Karmic Creditors

Karmic creditors (chao kam nai wen), looked at in terms of meaning, are those with much karma, those who create karma and those with much evil, or those with whom we had enmity in a past life, who bring us disappointment or trouble.

Here is an example of karmic creditors. Suppose we swear a grudge that we will kill, harm or injure a certain person. Then whatever form of existence we meet them in, whether as frogs, toads, elephants, humans, devas or Brahmās, on meeting we are angry, on meeting we bear a grudge, because the force of that grudge is remembered in the mind, even though our bodies change. Do not be surprised by someone you have never done any wrong to, who, whenever they see you, is suspicious of you, angry with you, and always looking to pick a fight.

The term “karmic creditors” is mostly used for unwholesome karma, unfitting deeds that create enmity and danger in bad ways. An example is Devadatta, who bore a grudge against the Buddha from the time he was the Bodhisatta. He held on to his anger and hatred fiercely. He deliberately scooped up a handful of sand and declared that he would bear a grudge in as many existences as there were grains of sand in his hand. In the lives when Devadatta did not meet the Bodhisatta, he fulfilled many perfections. But in the lives when they met, Devadatta pursued his grudge against the Buddha until he himself met with ruin and fell to the lower realms and bad destinations. This happened because he never withdrew the enmity he had bound and had no mindfulness or wisdom to calm it.

The original word is vera, meaning to bear enmity toward one another. Whenever we are angry with or hate someone, we are said to bind enmity with them. You could say we become their karmic creditor, but the correct way to put it is that we bear a grudge and ill will toward them. This is not good. When such a state of mind arises, set the intention: “I will let it go.”

“I will not kill, I will not steal, I will not commit sexual misconduct. I will not tell lies, speak harshly, speak divisively or chatter idly. I will create no more enmity or danger for anyone. I will not tie knots of evil that bring trouble to the stream of my own life, so that I must suffer pain and disappointment in saṃsāra… I will create no more causes of disappointment, from this day on.”

We must defuse our grudges and ill will at once.

Binding enmity and vowing to destroy each other brings ruin. When we meet again in other existences, we will be angry and hate each other, quarrel and kill each other. And if both sides are born into power, for example as the leaders of nations, they will lead many more people to their deaths without end.

How to set the intention to abandon ill will

”…From this day on, if saṃsāra still goes on and I must meet people I dislike, people I am displeased with, people in conflict with me who are my enemies, may stress, anger, grudges and ill will have no place in my heart, from this day on, until I reach the end of suffering.”

In this long, drawn-out saṃsāra, we must set our intention to unlock ourselves, using the strength of mindfulness and wisdom to get free of grudges and ill will, and to keep loving-kindness and compassion (mettā, karuṇā) arising continuously and without a break, so as to cut off evil and bind enmity with no one.

How Can We Escape Our Karmic Creditors?

As long as we are still ordinary worldlings (puthujjana), we cannot escape the results of unwholesome karma. For example, the result of killing brings a short life, being afflicted by illness, or dying before one’s time. The result of stealing is that however much wealth you have, it comes to ruin. The result of sexual misconduct is pain in matters of one’s partner, being gossiped about and slandered. The result of lying, harsh speech, divisive speech and idle chatter is discord, and no one believes what you say. And the result of damaging mindfulness and clear awareness with intoxicants and the like is to be born dull and mentally impaired.

Whoever can train and develop themselves, in conduct, in mind, and above all in wisdom, until they penetrate the truth of the Four Noble Truths and attain arahantship, can break off all karma in saṃsāra and need never be born again. This is freedom from karmic creditors for good, entering final nibbāna without remainder of clinging (anupādā-parinibbāna).