Heaven, Hell and Karma -- Part 1

Performing an on-line serach on the Pali Canon for niraya or the name for Buddhist hell revealed the word appearing over five-hundred times. The Buddhist hell is often mentioned in tandem with heaven, and a prototypical passage can be found in the Cula-Kammavibhanga Sutta (Ñanamoli Thera’s translation):

Here, student, some woman or man is a killer of living beings, murderous, bloody-handed, given to blows and violence, merciless to living beings. Due to having performed and completed such kammas, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a state of deprivation, in an unhappy destination, in perdition, in hell.

But here some woman or man, having abandoned the killing of living beings, abstains from killing living beings, lays aside the rod and lays aside the knife, is considerate and merciful and dwells compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. Due to having performed and completed such kammas, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination, in the heavenly world.

This passage is a representative example of the retributive portrayal of karma that lies throughout the Pali canon. Here the passage clearly promulgates the fear of hell and the promise of heaven as a primitive means of controlling people’s behavior through reward or punishment.

The main objection I have of such a notion of karma, besides the rather demeaning undertone that seems to regard people as mere animals to be goaded the correct way, is that a person is either deterred or motivated to commit an action only because of their own selfish interest and not the concern or interest of others who may be hurt or benefitted from such actions.

What such a naïve morality does is devalue the act itself by emphasizing the result. Even the most wholesome actions of joyful giving and the practice of loving-kindness are not valued in ends-in-themselves but merely means to gain the reward of going to heaven (again taken from the Cula-Kammavibhanga Sutta with Ñanamoli Thera’s translation):

"But here some woman or man is a giver of food, drink, cloth, sandals, perfumes, unguents, bed, roof and lighting to monks and brahmins. Due to having performed and completed such kamma, on the dissolution of the body, after death, he reappears in a happy destination in the heavenly world.”

In direct contrast to the Buddha’s encouragement of compassion, which by its very definition is the feeling with others, such teachings of retributive karma result in a mitigation of a focus on others while increasing the focus on a greater sense of self – a sense of me and mine which the Buddha, again and again, preached against as obstacles on the path.

In my opinion the Buddha emphasized such beneficial acts of loving kindness and giving, not for the sake of achieving heaven or avoiding hell, but to allow one to experience glimpses of selflessness; an experience which helps to break down selfish tendencies and not conflate them. Giving and loving kindness is ultimately an experience where we begin to notice not just ourselves but others as well.

When the simplistic notion of karma and rebirth is understood from a cosmological stand point, it has the tendency to impoverish the more subtle, refined notion of karma which emphasizes the cause and effect of not just one’s self but the cause and effect such actions has on others.

The Ambalatthika-rahulovada Sutta explains this more refined notion of karma (translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu) with a conversation of the Buddha and his young son who had just joined the Sangha:

"What do you think, Rahula: What is a mirror for?"

"For reflection, sir."

"In the same way, Rahula, bodily actions, verbal actions, & mental actions are to be done with repeated reflection."

"Whenever you want to do a bodily action, you should reflect on it: 'This bodily action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both? Would it be an unskillful bodily action, with painful consequences, painful results?'"

"Whenever you want to do a verbal action, you should reflect on it: 'This verbal action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both?'"

"Whenever you want to do a mental action, you should reflect on it: 'This mental action I want to do — would it lead to self-affliction, to the affliction of others, or to both?'"

"Thus, Rahula, you should train yourself: 'I will purify my bodily actions through repeated reflection. I will purify my verbal actions through repeated reflection. I will purify my mental actions through repeated reflection.' That's how you should train yourself."

Here in this beautiful passage the Buddha does not chide his son with promises of heaven or hell, put points out how one should behave ethically by contemplating the effects of one’s actions to their self and others.

Such a view emphasizes the responsibility and power we have for our own destiny and the positive or negative influence we can have on the destinies of others. By seeing karma as a web of interactions is to realize that our existence is intrinsically tied up with the people around us; all of us are subtly impacting one another all the time. To me this is the essential foundation of the Buddhist view of ethics; an ethics based on intelligence and consideration and not one that espouses the fear of punishment or the promise of reward.