Humans have the ability to do something well, to carry out a task with pre-determined results often within a given period of time and energy. This ability is called a ‘skill’. Each of us has different skills. Some use their skills for their job. Some people help others and do social services using their skills. Some create new things to enjoy. Some make dangerous weapons and drugs using their skills. Like this, while some people use their skills for good some use it for bad. For those who do good, their skills are a blessing to their lives, and, those who do bad, their skills ruin their lives.

Until a Lord Buddha reveals the nature of kamma, people do not know why we should control our actions. People tend to think “why shouldn’t we enjoy life as we want, in this short period of time?” This is a fair question as we cannot see and understand that there is another life, and that suffering follows every bad action we do. But now, after learning the teachings of the Lord Buddha, we know that the life we spend does not end in death. It will continue to go through this samsaric existence and we will wander on from one world to another endlessly.

Once the Lord Buddha said, “Meritorious Bhikkhus, just as a stick thrown up in the air falls now on its bottom, now on its top, so too beings roam and wander on, covered with ignorance and fettered by craving, now they go from this world to the other world, now they come from the other world to this world, again they go from this world to the other. For what reason? Because they haven’t realized the four noble truths.”

Because of ignorance, or not knowing the Four Noble Truths, it has become hard to differentiate good from bad. So beings tend to do whatever they like in order to gain happiness and most of the time they get into trouble.

One day venerable Arahant Moggallana thero and venerable Arahant Lakkhana thero was coming down from Gijjakuta Mountain. Suddenly Lakkhana thero saw a soft smile appear on Venerable Moggallana thero’s face. So, venerable Lakkhana thero asked him, “dear Moggallana, why did you smile? Venerable Moggallana answered, “dear Lakkhana, its good if you can ask that question from me in front of the Lord Buddha”.

When Moggallana thero was asked the same question in front of the Lord Buddha, he said “Dear Lakkhana, when we were coming down the Gijjakuta Mountain, I saw a creature. It was a skeleton ghost, running through the sky. About 60,000 blazing iron sledgehammers were hitting him on his face, breaking his head up and opening it. That creature was screaming with so much pain, but could not escape. After some time, his head would heal. Then again blazing iron sledgehammers would strike his head, this process is endless. Seeing this I felt so much pity. I thought, “Oh, what a life! It’s a real tragedy.” That’s why I smiled out of pity.”

Then the Supreme Buddha addressed the bhikkhus, “dear Bhikkhus, I also saw that ghost when I was near the River Ganges, near the Bodhi Tree. But I didn’t tell anyone, because no one would have believed it. But now I will reveal his story, as our Moggallana has also seen him.”

That ghost has been suffering like that for thousands of years, due to a bad experiment he did in one of his previous lives.

Thousands of years ago one man learned the art of shooting and became very skilled at it. He was able to shoot stones through leaves and make holes in the pattern of animals. People were so amazed by his skills. One day he thought “I shall experiment with this art… but how? If I shoot and kill a cow, I will be fined 100 gold coins. For a man, I will be fined a thousand. But if I kill someone who doesn’t have parents or relatives, there will be no one to accuse me.”

Those days a Private Buddha (one who attains Buddha-hood and realizes the four noble truths by Himself, but doesn’t explain His knowledge to make others realize it) called Sunettha was living near Baranasi. That person saw this Private Buddha who was residing by Himself and thought, “I shall shoot this monk and check if my art is successful”.

So he took a stone and shot the Private Buddha. The stone went in through the left ear and came out from the right. The Pacceka Buddha stood still, using His psychic powers, while blood was pouring out from his ears.

So that foolish man misused his skill to kill the Private Buddha Sunetta. That day he was satisfied with his skills, but he didn’t know how much of an evil he had committed.

After death, as a result of that kamma (action), he was born in hell. For many thousands of years, many billions of years, he suffered in hell. Later, he was born in the ghost’s world as a skeleton ghost to suffer from the remaining results of that kamma.

With regard to this incident, The Blessed One uttered this verse, which is included in the Dhammapada, Bāla vagga.

Yavadeva anathhaya-nattam balassa jayathi
Hanthi balassa sukkamsam-muddhamassa vipaththayam

If an untrue person has a knowledge or a skill, he will use it for his own loss. One day, he will destroy his wisdom. He will also destroy his innate goodness and ruin his whole life.

Therefore, we should never be proud of our knowledge or skills, we should never misuse them or experiment without considering its results. If we harm beings in order to perform an experiment, all the evil done, will return to us someday. On that day, we will have to face it with tears and pain.

Even today, in our lives, if we suffer from some a mental or physical ailment, it has a history of our own bad deeds.

If we clear up this matter further, the Lord Buddha has expounded: “Cakkuṃ bhikkave purānaṃ kammaṃ- dear bhikkhus, the eye is an old kamma.

Abhisankataṃ- it is specially generated, Abhisaṃcattayitaṃ – it is conditioned by volition. Vedaneeyaṃ dattabbaṃ- it should be realized by experiencing the feelings, pain and joy and neutral, that arise in the eye.

Sotaṃ bhikkave purānaṃ kammaṃ – dear bhikkhus, the ear is an old kamma.” That means that the ear is a production of old kamma…”

Lord Buddha explains the same to our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. All these sense faculties are shaped according to our past kamma. Whatever action one does now, using the body, speech, or mind is a new kamma. So each and every action will give results in the future.

“Ya disaṃ vapathe beejaṃ – in the way that one sows seeds
Thadisaṃ harathe palaṃ- one will reap its fruits

Kalyanakāri kalyanaṃ, papakarica papakaṃ- good will result from good, evil will result in evil.”

Thus, kamma which will give results in the next life, Upapajjavedaneeya kamma, will create eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind accordingly along with the suitable place, society, family to be born. Everything will be decided by that kamma.

In the above story, the moment this man used his skills to kill the Private Buddha, the nature of his six sense faculties changed, according to that evil kamma, to be born in hell in his next life.

He may have done many other things using his body, speech and mind. But this evil kamma became the powerful fact which decided his next life. And when the Aparāpariyavedaniya kamma ripened, after the time he had to suffer in hell, he was born in the ghost’s world.

That kamma lead him to get eyes of a ghost, from which he will see dreadful things. It gave him ears of a ghost, from which he will hear fearful sounds. It generated a ghost body, which has only the skeleton and the blazing iron sledge-hammers were created or manifested to make him suffer. And because of the power of that kamma, even though thousands of sled-hammers break its head into pieces, it will not die, until the kamma is paid off.

This is the nature of kamma. This is not a fabrication. This is the Truth of life, which was revealed only by Lord Buddhas.

Therefore, we have to understand that no action become jokes, every action brings us a situation to face. Being skillful is not a complete success. One, who uses his skills right, will succeed. One who doesn’t will fail for a long long time.

Thus, may this dhamma help us all to correct our lives and use our skills to realize the Four Noble Truths in this Gautama Buddha’s dispensation!

Written by a Anagarika Nun of 

Mahamevnawa Anagarika Monastery