KAMMA VIPĀKA

Sayādaw U Lakkhana

Pages: 48

It can cause immediate reaction or delayed reaction. It can affect a person within and in another lifetime. But only the human being can influence his kamma; he can attain Sainthood or go to avīci hell. Plants and organisms without consciousness can also be affected by their conditions, e.g. sunflowers, sensitive thorn bushes and so on.

Is this related to kamma?

If so, in what way is it related to kamma?

A bad man’s consciousness goes into a dog. The dog may be a lame dog, a short dog, etc. Is it because of the kamma of the dog or is it that it is the man’s kamma to find its way into a lame dog? But why is the dog short in the first place, is it gene or is it kamma that makes the dog short?

These are the questions posed by Senator Lim Kean Siew to Venerable Sayādaw U Lakkhana of the Mahāsi Centre, Rangoon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sayādaw U Lakkhana was born in April 1935 in Kadaw Village, Myingyan Township, Mandalay, Upper Burma to U Tha The and Daw Phwa Saw. He became a novice at the age of 12 and received full ordination at the age of 20. In 1957, he passed the Pāḷi Dhammacariya (Master of Pāḷi Buddhist Studies) Examination and was awarded the Degree of Sāsanadhaja Siripavara Dhammacariya. In 1961, he earned the Sāsanadhaja Dhammacariya and Pāḷi Paragu Degrees. In 1962, he founded the Mahā-vijayaraṁsi Buddhist Study Center at the Kyaswa Valley Monastery in Sagaing Hills and began teaching Pāḷi literature to monks and novices.

In 1972, Sayādaw began the study and practice of Satipaṭṭhāna Vipassanā meditation at the Mahāsi Sāsana Yeiktha in Yangon under the guidance of our Benefactor the Mahāsi Sayādaw and Sayādaw U Paṇḍitabhivaṁsa. In the same year, he established the Mahā Atularaṁsi Meditation Center in the Kyaswa Valley Monastery, and began teaching Satipaṭṭhāna meditation in Sagaing Hills. From 1983 to 1988, he served as a Senior Meditation Teacher at Mahāsi Sāsana Yeiktha in Yangon.

In 1988, Sayādaw returned to Kyaswa Valley Monastery to personally supervise the Mahāvijaya-raṁsi Buddhist Study Center and Mahā Atularaṁsi Meditation Center. He has also traveled extensively to lead Satipaṭṭhāna meditation retreats in California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii, in the USA and in Australia, Nepal, Singapore, and Malaysia. In 1988, the Burmese government honoured Sayādaw U Lakkhana with the highest award for meditation instruction, the title of Agga Mahā Kammathanacariya, or Most Noble and Distinguished Meditation Teacher.

In 1984, Sayādaw founded the Wachet Jivitadana Hospital, offering free medical care for the monks and nuns of the Sagaing Hills and minimum-cost treatment for lay-people from nearby villages.

Sayādaw has shown keen interest in the education of youth. In Wachet Village, he was instrumental in acquiring a large plot of land and building a primary school for 300 students, completed with a 5,000-gallon water reservoir, sanitary facilities, and an adjoining soccer field.

Venerable Sayādaw Ashin U Lakkhana passed away in early June 2014.