Date:  Mon Feb 10, 2003  8:54 am
             Subject:  Kamma in the paticcasamuppada

A friend had commented:

As I see it, kamma is merely a subset of the types of situations that illustrate the law or regularity we term dependent origination, it is not the whole of it. Further, and more from a policy perspective, assigning kamma as the primary or sole reason that a person dies or is born deaf (or is born a king) carries with it a number of risks. For example, to the extent this approach is confused with hard determinism, it may marginalize moral choice and action - in effect, throwing out the Buddha's unique reworking of kamma (see the passage quoted below). In addition, this approach suggests a knowledge of past events and causative interactions that I personally cannot speak to. Finally, it seems directly contrary to various passages in the Pali canon, passages that are consistent with my own life, that "whoever speculates about these things would go mad & experience vexation."

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"Having approached the priests & contemplatives who hold that... whatever a person experiences... is all caused by what was done in the past,' I said to them: 'Is it true that you hold that... whatever a person experiences... is all caused by what was done in the past?' Thus asked by me, they admitted, 'Yes.' Then I said to them, 'Then in that case, a person is a killer of living beings because of what was done in the past. A person is a thief... unchaste... a liar... a divisive speaker... an abusive speaker... an idle chatterer... covetous... malevolent... a holder of wrong views because of what was done in the past.' When one falls back on what was done in the past as being essential, monks, there is no desire, no effort [at the thought], 'This should be done. This shouldn't be done.' When one can't pin down as a truth or reality what should & shouldn't be done, one dwells bewildered & unprotected. One cannot righteously refer to oneself as a contemplative...

 from
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/anguttara/an03-061.html

First, thank you for the link to the sutta you are quoting from, I can see why you mentioned that the paticcasamuppada is very important to you [in a previous message]. The passage about the paticcasamuppada does include kamma as a prime condition, since it comes right after ignorance or moha that is the cause of all kilesas:

"From ignorance as a requisite condition come ***fabrications***.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form.
From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling.
From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then old age & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.  [...]

***Without 'fabrications' or sankharakhandha the chief of which is cetana or kamma; none of the rest would follow.

But this sutta stresses the ending of all kilesas and therefore rebirth, which is why panna is stressed throughout. In other words he is not explaining about kamma but how ignorance can be eradicated so that one doesn't remain inactive because of inaccurate understanding about why things arise: from past kamma and therefore unchangeable, from God's decree and so not within human capability to change, etc. as described in the sutta.

Anything that arises, even with kamma as prime condition, is ultimately be cause of moha, without which no kamma would be performed. To eradicate moha, he taught that:

[...]  "But this Dhamma taught by me is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives. And which Dhamma taught by me is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives? 'There are these six properties' is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives.
'There are these six media of sensory contact' is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives. 'There are these eighteen explorations for the intellect' is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives. 'There are these four noble truths' is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives.
"'"There are these six properties" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to what was it said? These are the six properties: earth-property [hardness/softness], liquid-property [cohesion], fire-property [temperature], wind-property [motion/tension], space-property [emptiness between individual rupas], consciousness-property [namadhamma]. '"There are these six properties" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said. [...]

***This is what satipatthana would study and develop panna about, when satipatthana is conditioned to arise and experience realities through the six dvaras.

"'"There are these six media of sensory contact" [***the ayatanas that will be experienced as nanas when satipatthana has developed beyond the first nana of namarupa paricchadanana] is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to what was it said? These are the six media of sensory contact: the eye as a medium of sensory contact, the ear as a medium of sensory contact, the nose as a medium of sensory contact, the tongue as a medium of sensory contact, the body as a medium of sensory contact, the intellect as a medium of sensory contact. '"There are these six media of sensory contact" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives':  Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said.

***Knowledge or experience of the ayatanas arising and falling away would indeed eliminate moha that takes concepts of things as permanent, controllable and belonging to one or others.

"'"There are these eighteen explorations for the intellect" [this is the realization of the tilakkhana, or three universal characteristics of all realities except for nibbana, the knowledge of which can lead to the experiencing of nibbana as arammana and therefore the eradication of certain levels of kilesas or certain akusala cetasikas permanently***] is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives':  Thus was it said. And in reference to what was it said? Seeing a form via the eye, one explores a form that can act as the basis for happiness, one explores a form that can act as the basis for
unhappiness, one explores a form that can act as the basis for equanimity. Hearing a sound via the ear... Smelling an aroma via the nose... Tasting a flavor via the tongue... Feeling a tactile sensation via the body... Cognizing an idea via the intellect, one explores an idea that can act as the basis for happiness, one explores an idea that can act as the basis for unhappiness, one explores an idea that can act as the basis for equanimity. '"There are these eighteen explorations for the intellect" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said.

"'"There are these four noble truths" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to what was it said?

"Sustained by/clinging to the six properties, there is an alighting of an embryo. There being an alighting, there is name-&-form. From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media. From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact. From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. To one experiencing feeling I declare, 'This is stress.' I declare, 'This is the origination of stress.' I declare, 'This is the cessation of stress.'  I declare, 'This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'

"And what is the noble truth of stress? Birth is stress, aging is stress, death is stress; sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair are stress; association with what is not loved is stress, separation from what is loved is stress, not getting what is wanted is stress. In short, the five clinging-aggregates are stress. This is called the noble truth of stress.

"And what is the noble truth of the origination of stress?

"From ignorance as a requisite condition come fabrications.
From fabrications as a requisite condition comes consciousness.
From consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form.
From name-&-form as a requisite condition come the six sense media.
From the six sense media as a requisite condition comes contact.
From contact as a requisite condition comes feeling. From feeling as a requisite condition comes craving.
From craving as a requisite condition comes clinging/sustenance.
From clinging/sustenance as a requisite condition comes becoming.
From becoming as a requisite condition comes birth.
From birth as a requisite condition, then old age & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play. Such is the origination of this entire mass of stress & suffering.

"This is called the noble truth of the origination of stress.

"And what is the noble truth of the cessation of stress?

"From the remainderless fading & cessation of that very ignorance comes the cessation of fabrications.
From the cessation of fabrications comes the cessation of consciousness.
From the cessation of consciousness comes the cessation of name-&-form.
From the cessation of name-&-form comes the cessation of the six sense media.
From the cessation of the six sense media comes the cessation of contact.
From the cessation of contact comes the cessation of feeling.
From the cessation of feeling comes the cessation of craving.
From the cessation of craving comes the cessation of clinging/sustenance.
From the cessation of clinging/sustenance comes the cessation of becoming.
From the cessation of becoming comes the cessation of birth.
From the cessation of birth, then old age & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair all cease. Such is the cessation of this entire mass of stress & suffering. "This is called the noble truth of the cessation of stress.
"And what is the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress? Just this noble eightfold path: right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is called the noble truth of the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.

"'"There are these four noble truths" is a Dhamma taught by me that is unrefuted, undefiled, blameless, not faulted by knowledgeable priests & contemplatives': Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said."[...]
 

The fact that kamma [intention or the cetana cetasika] is a prime mover doesn't exclude the fact that this abhisankhara arises from moha, that most subtle of kilesas that is at the origin of all defilements.