Causality and Kamma/Karma in Buddhism - Essay Example

?Causality and Kamma/Karma in Buddhism I. Introduction In this work, we give an overview on Buddhism, focusing on the schools of thought, its notion of causality and the doctrine of the Karma and Kamma. From these, we identify the essentials of Buddhism even as we are aware that there are several aspects of Buddhism that are not covered by this short work. Buddhism is a major religion of the world (FSIIS 2007). It originated in India around the 6th century and spread in Asia through China, Korea and Japan. Today, Buddhism is in every part of the globe and one of the most well-known Buddhist masters is the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Siddharta Gautama or Shakyamuni of the Shakya clan of the Indian Himalayas was the founder of Buddhism (FSIIS 2007). Buddha’s personal name was Siddhattha (Nyanatiloka 1967). According to Gnanarama, however, his clan name was Gotama or Gautama in Sanskrit (2000). Gnanarama also said that he was the nephew of a king but his aunt, the wife of the king raised him up and, thus, enjoyed a royal life. The mountains of the Himalayas, from which Buddhism arose, serve as a boundary between India and China that possibly explain why Buddhism easily reached many parts of Asia, including China and Japan. The Indian origin of Buddhism explains why many of the key concepts or notions in Buddhism are in Sanskrit. The Buddha’s teachings were given before his death and are referred as the Dharma (FSIIS 2007). Buddhists believe that when a person dies, he or she is resurrected into a new form which can be human, animal or deity (FSIIS 2007). The endless cycle of rebirth is reflected in the wheel which is a key symbol of the Buddhist faith (FSIIS 2007). One of the most important Buddhist dharma are the “four noble truths” consisting of the following; life is full of suffering, suffering is caused by desires, sufferings can be ended and there is a path towards ending sufferings (FSIIS 2007). Nirvana is the central goal of Buddhist which signifies enlightenment and the beginning of happiness with the elimination of all greed (FSIIS 2007). The path towards Nirvana is eight-fold and consists of the following: right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration, right thoughts and right understanding (FSIIS 2007). II. Contemporary Schools of Thought in Buddhism There are several perspectives on how the contemporary schools of Buddhism are divided. In Danuse Murty’s 2007 exposition, there are two main Buddhist traditions: the Theravada and Mahayana traditions although a third tradition, the Vajrayana, is also well-known. The Vajrayana tradition is the “Tibetan offshoot of the Mahayana tradition” (Murty 2007, p. 8). Murty explained that the scriptures of the Theravada are written in the Pali language while the scriptures of the Mahayana tradition are written in Sanskrit. In Pali scriptures, the key notions are the Kamma, Dhamma and Nibbana while the key notions in Sanskrit are Karma, Dharma and Nirvana (Murty 2007). According to Stephen Laumakis in 2008, however, the two forms of contemporary Buddhism are “engaged Buddhism” and “mindfulness.” “Engaged Buddhism” blends meditative practices with compassionate action and its purpose “is for its practitioners to realize that wisdom and knowledge must eventually lead to enlightened action and service” (Laumakis 2008). In contrast, mindfulness Buddhism is oriented to “keeping one’s consciousness alive to the present reality” as well as “the process and activity of cultivating awareness and restoring the mind to its original undistracted state” (Laumakis 2008). The first form of Buddhism is associated with Vietnamese Thich Nhat Hanh while the second form is associated with Tibet’s Dalai Lama. Despite differences in forms or schools of thought in Buddhism, however, Buddhism key concern remains to be “ultimately about how one lives one’s life” (Laumakis 2008, p. 262). Further, the forms of Buddhism “are firmly committed to the view that beyond the realm of philosophical speculation and scientific study, beyond metaphysics and epistemology, Buddhism is about meditating and acting, knowing and doing, thinking and living” (Laumakis 2008, p. 262). For example, according to Laumakis, “despite the Dalai Lama’s interests in the scientific study of the mind and his ongoing work with the Mind & Life Institute, the primary focus of his teaching has been and continues to be concerned with how to put the Dharma into practice for the welfare of all beings. III. Causality in Buddhism For Kalupahana, causality is the central philosophy of Buddhism (1975). In other words, for Buddhism, causality is the basis of the phenomenal world (Santina 1984). The Buddhist notion of causality is anchored on the doctrine of “dependent arising (pratitya-samutpada) which states that all phenomena arise and cease dependent on other phenomena” (Kang 2009, p. 72). Gnanarama, however, called “dependent arising” as “dependent origination” (2000, p. 93). The same term “dependent origination” or “dependent arising” is also known as “interdependent origination” or “causal genesis” or “causality or theory of causes and effects” (Gnanarama 2000, p. 96). Under the notion of “dependent arising” or “dependent origination,” Buddhism holds that “reality is fundamentally conditioned, dynamic, non-isolated and dependently-related” (Kang 2009, p. 72). The principle is believed to apply to everything, including on the final substrate of existence (Kang 2009). Interdependence among things and phenomena created a universe that is self-regulating and evolving that “has no need for a transcendent ‘creator’” (Kang 2009, p. 73). More than this, Kang emphasized that causality in Buddhism implies benefits or harm for people, both personally and collectively. It is also important to emphasize that causality in Buddhism is neither determinist nor arbitrary (Kang 2009). A potential harm can be avoided. As Kang explained: when there is A, B exists; when A arises, B arises, when does not exist, B does not exist; and, finally, when A ceases, B also ceases. Rightly or wrongly, Kang interpreted the condition as one where “A is necessary but insufficient condition for B” (2009, p. 74). In other words, according to Kang, Buddhism is not strict determinism but conditional genesis or with X as the condition, y comes to be but y can cease to come when x ceases to be a condition. A Buddhist view on causality is that one associated with Mahayana Buddhism and the Middle Way School of India. Several Buddhist masters contributed to the development of Mahayana Buddhism and the contributors included prominent writers like Nagarjuna, Candrakirti, Bhavaviveka, Buddhapalita and Buddhist-yogiTsong Khapa of the 14th century (Kang 2009). Following the traditions established by earlier generations of Buddhist masters, Tsong Khapa held that causality arise based on parts that comprise it and, thus, “the whole makes no sense devoid of the parts and the parts make no sense apart from the whole” and that “all phenomena arise from multiple causes and conditions” (Kang 2009). In short, causality is a relationship of the big picture and that an effect can be the result of several factors and causality need not be seen in terms of one factor or one variable only. IV. Karma and Kamma in Buddhism The notion of the “principle of dependent” discussed earlier expressed itself in five orders of causality summed up as “laws”: physical laws (utu niyama), biological laws (bija niyama), ethical laws (karma niyama), psychological laws (citta niyama), and natural laws outside of the four laws (Kang 2009). The ethical law of the karma is often translated as the law or causal relations of cause and effect (Kang 2009). Karma “means ‘action’ or as the Buddha defines it, karma is “any intentional or volitional (cetana) action of mind, speech and body” (Kang 2009, p. 73). Karma, however, is not fate or predestination (Santina 1984). In the Buddhist doctrine, the law of karma means that “any volitional action rooted in non-greed, non-hatred and non-delusion (or in positive terms: generosity, love/compassion, and wisdom) gives rise to virtuous or positive imprints in the mind that would subsequently result in experiences of happiness and pleasure whereas any volitional action rooted in greed, hatred or delusion gives rise to their opposite non-virtuous /negative mental imprints that later result in experiences of suffering and displeasure” (Kang 2009, p. 73). It follows that “a behavioural guideline that emerges from such a view of ethical causality is that one ought to engage mindfully in positive karma rooted in positive volitions and abandon mindfully negative karma rooted in negative volitions” (Kang 2009, p. 73). Kang elaborated that the practice would reduce or prevent harm and bring rewards for both the actor and others around him or her. In the Buddhist faith, good karma can result into rebirth into a higher form while bad karma would result into rebirth into a lower form of life. The notion of Kamma is almost synonymous but not equivalent with Karma. The word kamma is used when karma pertains to a person’s situation based on his or her earlier lives. In a 1947 article, Mahatera explained that one’s actions in previous life brought forth good or the bad kamma that one experience. Some people are good in business while others are not because they have done good or bad things in previous life. According to Mahatera, “just as, for example, from a rotten mango seed a healthy mango tree with healthy and sweet fruits never will come, just so the evil volitional actions, or evil kamma, produced in former births, are the seeds, or root-causes, of an evil destiny in a later birth” (1947 [1998], p. 12). For Buddhism, “the true cause of the birth of a being, together with its character and destiny, goes back to the kamma-volitions produced in former birth” (Mahatera 1947 [1998], p. 12). Meanwhile, according to Mahatera, there are three factors for a rebirth in a person: the male sperm, the female ovum, and the karma-energy or the kamma-vega. According to Mahatera, the kamma-energy is “sent forth by a dying individual at the moment of his death” (1947[1998], p. 13). Although the father and the mother provide the basic physical material for physical characteristics of the child, “the dying individual, with his whole being convulsively clinging to life, at the very moment of his death sends forth kammic energies which, like flash of lightning, hit at a new mother’s womb ready for conception” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 13). The Kamma or Kammic energies attract bad or good destinies on the person’s life from birth. According to Mahatera, the transformation of the body or the transformation of the soul was also taught by various individuals like Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Plotinus, Pindaros, Vergil, also by some African tribes “ and that “many thinkers also teach a continuation of the life-process after death” (1947[1998], p. 14). According to Mahatera, the Blessed One, presumably the Buddha pointed out, “Beings are owners of their kamma, heirs of their kamma; kamma is the womb from which they have sprung, kamma is their friend and refuge” (1947[1998], p. 19). The Blessed One had said that “thus kamma divides beings into the high and low” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 19). One Buddhist scripture, the Anggutra Nikaya, made clear that “killing, stealing, adultery, lying, backbiting, harsh speech and empty prattling, practiced, cultivated and frequently engaged in, will lead to hell, the animal world or the realm of ghosts” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 20). It is also written in the Buddhist scripture Anggutra Nikaya that: “whoso kills and is cruel, will either go to hell, or if reborn as human, will be short-lived. Whoso tortures other beings, will be afflicted with disease. The hater will be hideous, the envious will be without influence, the stubborn will be of low rank, the indolent will be ignorant” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 20). Mahatera elaborated that in the reverse case, “a person will be reborn in a heavenly world; or, if reborn as a human being, will be endowed with health, beauty, influence, riches, noble rank and intelligence” (1947[1998], p. 20). A person who gets angry easily will get for himself or herself an ugly body or the characteristic mark of anger that disfigures his or her face (Mahatera 1947[1998]). According to Mahatera, although the word “kamma” comes from the root word “kar” which means to do, to make, to act, and thus means “deed” or “action,” as a Buddhist technical term, “kamma” is “a name for wholesome and unwholesome volition or will” (20). Mahatera elaborated that “through volition one does the kamma by means of body, speech or mind” (1947[1998], p. 20). Mahatera clarified “kamma” to mean “volition action, nothing more, nothing less” (1997[1998], p. 20). Elaborating on the subject, Mahatera (1947[1998]) made three clarifications. First, kamma is the wholesome and unwholesome volitional action while kamma-vipaka is the result. Second, Buddhism is not fatalism because it is possible to get out from an unpleasant situation. Finally or third, kamma is the cause or seed from which consequences could result to the individual in the current life or in the life hereafter. If a whole nation is suffering, according to Mahatera (1947[1998]) it follows that the whole nation may have done something evil in the past. Yet, at the same time, man has the power to shape his destiny through positive thoughts and action (Mahatera 1947[1998]). For instance, “if day by day we are practicing kindness towards all living beings, human as well as animals, we will grow in goodness, while hatred, and all evil actions done through hatred, as well as all the evil and agonizing mental states produced thereby, will not so easily rise again in us; and our nature and character will become firm, happy, peaceful and calm” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 21). Further, “if we practice unselfishness and liberality, greed and avarice will become less” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 21). According to Mahatera, there are Arahants or holy ones who are free from greed, hate and ignorance which is “accomplished through the penetrating insight, or vipassana, into the impermanency, unsatisfactoriness and egolessness of this whole life-process, and through the detachment from all forms of existence resulting therefrom” (1997[1998], p. 22). For them, “as soon as greed, hate and ignorance have become fully and forever extinguished, and thereby the will for life, convulsively clinging to existence, and the thirsting for life have come to an end, then there be no more rebirth, and there will have been realized the goal shown by the Enlightened One, namely: extinction of all rebirth and suffering” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 22). Thus, the Arahant or the holy one performs no more kamma or no more wholesome or unwholesome volitional actions and he or she is “freed from this life-affirming will expressed in bodily actions, words or thoughts, freed from this seed, or cause, of all existence and life” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 21). Mahatera (1947[1998], p. 22) emphasized that “it is merely the last kammical volition just before death, the so-called death-proximate kamma, that decides the immediately following rebirth.” Thus, in Buddhist countries, “it is therefore the custom to recall to the dying man’s memory the good actions performed by him, in order to rouse in him a happy and pure kammical state of mind, as a preparation for a favourable rebirth” (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 22). In addition, relatives offer beautiful things like the fragrance of the flowers, sweets precious clothes to the Buddha so the departed relatives can feel good knowing that nice things were offered to the Buddha for his benefit, all in the objective of producing a kammical state of mind as a preparation for a favourable rebirth (Mahatera 1947[1998], p. 22). It is also noteworthy to point that Buddha himself became “the enlightened” after a period of meditation, clearly implying that enlightenment and nirvana can be achieved after meditation and abandoning human desires. Gnanarama (2009) reported that the Buddha’s enlightenment was the result of meditation, renunciation of desires, and self-mortification. Only after full enlightenment did Gautama became the “Buddha” (Gnanarama 2009). V. Concluding Statements Based on the foregoing, it is easy to see Kalupahana was correct in identifying causality as a central theme of Buddhist philosophy and how that centrality was extended into the Buddhist notion of the Karma and Kamma. For the Buddhist mind, suffering can end by good and kind thoughts and action. A life of individual and collective suffering can end by living and acting kindly across time and there is shortcut to all through deep thoughts or meditation. The reward for thinking and acting gently and kindly is a life that is also gentle and kind as we reap what we sow. Buddhism is not about an opposite reaction for every action but a response consistent with our earlier thought and action. Work Cited FSIIS (Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies), 2007. Introduction to Buddhism. Spice Digest. Stanford University: Spice Stanford. Gnanarama, P., 2000. Essentials of Buddhism. Singapore: Buddha Dharma Educationa. Association, Inc. Kalupahana, D., 1975. Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. Kang, C., 2009. Buddhist and Tantric Perspectives on Causality and Society. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 16, 69-100. Laumakis, S., 2008. An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press. Mahatera, N., 1947 (1998). Kamma and Rebirth. In The Buddha and His Teachings, pp. 12-24. Taipei: The Corporate Body of Buddha Educational Foundation. Murty, D., 2007. Introduction to Buddhism. Sydney: Buddhist Council of NSW. Nyanatiloka, 1967. The Word of Buddha. 14th ed. Ceylon: Buddhist Publication Society. Santina, P. D., 1984. Fundamentals of Buddhism. Singapore: Buddha Dharma Education Association. Santina, P.D., 2004. Casuality and Emptiness: The Wisdom of Nagarjuna. Singapore: Buddha Dharma Education Association, Inc. Read More