I have this weird theory that karma is actually the currency to purchase jhana. So according to this theory it is actually impossible to attain jhana or enlightenment without a huge amount of positive or good karma.
If thatâs the case how could murderer like angulimala attain arahantship faster than ven ananda who ordained earlier than him ?
Maybe he was a better person in the previous life? Maybe his job was to punish wrongdoers? Could it be? You know that we have lived a million lives prior to this, right?
Thatâs a good argument
But Angulimala was a poor too so why do you think he had more merits in past life compared to ven Ananda a cousin of Buddha ?
And do you think all we experience are the result of kamma ?
OK maybe I was wrong but how do they know he attained arahatship faster?
I am not saying you are wrong itâs possible that you are right while I am wrong
Itâs just my assumption that ven Ananda ordained earlier based on vinaya
SuttaCentral
Then Bhaddiya the Sakyan chieftain and Anuruddha and Änanda and Bhagu and Kimbila and Devadatta with UpÄli the barber as the seventh, as they had often previously gone out to a ground in a pleasure grove with a fourfold army, so did they (now) go out with a fourfold army. Having gone far, having sent back the army, having passed into other territory, having taken off their ornaments, having tied them up into a bundle with their upper robes, they spoke thus to UpÄli the barber: âCome, good UpÄli, return, this will be enough for your livelihood.â Then it occurred to UpÄli the barber as he was going back: âThe Sakyans are fierce. Thinking: âThis one has made the young men come forth,â they may even kill me. But if these young Sakyan men will go forth from home into homelessness, why should not I?âHaving loosened the bundle, having hung the goods up on a tree, and having said: âWhoever sees it, it is given (to him), These young Sakyan men saw UpÄli the barber coming in the distance; having seen him, then spoke thus to UpÄli the barber: âWhy have you, good UpÄli, returned?â
âNow, it occurred to me, young gentlemen, as I was going back, âThe Sakyans are fierce ⌠they may even kill me. But if these young Sakyan men will go forth from home into homelessness, why should not I?â So I, young gentlemen, having loosened the bundle ⌠â⌠let him take it,â returned again from there.â
âYou did well, good UpÄli, in that you did not go back. The Sakyans are fierce ⌠they might even have killed you.â Then these young Sakyan men, taking UpÄli the barber, approached the Lord; having approached, having greeted the Lord, they sat down at a respectful distance. As they were sitting down at a respectful distance, these young Sakyan men spoke thus to the Lord:
âWe, Lord, are Sakyans, we are proud. Lord, this barber, UpÄli, has been our attendant for a long time. May the Lord let him go forth first. We will greet him, rise up before him, salute him with joined palms, and do the proper duties. Thus will the Sakyan pride be humbled in us Sakyans.â Then the Lord let UpÄli the barber go forth first, and afterwards these young Sakyan men. Then the venerable Bhaddiya within one year realised the threefold knowledge, the venerable Anuruddha obtained deva-sight, the venerable Änanda realised the fruit of stream attainment, Devadatta acquired ordinary psychic power.
So these 6 sakyan princes ordained with the Buddha including devadatta and ananda
And even if angulimala ordained much earlier ven Ananda still takes longer time to get arahantship as only at h-1 before the first Buddhist council ven Ananda gained arahantship referring to vinaya
SuttaCentral
They then spent the first month doing repairs. Venerable Änanda thought, It would not be proper for me to go to the assembly tomorrow if Iâm still a trainee.â And after spending most of the night with mindfulness directed to the body, early in the morning he bent over to lie down. In the interval between his feet coming off the ground and his head hitting the pillow his mind was freed from the corruptions without grasping.And Venerable Änanda went to the assembly as a perfected one.
Thank you for the in depth citation. But may I ask you one thing if you donât mind? Do you think rich people are always better than poor people? I mean sure it is more comfortable to be born in a rich and respected family. But what about billionaires? You know Forbes magazine? Iâm sure you have heard of the richest people in the world, like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, the Walton family, the Rockefellers, the Rothschilds, George Soros, Jack Ma, Warren Buffett, and other billionaires. Even Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump are billionaires. I think there are about 2500 billionaires in the entire world. Donât you think itâs weird people have that much money? Why do you think someone needs that much money for? What do they do with that much money? Have you heard of the Jeffrey Epstein case? He owns an island in the Carribbean and sell young girls. Have you heard of this? Have you heard of Beverly Hills? Iâm sorry if I appear obtrusive, you donât have to answer if youâre not comfortable.
Yes people are rich due to kamma Buddha too was rich and in his past life he was even richer
Of course if people get richer due to rent seeking they will accrue bad kamma what I mean by rich people are people born in a rich family not people who do bad deeds to become rich
Well, in a way, you are right. One need some good kamma to get jhana or enlightenment.
Consider a hungry person. He cant meditate, cant focus on learning. Or a person without house/shelter and clothes. He will be cold and subject to weather.
There is a need of basic requisites to be fulfilled before someone pursue enlightenment. And this, arguably, is the result of good kamma.
But this is just starting condition. No matter how rich you are, if you dont have the motivation to meditate, you wonât get enlightened.
Also, it is useless to speculate how much good kamma we have, would it be enough, etc. We canât know that.
So we just need to do our best, and forget about it.