Hi all,
Lal has reopened this post for me to post a reference to a sutta.
This sutta might provide some insight to this topic of interest.
“So, friends, it seems that you don’t know that you existed in the past, and that you did not not exist… you don’t know what is the abandoning of unskillful mental qualities and the attainment of skillful mental qualities in the here-and-now. That being the case, it is not proper for you to assert that, “Whatever a person experiences—pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain—all is caused by what was done in the past.”
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“So I asked them further, ‘Friend Nigaṇṭhas, what do you think: When there is fierce striving, fierce exertion, do you feel fierce, sharp, racking pains from harsh treatment? And when there is no fierce striving, no fierce exertion, do you feel no fierce, sharp, racking pains from harsh treatment?’
“‘Yes, friend…’
“‘… Then it’s not proper for you to assert that, “Whatever a person experiences—pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain—all is caused by what was done in the past.”
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“Suppose that a man is in love with a woman, his mind ensnared with fierce desire, fierce passion. He sees her standing with another man, chatting, joking, and laughing. What do you think, monks: As he sees her standing with another man, chatting, joking, and laughing, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, disuffering, and despair arise in him?”
“Yes, lord. Why is that? Because he is in love with her, his mind ensnared with fierce desire, fierce passion…”
“Now suppose the thought were to occur to him, ‘I am in love with this woman, my mind ensnared with fierce desire, fierce passion. When I see her standing with another man, chatting, joking, and laughing, then sorrow, lamentation, pain, disuffering, and despair arise within me. Why don’t I abandon my desire and passion for that woman?’ So he abandons his desire and passion for that woman, and afterwards sees her standing with another man, chatting, joking, and laughing. What do you think, monks: As he sees her standing with another man, chatting, joking, and laughing, would sorrow, lamentation, pain, disuffering, and despair arise in him?”
“No, lord. Why is that? He is dispassionate toward that woman…”
The last quoted text is similar to Siebe’s example on standing on one leg for a good cause. I’m not saying that there is no cause for bodily and mental torment. But the fact that our sankhara rooted in ignorance is going to cause us grief. No doubt about it. As to whether what we experience here and now is really due to past kamma, we cannot tell for sure.