and gave a Vipassana  Dhamma talk to Dehananjhani, who attained Nibbana directly from the Brhama realm.

 The ego or soul doesn’t consist of an unchanging entity. The Buddha never disputed there was an ego or soul. He only confirmed there was no permanent entity which many believed to have been created by an almighty creator.

The effects of Kamma will not be unchanging forever, like eternal suffering which is foreign to Buddhism. Our past actions, from time immemorial for countless lives, coupled by other factors, cause the good and bad we experience now. We should therefore overcome our unfavourable destiny by greater efforts in doing good deeds today.

Kamma is not stored anywhere. Just as mangoes are not stored in the mango tree. But when the conditions are right the fruits spring up during the season. The kammic energy created by sentient beings does not dissipate until  it has  given its effects, or until it becomes defunct. Arahants and Buddhas are bound to reap the good or bad effects of their actions since the infinite past, till they died. When the doers become Arahants or Buddhas, and they have attained Parinibbana,  whatever kammic energy which has been left will automatically become defunct.

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