Expert: Justin Choo - 10/30/2009

Question
It make me ponder at time some seem to work so hard
and yet they are financially poor, while some indulge
in immoral activities or doing a proper job manage to
amass richness with plenty of money. Is the poor man being
destinatated to be poor while the rich man was fated to be rich
Thanks

Answer
Hi Raj,

This is purely my very personal opinion, which most people will most probably disagree with me.  Although we have a certain degree of control over our lives, in the final analysis our past kamma will have the final say.

Let me elaborate.  Our past kamma determines our final destiny, but we still can chart our journey. All of us have the ability to decide and act either for our own good and protection or for our own downfall. So long as we have this free will to act (or not to act) we cannot attribute everything to kamma. If we are to accept this theory that everything is due to kamma and we have no control whatsoever, then we are being very stupid and utterly foolish. In layman's language, we would then leave everything to fate or destiny.  We are then no better than subscribing to the statement "it's the will of God". Then we can just close our eyes while crossing the road!!  

We need to use our human intelligence and common sense to take all precautions to protect/enhance our lives.  After having taken ALL possible precautions, whatever then happens is "most probably" the retribution of our past kamma. This retributive result is the "vipaka" of the kamma that we generated in this life as well as previous lives. Our storehouse of kammic actions is a mixture of good and bad actions. This storehouse will determine the type of rebirth and the type of life we are going to face. But as I said, we are not completely helpless to direct our present lives. We have the power to influence or change the direction of our lives within certain limits.

Let's take an example of a film director turning a book into a film. The general theme of the book cannot be changed. For example, if the book is about war and tragedy, it will be about war and tragedy, and not something else like comedy. However, the director can change or alter certain scenes in certain chapters, by using his skill in directing. Likewise, our lives are like the book. The greater part of our lives cannot be changed; whereas we can still make skilful effort to improve certain chapters of our lives.

Which part can be altered, and which part cannot be changed is the big question. Life is uncertain; death is certain. This is the "sorrowful" reality of existence.

In the end, a person's life is influenced by both his lifetime's actions as well as his past kamma.

Hope this makes sense.

Take care,

Justin Choo