About Kamma: Selected Sutta and Article

The introductory section places the book within the educational and missionary work of the Sitagu International Buddhist Academy. It explains the traditional division of the Buddha’s teaching into Dhamma, Vinaya and Abhidhamma, and situates the preservation of the teachings within the history of the Buddhist Councils. The compiler also notes that the Academy sought to make authentic Theravāda teachings available to readers through translation and publication, particularly for those wishing to study the essence of the Dhamma. 

The structure of the volume reflects this objective. Instead of presenting kamma only as a philosophical doctrine, the book first grounds the discussion in canonical texts and then supplements them with interpretive essays. This creates a progression from the Buddha’s discourses on action and consequence to later explanations of karmic classification, rebirth, moral causation, free will and personal responsibility.

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• Sitagu International Buddhist Academy

• Cūḷakammavibhaṅga Sutta

  • The Shorter Exposition of Action

• Mahākammavibhaṅga Sutta

  • The Greater Exposition of Action

• What Kamma Is — Ashin Thettila

  • The Laws of Cosmic Order

  • Classification of Kamma

  • Ten Immoral Actions and Their Effects

  • Free-Will

  • Lessons Taught by Kamma

• Kamma — Ashin Nārada

  • The Cause of Inequality

  • Everything Is Not Due to Kamma

  • The Five Niyāmas

  • What Is Kamma?

  • Kamma and Vipāka

  • The Cause of Kamma

  • The Doer of Kamma

  • Where Is Kamma?

  • The Working of Kamma

  • Illustrations

  • The Result of a Good Kamma Reaped in This Life

  • The Result of a Bad Kamma Reaped in This Life

  • Subsequently Effective Kamma

  • Indefinitely Effective Kamma

  • Evil Actions Which May Ripen in the Sense-Sphere

  • Good Kamma Which May Ripen in the Sense-Sphere

  • Kamma Which May Ripen in the Realms of Form

  • Kamma Which May Ripen in the Formless Realms

  • Nature of Kamma

  • Cause of Adverse Results

  • Beneficent and Maleficent Forces

• The Law of Kamma — Ashin Sīlānandābhivaṃsa