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The Deeds Discourses: The Four-Sided Gem and the Immeasurable Mind
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The Deeds Discourses: The Four-Sided Gem and the Immeasurable Mind

Cittantaro ayaṃ bhikkhave macco

The Buddha says intentional deeds done and accumulated do not come to an end without their results being experienced. Three kinds of bodily, four verbal and three mental deeds carry the doer along their course as surely as a four-sided gem thrown up lands and rests on one side. In another discourse he shows that for one who develops the divine abidings until the mind is immeasurable, limited deeds do not remain in that mind.

8 points

In the first Kamma Sutta of the first chapter of the Fifth Fifty, Book of the Tens, Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha says he does not declare that intentional deeds that have been done and accumulated come to an end without their results being experienced, whether in this life, the next, or some later life; nor that the end of suffering is made without experiencing them. The Thai Royal Edition renders this as "not having known, we do not declare"; the Pali word is appaṭisaṃviditvā, meaning without having experienced [the results].

He then explains that three kinds of bodily deed, four verbal and three mental, with unskilful intention, yield suffering and result in suffering, while those with skilful intention yield happiness and result in happiness. Beings are reborn in bad or good destinations because of them, just as a four-sided gem thrown up rests firmly on whichever side it lands.

The third Kamma Sutta (called the Karajakāya Sutta in some editions) opens the same way, then describes a noble disciple free of covetousness and ill will, unconfused, fully aware and mindful, who pervades all directions with a mind of loving-kindness, compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity, immeasurable. Such a one knows that limited deeds do not remain in that mind. The Buddha also points out that this body cannot be taken along; a mortal being has mind as its determining factor.

  1. 1

    Intentional deeds do not end for nothing Sañcetanikānaṃ kammānaṃ katānaṃ upacitānaṃ

    The Buddha does not declare that intentional deeds done and accumulated come to an end without their results being experienced. Results may come in this life, the next, or some later life.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you wish a mistake would just "go away by itself", admit plainly that it has consequences and choose to take responsibility instead of hiding it.

  2. 2

    Three bodily deeds Tividhaṃ kāyakammantasandosabyāpatti

    Killing, stealing and sexual misconduct done with unskilful intention yield suffering and result in suffering. Refraining from these three yields happiness and results in happiness.

    Applying it in daily life

    Review your physical actions each day, from harming small creatures and taking what isn't yours to faithfulness to your partner.

  3. 3

    Four verbal deeds Catubbidhaṃ vacīkammantasandosabyāpatti

    False speech, such as claiming to know when called as a witness without knowing; divisive speech that splits people; harsh speech bordering on anger and not conducive to concentration; and idle chatter, untimely and without basis. The opposite is truthful, reconciling, gentle, well-founded and timely speech.

    Applying it in daily life

    Before sending a message in anger, check: is it true, does it divide people, is it harsh, and does it need to be said now?

  4. 4

    Three mental deeds Tividhaṃ manokammantasandosabyāpatti

    Coveting others' belongings, thinking "if only theirs were mine"; ill will wishing others killed or destroyed; and wrong view that giving has no fruit and good and bad deeds have no result. The opposite is not coveting, wishing beings free of enmity, and right view.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you notice yourself coveting someone else's things or silently cursing someone, stop at that thought, because the discourse counts thoughts as deeds too.

  5. 5

    The four-sided gem Apaṇṇako maṇi

    Just as a four-sided gem thrown up rests firmly on whichever side it lands, beings who die go to a bad destination because of unskilful deeds, or to a good destination because of skilful deeds.

    Applying it in daily life

    The habits you repeat every day are the side your life tends to land on. If you want it to rest on the good side, repeat good actions until that side is the heaviest.

  6. 6

    A mind pervading without measure Appamāṇena averena abyāpajjhena

    A noble disciple free of covetousness and ill will, unconfused, fully aware and mindful, pervades every direction with loving-kindness, with a mind abundant, immeasurable, without enmity or ill will. They know that before, the mind was limited and undeveloped, but now it is immeasurable and well developed, and whatever limited deed was done does not remain or persist there. The same is said of compassion, altruistic joy and equanimity.

    Applying it in daily life

    Practise loving-kindness in widening circles: those close to you, strangers, then people who irritate you. Notice whether the small things that used to stick in your mind take up less space.

  7. 7

    If a child developed loving-kindness from youth Akarontañhi bhante pāpakammaṃ kuto dukkhaṃ

    The Buddha asks whether a child who developed the release of mind by loving-kindness from youth would do bad deeds. The monks say no. He asks whether suffering would touch one who does no bad deeds. They reply: how could it?

    Applying it in daily life

    Nurture kindness in children from an early age, for example by caring for pets together or thinking about a friend's feelings, because a mind used to kindness doesn't want to harm anyone.

  8. 8

    This body cannot be taken along; mind is decisive Nāyaṃ kāyo ādāya gamanīyo

    This release of mind by loving-kindness should be developed by women and men alike. This body cannot be taken along; a mortal being has mind as its determining factor. One who develops it knows that whatever bad deeds were done before with this deed-born body will be experienced here and will not follow along. Developed thus, it leads to non-return for a wise monk who has not penetrated a higher liberation. This point is for overall understanding.

    Applying it in daily life

    After taking good care of your body, ask how much you have cared for your mind today, since according to the discourse it is mind, not body, that determines the course of life.

Try it in daily life

Read together, these two discourses give a balanced picture. The first says what we have intentionally done does not simply vanish; there is no shortcut to escape its results. The second says what we can do now is broaden the mind until small wrongs from the past have no place to settle in it.

In real life, when you have wronged someone, admitting it, apologising and making amends as far as you can is not running from the results. Practising loving-kindness and non-harming every day builds a new kind of mind, so you neither repeat the wrong nor stay sunk in old guilt.

The teaching on kamma here is for examining your own actions, not for judging that people who are suffering deserve it. The teaching on rebirth in various destinations is something to study thoughtfully.

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