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III – The Workings of Kamma

201

THE PRINCIPlE OF IDENTITY

According to the principle of identity, the series of kammas that constitute one accomplished action are the same: all the different impulsions have the same identity. 586

We may understand this principle if we look at the process of dependent origination (paticca.samuppada): 223

[1] Because of ignorance, formations [arise];

[2] because of formations, consciousness;

[3] because of consciousness, mentality-materiality;

[4] because of mentality-materiality, the six bases.

This process is similar to the process of a seed going through the stages of shoot, seedling, sapling, etc., eventually to become a tree. The seed, shoot, seedling, sapling, etc. are not the same as the tree, but the continuity is the same: the different stages have the same identity.

When one accomplishes the wholesome kamma of making an offering(dana), of undertaking and observing morality(sila), and of practising samatha and vipassana meditation, then according to the principle of identity, each such action is consid­ered to be one kamma. In the same way, when one accomplishes the unwhole­some kamma of killing, of stealing, of engaging in sexual misconduct, of telling a lie, or of drinking beer and wine, etc., each such action is considered to be one kamma. But it does not mean that one of those actions comprises only one voli­tion(retana), for in the course of just one of those actions, many billion unwhole­some or wholesome mental processes arise and perish. As we have explained before, on our plane (the sensual-sphere plane(kam·avacara·bhumi)), within a snap of the fingers very many thousand million consciousnesses arise and perish: they include many thousand million mental processeS(citta·\11thi). S87 In each of those mental processes there are seven impulsion consciousnesses(javana).s88 So, when we speak of one kamma, we are in fact referring to the series of kammas that comprise the completed action, such as making an offering. If we consider actions in this way, we may understand that one kamma can function in several ways.

Before we discuss the principle of identity further, let us first summarize the dif­ferent functions that kamma can exercise:589

1) When a kamma produces the resultant mentality and materiality at rebirth and in the course of a life, it has functioned as productive kamma(janaka ·kamma).

2) When a kamma facilitates the maturing of the result of an unwholesome or wholesome productive kamma, and makes the result endure, it has func­tioned as reinforcing kamma(upatthambhaka·kamma).

3) When a kamma obstructs the result of an unwholesome or wholesome pro­ductive kamma, it has functioned as frustrating kamma(upapilaka·kamma).

S86 This matches the logical proposition: A = B. A is not B, and B is not A, yet they are identical.

S87 For an estimated number, see footnote 101, p.39.

S88 The Most Venerable Pa-Auk Tawya Sayadaw is here referring only to sensual-sphere mental processes: see footnote 102, p.39.

S89 VsMT.680-681 ‘Kankha· Vitarana· Visuddhi·Niddeso’ (‘Exposition of the Doubt-Transcen­dence Purification’)

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4) When a kamma takes over, and cuts off the result of an unwholesome or wholesome productive kamma, it has functioned as interceotive kamma (upaghalaka·kamma).

All these four functions may be exercised by one kamma, that is, different kammas of the same identity may exercise different functions. When, for exam­ple, you make an offering to a virtuous person, many billion mind-door processes arise and perish in your mentality-materiality continuity: before you make the offering, while you are making the offering, and after you have made the offer­ing. In each mental process, there are seven wholesome impulsions: some of them will function as productive kammas; some will function as reinforcing kam­mas; some will function as frustrating kammas; some will function as interceptive kammas; and many of them will not function at all, because they will lapse.

THE VENERABLE DEVADATTA

A good example of these four functions operating within one identical course of mentality-materiality is the Venerable Devadatta.⁵⁹⁰ A wholesome kamma func­tioned as productive kamma to produce his rebirth into a royal family. That wholesome kamma functioned also as productive kamma and reinforcing kamma to produce continued happiness in his royal life, and later as a bhikkhu. But when he as a bhikkhu later was suspended by the Sangha for his evil deeds, he lost people’s respect and was despised: then was his wholesome kamma obstructed by unwholesome kamma that functioned as frustrating kamma. And because he made a schism in the Sangha, he was reborn in hell: his unwholesome, weighty schism kamma functioned as interceptive kamma to cut off the wholesome pro­ductive and reinforcing kammas that had produced and sustained his life as a human being.

Here, no one kamma functioned as both interceptive and productive kamma.

When Devadatta made a schism in the Sangha, many, many billions of unwhole­some mind-door processes arose in him, each with seven impulsions, that is, bil­lions and billions of unwholesome impulsions arising from the one action of mak­ing a schism. Those billions of impulsions all had the same identity, yet they exer­cised different functions: one schism kamma functioned as interceptive kamma to cut off the kamma that produced his human rebirth, S91 and another schism kamma functioned as subsequently-effective productive kamma to produce his rebirth in Avici Hell. Other ‘schism’ kammas, as well as unwholesome weighty kammas from his act of drawing our Buddha’s blood with evil intent, and yet other unwholesome kammas of other identities subsequently functioned as reinforcing kammas to increase his suffering in hell, and prolong it so it would last till the destruction of the world system.⁵⁹²

THE VENERABLE LEDi SAYADAW’S EXPLANATION

Another example of one identical series of kammas exercising all four functions is the Venerable Ledi Sayadaw’ss93 explanation of intentional killing.

590 See ‘The Venerable Devadatta’, p.1S0.

591 In also his case, the earth opened up and he was sucked down to Avici Hell.

592 The unwholesome weighty kammas are explained at ‘Unwholesome Weighty Kamma’, p.168.

593 The Most Venerable L.edi Sayadaw (1846-1923) was a renowned sayadaw who wrote (!lka6 •• “” (utrtfut< rwd. pwp..)

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He explains that when one person takes another’s life, the volitions of that act of killing have sufficient power to function as productive kamma, which means they have sufficient power to produce results in the course of a life (as presently­effective kamma), or to produce the rebirth-linking mentality-materiality of a be­ing in hell (as subsequently- or indefinitely-effective kamma). But this will take place only when they meet the right conditions to mature. Until then, however, the volitions of that act of killing may (as subsequently- and indefinitely-effective kamma) exercise one of the three other functions:

1) They may reinforce the results of other unwholesome kammas.

2) They may frustrate the results of wholesome kammas. 3) They may intercept wholesome kammas.

The volitions of an unwholesome or wholesome act may exercise one of these three functions for as long as a hundred thousand aeons or longer into the future.

Having now explained the principle of identity, we shall explain how one kamma may function as what is called identical interceptive kamma(ekalt11·naya­·upaghalaka·kamma).

IDENTICAL INTERCEPTIVE KAMMA

THE THREE BHIKKHUS

Strong and powerful wholesome interceptive kamma may not only intercept the result of weaker unwholesome kamma, but it may also intercept the result of weaker wholesome kamma. A good example of this is Oeva Gopaka and the three bhikkhus.⁵⁹⁴

Oeva Gopaka was son of Sakka, the king of devas. Deva Gopaka had in his former life been a Sakyan princess called Gopika, who had faith in The Buddha, Ohamma, and Sangha. She observed the five precepts at all times, and every day three bhikkhus came to her house for alms, and they taught her Ohamma. The result was that, based on her morality, and her knowledge of the Ohamma, she was able to practise samatha and vipassana so successfully that she became a Stream Enterer(Sot·Aj1anna). And being disgusted with her life as a woman, she accomplished many wholesome kammas, with the aspiration to be reborn as a male. At death, she was reborn in the Tavatirflsa deva world as the son of King Sakka: her name was now Deva Gopaka.

The three bhikkhus she had fed as Princess Gopika had also been virtuous: they had practised the bhikkhu’s morality. Based on their morality, they also practised samatha and vipassana successfully, except they did not attain a Noble state. But their morality, concentration, and wisdom were strong and powerful decisive supporting causes(upanissaya’paccaya) for the attainment of a Noble state.^S9S Their morality was so pure that they were sure to be reborn in whatever

many books on the Dhamma. This explanation is from his PaD.

S94 They are mentioned also at ‘Bhikkhus Reborn as Heavenly Musicians’, p.l89. The in­formation here is taken from D.ii.8 ‘Sakka·PaffM·SUttam’ (‘The Sakka’s-Questions Sutta’), and its commentary.

S9S decisive supporting cause: past mental or material things(dhamma) that playa decisive part in the subsequent arising of mental phenomena, which would not have arisen other­wise. Unholesome things can be a decisive supporting cause for either unwholesome or wholesome mental phenomena, and vice-versa: wholesome things may be a decisive sup­porting cause for either unwholesome or wholesome mental phenomena.

(!lktue ••• (utrtfut< rwd. pwp.)

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deva world they wanted. Furthermore, since they had attained the jhanas, they could also have been reborn in one of the Brahma worlds. But at death, they were not reborn in one of the Brahma worlds: they were reborn as gaOOhabba devas, musicians and dancers in the deva world. Why? Because they had been gaOOhabbadevas in many past lives, which meant they inclined towards that type of life. Gandhabba devas belong to the world of the Four Great Kings(G”tu­Naha·Rajika).

One day, the three gandhabbascame to the assembly hall to entertain the devas, and Deva Gopaka thought: ‘They are very shiny and beautiful. What was their past kamma?’ He saw they had been the three bhikkhus who had come daily to his house for alms-food. Examining further, he discovered also that their morality, concentration and wisdom had been very high. So he said: ‘When you listened to the Teachings, and practised the Dhamma, what were your eyes and ears directed at? You were bhikkhus who practised the threefold higher training under the guidance of The Buddha, yet now you have been reborn as gandhabba devas, inferior to Tavatirflsa devas. We think that is most unsatisfactory.’

On hearing these words of rebuke, which sounded as a warning to the three gaOOhabba devas, two of them remembered their past noble practices, and were ashamed. Immediately, they developed samatha, attained the first jhana, practis­ed insight meditation based on that jhana, became Non-ReturnerS(An·Agami), and died. They were reborn on the plane of Brahma’s Ministers(Biahma Purohita). But the third gaOOhabba deva was not ashamed: he remained a gandhabba deva.

How then to explain the workings of kamma for the two gaOOhabbadevas who became Non-Returners? In their previous life as bhikkhus, they had accomplished wholesome kamma that produced their rebirth in the deva world as male gaOO­habbas. But that kamma was then cut off, intercepted by the more powerful first-jhana kamma (a weighty kamma), with which they attained Non-Returner­ship. And the interceptive kamma gave its own result, which was rebirth on the plane of Brahma’s Ministers.

Thus, according to the principle of identity, their first-jhana wholesome kamma functioned as both a interceptive kamma and a productive kamma. More exactly, within the very short time that they were in the first jhana, they accomplished billions of first-jhana kammas (volition),596 and of those billions of kammas, one functioned as a interceptive kamma, another as a productive kamma: the re­maining billions of kammas became lapsed kamma.

(P.I.423 ‘Upanissaya’Paa:ayo'(‘Decisive-Supporting Cause’)) For example, practice of the three merit-work bases may be caused by faith (wholesome); by the wish for Nibbana (wholesome); by the wish to become a Buddha, a certain type of Arahant, a deva, a rich human being, a woman/man (unwholesome); by attachment (unwholesome), for exam­ple, parents may be attached to their ordained daughter/son, and go and visit them many times, practise, etc. (For two examples by Venerable Ananda, see endnote 291, p.3S3). Contrariwise, unwholesome things may arise when one practises the three merit-work bases: arguing about how to conduct an offering, comparing offerings, comparing medita­tion, etc. (for examples, see ‘The Variety of Temperament’, p.32). The term is very wide, and includes a good mend, faith, good health, honesty, energy, and knowledge leading to successful practice, and their opposites leading to failure (see ‘Good and Bad Friendship’, p.210, and footnote 972, p.369).

596 See further table ‘Sd: The Jhana-Attainment Process’, p.176.

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THE GHOST NANDAKA

Just as a wholesome interceptive kamma may intercept weaker wholesome pro­ductive kamma, so may an unwholesome interceptive kamma intercept weaker unwholesome productive kamma. The interceptive kamma may also produce its own result, and other identical unwholesome reinforcing kammas may prolong the result. A good example is the ghostiPel11) Nandaka.⁵⁹⁷

In his former human life, he was the general of a King Pirigala in Suratt;ha.

Nandaka held firmly what The Buddha calls the Great View(Maha·Di.tthi). According to the Great View, there is no root or cause for the purification of beings; every being’s time in samsara is fIXed, and one’s happiness and suffering is predeter­mined: just as a ball of string unwinds until there is no more string left, so does everyone’s time in sarhsara unwind until at a fixed time they are annihilated. Thus, the Great View is a fatalistic view with elements of both an eternity view and an annihilation view.²²⁴ Since the general held this view, he accomplished billions and billions of unwholesome kammas during his lifetime. How strongly he held this view at death, we do not know, but according to the Texts, he was re­born as a ghost. 598

His daughter Uttara, however, held Right View, for she was a Stream Enterer.

And after her father’s death, she offered alms-food to an Arahant who was on his almsround in the village, and she dedicated the merit of that kamma to her late father. When the offering had been accomplished, Nandaka was able to call out ‘Sadhu!'(‘1t is good!’). Although that wholesome kamma was too weak to inter­cept the unwholesome productive kamma that maintained the ghost’s unhappy life, it was powerful enough to function as productive kamma in the course of that life, to produce the pleasures of a vemanika (a being like a deva). But it lasted only six months, for then a more powerful wrong-view kamma (of the same identity as the unwholesome productive kamma that held him in the ghost world) functioned as unwholesome interceptive kamma, and made its own result arise, and now the ghost Nandaka was reborn in Avici Hell. Other wrong-view kammas then functioned as reinforcing kammas to make his existence in Avici Hell endure.

That concludes our explanation of interceptive kamma, which concludes our explanation of the twelve categories that The Buddha uses to explain the work­ings of kamma.

CoNCLUSION

Let us conclude by summarizing the twelve categories. First we discussed the workings of kamma according to the time of effect: when does the kamma take effect. We discussed four categories: 599

1) Presently-effective kamma(d~ttha·dhamma·vedaniya·kamma): it takes effect in the same individual existence(alt11·bhava).

2) Subsequently-effective kamma(upapajja·vedaniya·kamma): it takes effect in the

very next existence.

S97 Pv.iv.3 ‘Nandaka·Pel11· Vatthu’ (‘The Case of the Ghost Nandaka’)

S98 Holding a view that denies the workings of kamma is the weightiest of the six un­wholesome weighty kammas, which leads inevitably to rebirth in hell. For details, see ‘Unwholesome Weighty Kamma’, p.168.

S99 See ‘Time of Effect’, p.143.

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3) Indefinitely-effective kamma(apar·§pariya·vectanijla·kamma): it takes effect in some existence after the next one.

4) Lapsed kamma(ahosi’kamma): it fails to take effect. It is is presently- or sub­sequently-effective kamma that is defunct, kamma only by name. After one’s Parinibbana (final cessation), it includes also indefinitely-effective kammas, because after one’s Parinibbana, no kammas take effect anymore.

Then we discussed the workings of kamma according to the order of effect: which type of kamma takes effect first. Again, we discussed four categories:⁶⁰⁰

1) Weighty kamma(galVka·kamma): there are six unwholesome weighty kammas: i) killing one’s mother

ii) killing one’s father

iii) killing an Arahant

iv) with evil intent drawing a Buddha’s blood v) making a schism in the Sangha

vi) holding a persistent wrong view (denying the workings of kamma) These six weighty kammas are sure to lead to rebirth in hell in the subse­quent life. That is why they are also called unintervenable kamma. Then there are the eight wholesome weighty kammas: the four fine-material sphere jhanas and four immaterial sphere jhanas. If held up to the time of death, they are sure to lead to rebirth in the Brahma world.

2) Habitual kamma(§ck1na’kamma): that is unwholesome or wholesome kamma which is done habitually, frequently, and continuously. For example, habitu­ally a butcher kills beings, and habitually a thief steals, habitually a patron of the Sangha gives alms, and habitually a meditator practises samatha and vipassana meditation.

3) Near-death kamma(asanna’kamma): that is an unusual kamma that at the time of death is recollected very vividly. For example, the habitually virtuous per­son may vividly recollect an unusual unwholesome action, and a habitually unvirtuous person may vividly recollect an unusual wholesome action.

4) Accomplished kamma(kal11tt5’kamma): that is any other kamma that has been completed: any of the ten courses of unwholesome kamma (killing, theft, sexual misconduct, etc.), or the ten courses of wholesome kamma (to ab­stain from killing, to abstain from theft, to abstain from sexual misconduct, etc.).

Lastly, we discussed the workings of kamma according to the function of effect: how does the kamma function. And also here there are four categories:⁶⁰¹

1) Productive kamma(janaka kamma): it is unwholesome kamma that produces the mentality-materiality at the rebirth of an animal, ghost, or being in hell, and in the course of that being’s life, or wholesome kamma that produces the mentality-materiality at the rebirth of a human being or heavenly being, and in the course of that being’s life.

2) Reinforcing kamma(upattf7ambhaka kamma): it is unwholesome or wholesome kamma that reinforces a productive kamma. For example, the wholesome kamma that gave one rebirth as a human being may be reinforced so that the human being is healthy, and lives a trouble-free life. Likewise, the un-

600 See ‘Order of Effect’, p.168. 601 See ‘Function of Effect’, p.1B4.

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wholesome kamma that gave one rebirth as an animal may be reinforced so that the animal is unhealthy, and lives a troubled life.

3) Frustrating kamma(upa~l;1A<1 A<1mma): it is unwholesome or wholesome kamma that frustrates and obstructs the result of another kamma. For example, the wholesome kamma that gave one rebirth as a human being may be frus­trated so that the human being has many problems with health, property and wealth, or family and friends. Likewise, the unwholesome kamma that gave one rebirth as an animal may be frustrated so that the animal enjoys times of ease and happiness.

4) Interceptive kamma(upaghataka A<1mma). it is unwholesome or wholesome kamma that intercepts weaker kamma. For example, the wholesome kamma that gave one rebirth as a human being may be intercepted so that one dies before one has reached the end of one’s life span. If it is unwhole­some, one may be reborn as an animal, a ghost, or in hell; if it is whole­some, one may be reborn in the deva world or Brahma world.

That concludes our summary of the twelve categories by which The Buddha explains kamma. Next, we shall discuss the workings of achievement and failure.