No.258 - The kamma that affects us is to be born.

“The kamma that affects us is to be born.”

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Question:  When there are natural disasters like tsunami or flood, there are a lot of people died and lost their property, but there are also people who lived in the same area survived. Is this because of kamma? 

Than Ajahn:  No, as far as natural occurrences, it has nothing to do with kamma. It just happens. It happens due to the interaction of the 4 elements – the earth, water, fire and wind. When they interact, they can cause storms, and they can cause earthquakes. If you happened to be in that place, you would be affected by it. If you were in a different place, you wouldn’t be affected by it. So, it is not kamma.

The kamma that affects us is to be born. If we weren’t born, we won’t be affected by natural occurrences. And the cause of our kamma is our desires or our cravings. These cravings push us to come and be born into this world. Once we were born, our body will have to live with the natural occurrences. Sometimes we have to face the storms. Sometimes we have to face the floods. Sometimes we have to face the droughts. These natural occurrences were already there, whether we were there or not. If we happened to go to that place when the natural disaster occurrs, then we will have to experience it. So, our kamma is to be born. If we weren’t born, we don’t have to face all these occurrences.

“Dhamma in English, Jul 4, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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