upekkha: I don’t think you have understood what I was trying to say.
Not doing akusala deeds is the first step.
You can also start doing the opposite. They are punna kamma.
– Instead of killing/hurting living beings, you show compassion for them.
For example, we have a “bug cup” and a piece of cardboard at home, ready to use. When we see an insect in the house, we put the cup over it and slide the cardboard under the cup SLOWLY. Then we lift the cardboard and the cup together so that the bug is trapped there. Then we take it outside and release it.
– That is punna kamma.
– We don’t want insects inside the house. But rather than killing them, we can remove them. Even the lowest insect had been a human at one time. If we don’t show compassion to ALL living beings, we may end up as insects too. They are born as insects because of the bad deeds they had done.
When we really start paying attention, we can come up with ways to make lives better for all living beings, but ESPECIALLY to humans.
It is not possible to “list” such actions. Those are “self-evident.”
– That principle needs to be applied to speech AND thoughts, as well as bodily actions.
Speech and deeds RESULT from the way one THINKS.
– That is why Samma Sankappa (moral thoughts), Samma Vaca (moral speech), and Samma Kammanta (moral deeds) come right after Samma Ditthi (moral/correct) views in the Noble Path.
Any action, speech, deed done with the correct views (Samma Ditthi) are “good kamma” or punna kamma.
Also see, “Kusala and Akusala Kamma, Puñña and Pāpa Kamma”
You have got me thinking about this important issue. I have been mostly focused on somewhat deeper concepts of Buddha Dhamma in the past couple of years.
– I had written posts on basic and NECESSARY concepts in the early years. I think I need to revise those early posts and to write some more.
– When I read online discussion forums, this issue is very clear. Most people either do not pay attention to the basics or they are not aware of them.
– But one CANNOT understand deeper concepts without first understanding AND living by the basic principles. I am glad that you pointed out that when you started this topic.
Here are a couple of more of those early posts:
“What is Kamma? – Is Everything Determined by Kamma?”
“The Five Precepts – What the Buddha Meant by Them”
More at, “Moral Living and Fundamentals“