In Buddhism, Karma is not pre-determinism, fatalism or
accidentalism, as all these ideas lead to inaction and destroy
motivation and human effort that a human being can change for the
better no matter what his or her past was and are designated as
"wrong view" in Buddhism.
1. Pubbekatahetuvada: The belief that all happiness and suffering
arise from previous karma (Past-action determinism).
2. Issaranimmanahetuvada: The belief that all happiness and
suffering are caused by the directives of a Supreme Being (Theistic
determinism).
3. Ahetu-apaccayavada: The belief that all happiness and suffering
are random, having no cause (Indeterminism or Accidentalism).
"Bhikkhus, adhering to
previously done kamma as the essence, there are neither motivation
nor effort with what should be done and what should not be done ...
Not upholding ardently what should be done, nor abandoning what
should be abandoned, those ascetics and Brahmins are as if deluded,
lacking a control, incapable of having any true teaching.
(Buddha)
In Buddhism, Karma is simply there as a guide and an indication of
what your present is and how one's future can be made better by
self effort, otherwise, fatalism and pre-determinism is the
anti-thesis of the notion of perfection or self-conquest - which is
the primary aim of Buddhism.
The Buddha asserts effort and motivation as the crucial factors in
deciding the ethical value of these various teachings on
kamma.(P.A. Payutto).
In the story of the Indra's Net, the light that streams back and
forth throughout the display is the analogy of karma. The word
"karma" does not mean anything like "the result of a past good or
bad action." "Karma" refers to an action, or, more
specifically, to an intentional action, and the Buddhist theory
holds that every karma (every intentional action) will bear karmic
fruit (produce an effect somewhere down the line).
Volitional acts drive the universe. The consequences of this view
often confound our ordinary expectations -- much in the way quantum
physics has results that are strongly counterintuitive.
Therefore, karma is a conditioning factor, not a pre-determining
factor. It can be changed and transformed according to human will
(cetanaa) in relation with the agent's conditions and efforts as
well as his surroundings, whether material, spiritual, educational,
cultural, or social.
Kamma is neither fatalism nor a doctrine of
predetermination. The past influences the
present but does not dominate it, for Kamma
is past as well as present. The past and
present influence the future. The past is
a background against which life goes on
from moment to moment. The future is
yet to be. Only present moment exists
and the responsibility of using the present
moment for good or for ill lies with each
individual.
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/karma.htm
Refuting the erroneous view that "whatsoever fortune or
misfortune experienced is all due to some previous action", the
Buddha said:
"So, then, according to this view, owing to previous action men
will become murderers, thieves, unchaste, liars, slanderers,
covetous, malicious and perverts. Thus, for those who fall back on
the former deeds as the essential reason, there is neither the
desire to do, nor effort to do, nor necessity to do this deed, or
abstain from this deed."
It was this important text, which states the belief that all
physical circumstances and mental attitudes spring solely from past
Karma that Buddha contradicted. If the present life is totally
conditioned or wholly controlled by our past actions, then
certainly Karma is tantamount to fatalism or determinism or
predestination. If this were true, free will would be an absurdity.
Life would be purely mechanistic, not much different from a
machine. Being created by an Almighty God who controls our
destinies and predetermines our future, or being produced by an
irresistible Karma that completely determines our fate and controls
our lifes course, independent of any free action on our part, is
essentially the same. The only difference lies in the two words God
and Karma. One could easily be substituted for the other, because
the ultimate operation of both forces would be identical.
Such a fatalistic doctrine is not the Buddhist law of Karma.
According to Buddhism, there are five orders or processes (niyama)
which operate in the physical and mental realms.
They are:
1. Utu Niyama - physical inorganic order, e.g. seasonal phenomena
of winds and rains. The unerring order of seasons, characteristic
seasonal changes and events, causes of winds and rains, nature of
heat, etc., all belong to this group.
2. Bija Niyama - order of germs and seeds (physical organic order),
e.g. rice produced from rice-seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane or
honey, peculiar characteristics of certain fruits, etc. The
scientific theory of cells and genes and the physical similarity of
twins may be ascribed to this order.
3. Karma Niyama - order of act and result, e.g., desirable and
undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. As
surely as water seeks its own level so does Karma, given
opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a
reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of
deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun
and the moon.
4. Dhamma Niyama - order of the norm, e.g., the natural phenomena
occurring at the advent of a Bodhisattva in his last birth.
Gravitation and other similar laws of nature. The natural reason
for being good and so forth, may be included in this group.
5. Citta Niyama - order or mind or psychic law, e.g., processes of
consciousness, arising and perishing of consciousness, constituents
of consciousness, power of mind, etc., including telepathy,
telaesthesia, retro-cognition, premonition, clairvoyance,
clairaudience, thought-reading and such other psychic phenomena
which are inexplicable to modern science.
Every mental or physical phenomenon could be explained by these
all-embracing five orders or processes which are laws in
themselves. Karma as such is only one of these five orders. Like
all other natural laws they demand no lawgiver.
Of these five, the physical inorganic order and the order of the
norm are more or less mechanistic, though they can be controlled to
some extent by human ingenuity and the power of mind. For example,
fire normally burns, and extreme cold freezes, but man has walked
scatheless over fire and meditated naked on Himalayan snows;
horticulturists have worked marvels with flowers and fruits; Yogis
have performed levitation. Psychic law is equally mechanistic, but
Buddhist training aims at control of mind, which is possible by
right understanding and skilful volition. Karma law
operates quite automatically and, when the Karma is powerful, man
cannot interfere with its inexorable result though he may desire to
do so; but here also right understanding and skilful volition can
accomplish much and mould the future. Good Karma, persisted in, can
thwart the reaping of bad Karma, or as some Western scholars prefer
to say action influence, is certainly an intricate law whose
working is fully comprehended only by a Buddha. The Buddhist aims
at the final destruction of all Karma.
