Our ability to share makes sense and is valuable because of the teaching on kamma: the part that says we have free will, that our intentions matter, that actions bear results, and that it’s important to think about the results.

"Kamma is one of those teaching that’s sometimes hard to relate to, both intellectually and emotionally: intellectually because it’s related to the issue of conviction, or saddhā. We hear the word conviction — or even worse, saddhā is often translated as faith — and we think that we’re being asked to commit to something that we’re not really sure about, that we don’t have any means of knowing. But that’s not what conviction means in the Buddha’s teachings. It means you’re going to take something on as a working hypothesis.

You’re committed to the sense that you’re really going to really try to test it, but no, you’re not being forced to give your emotional assent to say, “Yes, despite my lack of evidence I’m being forced to say this must be true.” Instead, you’re advised to say, “I’m going to try it out. It makes sense. It’s asking me to believe that my actions matter and that I have a choice in my actions that’ll give results. But I’m free enough to learn from past mistakes so I don’t have to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.”

Part of the emotional problem around kamma is that it seems to be aimed at explaining why people are miserable and blaming them for their misery. But that’s never how the Buddha taught kamma, though. When he first introduced the topic of kamma, he talked about generosity and gratitude, the good things in life. Our ability to share makes sense and is valuable because of the teaching on kamma: the part that says we have free will, that our intentions matter, that actions bear results, and that it’s important to think about the results."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Relating to Karma"

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