The answer to Seven Across in the 22 November Mini Crossword in the New York Times was “KARMA.” The clue was “Concept of universal justice.” Doubtless not everyone would agree that the answer is an appropriate response to the clue. Any thoughts?
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Kamma (Pali) is cause and effect which acts not only on a physical, but also a mental level. The first stage of right view in the noble eightfold path is belief in kamma, and it is therefore fundamental to the whole practice that when wholesome or unwholesome thoughts or actions are performed, there is a corresponding result. Some of these results (vipaka) are observable in this lifetime, and to consolidate understanding of right view observation of the action of kamma should be undertaken.
Relevant text:
[1] "Of those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the forerunner? One discerns wrong view as wrong view, and right view as right view. This is one’s right view. And what is wrong view? ‘There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no contemplatives or brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.’ This is wrong view.
"And what is right view? Right view, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions [of becoming]; there is right view that is noble, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path.
“And what is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions? ‘There is what is given, what is offered, what is sacrificed. There are fruits & results of good & bad actions. There is this world & the next world. There is mother & father. There are spontaneously reborn beings; there are contemplatives & brahmans who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.’ This is the right view with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in acquisitions.” —Majhima Nikaya 117
Here Bikkhu Bodhi is explaining this text about the two levels of right view, beginning at 15.11. Mundane right view is connected with lay life, where the goal is acquisitions both physical and spiritual, and the ambition is rebirth in a fortunate destination. In Bikkhu Bodhi’s book “In the Buddha’s Words,” the chapters and relevant suttas are divided into those relevant to lay life, and those for aspirants with the goal of nibbana. In the course of the talk he mentions Ven. Nanamoli, and that relates to his background as an author as part of a group of western monks living in Sri Lanka who translated the foundation works of western Buddhism. MN 117 is unique and particularly relevant to western Buddhists who have nibbana as a goal because it indicates that is available to those “developing” the path and is not exclusive to arahants (23 m). A description of how the “establishment” of the linear path leads to its functional cyclic operation called “development” is discussed at 34 m.
If intention is the seed and kamma the fruit, then indeed perhaps all we have done is skipped ahead to a the arising of another conditioned form. And yet…
Denying the seed its germination, the fruit never appears, and in that very negation, kamma is indeed only intention, restrained. The kamma of mindful restraint is part of all our shared practice. And that mindful intention does bear indeed bear fruit in extinguishment. Relishing is the root of suffering. Intending to not relish is the escape.
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I think we are overly using the word intetion. As the english word intention has another synonyms called volition. we interchange this word for cetna.
But volition is different from intention. volition is matured intention. and itention is prior state of volition.
Now buddhist term cetna can be applied to both … but the kamma is only matured ietntion or volition.
Otherwise there will not be any end . and no nibbana… because inetntion rise unconsciouly but can be prevented to get matured into vitaka , vicara, chanda ,adhimokkha.
I remember reading that according to Sautrantika philosophy, intention (cetana) alone is not karma, even it is not mind action (manokarma), because according to the sutta quoted above, intention should be done with mind, speech, and bodily action or karma. But according to the proponents of Abhidharma (Vaibhasika), intention itself is a kind of mind karma.
That’s why there is a passage in Jains text which ridiculed Buddhist concept of karma with saying that according to Buddhist, if one accidentally kills a living being because of thinking it is not a living being, he is free of bad karma consequence (he doesn’t have intention to kill a living being).
Just fyi…
Kamma works like money, sometimes you need to spend money to get more money/profit.