Understanding Karma

Module 7 of An Introduction to Buddhism

All beings are caught in the cycle of fortune and misfortune.

Reading Assignments

Biography of Shakyamuni Buddha – Ven Master Hsing Yun (.pdf) (.epub) (.pdf) (.epub)

We continue with Chapters 18–21 on the Buddha’s Enlightenment.

Being Nobody, Going Nowhere: Meditations on the Buddhist Path – Ayya Khema (.pdf)

The main reading for this lesson is Chapter 7 of Being Nobody: “Karma and Rebirth”

The Noble Eightfold Path: The Way to the End of Suffering – Bhikkhu Bodhi (.pdf) (.epub) (.mp3)

And we continue with Chapter 2 of Path which explains why Karma is important to the Buddhist training.

SN 22.86: Anuradha Sutta – Joseph Goldstein (.mp3) (.pdf)

We’ve been reading the Buddha’s biography, but who was the Buddha in his own words?

In this story, he calls himself the “Tathagata” or “Truth-Arriver”, and he responds to a question on what will become of him after his death. The Buddha explains that he doesn’t talk in such terms, as he has overcome all such notions as “I am the body” or “I am the mind” so how could such a question ever be answered? He ends the discourse by famously saying that all he teaches is suffering and the end of suffering, thus redirecting our attention from empty philosophical musings to the things that matter most.

(Optional Readings)

Fundamentals of Buddhism – Peter D. Santina (.pdf)

Fundamentals chapters eight and nine are also on Karma and Rebirth.

What the Buddha Taught – Walpola Rahula (.pdf)

The Samudaya chapter of WTBT analyzes the arising of suffering in particular as a function of our karma.