Javana and the ripening of kamma

What kamma is, and what it is not

In Lesson 4 we learned that “volition is kamma”. Kamma therefore means intentional action — not the “result” one receives. In everyday Thai people say “it's his kamma” to mean bad luck, but in Abhidhamma terms what one receives is vipāka (result); kamma is the cause that was made.

Kamma occurs through three doors: bodily kamma, verbal kamma and mental kamma. Thinking with ill will, even without saying or doing anything, is already mental kamma. Actions without intention, such as unknowingly stepping on an ant, are not the kamma of killing.

Kamma is made at javana, and ripens at different times

As we saw in Lesson 9, the seven javana moments in one process are of the same type but differ in strength and in when they ripen. The first javana has no accumulated momentum yet, the last is running out of force, and the middle ones are the strongest.

Four kinds of kamma by function

Kamma does not work alone; kammas work together like the different factors that affect a single tree.

• Productive kamma (janaka) — produces results, both rebirth-linking consciousness and results during life, like a seed.
• Supportive kamma (upatthambhaka) — produces no result of its own, but strengthens the results of other kamma, for better or worse, like fertiliser and water.
• Obstructive kamma (upapīḷaka) — weakens the results of other kamma, like pests, as when someone born into a good family is in poor health all their life.
• Destructive kamma (upaghātaka) — cuts off the results of other kamma completely and gives its own result instead, like an axe felling a tree (compare death by destructive kamma in Lesson 10).

Four kinds of kamma by order of ripening

Near death, many kammas are waiting to produce rebirth; the stronger gets its chance first, as in the cattle-pen simile of Lesson 10.

• Weighty wholesome kamma is jhāna (sublime wholesome consciousness): one who attains jhāna and does not lose it is reborn in the Brahmā world.
• Weighty unwholesome kamma is the five heinous crimes (anantariya-kamma): killing one's mother, killing one's father, killing an arahant, wounding a Buddha so that blood flows, and causing a schism in the Saṅgha — and also fixed wrong view (niyata-micchādiṭṭhi), wrong view so entrenched that it denies kamma and its results.

Four kinds of kamma by the plane where it ripens

The last group of the fourfold kamma divides kamma by level, ripening in different planes (the planes are detailed in Lesson 12).

• Unwholesome kamma — produces rebirth in the woeful planes, and undesirable results in other planes.
• Sense-sphere wholesome kamma — produces rebirth as a human or in the six deva heavens.
• Fine-material wholesome kamma (form jhāna) — produces rebirth among the form Brahmās.
• Immaterial wholesome kamma (formless jhāna) — produces rebirth among the formless Brahmās.

The ten wholesome courses of action, and the factors of kamma

The wholesome courses of action mirror the unwholesome ones in Lesson 5. Bodily, 3: abstaining from killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Verbal, 4: abstaining from lying, divisive speech, harsh speech and idle chatter. Mental, 3: non-covetousness, non-ill-will and right view.

A course of action is “complete” only when all its factors are present. According to the commentaries, killing has five factors: a living being, knowledge that it is a living being, the intention to kill, the effort to kill, and the being's death through that effort. If any factor is missing it is still unwholesome kamma, but not a complete course of action.

What makes kamma heavy or light?

The commentaries explain that the same deed can be heavier or lighter depending on several factors: the virtue of the one affected, the strength of the defilement and intention, and the effort involved. Giving to the virtuous bears more fruit, and harming those who have been good to us is more serious.

In the Loṇaka Sutta the Buddha says that if a lump of salt is put into a small cup of water, the water becomes too salty to drink; but the same lump in the river Ganges does not make the water salty. A small wrong done by someone undeveloped in body, virtue, mind and wisdom may ripen heavily, while the same wrong done by someone well developed ripens only lightly. Kamma is not a one-to-one calculation.

Examples from the Cūḷakammavibhaṅga Sutta

The young brahmin Subha asks why human beings differ so much. The Buddha answers in pairs, showing which kind of kamma tends to lead to which result.

• Killing → short life · Abstaining from killing, with kindness → long life
• Harming beings → much illness · Not harming → good health
• Irritability → ugliness · Not being irritable → beauty
• Envy → little influence · No envy → great influence
• Not giving → poverty · Giving → wealth
• Arrogance, not honouring those worthy of honour → low birth · Humility → high birth
• Not asking the wise what is good and bad → little wisdom · Asking the wise → great wisdom

Not everything is the result of past kamma

In the Sīvaka Sutta the Buddha says that feelings have many causes: bile, phlegm, wind, their combination, change of climate, careless behaviour, assault, and the results of kamma. Believing that “everything is due to past kamma” goes beyond the truth. In the Titthāyatana Sutta he also points out that this view leaves people with no motivation to do good now.

The Buddha also called the results of kamma one of the four “imponderables” (acinteyya) — things not to be speculated about excessively, because they are too complex to calculate. What deserves attention is our present intention, which is in our hands.

Common misunderstandings

• “Kamma is a predetermined fate.” — No. New kamma is made at every javana, and new good kamma can support or obstruct the results of old kamma.
• “Doing good must bring good results immediately.” — Not necessarily. Kamma ripens at different times and may be obstructed by other kamma, but good kamma does not disappear until its opportunity has passed.
• “A ceremony can erase past kamma.” — No. In the Aṅgulimāla Sutta, even after becoming an arahant, Aṅgulimāla still experienced some results of past kamma, such as being struck by stones. What truly changes the results of kamma is new kamma and liberation from the round.
• “People suffer because of their own kamma, so there's no need to help.” — No. The teaching on kamma is for examining ourselves, not for judging others. Helping those in difficulty out of compassion is our own wholesome kamma.
• “Accidentally doing something is just as bad.” — No. Without intention there is no course of action, though repeated carelessness is something to be wary of.