Dear Yong Peng and friends,
op 05-09-2003 13:17 schreef Ong Yong Peng op ypong001@...:
Beings reborn in pure lands may not have

> reached the stage of anagami yet, however pure land is a place where
> no new kamma would be created, hence achieving the result of non-
> returning.

N: According to the Theravada tradition, anagamis still perform kamma which
bring result. We read in Buddhist Dictionary, Ven. Nyanatiloka: <Now, a
being through the disappearing of the five lower fetters (sa.myojana)
reappears in a higher world (amongs the devas of the 'pure abodes'
suddhaavaasa) and without returning from that world (into the Sensuous
Spere) he there reaches Nirvana> Thus, he is not reborn in a sensuous plane,
but still performs kamma in that higher plane.
Only the arahat does not perform any new kamma, although he still receives
results of former kammas for the remainder of his lifespan. That is why the
arahat has, instead of kusala citta, mahaakiriyacitta. Kiriyacitta is
inoperative, it does not bring result.
Y: Furthermore, the heavenly realm anagamis reside in is still within

> the samsaric realm, which is a result of the collective karma of all
> sentient beings in that realm/world.

N: I have heard the word collective kamma before, but we read in the Suttas
time and again that the Buddha explained that beings are heirs to their own
kamma, kamma is the womb from which they are born. Kammassakata ~naa.na,
knowing kamma as one's own (saka) is clearly seen by insight knowledge,
vipassana ~naa.na. According to Theravada tradition there is no collective
kamma. This makes sense to me, because kamma is accumulated by each
individual in the cycle, va.t.ta. Kamma is mental, it is intention, and thus
it can be accumulated from moment to moment, from life to life.
There are people who are born in a country where there is hunger and war, or
people who are together in a accident. It may seem that they receive the
same result, but in reality this is not so. There are different moments of
pain, seeing, hearing, all results of kamma. A person may feel the pain of
hunger but the next moment he may hear a pleasant sound. All different
moments of vipaka and they cannot be the same for a group of people. There
are also different intensities of vipaka.
Instead of thinking of a whole situation of people, or groups of people who
receive vipaka, we should analyse different moments of citta, then we come
closer to reality. People react differently to the result they receive. Some
people react with kusala citta, others with aversion, with akusala citta.
The reason is that people have accumulated different inclinations, and
different defilements, kilesas. In the commentary it is explained that there
are three cycles: the cycle of kamma, the cycle of vipaka and the cycle of
kilesa. Kilesa motivates again kamma and this produces again vipaka and this
conditions again kilesa, and so we go on and on. Thus the three cycles keep
turning around in our lives.
Nina.