Developing Faith In Karma

According to the Buddhist tradition, the subtlest workings of karma are evident only to the omniscient minds of the Buddhas; ordinary beings have no way of understanding karma as its deepest levels. Therefore, in order to be deeply convinced of the truth of the law of karma, you need to have a deep conviction in the validity and efficacy of the Three Jewels of Refuge; the basis of your spiritual practice must be strong faith in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

This faith is not developed from the words of the Buddha alone but, as we have seen, on the basis of your own critical analysis. If you look at the Buddha's teachings, you can discern two basic objectives: the secondary, temporary objective is to help sentient beings gain upper rebirths, but the primary, ultimate objective is to lead them to complete liberation from samsara.

When you examine the Buddha's teachings on the complex issue of negative emotions and how to counter them, you can see that these matter are evident to all. We are all familiar with the emotions, so as we relate the Buddha's teachings on them to our own personal experience, we can gradually recognise the truth of the Buddha's words. Similarly, all his teachings dealing with the ultimate goal of liberation - impermanence, the Four Noble Truths, emptiness and so on can also be understood through critical analysis.

That analysis can be extended to the scriptures dealing with the subtle workings of karma. We can thus conclude that if Buddha has not failed us in the most important area, the attainment of liberation, why should he fail us in his teachings on cause and effect? In this way, we can begin to develop conviction in the law of karma. We can also consider that the Buddha had no reason to make false claims about karma and how there are no contradictions in the scriptures discussing it.

To summarise, once we develop a deep conviction in the validity of the Buddha's teachings, we gain admiration for and faith in Buddha himself. Based on these considerations, we can recognise the validity of the Buddha's teachings on karma. It is on this basis that we then engage in the practice of ethical discipline from the ten non-virtuous actions.