Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Karma & Rebirth

"[The Buddha] doesn’t give a complete theory about how everything happens in the world and can be traced back to particular actions. He teaches karma to the extent that it’s useful in getting the mind to be trained so that it can put an end to suffering. That’s as far as his teaching goes, but that’s pretty far. It’s much better than having a map to everything but still suffering. So use these teachings to take you where you want to go because they can take you farther than you can imagine." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Meditation Karma Checklist"

"We do have the power to exert control over our intentions right now. And our intentions do shape our experience of the world around us, the world inside us, at least to some extent: enough to make the difference between suffering and not suffering." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Limits of Control"

"Often we think of the teaching on karma as something deterministic or fatalistic. “I’ve got to suffer because of my past karma,” or, “This had to happen because of past karma.” That puts your whole life out of your control. But when you start playing with the breath, you begin to realize that a lot of the shaping of your present experiences is something you’re doing right now. You improvise it. You cook it up fresh every moment. That puts an element of freedom into your life. What we’re doing as we meditate is to explore this freedom we have right here in the present moment to see how far it goes. As the Buddha said, when you explore this area, that’s when you start learning how to put an end to suffering. That’s the best use of your freedom." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Right Learning"

"Every time we chant the five themes for daily recollection, I’m struck by the contrast between that chant and the one that follows it: “May I be happy.” The themes for recollection are not happy things. We’re subject to aging, subject to illness, subject to death, subject to separation. And even the principle of karma, which is what the Buddha offers as hope in our practice, still sounds pretty onerous. You slip up and you’re going to suffer. And then we chant, “May I be happy.” That contrast right there says a lot about life. We live in a world where there’s a lot of suffering. In addition to the basic suffering that comes from having a body, there are also all the horrible things that people do to one another: killing, stealing, cheating, abusing in one way or another. Yet in the midst of all this, we want happiness. It’s this desire for happiness that underlies the whole practice, coupled with an understanding of karma: Without that understanding, the desire for ...

"There’s a difference between practice for the sake of rebirth, a good rebirth, and practice for the sake of going beyond all rebirth. But there are also some similarities between the two. The Buddha talks about four qualities conducive to a good rebirth — conviction, virtue, generosity, and discernment — and there’s a lot of overlap between that list and the list of factors in the path to the end of suffering, especially in the virtue and the discernment. More basically, there’s overlap in the sense that, as you’re following those four practices that lead to a good rebirth, you’re learning a skill you’ll need on the path: the ability to look at your mind." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Always Observe Your Mind"

"You hear about people who take classes where they say, “Suppose you had only one year left to live, how would you live that final year?” It would be good to have a class that says, “Suppose you really did get reborn and were reborn in line with your actions? How would you live your life differently given that assumption?” That would be good practice, because as the Buddha said, all the awakened ones of the past and present confirm that, Yes, rebirth is a fact." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Rebirth is Relevant"

"You look at your thoughts; you look at your words; you look at your deeds. These are things you can see, and things you can have some power over. You can will yourself to be less harmful. When an idea comes up in the mind, you can decide: “Am I going to continue thinking this idea? Or is it something better to steer clear of?” These are choices you’re making all the time. And the Buddha says you can make them skillfully." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "What You Can Do"