Chapter 32 Chapter 30 Moral Responsibility

Purity of good and evil, self-inflicted; Self reincarnation, self liberation. —— Dhamma Sutra Is it the creator of karma, or is another being receiving karma in the next life? (1) Some people say that the creator of karma is definitely the recipient of the karma, which is one extreme; some say that the creator is not the recipient of the karma at all, which is another extreme.The Buddha did not agree with these two extremes, but expounded the doctrine of the middle way in terms of causality.Venerable Jueyin wrote in "The Pure Path": "Na ka so na ka anno" (Na ka so na ka anno).Here, we can cite the metamorphosis of butterflies as an example.

The butterfly's initial form is an egg, which then transforms into a tiny caterpillar, which later becomes a chrysalis and finally grows into a butterfly.This process of change occurs within a lifetime.Butterflies are neither equal nor distinct from caterpillars.Here, too, life flows, or continues. Venerable Naxian explained this point with an example of an oil lamp that was lit overnight.The fire on the first night is not the same as the fire on the last night, but the fire burns through the night with the same lamp.For Huo Miao, there is a continuation of life, and each subsequent stage of life depends on its former.

If there is no soul.Will there still be any moral responsibility? (2) I am very sure of that.Because in this development process.has its continuity or commonality, which replaces the same unchanging self. For example, a child grows up to become an adult.The latter is not completely the same as the former, because the cells have been completely changed; however, they are not completely different, because they are the same flow of life.However, as far as a person is concerned, an adult is responsible for everything he did as a child.Whether the stream of life is thus terminated, reborn in other beings, or continues in the same life, the most important factor is this continuity.Suppose a person was A in the previous life and B in this life. With the death of A, the external manifestation of karma, that is, the material body, ceases to exist.With the birth of B, a new physical body was created.Notwithstanding their apparent material changes, the formless stream of consciousness (cittasantati) is not disrupted by death, but carries on with it all the impressions it has received from the tributaries of the senses.From the point of view of traditional habits, does it mean that B does not have to bear responsibility for the deeds of his predecessor A?

It may be objected that, in this case, memory ceases to exist by virtue of death. But is identity, or memory, absolutely essential in measuring moral responsibility? Strictly speaking, neither is important. If a man is about to commit a crime and suddenly loses his memory and forgets about it, shouldn't he be responsible for his actions? His forgetfulness does not absolve him of responsibility for the crime he committed.In this regard, some people may ask: "He himself does not realize that he will be punished for his crime, so what's the point of punishment? What justice is there?"

It is meaningless to say that our life and death are controlled by God. Buddhists believe that just, rational karma acts on its own accord.Buddhists talk about cause and effect, not about gifts and punishments. Bhikkhuni Nisarachera said: "If a person sleepwalks in his sleep, gets out of bed, wanders along the edge of a corridor, falls down and falls on the road below, there is a good chance that he will break an arm or a leg. But this matter This happened not at all as a punishment for his sleepwalker, but only as a consequence. He himself couldn't remember walking out of the hallway, but it didn't make any slight difference in the shape of his fall and broken bones. So Buddhists, Whether in sleep or waking, be alert to yourself not to walk in corridors, or other dangerous places. In this way, he avoids hurting himself, or falling on others and hurting others."

A person's inability to remember what he did in a previous life does not prevent an intellectual understanding of karmic activity.It is the understanding of the absolute existence of karma that helps to forge the character of a Buddhist in this life in the Saha world. [Note] (1) "The Sutra of Questions by Nalanda", Volume 1, page 111; "Buddhism and Science", written by Dr. Dahak, page 64. (2) See AD Jayalundaro, "Anatta and Moral Responsibility", Mahabodhi Magazine, Issue 41, p. 93.