Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Karma & Rebirth

"What’s actually going on in this mind-body complex? And what possibilities do you have of actually making a difference? Again, this gets into that question of what you’re responsible for and what you’re not. You are responsible for your perceptions, the labels you put on things, how you think about things, how you focus: That’s something you can do something about. As you work with the pains in the body, sometimes you find there are things you can’t do anything about. So you learn how to accept it as really strong past karma. And your willingness to learn that lesson: That’s present karma. That’s something that’s up to you. So the whole meditation is an extended lesson in that one question: What are you responsible for and what are you not? As you learn these lessons in the meditation, you can apply them to the rest of your life as well." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Range of Our Responsibility"

"Start with this simple intention, “May all beings be happy.” Now, you’re not expecting that all beings will be happy, but you want to make sure that at least from your quarter there’s no danger for any beings at all. You’re setting your intentions straight. And that’s really all you can be responsible for." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Right Attitudes"

"So always remember that you’re not just sitting here on the receiving end of the world. You’re actually generating your experience, you’re taking in potentials that come from the past and you’re creating your experience of the world — every time you look, every time you listen, every time you deal with the senses in any way. Every time you move the body, every time you speak, with every thought: You’re a producer, you’re a creator, you’re a put-together-er. In this way, you shape your life. This is one of the reasons why when the Buddha talks about harming yourself, it’s not hitting yourself or killing yourself or anything like that. It’s actually killing other people, stealing from other people, lying to them, having illicit sex with them, taking intoxicants. You harm yourself in these ways, because the part of you that’s the karma-creator creating lots of bad stuff is going to have an impact on your experience now and on into the future. In the same way, he said, w...

"You can think of situations in which people are trying to force you to do something that’s unskillful, and they’re going to punish you if you don’t. If you refuse, you have to put up with the punishment. But at least you’ve preserved the quality of your intention, and you have to believe in that. You have to have faith in that. In the long term, it’s going to be for the good. Because what you do now, of course, is what’ll create influences now and on into the future. Sometimes the influences are not immediately all that visible, but they will have influence in the future. It’s because of this principle that we’re training the mind. This is why we meditate. We may be coming to meditation for other reasons, but when you meditate for the long term, though, this is why you stay: You realize that the quality of your intentions shapes your life, so you have to look into the quality of your mind in the present moment. We’re trying to bring the mind to the breath to give it an anchor in...

"The reflection on how all living beings are the owners of their actions is meant to induce samvega — realizing that wherever you might go in the cosmos, even in the deva realms, kamma still reigns. There’s no place anywhere where you can come to the end of having to keep on making the effort to act skillfully unless you make it to nibbāna ." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Reflection on Kamma"

"Most often we go through the world, looking not at our own actions but at what other people are doing, and then we react. We feel that our reaction is a natural response, built into the way things are: When people do outrageous things, we feel we’re bound to get angry. But as the Buddha said, whether they’re outrageous or not, your reaction is still your kamma. You have to look at it that way. So you have to ask yourself, “What kind of action would be skillful in a case like this?” It’s not the first thought that often comes to us. When you look around at the world, it’s hard to say, “It’s a wonderful world, everything’s fine, therefore I’m going to be good.” You have to realize that, ok, even though the world is a mess, and people are doing all kinds of horrible things to make it messier, still, for your own sake, you have to ask yourself, “What kind of actions can I do right now that would lead to good long-term results?” That’s what you’re responsible for, and that’s what y...

Autonomous Good Karma , short morning talk November 16, 2015. Okay, focus on your breath. You might say there are lots of other things in the world that need attention right now, but the primary thing for each of us is to attend to our own minds: make sure our minds are in good shape, so that as we engage in the world, we’re not going to be adding more danger to the world, not be adding more of a mess to the world. After all, our actions are what shape the world, and where do our actions come from? They come from inside. Other people’s actions come from their minds. Try as we may to have a good influence on them, it doesn’t always work. But we can influence our own minds, so focus there first. Get your own mind in shape, and then from there if you come out into the world and see something you can do, something you can help with, you’re coming from a much better place. All too often, people who meditate are accused of being irresponsible in the face of all the troubles of the world. Wel...