Re-becoming (rebirth), and Karma

If one is born, death is unavoidable. Like wise, with the dissolution of body
at death, one is born again in another existence according to his or her
volitional actions done in this life. That is re-becoming (punabbhava).

Buddhists do not talk about or accept rebirth or re-incarnation, but 're-

becoming'. According to the original discourses, which are popularly known
as, 'The Early Discourses of the Buddha', there is no trace to show that the
Buddha talked on rebirth or re-incarnation. But, there are many places where
he very clearly mentioned that there is no more re-becoming for him. His
Enlightenment is the attainment of three types of true knowledge, namely:

1. Knowledge of recollecting his previous lives

(Pubbenivāsānussati Ñāna)

2. Knowledge of seeing how beings are born again and again, some
passing here are born somewhere else and some passing other worlds
are born here (Cutupapāta Ñāna)

2. Knowledge of complete destruction of craving

(Asavakkhaya Ñāna).

We Buddhists never believe in re-becoming blindly. We believe and accept it

because the Buddha, himself, revealed it through his knowledge of seeing
how beings are born again and again with the attainment of Full
Enlightenment. He has expounded it on many occasions.

In order to understand this clearly, one needs to understand the terms and
language through which the Buddha communicated. The dialect at that time,
used in Magadha, where the Buddha lived, was called 'Māgadhi', which is
today known as Pāli. It is in this language that the teaching of the Buddha
was written for the first time in Sri Lanka, in the year circa 88 BC.

The Pāli term the Buddha used for re-becoming is, "Punabbhava". There are
many places where the Buddha, as well as other Enlightened Monks and
Nuns, have used this term to denote 're-becoming'. However, in the later
works of Buddhist literature, as well as Hindu literature, we come across the
following three terms to explain re-becoming.
They are:

i. Re-becoming (Punabbhava)
ii. Rebirth ( Punaruppatti) and
iii. Reincarnation (Punarjanma).

When we use the term reincarnation it means incarnating. For this concept,
one has within his or her mind, a concept that there is a permanent entity, an
everlasting phenomenon, or a substance to be known as, 'soul or self'
(atman). That is the belief of Atman (Attavāda). It is one of the wrong
graspings, (attavāda upādāna). In Buddhism, there is no such belief.
Therefore, Buddhists cannot use this term of 'reincarnation'. Rebirth is the
commonly used term by many writers for many years. Since the Buddha has
given us full freedom of thought in his teachings, Buddhists should not
believe things simply because they are in the scriptures or simply because
they have been used by many in history.

History is not the real teaching of the Buddha. We can all read and do our
own investigation and exploration. Thereafter, we can draw conclusions. As
we read, we can understand that the term 'rebirth' is not sufficient to give the
real meaning of the Pāli term 'Punabbhava'. Re-birth means 'born again'.
We know there are 'Born Again' Christian groups. That word is very
appropriate to them. They were Christians, but as they found some
misappropriations in the way of following the teachings, they decided upon
a re-baptism. After that, they are called 'Born Again'. So this makes clear
that they did not change their physical state or corporeality. They are the
same persons, the same Christians. So, in this way, if we use the term
'rebirth', it means that after one's death, that one would be born to the same
physical state. In other words, when a man dies he should be born again as a
man. If a woman dies, she should be born as a woman, a dog as a dog, a cat
as a cat. So, whence is the release for beings from Samsāra?

There is no such teaching in Buddhism. The Buddha taught us that there are
many realms of existence in the world. We are born again and again in
different realms of existence such as the human realm, animal realms, the
many realms of gods, and even purgatory lives. There is no
predetermination, predestined status for beings wandering in Samsāra. This
birth again in different realms such as the human or animal realm is what we
call 'Punabbhava' (Re-becoming). One's punabbhava is dependent on what
one has volitionally done in the present life and in previous lives. That
volitional action is called karma (in Sanskrit) and kamma (in Pali).

Karma
Karma and re-becoming are interrelated concepts or topics in the teaching of
the Buddha. If there is no karma, there is no re-becoming, and vice-versa. It
is necessary to understand why we Buddhists talk about karma and re-
becoming. Some of our friends are reluctant to accept karma and re-
becoming simply because they cannot experience it. Can we understand and
experience all the things in the world through these five or six senses? Are
they sensitive enough to get all the information in the world? We all have to
accept that our senses are certainly not sharp enough to perceive the world.
The world beyond our senses is immeasurable. Our senses are limited. This
is why, in the teaching of the Buddha, it is always said one's mind is to be
developed and cultivated for the realization of truth in the world.

Karma means action, more specifically, 'volitional or intentional actions'.

Each intentional action has its own retribution. Actions are mainly twofold.

i. Good actions (wholesome deeds)

ii. Bad actions (unwholesome deeds)

If one's action is not harmful to him or her or others as well, that action is
wholesome. At the same time, if one's action is harmful to oneself first and
harmful to others as well, that is an unwholesome action. The Buddha
always admonished us to do things repeatedly recollecting whether the
action is harmful to ourselves as well as to others. It is clear that most things
in the world are certainly beyond our senses. This is why one has to develop
an extra-sensory perception. As we said earlier, our five or six senses are
limited. Our experiences are only within a very short frame of existence in
the world. Even in the scientific world, scientists accept that things are
beyond their microscope or telescope.

According to Buddhist teaching on karma, volition is karma. The Buddha

very clearly said, "I declare O monks, that volition (cetanā) is kamma.
Having willed; one acts by body, speech, and thought". So our actions are
threefold:

1. Physical Actions
 2. Verbal Actions
3. Mental Actions.

All beings have their own karma or results of all volitional actions. The
Buddha once said, "Beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions;
they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their
actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and
superior".

Karma simply means action, but only volitional actions are taken into to the
category of kamma. According to the Ambalatthikā Rāhulovāda sutta of the
Majjhima Nikāya, the Buddha, addressing Ven. Rāhula said, "Rāhula,
actions should be done after repeated reflection".

Kamma is the law of moral causation. Re-becoming is its corollary (the

natural and direct result). Both karma and rebirth are interrelated and
intermingled, as mentioned earlier. They are two very significant
fundamental doctrines in the teaching of the Buddha.

Karma is one of the most vital factors to understand the inequality that exists
amongst mankind. In society, why should one be brought up in the lap of
luxury and another in absolute poverty? Why should one be born a
millionaire and another a pauper? Why should one be a mental prodigy and
another an idiot, ignorant? Why should one be born with saintly
characteristics and another with criminal tendencies? Why should some be
blessed and others cursed from their birth?

According to Buddhism, it is not because of God's will but karma. That is

the result of one's own volitional actions in past lives. But we have to
understand very clearly that things are happening not only because of karma.
There are some other reasons. There are five natural laws in the world.
Things are happening because of these five laws. They are called Niyāma or
Orders.

1. Utu Niyāma – Things such as winter, spring, draught, famines, and rains
come to be not because of karma but mainly because of the law of
seasonal phenomena
2. Bija Niyāma – The law of germs and seeds. When we sow sesame we get
sesame, if we plant the seed of apricots, then we get apricots. It is not
because of karma but because of the nature of seeds

3. Kamma Niyāma – This is what is the nature of kamma, like the nature of
seeds, if one has done anything wholesome one would necessarily get
wholesome results. It is certainly because of the nature of volitional
action

4. Dhamma Niyāma- Nature and gravitation. In the world, things happen

because of gravitation or the nature of the things such as, the flowing of
water to the lowest level, the falling of objects from a higher to a lower
level, the rising of the sun and moon from the East and their setting in
the West etc., are not because of karma but because of the nature of
Natural Law (Dhamma).

5. Citta Niyāma – Law of consciousness. Our consciousness has its own

patterns of behaviors. It is the nature of our mind that it takes in only one
object at a time. It has no form, dwells in the cave of heart, wanders far
and alone all the time. It is not because of karma, but because of the
nature of consciousness.

However, one should not forget that karma is a prominent fact for things to
happen in the world. The result of Karma (retribution) is a force which is
always following the person who has done it, either like a wheel of the
chariot or as the shadow. So things can happen with the combination of
perhaps two or more of the above five laws of nature.

For instance, the Tsunami that drastically hit some of the Asian countries,
including our Mother Land Sri Lanka, took many lives and caused much
destruction. While it is not possible to exclude karma, we should understand
that it was not only because of karma, but also because of several other
reasons such as the operation of Utu and Dhamma niyama, the natural
phenomena in the world.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, things never happen simply

because of one reason. There are clusters of reasons (causes) and clusters of
effects.
Let us all understand that we all have to face the consequences of our own
volitional actions either in this world, as immediately effective karma
(ditthadhammavedaniya), or right after this world, as the subsequently
effective karma (upapajja vedaniya) or in any existence of Samsāra, before
the end of the journey by attaining Enlightenment as the indefinitely
effective karma (aparāpariya vedaniya).

"Neither in the sky nor in the mid-ocean,

Nor by entering into mountain clefts,
Nowhere in the world is there a place
Where one may escape from the results of evil deeds." - The Buddha

May you be well, happy, and peaceful!