Thanks Johnny for sharing the article.
Hi Siebe,
For your question of the earth being destroyed; I wouldn’t say that it is only based on kamma. Just like all other events, the other 7 factors can also have an influence. However, it would be based on kamma that those specific beings will be living at the time the earth comes to its end. There would be countless other beings who would have died and be born in other realms just before the world ends and so the beings living at the time would be there due to their kamma.
You say that when this event takes place that these beings will suffer and die. We should note that how we see “suffering and dying” in the conventional sense is not how suffering and dying is seen through the Dhamma. For example, it is common to consider that dying in one’s sleep is peaceful while dying in a disaster or accident as tragic. However according to Dhamma the event that leads to death does not explain whether that person suffers or not and what his next birth will be.
When a person who has killed his parents dies (whether in his sleep or is violently killed in an accident) he will go to hell, while when a sotapanna dies (whether in his sleep or by a disaster) he will never go to hell. I would consider the former tragic while the latter peaceful regardless of the event. There are examples of arahanth’s being murdered or dying as a result of accidents. Such incidents would be seen as tragic in the conventional world.
Also in the Agganna Sutta (https://suttacentral.net/en/dn27) the Buddha says that after the earth is destroyed that most beings will be born in the Abhassara Brahma realm (world of radiance).
When explaining natural disasters (or anything for that matter) current scientific or sociological practices does not consider the kamma niyama, but considers all other niyamas. Also, current practices mainly focus on effort and intelligence (prayoga sampatti) to minimise or negate the effects of these impacts.
We also need to keep in mind that only a Buddha can truly understand the workings of Kamma. He has said that others should not try to understand everything about kamma and that such an effort will only lead one to lose their mind. It is unfathomable. So, I would simply assume that kamma plays a role in all these things and that the roots of these events are because of kamma. It may be a very small portion due to kamma, but kamma still has a part to play.
These Niyama’s govern how the world works. Out of all these niyama’s we can only influence kamma by influencing what type of kamma vipaka we will experience in the future. But we have so many kamma waiting to give vipaka, that the only solution is to make sure one does not get into a state that all these stored bad kamma can give us vipaka.
Finally, all of this shows that there are so many factors in play that we are not in control of this world or ourselves and that the world will not be as we like and want it to be.