When we say that whatever we do intentionally is Kamma, what
The stream of consciousness just keeps flowing on, every moment and act contributing further to it and changing it endlessly. Of course wholesome events change it positively!
You recall an event years and tears ago despite you having made attempts to forget about it because of this reason. We are the result of all our past actions, good and bad, we are the heirs of our kamma! You may understand now why it is said that kamma no matter how 'latent' will come to fruition when the conditions are right. When the condition for your thought to appear is there, your thought appeared! Dreams included!
To determine whether an action is 'good or evil', right or wrong, Buddhist ethics takes into account three components involved in a kammic action.
The first is the intention that motivates the action,
the second is the effect the doer experiences consequent to the action,
and the third is the effect that others experience as a result of that action.
If the intention is good, rooted in positive mental qualities such as love, compassion, and wisdom, if the result to the doer is wholesome (for instance, it helps him or her to become more compassionate and unselfish), and if those to whom the action is directed also experience a positive result
thereof, then that action is good, wholesome, or skillful.
If, on the other hand, the action is rooted in negative mental qualities such as hatred and selfishness, if the outcome experienced by the doer is negative and unpleasant, and if the recipients of the action also experience undesirable effects from the action or become more hateful and selfish, then that action is unwholesome or unskillful.
Short of an enlightened being, most of our actions is a mixture of wholesome and unwholesome intentions, eg even with an act of donation, many people do it because they think that it will result in some gain to the person. Hardly is anyone purely altruistic as our Ego is strong. Only in the enlightened being's consciousness is the false Ego seen to be what it is, only in this hallowed state will one's actions be truly freed of any selfish intent.
Hence for us unenlightened beings, our intention is first and foremost, for that is what creates kamma. A wholesome intention may as you note occasionally result in undesired results and this may be due to a lack of wisdom, eg being conned by some indisciplined monk.
Or an action which as you put is done for what appears a good cause but is in truth to booster one's own ego or image is basically a mixture of wholesome and unwholesome.... only the doer knows which is more and primary!
Hence things are Not black or white but many shades in between... hence the guidelines for our behaviour. That is why Kamma is VERY complex, because our thoughts and intentions is even more so...
Cause and effect is impersonal, impartial and unchanging. We drop a glass cup and it breaks no matter who we are. Everything that comes to be, came about because of causes and conditions that are ceaselessly changing. In turn at every moment in time, our respond to the present conditions, changes it again, hence our path, our destinations and our lives are in our hands based on what we do at every moment. We create our kamma at every moment in time by changing it minutely moment to moment. There is NO predestination or Fate for at every moment our destination or fate is adjusted, fine tuned by our acts in respond to the present.
SELFISHNESS and SUFFERING
Kamma acts through time, and thus the full effects of one’s thoughts and deeds may not become manifest until some time or even years later. In some cases, it may even ripen Lives later!
One important aspect of kamma is that selfishness results in suffering for the selfish party in proportion to the amount of unwholesomeness that has been committed. Conversely, love, compassion and other virtuous states of mind create proportionate amounts of happiness and emotional well-being.
Thus we find in Buddhism no eternal punishment or eternal reward, but rather happiness and sorrow in proportion to one’s own thoughts and actions.
Bad kamma is like salt, we can dilute it in lots of water- Good Kamma. But we are all owners of our OWN Kamma, no one can take it away for us... we can only dilute it with lots of Good Kamma by our OWN deeds.
"If one with a wicked Mind
Speaks or acts
Because of that, SUFFERING follows one
EVEN AS THE WHEEL FOLLOWS THE HOOF OF AN OX. ....
If one with a pure Mind
Speaks or acts
Because of that, HAPPINESS follows one
EVEN AS ONE'S SHADOW THAT NEVER LEAVES."
Every word of the Buddha is precious, every simile profound.
Let us think of an ox pulling a cart.... there is not a moment's reprise from the burden that it drags along. Be it bright or dark, night or day, a good road or a pot-holed track, the burden of pain and suffering is ever present until the load is finally unyoked. Whether walking or standing, the weight of the cart is ever present, the only difference being the degree of the pain and suffering.
When we act unwisely from impure volition, the suffering that results is PRECISELY like that. It never lives us, we may stand still and have temporary lessening of the burden, but it is still firmly yoked to us. On a good road, the load may feel easier to bear while on a bad track, the pain is many fold more.
Now let us consider a shadow.... it is weightless, we do not even feel its presence. The actions resulting from a pure intent results in good kamma which follows us weightlessly; we MAY NOT EVEN BE CONSCIOUS OF IT!
Let us ask ourselves as to when a shadow is most prominent?
It is obviously in conditions of bright light, and as we go to a shade or a dark room, the shadow disappears.
Are we creating the conditions for our good kamma to arise, for these seeds to bloom in the sunshine of positive conditions or do we create a perpetual haze of dark clouds from our greed, hatred and ignorance, never allowing our good seeds to arise? Even the best seeds need the right soil, sunshine and water to flourish. And a shadow will return as soon as we are in the light NO MATTER how long it had been "missing" while we wallow in the dark!
We are all dragging along our cartloads of suffering and our weightless shadows.... we complain endlessly about our burdens as it is distinctly felt, and we fail to appreciate our shadows.
Let us work to lessen our defilements, that being the way to lessen our burden and create the brightest environment for our good seeds to flourish.
And in doing so we also create a smooth road that will hopefully help us to bear with the load that we all inevitably carry from the past. And we can only do it for ourselves by ourselves, NO ONE can do it for us.
