What is Kamma

　　业力

　　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.

　　业力不具备人格性，它是根据我们的行为而运作的自然法则，这法则本身没有立法者。业力自行运作，不受任何外力或主宰的干预。

　　有一首童谣：「善有善报，恶有恶报，不是不报，时辰未到。」用来解释业力是最恰当不过了。

　　对农人而言，业力就是：「种下什么种子，获得什么收成。种下坏的种子，得不到好的收成。」

　　对科学家而言，业力就是因果律，有什么「因」就获得什么「果」。业力也称为道德因果律，在道德范围内因果律的运作，与在物理范围内的运作是一样的。

　　「一切善法，以心意为主导，一切事物的形成，都是心意在造作。如果以污染的心，意发诸于语言、或行动，那么苦恼将紧紧的跟随他，好像车轮随着牛的脚印一起前进。」《法句经》

　　「一切不善法，以心意为主导，一切事物的形成，都是心意在造作。如果以纯净的心意发诸于语言、或行动，那么安乐将紧紧的跟随他，好像影子跟随着我们的身形。」《法句经》

　　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.

　　业力是一种本能的行动。在我们的生命中，有一种原动力，叫做本能的倾向或意识等等，以固有的本能(业习)推动每一个意识(包括推动心理或生理)，意识转化为行动，行动的重覆，就变成习惯，习惯转化为个性。在佛学里，这整个过程就叫做「业力」。

　　佛陀说：「业力就是意志力。(思即是业)」业力不是实体，只是一种过程、一种行为、精力和力量。有人为业力下了这样的定义：「行为的影响力」，是我们的自作和自受。人类所经验的苦乐，都是自己身、语、意活动的结果。成功、失败、愉快、忧愁等，都是由我们的身、语、意的造作而生起的。

　　业力不具备人格性，它是根据我们的行为而运作的自然法则，这法则本身没有立法者。业力自行运作，不受任何外力或主宰的干预。因为没有潜在的管理员和执行赏罚的执法者，所以佛教徒不需要依赖对超自然的力量或神灵的祈祷来影响业力。佛陀说：

　　「业力不是前世命运注定的，也不是一种需要让我们无条件的交出自己，让那些神秘而不可知的力量来做裁决。」

　　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…

《业力 What is Kamma

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