Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Karma & Rebirth

"Every little movement of the mind is either skillful or unskillful, so you have to watch for each movement. You can’t just say, “Oh, it doesn’t really matter.” Because it does matter. Unskillful thoughts hide unskillful intentions, and where do these unskillful intentions come from? Have you really looked into them? Sometimes they come from some very basic flaws in our character. So we’ve got to watch out. We have to be very careful." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Fool & the Wise Person"

"You know that you’ve got some past mistakes. There’s going to be some pain coming in the future. This shouldn’t be news. So you develop the qualities of mind that can guarantee that pain and pleasure won’t overcome the mind. In other words, you develop concentration; you develop discernment. Having concentration as an alternative to sensual pain and pleasure puts you in a safe place." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Remorse"

Question: Is it possible that a person might be convinced or grasp subconsciously that his or her pain is deserved from past bad kamma and that nothing can aid that person? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: You have to convince the person that what we experience is not just the result of past kamma. What we’re doing right now in the present moment also plays a role in how we experience the present moment. Think for a moment about the Buddha. Before teaching people how to put an end to suffering, did he ask them, “Do you deserve to suffer?” He never asked that question. He said, in effect, “If you’re suffering, this is how you can put an end to it.” Also, he never talked about people “deserving” to suffer. He did say that certain actions in the past will tend to lead to certain results, but he was basically interested in convincing people that, Yes, they do have within their power not to suffer no matter what they’ve done in the past. ~ "Facing Aging, Illness, & Death: The Central Teachi

Question: My friends ask me why it matters which being I will reincarnate as, because it, she, or he will not remember that it, she, or he was me in the former life? Indeed, I have no memories of my former lives. Maybe they were much better, but I do not suffer from it as I do not know. This system sounds like you work really hard all your life for someone else to get the results from all your good actions. What should I tell them? P.S. Personally, I meditate and practice virtue for the benefits it brings me in this very life. Thanissaro Bhikkhu: Are you the same person that you were when you were a child? Yes and no. However, many things that you did when you were a child, like going to school, are definitely benefiting you now. At the time you were a child you felt that “I am me.” Now you feel, “I am me,” even though you now look and act and think like a very different person. The same sort of principle applies whether it’s in the same lifetime or going over to another lifetime.

Question: How to deal with the death of a loved one: your loved companion, your dearest grandmother, your cat — the best cat ever? How to deal with loneliness, emptiness, absence, lack of contact, no exchange, just silence? I’m afraid of that. Thanissaro Bhikkhu: This is a topic that we’ll be covering later on in the week, but the first thing to realize is that death is not the end of your contact with that being. Because of your kamma in common, you will most likely meet each other again unless either of you attains nibbāna first. So it’s not totally the end. Second, the worst part of the silence is the sense of being powerless to help the other person, but as the Buddha explains, you can make merit and dedicate it to the person who’s passed away. You can do this with animals, too. From the Buddha’s point of analysis, when you leave someone or someone has left you like this, it’s almost as if a part of your identity — your sense of “what I am” — has been ripped out, so it’s going to

Question: What relationship exists between the kamma of parents and those who are their children? Is it an illusion to want to repair or ameliorate the unskillful behavior of our parents? And do our children carry with them part of our own kamma in them? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: The fact that you were born to your parents means that you have some kind of kamma in common. Either you did this kamma together or you did it separately in separate places, but it’s still similar kamma. That’s why we have the phrase in the chant “kamma-bandhū”: We’re related through our kamma. But each of us has our own individual kamma. Your parents do not infect you with their kamma, and your children don’t carry on part of your own kamma. However, if you’re the child and you want to improve your parents’ kamma, it is possible. You set a good example. But you know how difficult it is for children to teach their parents, so you have to be very diplomatic. The best way to teach is through example. ~ "Facing