[Jittananto]

I saw that on the abortion topic, you are looking for the story of the King’s executioner. His name is Tambadathika and he not only became a deva but reached the sotāpanna stage by listening to the Venerable Arahant Sāriputta. He was a fellow monk of Venerable Arahant Bahiya during the time of Lord Buddha Kassapa. He failed to reach a magga phala stage in the past Sasana.

• He died gored by a yakkhini who possessed the spirit of a cow. This is the same cow that killed Venerable Arahant Bahiya. This Yakkhini was a woman who was raped and killed in a distant past life by the previous incarnations of Venerable Bahiya, Tambadhatika, who became a sotāpanna, Venerable Pukkusāti (Dhātuvibhaṅgasutta)  who became an anagami Brahma, and suppabuddha the sotāpanna leper. She swore revenge and killed them for many lives (See 2. Suppabuddha).
• I added this information in an attempt to address the consequences of our actions. What we give will be what we get. It is a universal and eternal law and it is the law of Kamma Vipāka. Regardless of our status, we will receive what we have given for good or evil. Even the Lord Buddhas do not escape this rule (apart from murder and sudden death). Venerable Arahant Bahiya must surely have seemed innocent. He was an arahant!! However, in a past life, he killed a person and even in his last life, he received a brutal death. Venerable Arahant Maha Mogallana killed his parents and, as a result, received a brutal death in his last life.
• A woman who is raped and forced pregnant sows the causes to receive this effect. Maybe she was a serial rapist in a past life? Some women force their daughters to become pregnant for whatever reason. Some of these girls do not want to be pregnant and feel mental distress. These women will receive a pregnancy, which will cause them mental distress in their future lives. Pregnancy resulting from rape is a situation that causes mental distress.
• If they kill their children, regardless of whether it is the child of rape or not, they will receive death, the inability to have children and be in the womb of a woman who will abort them. Some women want to have children and who are unable. One of the causes may be the practice of an abortion in a past life. The baby or the embryo which was eliminated is the consequence of a Kamma Vipāka too. This embryo receives what it gave in a past life. Lobha(attachment) is always connected to dosa(hatred). Where there is lobha, there is dosa. We attach ourselves to the things of this world either with greed or with hatred. Either way, we will suffer. These two are fueled by Moha(ignorance). When we practice abortion, it is out of aversion (Dosa) to this embryo, the unpleasant situations that result from it and by attachment (Lobha) to our body and our pre-pregnancy situation. Moha, in this situation, is the ignorance of the law of cause and effect. They probably do not believe that in a future life, this action will have consequences. We will be attached to the uterus of a person who wants to have an abortion. We will be tied to the object of our aversion. This is one of the aspects of Kamma Vipāka. This is why when a person becomes anagami, he or she eliminates Patigha (aversion) and Kāma ragā (attachment to Kāma loka) at the same time. Perhaps the child of this rape can become a sotāpanna? Maybe he is a Bodhisatta? Perhaps he or she will be a great yogi with jhānas, a highly moral person, etc. It is up to each person to decide what they will do in this situation. However, the law of Kamma makes no exception. We are free to commit any action even bad anantariyas kamma. No matter our intentions, we will suffer the consequences.
• Sir Lal already said it, that is why we must do everything to leave the Samsāra.
• The cycle of rebirth is suffering. This is the first noble truth discovered by Lord Buddha.
• Moha with its subtle version (Avijjā), Lobha with its subtle version (Ragā) and Dosa with its subtle version (Patigha) are the causes of suffering. This is the second noble truth.
• The destruction of the ten saṁyojanas (fetters) that hold avijjā, ragā, and patigha in our minds is the cessation of suffering. This is the third noble truth.
• Listening to the Dhamma with one’s ears from an ariya, practicing the Dhamma in one’s daily life, and reflecting on the Dhamma are obligatory components of the path which leads to the cessation of all suffering. This is the fourth noble truth.

By applying the 4 noble truths, we can be sure of reaching Nibbāna and, therefore, no longer finding ourselves in these kinds of unpleasant situations. As long as we remain in Samsāra, we will be caught in these traps.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Amin, Yash RS

[Lal]

Yes. I remember this account now. Thank you! 

1 user thanked author for this post.

Jittananto

[Jittananto]

I also wanted to add that what we give is what we receive as long as we have the conditions to receive it.

• Suppose a serial killer who has not committed anantariya kamma becomes a Sakadāgāmi deva or anagami Brahma, he will no longer receive bad Vipāka. He will no longer be able to be killed, hurt, get sick, abuse, steal, deceive etc. They do not have the condition to receive the effects of the causes which they have sown in the past which is the possession of a dense body.
• An arahant with a dense body has eliminated the possibility of creating a new Kamma (kriya kamma), but he will continue to experience the causes (unhealthy actions committed in the cycle of rebirths) and effects (injuries, pain, murder, illnesses, etc.) because of his dense body(condition). Angulimala received beatings from the families of his victims even when he became an arahant. If Angulimala had become an anagami Brahma or a sakadāgāmi deva, none of this would have happened to him. A Brahma has a body too subtle to suffer. If women who commit abortion at least succeed in becoming Ariya devas and Brahmas, they can escape the bad consequences of their actions. However, it is very rare for one to become Ariya after performing extreme acts like this.

The case of Venerable Angulimala was exceptional, if Lord Buddha had not come, he would have been executed by the king’s soldiers and would have taken rebirth in a niraya. Those who become ariya after performing this kind of action are those who have powerful paramis. Angulimala was a yogi in a past life, so he probably developed jhanas. See the Jayaddisa Jataka.

See also the Video of the Wat San fran Monastery : Jayaddisa jataka.

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