WHAT IS KARMA? VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

Karma  is a popular and extremely important concept in Buddhism. 

«Have brought  karma  into the body,

Don't blame it either.

Friendly apartments in our hearts,

The new mind is equal to the three words  ».

Thus, everyone talks about  karma , everyone blames the karmafor   what happens in life, for people and for themselves. But do we finally understand the meaning of  karma  or not? What did Sakyamuni Buddha say about  karma ? He went through  now  was, had put  now  in place in his teachings? And in fact, how to apply understanding of karma ?

We will try to answer those questions, about a more complicated problem than imagined at the beginning.

The concept of  karma  precedes Buddhism

First, we must emphasize that the concept of  career  was rooted in the soul of India long before Buddhism appears, as was stated in the Beijing  Vedas  ( Veda ) and  Upanishads  ( Upanishad ) around 1600-500 BC.

Familiar concepts like  reincarnation  -  rebirth  ( samsara ), liberation  ( moksa ), delusion ( maya ), dhamma ( dhamma ) and ignorance ( avijja ) are all present in philosophical and religious terms. at the time.

Buddhist and Indian researchers all recognize that  reincarnation -  rebirth  and  karma  (which are intertwined concepts) are not peculiarities of Buddhism, but general concepts of most religion in India ( Brahmanism [ancient],  Hinduism  [today],  Thi Na  religion, Buddhism,  Sikhism ) and their theoretical basis.

Shakyamuni Buddha received them only in his teachings and at the same time brought some changes, especially in the concept of karma .

Karma  is derived from  kr , which means «to do, act». The Sanskrit word is  karma , while Pali is  kamma , Chinese is  業 yè , Han-Vietnamese is  karma .

In Vedic Sutra  , are India's oldest religious and literary documents,   predominantly karma , due to the so-called  rita  (cosmic order) leading to the benefit of gods. . In the  Austrian Letter  (later later),  karma  is more transcendantal. The main  business  will determine the status of each of the lives that follow. «How to act like that, then life will be like that».

For  Thi Na  Giao (Dao  Jaïn ), which is an unorthodox teaching (yerodoxe), not recognizing Vedic Sutra   as  Brahmanism  ,  karma plays a very important role. It is a kind of subtle physicality, created by passionate actions, clinging to the individual soul and piling up gradually. From this life through another life,  kamma  itself brings joy and suffering. In order to free the soul from the body, to escape to the height of the universe, where it will exist forever, the disciple  Thi Namust dissipate  her karma  , by living asceticism and obedience. strictly forbidden circles, including not killing (ahimsa ) any form of life.

Thus the concept of  karma  was very popular at the time, and was retained by the Buddha, when he asserted: «The sentient beings are masters of their  karma  , who inherit their  karma  ; karma  is the uterus where I was born, my friend, my refuge. Whether creating  now  good or bad, people will inherit it ».

However, the Buddha reinterpreted  karma , by bringing some significant changes, so that one can talk about some of the characteristics of  karma  in Buddhism.

Three characteristics of  karma  in Buddhism

 Such karma means  action , but in the spirit of Buddhism, it is not any action:

1- Firstly, it is a deliberate act  , that is to have an intention to act, an intention. This important point was emphasized by the Buddha itself: «The monks! The main  idea  ( cetana ) is what we call  karma  (cetanaham bhikkhave kammam vadami ). Because of  the intention , people act with body, speech, mind ... » 

The intention  ( cetana , volition) belongs to the executive group  ( samkhara , formations mentales), one of the five  aggregates  (khanda upadana  ) temporarily reunites into an individual and always changes. This group consists of 52  acts , including will, attention, concentration, energy, desire, trust, anger, arrogance, delusion, etc. Intention  has the function of controlling consciousness ( citta , mental) in good, bad or unscrupulous actions, and thus synonymous with  karma, with the will to live, the continuation of being, becoming.

 Thus, an action unintentionally, unintentionally is not  karma .That is the fundamental difference to the  Brahmanical  religion, Indian teachers and  Thi Na  spear. For a good  Hindu  , according to Thị Na  Giáo, an action, though unknowingly, also creates karma. If he accidentally killed an animal, he created a bad karma. But for a Buddhist, that action does not create karma, because there is no intention of killing. It all depends on where the center, as well as the head of Beijing  Dhammapada  ( Dhammapada ): «Tam led the legal, master mind, heart artifacts ( mano pubbangama manosettha manomaya dhamma )».

2- Second, in contrast to a common perception in the masses, karma is  not the result  of  karma . Do not understand  karma  in a negative sense, as a result of an action that one must endure. In countries according to Mahayana, due to the influence of Han-based words such as  karma, retribution, karma , people often confuse  karma with  fruit .For example, people often say: «It is my  karma  . I have to repay my previous mistakes. This is completely wrong, because  karma it is action rather than its result, moreover in the spirit of Buddhism, the result of an action is never a punishment by any power: God, god or supernatural power , influence from the outside.

According monks  Nyanatiloka , «Believe Buddhists all is the result of past actions is something totally wrong ... N herbal extraction system  in Buddhism does not mean the result of the action, and certainly not the fate of man, or of a people ... ».

3- Third, it is a good act (good),  kusala , or vice versa bad (or evil),  akusala . «Good» or «bad» does not rely on moral standards or laws, but psychology, suffering ( dukkha ) can cause. A "good" action (kusala ) is an act of liberation from suffering, an "evil" ( akusala ) action is an act that leads to suffering. On the other hand, a bad act is not bad, called a no-one, not a  karma , not a  karma .

Thus, we should not forget that three major characteristics of industrial  Buddhists:  actions taken by  intention , leads to results «good» or «bad»,  and  not the result of the action .

Can say that  now  Buddhists including psychological aspects and ethics, while  now  under  Brahmin  -  Indian  religious nature and metaphysical rites.

The mechanism of  karma  : law of cause and effect

Karma  is governed by the universal law of «cause and effect», or law «from cause to effect». Under this law, each cause leads to a special result. In Buddhist origin, one symbolizes it with the image of a "ripe fruit in this life, in the next life, or in later lives".

In Mahayana Buddhism, people often use the image of «kernel (seed)» and «fruit (fruit)» to illustrate, because the same Chinese word has both the meaning «seed» and « cause »,« fruit »and« result ».

Thus, an orange seed rose into an orange tree, sprouting fruit into orange seeds, and so on. It cannot be brought to a mango tree, can only grow from a mango seed. Scientifically speaking, today it is said that it is the gene transfer by DNA specific to each species. The law of "cause and effect" is also present in the world of minerals and all physical phenomena, up to the molecular level.

We should note that this symbol is not in Buddhism originated in India: people use the word  hetu  (= root) to specify the cause, origin, while the word  phala  (= fruit) is often used to designate the state of consciousness attained by vipassana meditation  . Hetu is  synonymous with  mula , is the root, the root cause. It is 3  mula , (Han-Vietnamese called «  tam độc  »), which are 3 roots that cause suffering:  tham (lobha) ,  yard  (dosa)  and  si (moha) . All three roots must be removed before it can be freed from suffering. On the contrary, there are also good roots in each person, called  kusalamula, that is,  good-heartedness , as well as in the verse of «Compassion in the heart» of the story  Kiều .

The result of  kamma  is called  vipaka. But this word is only used for unconscious psychological phenomena (such as the feeling of the body, or sensory perception, etc.), resulting from an intentional "good" or "bad" action. Karma  may not cause results (called  ahosi-kamma ), in the absence of conditions that cause it, or when it is too weak before an  industry  has the opposite effect.

One difference is that in the Mahayana, next to the  business individuals ( particularly now ), can have a  career  general  of an association ( karma ), is something completely alien to Buddhism originated . In Buddhism the origin and the Theravada Buddhism, karma  has a completely personal nature, because each person must suffer from the results of   his or her own karma , not others'.

Conditions or «causes and conditions»

Actually, Buddha received concept  now  in his teaching, but has changed somewhat its mechanism, by replacing  the law of causality by  reason  of dependent origination .

Li  origination  ( Paticca-samuppada ) and  non-self  ( anatta ) are two principles stand in the center of Buddhist teaching, essential that the Buddha himself has declared: «Who saw  origination  saw be the Dharma. Those who see the Dharma can see the  origination . »(Central Vietnam, Majjhima-nikaya 28 ).

Duyen  ( paccaya ) is what makes an object (or phenomenon) subject to conditions ( samuppanna , conditionne, also known as compounded ) depends on an object causes the condition ( samuppada , conditionnant), and can not now It is possible if there is no such thing. In Mahayana Buddhism,  predestination  is seen as an auxiliary condition for  human beings to  become  fruits  (such as through soil, water, sunshine, etc., so   new seeds grow into trees and produce  fruits ).However, such a concept of  predestination  has been far removed from the Buddhist teachings of origin.

For Buddha, righteousness  and dependent origination  are the source of all physical and psychological phenomena, because all are relative, interrelated, interconnected through graceful strings. The causal principle, relative, the correlation between such things can be summarized in a simple sentence:

«When this is available, the other one has. This appears, the other appears. When this is not available, the other is not available. This stops, the other stops. »( Central Vietnam, Majjhima-nikaya   III; Samyutta-nikaya, Samyutta-Nikaya II).

Existence, and life, can be explained in detail by the cycle  of predestined relationships  ( paticca-samuppada ), consisting of 12 elements, each of which is subject to conditions, conditions, and forms one The circle goes from ignorance ( avijja ) to old and death ( jara-marana ).

Karma, between cause and effect and dependent origination

From that perspective,  karma  is somewhat different: instead of being transformed from one «nucleus-particle» entity to another "fruit-left" entity, it is actually just a change from one form after another, under the influence of predestined factors.

«Causes» and «results», as well as seeds and fruits, eggs and chickens, are actually the same entity, at different stages of development, not two entities, this gives birth to that.

At first glance, the law of "cause and effect" and  karma  are necessary to explain  reincarnation , and to be the basis for the basic teachings of Buddhism, ie the four  Noble Truths  ( cattari  ariya-saccani ). The dukkha ( dukkha ) is the result of the appearance (samudaya ), the cause of suffering, and the cessation of suffering (nirodha ) as a result of the path leading to the cessation of suffering, the main path of eight paths ( atthangika-magga ).

Without  karma , one cannot understand it well and cannot follow the path outlined by Buddha. «The purpose of practice ( bhavana ) is not to find something far away, at some angle on the horizon, but to convert your  karma  from bad to good, that is, to transform the  mind , and especially  his intentions  .

In Mahayana Buddhism, people often hear the sentence: «Bodhisattva is afraid of  human beings, they are afraid of  fruits  ».This verse means that most people are only afraid of bad things happening to themselves (ie  fruits ), so pray to God to pray for Buddha to not get sick, accident, misfortune, but not seek to avoid causing so bad karma (ie  humanity ). On the contrary, Bodhisattva, who is already enlightened, sees clearly that the cause of   bad fruit is  his  bad karma , so he is afraid of  humanity  and not afraid of  fruits  and seeking to avoid causing   bad karma . Thus, the first thing of a Buddhist practitioner is to be aware of the importance of  karma, that is, the cause  leads naturally to the  result .

However, if we base on the main teaching of the Buddha, dependent origination  and  non-self , there must be some changes compared to the ancient concept of  karma .

The cause, the origin of  suffering  lies in itself, not outside of it.In the ancient Pali Sutra, it is said: «All that is of a nature appears, also has an end to nature». So the Buddha woke up: «Who sees  suffering , sees the reason of  suffering . And also see the cessation of  suffering and the path leading to it ».

If allowed to compare, I would argue that  interdependent origination  includes the law of  cause and effect , which is no different from physics in the laws of interactions between molecules including the law of universal gravitation. Indeed, while the law of  cause and effect and the law of gravitation seem linear (going in a straight line), with two variables (cause-effect, mass-distance), then the  causal relationship and the law of interaction between the The element seems multidimensional, multi-variable, and thus explains the complexity of the world more clearly.

Karma , between relative truth and absolute truth

And because there is no self as an entity, so in the  Pure Path  (Visuddhi-Magga ) of  Buddha Yin ( Buddhaghosa ) has the sentence:

(XVI). «There is suffering, but there is no suffering

Take action, but don't act

There is death, but no one kills

There is a road, but no people go. »

(XIX). «No people create karma,

There are no fruit pickers.

Only a fluent phenomenon,

Can't look right.       

And while karma and results

Turn around according to conditions,

Like seeds and trees that follow each other,

Nothing is original. »

Thus, the ultimate meaning, 4  Truths  are seen as blank  no , no entity, because no suffering, no self causes suffering, no evidence of the cessation of suffering, no on the way to eliminate suffering.

That is the explanation of  Long Shu  ( Nagarjuna ), a great Indian sage, leading the Middle School  ( Madhyamaka ), by distinguishing the two truths taught by the Buddha: the real life, the future. contradiction, convention,  samvriti-satya  ( customary ), and profound truth, absolute, ultimate,  paramartha-satya  ( base ).

According monks  Nyanatiloka , «Understanding true and correct under the ultimate meaning, the word  now  to Buddhism, can only be felt by those who understand the profound doctrine  of selflessness  and dependent origination  of all phenomena ».

In fact, what does karma knowledge   bring to us?

All is just theory, you will say, but how to apply understanding of karma ?

In daily life, between human society, the operation of the world is still due to the   conventional karma , because of the  self-  conventions and the results of action. The Buddha always reminds us to take full responsibility for our thoughts, words, and actions. As he rose in the Dhammapada ,  Dhammapada (1-2) :

«If it is polluted,

Speak up or act,

Suffering comes immediately after,

Like a car following a cow's foot.

If with purity,

Speak up or act,

Peace follows,

Like the ball, not leaving the picture . »

Self-control of  karma  in every moment is the main work of every Buddhist monk. Shortly before entering the  Nirvana Bowl  (Parinibbana ), ie the complete annihilation, the Buddha also encouraged his disciples:

«My monks!

Be mindful, be alert,

          Tri world, concentration, mindfulness.

          Who is diligent in France and this Law,

Will leave the cycle of birth and death, end suffering. »( Sutra of Nirvana, Mahaparinibbana Sutta )

Karma  depends only on us, it is the expression of our sense of responsibility  and  freedom  . END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.10/8/2019.