The term Kamma is the Pali word, the Sanskrit word is Karma that we always translated as action or deed. The word “Kamma” in Buddhism refers to volition or intention that we have learned from the Buddha’s teaching in Pali “Cetanaham Bhikkhave Kammam Vadami” which translated as “Monks, I declare that volition is Kamma”. So, Kamma refers to the volition which arises during doing any action.
Venerable Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa, Rector Sayadaw of the International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University, on his speech, gave a very nice explanation of the term kamma[1]. He gave the definition of the term kamma that “Kamma refers to the mental state which arises in the mind when people do some deed”. He further explained that “whenever there is a deed good or bad, there arises in the mind this mental state, and this mental state organizes the other associated mental states and also engages itself to the object. So, that mental state is like a chief pupil in a class who studies himself and also encourages other pupils to study. In the same way that mental state acts upon the object itself and also encourages or organizes the other mental states arising together with it to act on the object. That mental state is called "cetana" in Pali, and it is translated as "volition". So what we call kamma is not actually the deed, good or bad, but that mental state that accompanies or that arises in the mind of a person who does the good or bad, or wholesome or unwholesome deed”.
However, when he talked concerned about where this kamma was stored, he said we cannot say or cannot know where this kamma was stored. He compared to the mango fruits, before the fruits are on the tree, we cannot say where the fruits were stored, whether in the rots, or in the trunk, or in the branches, or in the leaves. But when the conditions come together -- like sunshine, moisture and water -- the fruits are produced. In the same way the kamma which has the potential to give results gives results when the conditions are favorable for it.
In the Milindapanhã, venerable Nagasena explained kamma as the seed which result people to be different, some are short-lived and some long-lived, some sickly and some healthy, some ugly and some handsome, some powerful and some powerless, some poor and some rich etc. We can learn clearly about what is kamma from his explanation:
“Just so, O king, it is because of the variety of kammas that beings are not all the same. For this was said by the Blessed One, ‘All beings havekamma as their own property, are heirs to it, born from it, are relatives of their kamma and have kamma as their refuge; whatever kamma they dodivides them into high and low states’.”
His explanation here was taken from the Buddha’s teaching in Culakammavibhanga sutta. So, however, the teaching of Kamma is not quite difficult to understand. People always mentioned the brief stanza of kamma that “doing good will receive good, doing sin will receive bad result”.
Nevertheless, there is an argument from some people in this modern time that people who did badly mostly got good result, but people who did well got bad luck and cannot compete to those who are bad people. So, they don’t believe in kamma. This argument is not difficult for Buddhists to understand, but it is also difficult to explain to those people because they just see the present results that they got.
The teaching of kamma is not difficult to understand, but we can’t know what Kamma are giving result or when this or that kamma will give the result except those who have the Divine eyes. Now, we don’t know what kamma that causes us to born here, and when we had done that kamma. We also don’t know when the kamma we are doing now will give the result. But, as we are Buddhists we believe that the Kamma that cause us to born here must be good Kamma, and good deed which we had done must produce good results. This is quite clear the Buddhist taught in Dhammapada:
Here he rejoices, hereafter he rejoices; one who performs meritorious deeds rejoices in both existences. He rejoices and greatly rejoices when he sees the purity of his own deeds.(Yamakavagga, 16)
The belief in Kamma is one of the important requirements needed to be a good Buddhist. If one did not believe in Kamma, he could not claim that he was Buddhist. To be Buddhist, one needs at least faith in four things: 1 Kammasaddha: belief in Kamma; 2 Vipakasaddha: belief in the consequence of Kamma; 3 Kammassakata saddha: belief in the individual ownership of action; 4 Tathagatabodhi saddha: confidence in the enlightenment of the Buddha. Therefore, the belief in kamma is really important. Even though Buddhism gave the important role to wisdom in belief and practice, but we must also keep these four faiths because our wisdom is limited if we don’t believe in what the Buddha taught we can’t go forward to gain those qualities of wisdom that the Buddha already experience.
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