What is Kamma

　　業力

　　Kamma is an impersonal, natural law that operates in accordance with our actions. It is a law in itself and does not have any lawgiver. Kamma operates in its own field without the intervention of an external, independent, ruling agent. Kamma or karma can be put in the simple language of the child: do good and good will come to you, now, and hereafter. Do bad and bad will come to you, now, and hereafter. In the language of the harvest, kamma can be explained in this way: if you sow good seeds, you will reap a good harvest. If you sow bad seeds, you will reap a bad harvest. In the language of science, kamma is called the law of cause and effect: every cause has an effect. Another name for this is the law of moral causation. Moral causation works in the moral realm just as the physical law of action and reaction works in the physical realm. In the Dhammapada, kamma is explained in this manner: the mind is the chief (forerunner) of all good and bad states. If you speak or act with a good or bad mind, then happiness or unhappiness follows you just as the wheel follows the hoof of the ox or like your shadow which never leaves you.

　　業力不具備人格性，它是根據我們的行爲而運作的自然法則，這法則本身沒有立法者。業力自行運作，不受任何外力或主宰的幹預。

　　有一首童謠：「善有善報，惡有惡報，不是不報，時辰未到。」用來解釋業力是最恰當不過了。

　　對農人而言，業力就是：「種下什麼種子，獲得什麼收成。種下壞的種子，得不到好的收成。」

　　對科學家而言，業力就是因果律，有什麼「因」就獲得什麼「果」。業力也稱爲道德因果律，在道德範圍內因果律的運作，與在物理範圍內的運作是一樣的。

　　「一切善法，以心意爲主導，一切事物的形成，都是心意在造作。如果以汙染的心，意發諸于語言、或行動，那麼苦惱將緊緊的跟隨他，好像車輪隨著牛的腳印一起前進。」《法句經》

　　「一切不善法，以心意爲主導，一切事物的形成，都是心意在造作。如果以純淨的心意發諸于語言、或行動，那麼安樂將緊緊的跟隨他，好像影子跟隨著我們的身形。」《法句經》

　　Kamma is simply action. Within animate organisms there is a power or force which is given different names such as instinctive tendencies, consciousness, etc. This innate propensity forces every conscious being to move. He moves mentally or physically. His motion is action. The repetition of actions is habit and habit becomes his character. In Buddhism, this process is called kamma. In its ultimate sense, kamma means both good and bad, mental action or volition. ”Kamma is volition,”says the Buddha. Thus kamma is not an entity but a process, action, energy and force. Some interpret this force as ”action-influence,” It is our own doings reacting on ourselves. The pain and happiness man experiences are the result of his own deeds, words and thoughts reacting on themselves. Our deeds, words and thoughts produce our prosperity and failure, our happiness and misery. Kamma is an impersonal, natural law that operates strictly in accordance with our actions. It is law in itself and does not have any lawgiver. Kamma operates in its own field without the intervention of an external, independent ruling agency. Since there is no hidden agent directing or administering rewards and punishments, Buddhists do not rely on prayer to some supernatural forces to influence karmic results.

　　業力是一種本能的行動。在我們的生命中，有一種原動力，叫做本能的傾向或意識等等，以固有的本能(業習)推動每一個意識(包括推動心理或生理)，意識轉化爲行動，行動的重覆，就變成習慣，習慣轉化爲個性。在佛學裏，這整個過程就叫做「業力」。

　　佛陀說：「業力就是意志力。(思即是業)」業力不是實體，只是一種過程、一種行爲、精力和力量。有人爲業力下了這樣的定義：「行爲的影響力」，是我們的自作和自受。人類所經驗的苦樂，都是自己身、語、意活動的結果。成功、失敗、愉快、憂愁等，都是由我們的身、語、意的造作而生起的。

　　業力不具備人格性，它是根據我們的行爲而運作的自然法則，這法則本身沒有立法者。業力自行運作，不受任何外力或主宰的幹預。因爲沒有潛在的管理員和執行賞罰的執法者，所以佛教徒不需要依賴對超自然的力量或神靈的祈禱來影響業力。佛陀說：

　　「業力不是前世命運注定的，也不是一種需要讓我們無條件的交出自己，讓那些神秘而不可知的力量來做裁決。」

　　According to the Buddha, kamma is neither predestination nor some sort of determinism imposed on us by some mysterious, unknown powers or forces to which we must helplessly submit ourselves. Buddhists believe that man will reap what he has sown; we are the result of what we were, and we will be the result of what we are. In other words, man is not one who will absolutely remain to be what he was, and he will not continue to remain as what he is. This simply means that kamma is not complete determinism. The Buddha pointed out tha…

《業力 What is Kamma

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