Habitual Kamma (Acinna-kamma)
1. The Meaning of Habitual Kamma
Habitual Kamma means unwholesome or wholesome deeds which are performed on a regular basis or often. They include physical, verbal, and mental deeds.
2. Characteristics of Habitual Kamma
Once Strong-Effect-Producing Kamma and Death-Proximate Kamma have given their consequences, then it is Habitual Kamma's turn to give its consequences. Whether wholesome or unwholesome Habitual Kamma will give the consequences first depends on its strength. Wholesome and unwholesome Habitual Kamma are like two wrestlers who try to beat each other. Habitual Kamma with more strength will send its consequences before Habitual Kamma with less strength.
Good, wholesome deeds such as making an offering of food to Buddhist monks every morning or observing the Precepts everyday, etc., are wholesome Habitual Kamma which is very powerful and causes one to meet with increasing happiness and success. Bad, unwholesome deeds such as fishing on a regular basis, stealing often, butchering pigs and cattle for a living, etc., are unwholesome Habitual Kamma which is very powerful and causes one to meet with great suffering and trouble.
There are two types of Habitual Kamma: Unwholesome Habitual Kamma and wholesome Habitual Kamma.
3. Unwholesome Habitual Kamma
Unwholesome Habitual Kamma means unwholesome deeds which are performed on a regularly basis or often. It causes one to be reborn in the States of Loss and Woe and to suffer there for a long, long time.
A Case Study as Recorded in the Tripitaka
A Pig Butcher
During the time of our Lord Buddha, there was a man by the name of 'Cunda.' He butchered pigs for a living and had killed a large number of pigs in his life. The more pork he sold, the more pigs he had to butcher. In the years where the harvest was not good and food was expensive, he would buy up all the grains and used the grains to barter for piglets from farmers. He would give the farmers one to two measures of half a coconut shell for a piglet.
After he filled his wagon with piglets, he would bring them home and raise them until they were ready to be butchered. In the butchering process, 'Cunda' would first tie the pig to a stake. He would then use a big rectangular-shaped hammer to beat the pig's body to increase the volume of its flesh. He then forced the pig's mouth open with a piece of wood and poured hot boiling water into it so that the hot water would flush out all that remained in its digestive tract. He would do this until only clear liquid came out through the pig's anus. Next he poured hot water all over the pig to remove its hair before using a sword to cut off the pig's head. He used a container to collect the blood.
'Cunda' had killed pigs for a living for a total of 55 years and had never once made merit in spite of the fact that his house was not far from the temple where the Lord Buddha was staying. On his deathbed, he fell ill and the flames of the hell realm of Aveci appeared to him. He experienced tremendous suffering and could not remain still on the bed. He crawled around the room and squealed loudly like a pig which was being butchered. His wife and children and his neighbors felt sorry for him and helped him back to the bed. He pushed them away and resumed his crawling and squealing.
He suffered in that manner for seven days before he died. He was reborn a hell creature with a huge body in the hell realm of Aveci. He was burned by hellfire continuously. He received horrific suffering as a result of his unwholesome Habitual Kamma of slaughtering pigs.
4. Wholesome Habitual Kamma
Wholesome Habitual Kamma means wholesome deeds which are performed on a regular basis orื often. It causes one to be reborn in the States of Happiness.
A Case Study as Recorded in the Tripitaka
A Lady Celestial Being Who Was Once a Female Slave
Once when our Lord Buddha was staying at the Jetavana Temple in the city of Savatthi of the kingdom of Kosala, a male lay devotee went to the temple along with his lay devotee friends in the evening to listen to the Dhamma lecture from the Lord Buddha. After the lecture, everyone left the temple to go home except for this lay devotee. He approached the Lord Buddha, paid Him a deep homage and said that he wished to make a food offering to four Buddhist monks on a regular basis. The Lord Buddha told him to see the monk who was in charge of making such arrangements.
Once everything had been arranged, he returned to his house and told a female slave to prepare food for the four Buddhist monks everyday. This female slave was a devout Buddhist and felt very happy to be given the job. Every morning, she would rise before dawn to prepare food and scented cushions for the monks. When they arrived, with deep respect she would invite the monks to be seated on the cushions.
She paid them homage and made an offering of candles, incense sticks, and flowers before making the offering of food in a respectful manner.
One day after the monks finished eating, she respectfully asked them a question. "What must a person do in order to meet with ease and happiness in the hereafter?" She asked the question because she did not want to be reborn a female slave in her future existence. The monks answered, "If you desire happiness and ease in your future existence, you must take the Triple Gem to be your refuge and observe the Precepts." They led her to request the Triple Gem to be her refuge and to request the Precepts. In addition, they told her about the fruits of these wholesome deeds. From that day onward, the female slave took the Triple Gem to be her refuge and observed the Precepts meticulously for the restof her life. Sixteen years later, she died and was reborn a beautiful lady celestial being in the Celestial Realm.
Her wholesome Habitual Kamma of taking the Triple Gem to be her refuge and observing the Precepts caused her to be reborn in the Celestial Realm.
