3. Belief in the causation of actions and their results ―better known as karma (kamma) and karma-results (vipāka)

Another characteristic of Right View is to have faith in the causality of actions and their results―also known as ‘karma’ (kamma) and ‘karma-results’ (vipāka). That means to have a deep conviction that if you do a good deed, a virtuous action, you’re going to get a good result, and if you commit a wrongful deed, a sinful action, it will yield an undesirable result.

When virtuous (wholesome) deeds are performed, there are seven fortunate destinations of rebirth where such virtuous karma produce results. They are, the human world and the six heavenly planes: Tusita, Yāma, Nimmāna-rati, Paranimmita-vasavatti, Tāvatiŋsa and Cātumahārājika. The planes of existence in which sinful deeds [mostly] yield results are the fourfold-hell.1 When you consider the hell called niraya, which is one of the fourfold-hell, Buddha says in niraya alone there are 136 different hells. So, in a world where righteous actions come to fruition in just seven fortunate destinations, there are 136 hells in niraya alone where wrongful actions produce results. Look then, is it virtuous actions or evil actions that are abundant in the world? It is unrighteousness that the world abounds with. This will be the yardstick for measuring the gulf between Right View and wrong view.

Revered-you, keep a close watch on the mind attentively. Every thought which comes to you is a thought that is either causative for virtue or causative for sin. Each passing moment you are churning out good and evil for future existence. You think you’ve got a good obedient wife or husband. It is simply a reward you receive in return for a good deed you’ve done previously in the round of rebirths. If you’ve got good looks, it is the fruit of a good deed. If you look unattractive, it is a result of a bad deed. The head of state means a product of a good deed. A homeless person, a vagrant means a result of a bad deed. There is nothing here to be resentful about. All that needs to be done is to correct one’s own wrongs with a proper understanding. It’s a characteristic of Right View. At this moment in time, many devotees respect the Bhikkhu. That’s a product of a good deed the Bhikkhu has done previously in the round of rebirths. Tomorrow the whole world may disrespect the Bhikkhu. That, too, will be a result of a bad deed the Bhikkhu has committed in saŋsāra.

When practising the path of the Dhamma or doing meritorious activities, it’s not good to form resentful thoughts fretting over petty mistakes, stewing over minor wrongs. Nor should you cause others to fret. If one manages to be skilful to discern the suffering hidden in an evil thought and the happiness hidden in a virtuous thought, it is in such a person that the belief in the causality of karma and karma-results forms. It is [one of] the greatest characteristic of Right View.

1 ‘Fourfold-hell’ means the four lower planes beneath the human plane of existence ―namely, peta-ghost plane, animal realm, asura world and niraya. Niraya, the nether or infernal world, usually translated as ‘hell’, is the lowest of the fourfold-hell. Peta-ghosts are unhappy ghosts that wander in vain, hopelessly in search of sensual fulfilment. Asura is a type of nonhumans or demigods said to be living in or about the sea.