Can the Buddha’s teachings on kamma be divorced from his teachings on rebirth?

Question 25. Can the Buddha’s teachings on kamma be divorced from his teachings on rebirth?

Thanissaro Bhikkhu: Not really. If there were no life before birth, kamma would have no role in explaining pleasure and pain early in life. And as the Buddha said, many people are rewarded in this lifetime for doing unskillful things — he cited people who are rewarded for killing the enemies of a king, stealing from an enemy of a king, or telling a lie that entertains a king — and you can probably think of similar examples in modern business and politics [SN 42:13]. Sometimes the results of those unskillful actions don’t even show until many lifetimes later — because the causal principle underlying kamma is so complex [MN 136].

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Karma Q & A, a Study Guide"


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