Reply To: Could bodily pain be due causes other than kamma vipaka?

#13356
Tobias G
Participant

Hello Lal,

I have checked your references mentioned in the forum: Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma (Bhikkhu Bodhi), page 52 and page 116. (Unfortunately the PDF is locked, so I cannot extract text. As I cannot manually type all these texts I thought to send it by email to you. Maybe you just comment them or you copy the text from your book (if unlocked).)

The difference between bodily vedana and the rest is clear. But the cause for such vedana is not clear (kamma vipaka or more causes).

I have scanned through the reference and found some places with hints:

Page 191 describes the independent mind door process with more causes than just kamma (according to L.Sayadaw).
Page 199 mentions only kamma, which “governs” the type of object experienced.
Page 266 mentions kamma as “proximate cause” of eye-consciousness etc., made at the moment of conception of the body or jathi (also at patisandhi or rebirth-linking). In the summary at the end it is said, that material phenomena are caused by the four great essentials or maha bhuta (proximate cause again).

I think it can be said that the rebirth-linking between bhavas is controlled by kamma.

The bodily experience (also vedana) during a life time is something different. The texts on page 191 and 199 are opposed. The four great elements succumb to utu niyama. So it could be that some accidents, e.g. getting hit by a fallen stone, are due to other causes than kamma. Matter has four causes: kamma, citta, utu, ahara. Matter (rupa) is subject to other laws of nature, which generate circumstances that are not direct causes of kamma (wind, temperature, climate change …).