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Buddha Dharma Education Association Inc.

Venerable Dhammavuddho Thero

Only we can

help ourselves

Only we can

help ourselves

AN INWARD JOURNEY BOOK

IJ040 / 00

ONLY WE

CAN HELP

OURSELVES

Dhammavuddho Thero

Published by

INWARD PATH

Penang • Malaysia

Sabba dānaṃ dhammadānaṃ jināti

The gift of Dhamma surpasses all gifts

ONLY WE CAN HELP OURSELVES (BASED ON A TALK)

This essay is based on a talk “The Working of Kamma” by the

author at the Kuching Buddhist Society, Sarawak in December,

1997 and was published by the Buddhist Gem Fellowship in

their book “K. Sri Dhammananda Felicitation” in 1999. It is repro-

duced here with some minor amendments.

An Inward Journey Book

Published by Inward Path

PO. Box 1034, 10830 Penang, Malaysia

Tel / Fax: 604 659 6696 • 604 890 6696

Email: Sunanda@pc.jaring.my • InwardPath@hotmail.com

Website: http://www.buddhanet.net/ipp.htm

For free distribution and not for sale

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Dhammavuddho Thero, 1947

Only we can help ourselves / Dhammavuddho Thero

ISBN 983-9439-38-3

1. Buddhism. 2. Buddhism—Doctrines. I. Title.

294.3444

May the merits accruing from this Dhamma-dāna be shared by all beings.

May all beings be well and happy, live in peace and harmony, be enlightened

soon and liberated from all suffering.

Book Layout and Design by Sunanda Lim Hock Eng

INTRODUCTION

Kamma is usually an interesting subject because it concerns

everyone and there are many different aspects of it. There are

many natural laws that govern our lives but the most impor-

tant is the law of kamma-vipāka.

In a discourse (A.N. 6.63) the Buddha said, “Intention,

monks, is kamma I say. Having willed, one acts through body,

speech and mind”. This means that intentional action is kamma,

and vipāka is the result or effects of it. The result may ripen im-

mediately, later in this life or in a future life.

The Buddhist perspective of kamma is not one of fatalis-

tic surrender, for the scriptures aptly document numerous in-

stances whereby we can counteract or weaken the effects of

our previous evil kamma by building up on our own treasure

store of good kamma here and now.

We definitely cannot alter what has been sown in our past,

but by skillfully exercising wisdom, loving kindness and com-

passion in our present actions, we can surely determine a fu-

ture in line with our hopes and aspirations. We can help our-

selves by sincerely embarking on this journey of transforma-

tion and with the greatest love for ourselves. For who else can

help us but ourselves.

Venerable Dhammavuddho Thero was born in 1947 and

worked as an electrical engineer with the Public Works

Department for twelve years. He went forth into the home-

less life as a monk at the age of 35. He was first ordained in the

Chinese Mahayana tradition. In 1986 he was re-ordained in

the Therāvada tradition in Thailand. After that he spent about

ten years living the solitary lifestyle in quiet places. He has

also written numerous booklets and articles on Buddhism.

Venerable Dhammavuddho is presently abbot of a newly

established 15-acre forest monastery in Temoh, a small town

near Ipoh, Perak.

CONTENTS

ONLY WE CAN HELP OURSELVES (BASED ON A TALK) .......... IV

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... V

WHAT IS KAMMA? ............................................................................................. 7

AVOIDING EVIL ....................................................................................................... 9

DOING GOOD ....................................................................................................... 12

EFFECTS OF KAMMA ....................................................................................... 16

CRITERIA FOR ACTION ................................................................................. 20

WORKING OF KAMMA .................................................................................. 22

ONLY WE CAN HELP OURSELVES ................................................... 25

KAMMA AND CONDITIONS ...................................................................... 29

OVERCOMING EVIL KAMMA .................................................................. 31

KAMMA AND REBIRTH ................................................................................. 34

WORLDLY MERIT AND SPIRITUAL MERIT ................................... 38

CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 39

ONLY WE CAN HELP OURSELVES

Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma Sambuddhassa

WHAT IS KAMMA?

Kamma is usually an interesting subject because it con-

cerns everyone and there are many different aspects of

it. There are many natural laws that govern our lives but

the most important is the law of kamma-vipāka. In a dis-

course (A.N. 6.63) the Buddha said “Intention, monks,

is Kamma I say. Having willed, one acts through body,

speech and mind”. This means that intentional action is

kamma, and vipāka is the result or effects of it. The result

may ripen immediately, later in this life or in a future

life.

Kamma-vipāka is sometimes translated as cause and

effect (yin-kuo in Chinese books) but that is not a good

translation. This is because there are two types of cause

and effect-worldly cause and effect, and kammic cause and

effect. The difference can be seen, for example, when you

are driving a car and suddenly a small boy runs across

the road, and you hit the boy and kill him. You did not

have the intention to kill the small boy, so you did not

create any kamma. However, you did knock down the

boy and the boy’s family might pull you out of the car

when you stop, and beat you up. In addition to that, they

might also sue you in court. So there is a result of knock-

ing down the boy, namely, you get a beating and then be

sued in court. However, this is worldly cause and effect.

It is not concerned with Buddhist kamma-vipāka because

there was no intention on your part to kill the boy. So we

must clearly differentiate between worldly cause and ef-

fect and kamma-vipāka (intentional action and its result).

They are different because one involves action with in-

tention and the other does not.

Then comes the question: how do we create kamma?

It is created through the three doors of body, speech and

mind. Through the body, we can kill, steal, and commit

adultery. Through speech, we lie, cause disharmony by

carrying tales from one person to another, use coarse

speech and idle talk (gossip). Mental kamma is when

we have excessive greed and covetousness, malice and

hatred, wrong views, etc. Mental kamma is not so much

thinking or stray thoughts but thoughts with some kind

of intention behind them.

What is wholesome kamma and what is unwholesome

kamma? In other words, what is good kamma and evil

kamma? Good kamma is that which benefits living beings,

helps living beings, and makes them happy. Evil kamma

or unwholesome kamma is that which harms living be-

ings, like killing and stealing, that results in the suffering

of some living beings. In this way the criteria for good

and evil in Buddhism is different from other religions.

The effect of Kamma is also long lasting. For exam-

ple, in one discourse (A.N. 5.31) a king’s daughter by the

name of Sumana came to the Buddha and asked if there

is a difference between a person who likes to give alms

to the monks and a person who does not, if both sub-

sequently are reborn in heaven. The Buddha said that

the difference between the two of them is that the alms-

giver surpasses the non-giver in life span, beauty, hap-

piness, honour and power. Sumana then asked if there

would be a difference between the two subsequently

when both are reborn into the human realm. Again the

Buddha said there would be-the alms giver surpasses

the non-giver in life span, beauty, happiness, honour

and power. Sumana then asked whether there would

be a difference between the two when both renounced

and became monks. The Buddha answered affirma-

tively. The alms giver will get more offerings of food,

robes, medicines from the lay people when he is a monk;

more people will like him and he will have more places

to live compared to the non-giver. So we can see the long-

lasting effect of kamma which follows us.

AVOIDING EVIL

The Buddhas teaching is concerned with skilful living so

that we can reduce or avoid unnecessary suffering. It is

important to know the law of kamma-vipāka in order to

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eBUDDHANET'SBOOKLIBRARYE-mail:bdea@buddhanet.netWebsite:www.buddhanet.netBuddhaDharmaEducationAssociationInc.VenerableDhammavuddhoTheroOnlywecanhelpourselvesOnlywecanhelpourselvesANINWARDJOURNEYBOOKIJ040/00ONLYWECANHELPOURSELVESDhammavuddhoTheroPublishedbyINWARDPATHPenang•MalaysiaivvSabbadānaṃdhamma...

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