Question asked by Andrea
Dear Pastors,
I would like to understand the way that rebirth and karma work. What makes a Buddhist so sure that bad karma means rebirth and for example that a human, who has committed some harmful actions, will be punished with bad karma?
Maybe it is all just coincidence, some people are sick, some people are healthy, maybe it is just how life on earth goes.
Why is a Buddhist monk so sure that he has lived previously?
I would love to understand this.
Thank you very much,
Andrea
Dear Andrea,
To understand karma, one needs to study, contemplate and investigate. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says that he finds the doctrine of karma logical because it answers so many questions and puts our mind at rest.
Karma is defined as “all intentional bodily, verbal, and mental actions that are the cause of rebirth in the higher or lower realms.” It is called the law of cause and effect. The Buddha has taught that “whatever karma is created will bring a corresponding result”. In other words, virtuous actions will bring about happiness and rebirth in higher realms; non-virtuous actions will result in suffering and rebirth in the lower realms. As H.E. Tsem Rinpoche says, “what body we are going to take birth in is 100% due to karmic imprints”. Buddhists believe that one does not meet with something if one has not created the karma for it to happen. So when you say, “Maybe it is all just coincidence”, you are speaking from lack of knowledge and understanding of the law of cause and effect.
Ordinary beings find it hard to fathom the complexity of the relationship between karmic cause and effect. Why, for instance, does a good person who helps others lives in poverty and an evil person who harms others is wealthy? Only enlightened beings know the relationship between actions and their fruition and through their teachings we are able to understand the subtleties of karma. To understand how karma works, we have to know that the result of an action need not ripen in the present life. It may manifest itself only after hundreds of eons. This is because the necessary conditions and the appropriate time must be right for a certain action to bear fruit.
To answer your question, “Why is a Buddhist monk so sure that he has lived previously?”, we just have to remember Buddha Shakyamuni who, when he became enlightened under the Bodhi tree, remembered his past lives in all their detail and he knew the karmic destinies (past, present and future)of all sentient beings as well. Karma and its effects for both oneself and others are known and understood by beings who are enlightened. I hope this explanation has been helpful.