About this section:
We come to the Dharma with many questions, and as we learn, more questions arise. This section, which is updated in the first week of every month, contains some frequently asked questions. Let's remember that holding the question in our minds and continuing to explore it is more important than receiving an answer from an external source. It's the process of working with our questions that makes us grow. As soon as we feel we've found all the answers, our spiritual practice dries up.

KARMA:
The Functioning Of Cause And Effect
- Part 1 of 4

What is karma? How does it work?

Karma means action, and refers to intentional physical, verbal, or mental actions. These actions leave imprints or seeds upon our mindstreams, and the imprints ripen into our experiences when the appropriate conditions come together. For example, with a kind heart we help someone. This action leaves an imprint on our mindstream, and when conditions are suitable, this imprint will ripen as our receiving help when we need it. If an action brings about pain and misery in the long term, it is called negative, destructive, or nonvirtuous. If it brings about happiness, it is called positive, constructive, or virtuous. Actions aren't inherently good or bad, but are only designated so according to the results they bring.

All results come from causes that have the ability to create them. If we plant apple seeds, an apple tree will grow, not chili. If chili seeds are planted, chili will grow, not apples. In the same way if we act constructively, happiness will ensue; if we act destructively, problems will result. Whatever happiness and fortune we experience in our lives comes from our own positive actions, while our problems result from our own destructive actions.

The seeds of our actions continue with us from one lifetime to the next and do not get lost. However, if we don't create the cause or karma for something, then we won't experience that result: if a farmer doesn't plant seeds, nothing will grow.

Is the law of actions and their effects a system of punishment and reward? Did the Buddha create or invent it?

Definitely not. According to Buddhism, there is no one in charge of the universe who distributes rewards and punishments. We create the causes by our actions, and we experience their results. We are responsible for our own experience. The Buddha didn't create the system of actions and their effects, in the same way that Newton didn't invent gravity. Newton simply described what exists. Likewise, the Buddha described what he saw with his omniscient mind to be the natural process of cause and effect occurring within the mindstream of each being. By doing this, he showed us how best to work within the functioning of cause and effect in order to experience happiness and avoid pain.

The misconception that happiness and pain are rewards and punishments may come from incorrect translations of Buddhist scriptures into English. I have seen some translations that use terminology from other religions. This is very misleading because terms such as heaven, hell, sin, punishment, and judgment do not correspond to Buddhist concepts. Appropriate English words that convey the meaning of the Buddha's teachings must be used.

Does the law of actions and their effects apply only to people who believe in it?

No. Cause and effect functions whether we believe in it or not. Positive actions produce happiness and destructive ones result in pain whether we believe they will or not. If a fruit drops from a tree, it falls down even if we believe it will go up. It would be wonderful if all we needed to do to avoid the results of our actions was to believe they wouldn't come! Then, for example, we could eat all we want and never get fat! People who don't believe in past lives and cause and effect still experience happiness as a result of their actions in past lives. But by denying the existence of cause and effect, and consequently not attempting to practice constructive actions and avoid destructive ones, they may create few positive potentials and recklessly create many negative ones. On the other hand, people who know about cause and effect will try to be mindful of what they think, say, and do to avoid hurting others and to avoid leaving harmful imprints on their own mindstreams.

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The FAQs in this section are extracted from Ven Thubten Chodron's Buddhism for Beginners, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca NY.

For audio teachings on karma, click here.