Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Karma & Rebirth

"Admirable friends can’t do the work for you. As [the Buddha] says, no one can purify you; you can’t purify anybody else. You don’t go to heaven because of other people’s good actions; you don’t go to hell because of other people’s bad actions. It’s your actions that determine that. So there is that sense in which you’re separate. And of course you’re the one who chooses your friends to begin with. So in that way, the separateness of our selves comes first." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Separate Self"

"Modern sociologists have identified five basic strategies that people use to avoid accepting blame when they’ve caused harm, and it’s noteworthy that the early Buddhist teaching on moral responsibility serves to undercut all five. The strategies are: to deny responsibility, to deny that harm was actually done, to deny the worth of the victim, to attack the accuser, and to claim that they were acting in the service of a higher cause. The Pali responses to these strategies are: (1) We are always responsible for our conscious choices. (2) We should always put ourselves in the other person’s place. (3) All beings are worthy of respect. (4) We should regard those who point out our faults as if they were pointing out treasure. (Monks, in fact, are required not to show disrespect to people who criticize them, even if they don’t plan to abide by the criticism.) (5) There are no — repeat, no — higher purposes that excuse breaking the basic precepts of ethical behavior." ~ Thanissaro ...

"Admirable friends can’t do the work for you. As [the Buddha] says, no one can purify you; you can’t purify anybody else. You don’t go to heaven because of other people’s good actions; you don’t go to hell because of other people’s bad actions. It’s your actions that determine that. So there is that sense in which you’re separate. And of course you’re the one who chooses your friends to begin with. So in that way, the separateness of our selves comes first." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Separate Self"

"The reasonability of the teaching can be gauged by the central principle in views of integrity as explained above in MN 110. That principle is conviction in kamma, the efficacy of human action: that people are responsible for their actions, that their intentions determine the quality — the skillfulness or unskillfulness — of their actions, that actions give results, and that the quality of the action determines the quality of the result. A person who does not believe in these principles cannot be trusted. Because the distinction between skillfulness and unskillfulness is central to the principle of kamma — and also to the project of putting an end to suffering and stress — MN 135 recommends approaching potential teachers and asking them: “What is skillful? What is unskillful? What is blameworthy? What is blameless? What should be cultivated? What should not be cultivated? What, having been done by me, will be for my long-term harm & suffering? Or what, having been done by me,...

"There’s no wrong that goes unpunished, no good that goes unrewarded. That’s simply the way kamma is. Therefore, we don’t have to carry around ledger sheets — which person did this, which person did that — with the fear that if the ledger sheet disappears then that person’s not going to get the retribution he or she deserves. The principle of kamma takes care of that. But remember that it also takes care of you as well." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Story-telling Mind"

"The Buddha did have clear standards for right and wrong, of skillful and unskillful ways of engaging with the world, but he hardly ever spoke of justice at all. Instead, he spoke of actions that would lead to harmony and true happiness in the world. And instead of explaining his ideas for harmony in the context of pursuing a just world, he presented them in the context of merit: actions that pursue a happiness blameless both in itself and in the way it’s pursued. ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Wisdom over Justice"

"Ajaan Suwat used to like to say that with all the people in the world, you have only one person — yourself — for which you’re responsible. You may have members of the family, other people you have connections with, but you can’t really be responsible for their actions. Our problem is that many of us are not even responsible for our own actions. We let our behavior depend on other people. If they treat us nicely, we treat them nicely. If they don’t treat us nicely, we’re going to get back at them. That’s placing all the blame on them and denying our agency. But we’re not here for a blame game. We’re here to figure out why we’re suffering — and it comes from our actions. Other people can do really bad things, but the fact that we’re suffering from their bad things comes from our own lack of skill. This is why, when we meditate, we close our eyes. We’re not out there looking at the world. We’re looking into the mind." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Just One Person"

Question: If any unskillful thought arises and you acknowledge it as unskillful, does it still have negative kammic effects? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: No. Question: In other words, does the arising of unskillful thoughts cause bad kamma or is it just our reaction to them? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: It’s our reaction to them that can cause bad kamma. The fact that the thought arises is the result of old kamma. What you do with it is your new kamma. If you simply acknowledge it and it goes away, or if you think skillful thoughts that counteract it and make it go away, then the new kamma is good new kamma. ~ Good Heart, Good Mind: The Practice of the Ten Perfections

"Real injustices are being done out there. The question is: what to do about them? Often we see a situation that we don’t like, anger arises, and we try to think of what to do about the situation while the anger is still in the mind. From the Buddha’s perspective, the problem is not so much that we want to do something about the injustices, but that we allow the anger to color our perception of the situation and of what should be done. So he’s not telling us to simply accept things as they are and try to swallow your anger, feeling that we’re to blame for the anger. Rather, he’s saying that we have to deal with the anger in such a way that it doesn’t get in the way of responding in an appropriate way, or a skillful way, to what we see as wrong. Once you get the anger out of the way, there are two things that can happen. One is that you may see that the situation is not as bad as you thought it was, but simply that your opinions had colored the situation. The other is ...

"Goodwill [mettā] is a wish for happiness, a happiness that’s true, a happiness that’s blameless. And this wish is meant to be spread around. Again, it’s sometimes explained by saying that we’re all interconnected. We’re all part of one another, so we owe it to one another to have goodwill. But the Buddha never talks about who you “owe” goodwill to. He said it’s something you give to everybody regardless, because if you have ill will for people, you’re going to act unskillfully around them, and that’s going to become your kamma. So to protect yourself from yourself, you need to develop goodwill to be universal. As the Buddha said, it’s a determination. It’s not something that comes innately to us to have goodwill for everybody. We’re very easily inspired to ill will by people’s actions when they harm us or harm somebody we love, or harm somebody we think is undeserving of harm. So you have to be determined to have goodwill even for people who’ve been evil, cruel, and thoughtless....

"You can do actions. You can choose to do something that’s more skillful, less blameworthy. And nine times out of ten, the more skillful choice is the obvious one. Maybe not the easiest one, but it’s obvious what’s skillful. There are a few cases where it’s not so obvious, but focus on the ones where it is obvious, and you clear up a lot of problems. As for when the issue is not so obvious, ask yourself why. Is the problem really that complicated?" ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "What You Can Do"

"If you meet up with the results of some past bad kamma — suppose somebody does something bad to you — it doesn’t mean that your past kamma compelled them to do something bad. It’s simply that your past kamma left the opening. They saw the opening and they took it. And of course, that becomes their kamma now. The fact that you had that past bad kamma: There are unskillful ways and skillful ways that you can think about it. The unskillful way would be to think, “Well, this person was simply carrying out the dictates of kamma. So the person’s not responsible or is actually doing something good.” That’s unskillful. There’s no excuse for that person’s behavior, because the person did choose to take that opening. The skillful way is to say, “Well, I must have some past bad kamma, so I’ll learn how to take it in stride and not get too worked up about it. And I’ll take it as an incentive to try to be more skillful in the future.” As for times when someone does something real...

"As the Buddha said, winning out over your self is better than winning out over thousands of other people, because when you win out over other people it’s never resolved. If they don’t get killed off they’re going to plot their revenge, plot their return. If you do kill them off, they come back as your children — and then you’ve got a real problem! Karmic debts with your own kids. Victory over other people, victory outside, victory in war — even if it’s not victory in war but just everyday back-and-forth — never resolves anything. Even when issues get settled in court in the most fair and just way; well, there will always be some people who feel mistreated, and they’ll find some way to get back. This is the way of the world. Nothing gets settled really. The only way to reach any kind of closure is to disentangle yourself. And this is your way out: through training the mind." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Outside of the Box"

"When the Buddha tells you to look inside for the causes of your suffering, it’s not a case of blaming the victim. He’s trying to remind you of what does lie in your power to change. There may be a lot of things outside that contribute to you suffering, but you can’t change them. Or you could change them if you spent a lot of time. But there’s no certainty as to how permanent that change would be. So as meditators, we’re not here trying to settle old scores or to create justice in the world. We’re trying to figure out what we’re doing that’s contributing to our own suffering. After all, we go to all the effort of thinking and acting and speaking with the purpose of causing happiness, and yet the results don’t always come out that way. In fact, most of the time they come out the other way. We end up causing suffering for ourselves. That’s the big paradox in life. Fortunately, the way we act and speak and think depending on our intentions is something we can change. We...

"As a meditator, you have to be constantly self-reflective — and that’s what appropriate attention [yoniso-manasikāra] is. It keeps focusing you back on your actions and the results you’re getting from them. This is what the four noble truths are all about. You’re suffering? You can’t blame it on the weather. You can’t blame it on the economy. You can’t blame it on the political structure. Those things may be miserable, but you don’t have to be miserable because of them. It’s what you’re doing right now. Now, this is not blaming the victim. It’s giving you the power to change the fact that you may be suffering right now and reminds you that you don’t have to be anybody’s victim, that the important element — i.e., the extent to which you’re suffering over things: That’s under your control. Or you can bring it under your control. This is why this self-reflective ability is so important. It’s what makes or breaks a meditator." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Gift of Discernment...

"You have to be responsible for the skillfulness of your actions. You can’t blame it on your upbringing, you can’t blame it on other things from the past. Now, there are things that you’re likely to do or, through the force of habit, you can’t think of any other way to do them. But as the Buddha said, if people couldn’t develop skillful qualities, then it wouldn’t have served any purpose to teach. If they couldn’t abandon unskillful ones, there’d be no purpose to teaching. But it’s because we have this ability to choose to be more skillful or less skillful: That’s why he taught the Dhamma. So it’s up to you to take advantage of that fact: that the Dhamma is available and you can create some good habits now that will help you in the future. After all, we do have both good and bad qualities in the mind, and our habits tend to push us in one way or another. But the more good habits you develop — by making the right choice right now, right now, right now — the easier it’ll be to make ...

"The source, the mind’s desire for happiness, is where your true responsibilities lie. You want to make sure that that desire is aimed in the right direction, toward a happiness that’s harmless and blameless, a happiness that’s true. As long as you stick with those intentions, you can trust that the ripple effect going out from them will be good for everybody touched by those ripples. So right here is where your responsibility lies." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Look after the Source"

"You can do actions. You can choose to do something that’s more skillful, less blameworthy. And nine times out of ten, the more skillful choice is the obvious one. Maybe not the easiest one, but it’s obvious what’s skillful. There are a few cases where it’s not so obvious, but focus on the ones where it is obvious, and you clear up a lot of problems. As for when the issue is not so obvious, ask yourself why. Is the problem really that complicated?" ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "What You Can Do"

Question: If any unskillful thought arises and you acknowledge it as unskillful, does it still have negative kammic effects? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: No. Question: In other words, does the arising of unskillful thoughts cause bad kamma or is it just our reaction to them? Thanissaro Bhikkhu: It’s our reaction to them that can cause bad kamma. The fact that the thought arises is the result of old kamma. What you do with it is your new kamma. If you simply acknowledge it and it goes away, or if you think skillful thoughts that counteract it and make it go away, then the new kamma is good new kamma. ~ Good Heart, Good Mind: The Practice of the Ten Perfections

"There’s no wrong that goes unpunished, no good that goes unrewarded. That’s simply the way kamma is. Therefore, we don’t have to carry around ledger sheets — which person did this, which person did that — with the fear that if the ledger sheet disappears then that person’s not going to get the retribution he or she deserves. The principle of kamma takes care of that. But remember that it also takes care of you as well." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Story-telling Mind"