Until this millenium, Thai Theravda Buddhists have been dominated by the creed of Kam Kao, the belief that one's present sufferings or well being were the result of deeds done in the past lives. This is the true Buddha's non - belief one, which emphasized the Buddha. Most of Thai Buddhists have been taught about such the law of Kamma under the influence of past action determinism by many monks around the country. This false belief legitimizes the status quo and the unjust social system that tightened the ruling class's grip on power and assured the view of " monks " as heaven messengers.
Actually, the Law of Kamma is the law of action or deed, the cause of deed and the result of deed. The action or deed includes bodily action, verbal action and ,mental action. The cause of action is desire or craving. The results of action are wholesome, unwholesome and neutral. The roots of unwholesome action are greed, hatred and delusion and of wholesome action are generosity, love and wisdom.
The law of Kamma is one of the triple rounds in the process of Dependent Origination. This interdependent process, according to the Budda' s teaching, is the triple round of defilement, kamma and result.
The detailed interdependent mental process starts from Ignorance arising Kamma-formation, Kamma formation arising consciousness. Dependent of consciousness arising mind and matter, six sense bases, contact, feeling craving, clinging, becoming, birth, decay and death, lamentation, pain, grief, despair and suffering respectively.
There is a common phrase in Buddhism that says " Good deed - Good result " . Besides the Orderliness Law of Nature ( or the General Law of Cause and Effect ), one should be aware that there is also influence of four other external factors : Time, Place, Personality and Undertaking. " Good result " is not always immediately accomplished if " Good deed " is not performed under the right conditions. People, who do not fully understand the Law of Kamma, would often wonder:
Why do I, who always perform good deed,m never seem to accomplish anything while others seem to benefit from his/her own unwholesome act ?
Anyway and anyhow, sooner or later, according to the law of Kamma, good or bad deeds performed will eventually result either in a from of material or moral of one's own Kamma.
Kamma and the result of Kamma, according to Buddhist Belief, are quite different from other old Indian determinist or theistic concepts. Buddhism looks into internal factor, evaluates the result of wholesome or unwholesome course of action by spiritual value, not merely material, as some people understand.
As can be seen, kamma constitutes but one aspect of the law of nature. The simplistic supposition that all life experiences are due to kamma is therefore incorrect. Comprehending these different underlying factors help us to gain a clearer understanding of how a single event may have resulted from more than one cause. And how different determinants may synchronously involved in conditioning certain phenomena or experiences, as the Venerable Phra Dhammapitaka used the term " various results from various factors ".
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teaching
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