The Buddhist Law of Kamma & Rebirth

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Dedicated to the revered memory of my great Vinaya teacher, the late most Venerable Widurapola Piyatissa Mahā Nāyaka Thera, and the late Most Venerable Chandamani Mahā Thera of kushinara Vihāra, India, and in the memory of all other teachers, Venerable Nānatiloka Mahā Thera and Venerable Chandavimala Mahā Nāyaka Thera of Sri Lanka, and Mahasi Sayadaw Venerable U Sobhana, Aggamahāpandita, the Mulapatthāna Sayadaw Venerable Nārada, Aggamahāpandita and the Yamaka Abhidhamma Acharya Sobhita Mahā Thera of Myanmar, and in memory of my departed parents. May all my teachers and parents attain Nibbāna!

Venerable Acharya Buddharakkhita is the founder-president of Maha Bodhi Society, Bangalore. He was a member of the Editorial Board of the Sixth Buddhist Synod (Chattha Sangayana) in Yangon, which brought out a complete edition of the Buddhist scriptures. Since then he has established many Buddhist centres in India and abroad and rendered yeomen spiritual and humanitarian services. He established Mahabodhi Monastic Institute in Bangalore, India. Buddhayoga Meditation Centre in USA and conducted many Dhamma and Pali courses, meditation courses and written numerous books and translation of Buddhist texts. They have been published all over the world, including some German, Portuguese, Korean and Chinese translations. He has been editing and publishing English monthly DHAMMA for last four decades.

Mahabodhi Academy of Pali and Buddhist studies and Bhagavan Buddha University of Pali and Theravāda Buddhism, Bangalore are the result of his effort and research to provide a systematic Buddhist education as widely as possible, the first of its kind in whole of India.

The Buddhist law of kamma and rebirth is the antithesis of fatalism. Lord Buddha unambiguously declared, that there is no need to search for a First Cause in a vicious circle that life is. Buddhism does not subscribe to the concept of a permanent, unchanging entity called soul, self or ātmā. So rebirth does not mean transmigration of a soul from life to life, while the soul itself is made out to be constant.

It was given to Lord Buddha to render the semantics of Kamma into the profound postulate of a Law that works on its own. Kamma is the manifestation of a principle or law. The Law of Moral Causation, that governs the universe.

Here is the unique declaration of the Buddha: "Bhikkus, volition is what I call Kamma (action); for through volition does one perform an action in deed, word and thought." Thus, man is the captain of his destiny and the creator of his misfortune or good luck. Whatever action a man performs, the consequence thereof must be experienced. This is the Law of Kamma.

Destiny and freewill need not be discordant. In fact, it is the orchestration of one's potential capacity and self-effort to give rise to excellence, in terms of virtue, compassion and wisdom, that constitutes the basic Buddhist approach to the law of kamma. The potential capacity manifests as temperament. The relation between Kamma and inborn character-traits, has also been elucidated in this book. Karmic heredity is more real, than the so-called physical heredity.

There are three unwholesme motives inducing volitional action. Greed motivates evil volitional action: hatred motivates evil volitional action; delusion motivates evil volitional action.