As we go about our day-to-day lives, we are constantly making choices about what to do and what not to do. Even if we do not realize we really are making these choices. And because we are choosing to do these things, there will be consequences, either in this life, our next life, or some future life. Some of those actions will determine where we are reborn, and some will determine the quality of our life in a particular destination. For example, in the Apāyasaṃvattanika Sutta, the Supreme Buddha preached,

“Monks, the killing of living beings, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, and the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of killing living beings is when reborn as a human it leads to a short life span.”

The bad karma of killing can directly influence where we are reborn, namely in the planes of misery. However, sometimes that karma ripens while we are living in the human world. If that is the case, it leads to having a short life, no matter how hard we try to prolong our life with exercise, healthy food and state-of-the-art healthcare. If it is time for us to experience the results of killing, then we cannot escape it.

“Stealing, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of stealing is when reborn as a human it leads to loss of wealth and property.”

People with wealth try hard to protect it, by hiring guards, building safes, and installing alarm systems. But if they have stolen things in the past and that karma ripens in the human world, then all these efforts will be in vain. One way or the other they will lose their wealth and property.

“Sexual misconduct, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of sexual misconduct is when reborn as a human it leads to enmity and hatred.”

When people are chasing after sexual gratification in unwholesome ways, their mind is always thinking about getting closer to someone and the pleasure that could bring. They do not imagine the suffering they could experience in the planes of misery because of sexual misconduct. Even if they can glimpse the enmity and hatred that may befall them in this life because of their actions, they are not considering that this conflict can continue into future lives long after the fleeting pleasure is over.

“Lying, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of lying is when reborn as a human it leads to false accusations.”

Often people make excuses about wrong speech thinking that it is an insignificant, harmless thing. After all, it’s not something physical. However, the Supreme Buddha saw exactly that even wrong speech creates karma that follows us to our next life. When an ordinary person is being falsely accused, they never stop to think that they may be experiencing the results of having told lies in the past. And they rarely stop to think that lying can even land them in the world of animals, ghosts, or even hell.

“Divisive speech, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of divisive speech is when reborn as a human it leads to being divided from one’s friends.”

Too often people try to bond with people by criticizing others and causing them to end their relationships. In the short term, this can seem like a method to build up friends, but the Supreme Buddha teaches us this would lead to rebirth in the planes of misery and to lose friends once we are reborn as humans.

“Harsh speech, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of harsh speech is when reborn as a human it leads to hearing unpleasant words.”

We may at times try to justify the use of harsh speech claiming its necessity to show our authority or to get things our own way and think we are qualified to speak roughly to others with no consequences. What we do not realize is the boomerang effect of Karma will make sure that in a future life as a human, we shall be on the receiving end of each and every harsh word speak.
“Talking useless speech, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of talking useless speech is when reborn as a human it leads to no-one believing in one’s words.”

Everyone in the world wants to be taken seriously, don’t they? But almost everyone spends time talking about useless, unbeneficial things. Of course, friendly chit-chat is not a problem, but most people do not limit it to that. They go on talking about food, politics, TV shows, video games… the list goes on and on. When we have this exceedingly rare chance at a human birth with a coherent human voice that can be used in so many beneficial ways, why would we think to waste it? Ordinary people also do not stop to think that the consequences reach us even beyond this life.
“Consuming alcoholic drinks and drugs, when engaged, repeatedly pursued, and frequently done, leads to rebirth in hell, the animal realm, or the ghost realm. The mildest consequence of consuming alcoholic drinks and drugs is when reborn as a human it leads to madness.”

To many Sri Lankans, alcohol appears to be a panacea for everything. For them anything is a chance to hit the bottle: drinking for friendship, drinking for recreation, for insomnia, for tiredness, for joy and sorrow, for laziness or courage, for heat or cold and sometimes for no reason at all! For westerners drinking alcohol has become a symbol of status in society and in their homes they display their bottles of liquor on lighted shelves, showing them off like trophies. They may have a good intention to treat their guests to something special, but the Supreme Buddha understood that although people are drawn to the lowly pleasure of consuming alcohol, the suffering that comes from this is much more powerful and lasts a long time.

So as we go about life making choices about what we do and don’t do, we must always remember that the harmful actions we do can directly influence where we take rebirth after this life. And even if we are fortunate enough to take rebirth in the human world, we still may not have escaped the negative consequences. May we all reflect wisely on our actions and make good choices that benefit us in this life, benefit us in our next lives, and lead to experiencing the supreme Bliss of Nibbana in this Gautama Buddha’s Dispensation!
Apāyasaṃvattanika Sutta (AN 8:40)

By a Venerable Thero of Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery