Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 4/6/2009

Question
Hello Laurie, a month ago I asked a question about karma, that was to the nature, that if a child were born blind, would that be the result of negative karma from a previous life.  It was your determination that it would be and I believe you referenced the Dali Lama.  I've been unable to find information by the Dali Lama in this reguard.  Could you recommend one of his books that would address this topic for me?  Thank you so much for your time.  Marc

Answer
Hello Marc -

It's good to hear from you again. Thank you for letting me answer this question.

First off though I did not say that His Holiness said that if a child is born blind that that would be a result of negative karma.

What I said was "As far as what you were told that Buddhists, believe; there are many different Buddhists who say many different things. The answers I am giving you are the most accurate ones I can give based on my studies so far from a Tibetan Mahayana Gelugpa Buddhist point of view. I follow the same lineage of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. So the answer I will give is as close to what His Holiness believes about karma as I can get after my years of study."

I was able to find a couple quotes though about what His Holiness says about karma that might help.

"Countless rebirths lie ahead, both good and bad. The effects of karma (actions) are inevitable, and in previous lifetimes we have accumulated negative karma which will inevitably have its fruition in this or future lives. Just as someone witnessed by police in a criminal act will eventually be caught and punished, so we too must face the consequences of faulty actions we have committed in the past, there is no way to be at ease; those actions are irreversible; we must eventually undergo their effects."
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from 'Kindness, Clarity and Insight'

And also:

From: The Four Noble Truths by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Question: "Could Your Holiness please explain why the result of karma is sometimes instant and why on other occasions we have to wait lifetimes before the causal effect occurs?"

Answer: "One factor would be the intensity of the karmic action itself. Another factor is the extent to which the various other conditions that are necessary for that karma to ripen are complete, and this is dependent, in turn, on other karmic actions. Vasubandhu addressed this in the Abhidharmakosha, in which he states that, generally speaking, the karmic actions which are the most forceful tend to produce their effects first. If the intensity of a karmic action is euqal to that of another karmic action, then the result of the action with which the individual is most familiar tends to ripen first. However, if two karmic actions are equally forceful and equally familiar, then the one that is committed earlier tends to produce its results first."

Of course the best way to understand karma is to hear what the Buddha himself has to say about it:

Do not think a small sin will not return in your future lives.
Just as falling drops of water will fill a large container,
The little sins that steadfast accumulate will completely overwhelm you.

Do not think a small virtue will not return in your future lives.
Just as falling drops of water will fill a large container,
The little virtues that steadfast accumulate will completely overwhelm you."

These do not specifically reference your question, but show that negative actions ripen in future lives as negative results.

I hope you can find more examples in the two books by His Holiness that were mentioned.

If you have any further questions, don't  hesitate to ask.