“You cannot get rid of the past kamma, but you can run away from it by never coming back and be reborn again.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

30 September 2024

“You cannot get rid of the past kamma, but you can run away from it by never coming back and be reborn again.”

Question: "I'm curious about the meaning of kamma."

Than Ajahn:  "‘Kamma’ means the three actions that you perform today, yesterday, and previous lives. 

These actions are the actions of the body, actions of the speech, and actions of the mind, which is thinking. 

The actions of the mind is the master; it’s the one that directs the actions of the speech and actions of the body. If you can control the actions of the mind, then you will be able to control the actions of the speech and actions of the body. In order to be able to control your kamma, you need to have mindfulness and wisdom. If you have mindfulness and wisdom, you can stop your mind from generating kammas that have bad consequences. 

You can stop the kammas that will send you to be reborn again and again."

……….

Question: "Is there anything we can do to get rid of our bad kamma?"

Than Ajahn:  "No, you cannot get rid of the past kamma, but you can run away from it by never coming back and be reborn again. Like Venerable Aṅgulimala, he killed 999 people, but once he became an Arahant, he does not come back and be reborn again. 

So, all of his bad kammas in the past will not be able to bear upon him. If he happens to return and be reborn again, he will probably have to pay those kammas by being killed by other people. But he has reached the point where he no longer has to be reborn, so the past kammas no longer bear fruit for him."

Q&A. May 31, 2017

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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