Those who are interested in Buddhist teachings must know the Law of Kamma. Many have misinterpreted this Law; and as a result, I sometimes feel embarrassed to read or hear about it. My dhamma
teacher Luang Por Sua, as shown above, taught me a lot about this Law of Kamma. This article has been derived from his teachings about the
Ten unwholesome deeds to be avoided.This topic is directly related to the consequences of the Law of Kamma, which should be very useful to those who are interested in Buddhism.
As you all know, mind determines individual action. The mind's willing an action is called "kamma." Kamma can be wholesome or unwholesome. An action of the mind is unwholesome if it is harmful to others; an action of the mind is wholesome if it has a good moral effect upon others. Please observe that "mind" and "heart" are not the same thing. Heart is material and you can feel it; mind is spiritual as you know it exists but you cannot show it. For ordinary people, unwholesome kamma must be put under control before it has a chance to take hold and grow unchecked. Greed, aversion and delusion are the basic enemies of wholesome kamma, which can only be resisted by the power of your Sati. This is not easy for those who lack spiritual practice in Buddhism.
Unwholesome course of action has three main parts as follows:
In Buddhism, the probability to be reborn as a human being is indeed very little. Why ? Because most creatures tend to do more of the unwholesome actions than the wholesome ones. Most creatures are thus in hell and only the smaller parts of them are born in heaven because they do a lot of good deeds. A human proportion thus comes to the least. However, this human world is the most important as it is the in-between place between heaven and hell. All Buddhas must only be enlightened in the human world. It is the place to go up to heaven or to go down to hell. The Blessed One could only teach us, all creatures, about what should be done and what should not be done and also about each individual consequence from each deed, either good or bad. It is "we" who will decide what to do with ourselves, which will in turn decide consequences upon us.
This Akusala - kammapatha is the ten unwholesome deeds to be avoided. Why should we have to avoid ? Because there are consequences (Vipaka) upon the doers. These harmful consequences are briefly listed in the following deeds.
| 1. Killing,or | - become disabled, crippled |
| destruction of | - very unpleasant, extremely unattractive |
| life | - weak and feeble |
| - sluggish, inert | |
| - easily frightened | |
| - tend to be killed or commit suicide | |
| - have unfaithful spouse, followers, and servants | |
| - unhealthy, always given to illness | |
| - short-lived than usual |
| 2. Stealing, or | - born in a poor family |
| taking what is | - rare chance to get rich |
| not given | - not have enough food to eat |
| - tend to be disappointed | |
| - always being cheated and at loss | |
| - encounter catastrophe and natural calamity |
| 3. Sexual | - always being hated by others |
| misconduct, | - tend to be conspired to injure |
| or all kinds of | - always short of money |
| bodily harm | - always not enough for living |
| - tend to be born as female | |
| - tend to become hermaphrodite | |
| - if born male will be in low class family | |
| - always being ashamed of disgraceful behaviour | |
| - deformed in body and appearance | |
| - succumbed to anxious fear | |
| - often be separated from beloved ones |
| 4. False | - speak unclearly due to bodily defects |
| speech | - disordered teeth |
| - bad breath | |
| - offensive body odour | |
| - cross-eyed, shifting or dull eye contact | |
| - to always stammer | |
| - poor personality | |
| - complicated mind |
| 5. Malicious | - tend to blame oneself |
| speech | - always mistaken for uncommitted wrong doing |
| - tend to be blamed by a learned person | |
| - tend to break with friends |
| 6. Harsh | - rough and rude in body and words |
| speech | - assets and properties subject to destruction |
| - tend to hear unhappy stories | |
| - die in delusion |
| 7. Frivolous | - become an untrustworthy person |
| talk,or gossip | - spoken words not convincing |
| - not to be respected | |
| - become insane, often speaking to oneself |
| 8.Covetousness | - properties and goodness are always tainted |
| - born in low-class family | |
| - hard acquisition of unexpected gains or luck | |
| - subject to frequent blames |
| 9. Ill will, or | - body is rough and ugly |
| harmful | - to become sick very often |
| intention | - to have a short life |
| - death by execution |
| 10. Wrong | - born away from Buddhist teachings |
| views | - born in savage community |
| - always in demeritorious thought | |
| - low mentality |
The above consequences of kamma are only outlines. The explanation of individual consequence is very extensive in Buddhist teachings. All mentioned consequences are subject to proof at all times.
Asked what is the most important unwholesome deed among these ten harmful actions. I would say that the last one on wrong views is the most important. Why is it so? Because if one has wrong views, it will bring about wrong motives, wrong actions, and many more wrong unwholesome deeds to be followed. Right understanding or right views of the Law of Kamma is therefore a necessary condition to make one want to avoid all unwholesome deeds.