Karma in Buddhism: Its Concepts and Realms

At the beginning of the semester, we were told to pick a specific topic to write our final paper on, the topic I chose was “What roles does Karma play in Buddhism? Who does it affect and how does it affect them in this life, the afterlife, and the next life?” I wanted to start this essay by defining what Karma is. Humphreys states that “The word Karma, or in its neuter form, Karman ( in Pali, Kamma ), is a Sanskrit word from the root kri, meaning to do or to make. Karma is, therefore, doing or making. In the Buddhist tradition, Karma was referred to the actions that were driven by the intentions which lead to future consequences. These intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in samsara and the cycle of rebirth.

Karma plays a major role in mind and actions. Dr. Sandvig stated in his lecture that, “you can have mental karma by just thinking about it, not just what you are but also your thoughts”. What this means is that if someone either thinks or speaks with an evil thought that the pain that's about to occur will follow them. If someone speaks or thinks with pure positive thoughts then happiness will follow them. Actions are another main thing that plays a role in Karma. This semester we talked about two types of actions that go with accidental actions and intentional actions. Accidental actions do not result in karma, these are just nominal actions that really don’t have an impact on the level of karma you have to have a willful intent to do something beneficial or unbeneficial in the world. Intentional actions condition life in the future and ultimately rebirth, what you consciously put out there in the world good or bad have consequences as it unfolds not only in your life but the next life as well. Two more terms that we discussed over the period of this semester is Wholesome and Unwholesome acts.

What establishes good and bad actions in this world or on the other hand known as wholesome and unwholesome acts. Wholesome acts are actions that support positive conditions of the mind and body for the person and by the people that are affected by these actions. Unwholesome acts are one that produces harmful effects that are not helpful to attaining Nirvana. Harming people thereby discourages your ability to reach Nirvana while wholesome actions are things that benefit others and themselves and Both accidental and intentional actions help unfold not only in people's lives but also in their next life as well which is called rebirth. Intentional action conditions the life in the future and ultimately in rebirth.

Good or bad rebirths aren’t simple rewards or punishments. These are just resulting effects of one's conscious character which is molded by the lives of good or bad actions that reflects on how one chooses to act and live. Karma and rebirth should not be seen as a reward or a punishment system because actions are just actions. Buddhism believes that whatever you put out there in the world is what you will get back. What constitutes good and bad actions in the world is otherwise known as wholesome and unwholesome acts. Wholesome actions promote a positive condition of the mind and body for the person There are many things that happen will happen and where you will going when you are reborn.

The realms of Samsara, the five realms of sense desire, and the wheel of life that karma has an effect on in the next life. The first realm where people might end up which is at the bottom of the third is called the Hell Realm. The hell realm is very distasteful, it has a constant state of mental and physical pain. People in hell are being brutalized, they are suffering in the lake of fire and lava. The people who are in this hell realm bodies are burning from this lake and are being eaten by dogs that are in this hell. The main reason why people end up in this realm is because of the unwholesome actions that they have done in their previous life which will result in the next realm of life. Rinpoche says in his article that, “ since he has purified and ceased his negative thought, you will still have your own negative karma to experience. This is similar to what happens in the hell realms, where the ground oneness with fire or swords or molten liquids; or where there are trees whose leaves are like swords going through your body, pointing down as you go up and pointing up as you come down. None of these things have a mind; these experiences are due to your negative karma”. As you can see from this quote that the Hell Realm is for all the negative things or thoughts you had in your first life so because of the wrong you did you will be reborn and suffer the consequences in the next lifetime.

There is a little bit of hope though and the reason that is because since there is no rebirth that is eternal then this realm that people are already in this will not last forever. Since karma has brought people into this stage when this realm is all used up people are able to be reborn into another realm. Anne Waldman states that on page 44, “Hungry Ghost is one of the six realms in the Buddhist wheel of life, a place with literal hunger and also insatiable psychological hunger. It symbolizes for me the bottomless appetite for fossil fuel and the destruction of our planet”. In her poem, she basically talks about hat this realm is basically about people who are attached to earthy conditions. This realm is based on your previous life but also how people are attached to earthly conditions or their wants and needs. These people are constantly craving for things that they are attached to in the other world they were in previously.

Professor Sandvig described the people who were in this world as people who are always hungry and craving for that want or need and they are always trying to eat but are never satisfied. The attachment to earthly conditions allows for the people to be reborn into this earth with a body of subtle matter which is not seen by humans. They are described to have small mouths, big bellies, very skinny, can never be fully satisfied. They go around the human realm trying to eat whatever they can find. The next realm in the next life is called the Animal Realm which is considered not to be as bad as the Hell Realm and Realm of Hungry Ghost but this still isn’t a realm people would like to end up.

Buddhists believe that one will undergo sufferings that are associated with the animal condition which are things such as servitude, stupidity, and ignorance. These are all results of actions that people may have in a previous life so if you are holding onto these notions of ignorance as a whole and your attachment that also have levels of ignorance then you may be reborn into the animal realm. It is also said that some people may actually enjoy being reborn into the animal realm but Buddhists do believe that this is still a sense of suffering and has the inability to reach Nirvana from being in this state. People are able to reach Nirvana though but one has to get to the Human Realm to achieve that goal.

The next realm I will be discussing is the Human Realm. The human realm is the first sense of desire realm where it can be seen as a reward for good karma or wholesome actions. At this point, people can actually reach enlightenment so this realm is actually like a nice spot to be in so that you can reach nirvana. People can reach nirvana in this realm because they're not overwhelmed by the pains and suffering from the lower realms which come from the lower states. People are not attached to the pleasures of the higher heavenly states this is just the middle ground for people. The middle way can be the actual spot where you can gain enlightenment so this is where the moral virtue and wisdom can be cultivated and eventually allow people to gain enlightenment. The higher you go for this sense of realms are you will be in and see the realm of the lower Gods.

These lower gods are noble and intimidating celestial beings. These celestial beings have God-like powers and some of these celestial beings reign over the celestial kingdom and most of them live in a delightful, happy, and splendid life. These lower gods are not completely in a wonderful world they still have a lot of suffering and what not to go through. Buddhists do believe that even though they live in this wonderful place they still have these powers where they belong to the world of suffering. These celestial beings are reborn and have to come back into other lives so this power eventually blinds them to the world of suffering, till they have a sense of pride. Many of these celestial beings have their pride get in the way of their lives which stops them from reaching Nirvana.

Since the lower gods still in a world with suffering there is now these realms of the lower gods that have 6 levels of existence. The first level is the Gandharvas which are celestial beings who can fly in the air and are known as musicians. The second level is the Yakshas which are the good spirits. The third level is the Rakshasas which are the evil spirits. The fourth level is the Hayas which is considered to be just like a serpent that can assume the human form. The fifth level is the Garuda is a bird with human needs. Lastly, the sixth level is the Tusita which is the world protectors, and these are the Gods Of the Vedic religion which is also considered to be the Hindu Gods.

Buddhism believes in this life, the afterlife, and the next life after that which basically means you are born you live your life then you die but your reborn into another life and depending on how you were in your old life will put you where you need to be when you are reborn. Then when you finish living in that life you die and come back again. These realms are where people are able to be reborn into human buddhas. The human buddhas are coming from this realm of the last level which is called Tusita. The lower gods come back into the human form because of the nice zone they are located in and in for them to gain enlightenment to become a Buddha. The Tusita level is where they can gain enough understanding to be reborn into the human Buddhas and is also believed that the next Buddha after Yatama will be Malaya who now resides in the Tusita heavenly realm and when Tusita is ready to come into the next realm of existence the Mitlaya will become the next Buddha.