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Vol. XV, No. 4
mind, the action is bad. But if there is no greed, hatred and ignorance in the mind, the action is good.
3. Sometimes we mistake the bad for the good, and the gaod for the bad. Then we unknowingly do good and bad things. In such case, we need quidance from wise men. But if we do some bad action knowingly, our responsibility is great, and we have to suffer from the bad effect of that action. Similarly if we do a good action knowingly, we earn merit which produces good effect. Bad action produces bad effect, good action produces good effect. This is the Law of Karma.
4 Our conduct can be bad or good. The good conduct is the opposite of bad conduct. The bad conduct is of ten kinds, and so the good conduct is also of ten kinds. Of the ten kinds of bad conduct, there are three of min1, four of speech, and three of body. The three bad conducts of mind are : lust, violence, and wrong view. The four bad conducts of speech are : false statement, back-biting, harsh words, and useless talk. The bad conducts of body are : killing, stealing, and wrong sex. The opposites of these ten are good conducts. The main causes of bad conducts are greed, hatred and igno. rance. Charity, love and wisdom are the main causes of good conduct.
5. We find many varieties in the lifestyles of people. This manifoldness is due to karma. Our different habits and likings and dislikings are also due to karma. Our actions have effect on our own life and also on our society and environment. Good people make the society good, bad people make the society bad. The power of karma is great. The root of all karma is our mind. The mental karma is expressed through our speech and body. If our mind is clean and compassionate, our words and deeds are bound to have good effects on our society and country. Vasubandhu has finely explained this in his Abhidharmakośa, IV. 1:
karmajam lokavaicitryaṁ cetană tatkrtaṁ ca tat/
cetanā mānasaṁ karma tajje vāk-kaya-karmaņi || The varieties of men and things in the world are due to karma. The will and its products are karma. The will is mental karma. The actions of the speech and the body are born from the will.
6. Good karma is called kušala, bad karma is called akušala. If we have no greed, no hatred, no ignorance, our karma is kušala. If we have greed, hatred, and ignorance, our karma is akušala. The karma which is neither good nor bad is called avyakrta (neutral).
7. There are some strong karmas which produce effect in this very life. But if the karma is not so strong, it produces the effect in the next life or in any other remote life. There are some weak karmas
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