The Law of Kamma and the Round of Rebirth
As long as one still possesses defilements, one will continue to perform both good and bad deeds and receive their consequences. An individual's Kamma and its consequences follow him like a shadow and it is only a matter of time before the consequences show up. Our deeds good or bad are what cause the round of rebirth to be perpetuated. Every single one of us has been reborn for countless times and has been everything imaginable from a king to a shrimp, a snail, a crab, and a fish. As long as defilements are still inherent within us, we will continue to perform Kamma and receive its consequences by being reborn in different life circumstances such as being reborn in a family of nobility, being reborn in a poor family, being reborn in the Celestial Realm, being reborn in the Hell Realm, etc. Our rebirth is determined by our overall Kamma and its consequences. The uniqueness of each individual's overall Kamma causes each individual to be uniquely different in every possible way. Our particular circumstances in life are not dictated by any powerful being. An individual's health problem, financial problem or the vicissitudes of life do not happen for the purpose of testing his faith. It has been long debated as to the source of differences and diversity among human beings. Answers are quick to surface and different solutions have been tried to solve the problem but to no avail because the solutions do not address the root cause of the problem. A wealthy person in this lifetime will not necessarily be wealthy in future lifetimes especially if he is reckless and careless in the way he lives his life in this lifetime. In the same manner, a poor person in this lifetime will not necessarily be poor in future lifetimes especially if he is careful in the way he lives his life by accumulating good deeds.
What does it mean by not being reckless or careless? The root cause of recklessness or carelessness is our defilements which include greed, anger, and ignorance (Avijja). Avijja or ignorance destroys our ability, effectiveness, and quality. Greed causes us to be stingy. Stinginess in turn causes poverty or the depletion of material wealth. Anger causes ill-will. Ill-will causes the depletion of corporeal wealth because ill-will undermines and destroys one's good looks and complexion. Ignorance causes us to be misguided and to have Wrong View. Wrong View destroys one's mindfulness and discernment. These are the root causes and effects. After our Lord Buddha attained Enlightenment, He discovered how defilements influence all living beings to live life recklessly, to live life without the benefit of mindfulness and discernment. Since the Lord Buddha saw that we are under the influence of greed, anger, and ignorance, He taught us to counteract greed with generosity. Alms-giving is the true source of material wealth. He taught us to counteract anger with loving-kindness and the Precepts. Keeping the Precepts is the true source of corporeal wealth. He taught us to counteract ignorance with meditation practice. Meditation attainments are the true source of one's attributes. Most importantly, meditation attainments lead us to enlightenment. The Dhamma which consists of 84,000 Scriptures can be summarized as alms-giving, Precepts, meditation practice, and insight. These practices form the components of the Noble Eightfold Path or the Middle Path which includes Precepts, concentration, and insight. Yet, the entire body of the Scriptures can be summarized into one thing and that is: not being reckless. The Lord Buddha compared this summary to the footprints of all animals which can be contained within the footprint of an elephant. When an individual is born replete with material wealth, corporeal wealth, and attributes, it will make it much easier for him to continue accumulating merit and cultivating Perfections in this lifetime. When a person lacks material wealth, he may have to spend his entire life working and still may not be able to accumulate any real wealth. When a person is born physically handicapped or mentally retarded, it will be difficult for him to accumulate good deeds because he needs practically all of his efforts just to care for himself. Some people know suffering and are resigned to it. Some people know creature comforts, but can penetrate suffering as in the case of our Lord Buddha. He was surrounded by every material thing desirable, yet he could discern its impermanence and potential harm. Some people may have heard about alms-giving, keeping the Precepts, and practicing meditation, yet they cannot be bothered to practice any of these virtues. They see the path right in front of them, but choose to walk another path which they imagine to be better. We need to have Yoniso-mana-sikara or analytical reflection so that we can live our lives without recklessness. Living just one day with recklessness is better than living recklessly for 100 years.
