Karma Q & A

Introduction

KAMMA AND REBIRTH are often understood to be teachings of fate and helplessness in the face of unknowable influences from the past. For this reason, they’re often rejected. Many people regard them as Buddhism’s cultural baggage: a set of Indian beliefs that—either because the Buddha wasn’t thinking carefully or because his early followers didn’t stay true to his teachings—got mixed up with the Dhamma, his teaching, even though they don’t fit in with the rest of what he taught. So now that the Dhamma has come to the West, many people believe that it’s time to leave all this unnecessary baggage unclaimed on the carousel so that we can focus on his true message in a way that speaks directly to our own cultural needs.

However, the real problem with kamma and rebirth is that we tend to misunderstand what these teachings have to say. This is because Buddhism came to the West at the same time as other Indian religions, and its luggage got mixed up with theirs in transit. When we sort out which luggage really belongs to the Dhamma, we find that its bags marked “Kamma” and “Rebirth” actually contain valuables that are priceless in any culture. Instead of teaching fate, they’re empowering, showing how people can develop skills in the present that will lead to the end of suffering. So, to help show how valuable these teachings are, here’s a set of answers, based on the Pāli Canon, to some questions frequently asked about these topics.