23/02/2026
《冤親債主 Karmic Creditors 》
“เจ้ากรรมนายเวร” refers to the unwholesome actions (akusala) we have committed against people or animals in past lives or in this life.
For example, if we killed or harmed someone, they may have already been reborn as a deva or brahma. If a deva, they no longer care. But the sin we committed remains.
It’s like stealing something—the owner may not mind, but the police have a duty to pursue—not because they want to, but because the law requires it. Thus, kamma or this karmic debt is like “the law.”
At the level of “dry insight” (sukha-vipassaka), one says there is no self because it has never been seen. But from the “three knowledges” (tevijjā) upward, one sees it directly. As in the story I told to illustrate this…
…In B.E. 2517 (1974), one night after practicing meditation, I dedicated merits to my karmic creditors.
While dedicating, many people came and stood there—but they were not creditors; they were people who came to rejoice in the merits. After they finished rejoicing, a man crawled in holding a large axe. When he came close, he said:
“…You and I are finished with each other.”
I asked: “Finished with what?”
He said: “Finished with pursuing and destroying each other.”
I asked: “Why pursue and destroy me?”
He said: “No, I wasn’t pursuing.”
I asked: “Then why come?”
He narrated his history: “For dozens of past lives, you and I fought each other constantly—we were battlefield arch-enemies. In every life, I was skilled with the axe; you were skilled with dual swords. Whenever there was a duel, they always sent us two. When others’ heads fell, at mealtime they would say, ‘Pause the battle, eat, then continue.’ That whole day, neither gained the upper hand.”
I asked: “What karmic enmity is there?”
He said: “The law of kamma considers there is, but now the law of kamma has dissolved.”
I asked: “Where are you reborn now?”
He said: “I am a Brahma.”
I asked: “Does a Brahma still hold karmic grudges?”
He replied: “I don’t hold it—the law of kamma holds it… The heavy kammas from warfare are finished like this.”
We dedicate merits to karmic creditors—whether they receive it or not doesn’t matter.
The good deeds we do bring happiness. The unwholesome kammas we’ve done, we cannot stop, but if our good kamma has greater power, those evils cannot catch up. This is called “**making merit to escape from evil**” (ทำบุญหนีบาป), not “making merit to wash away evil.”
No one in the world is born and lives without ever doing wrong. So trying to repay every sin is impossible. The only way in Buddhism is to **escape from evil** through these practices:
1. Recollect the virtues of the Triple Gem: Buddha’s virtues, Dhamma’s virtues, Noble Sangha’s virtues.
2. Keep the five precepts perfectly pure.
3. Fully possess the four divine abidings (brahmavihāra 4).
4. Fully possess and stabilize the four bases of power (iddhipāda 4).
5. Practice meditation to stabilize the mind.
6. Strive to fully complete the ten perfections (pāramī 10).
7. Strive to completely cut off the ten fetters (saṅyojana 10).
8. Fully practice the fifteen modes of conduct (caraṇa 15).
When all these are fully established and stable, there is no more rebirth.
That means: whenever death comes, one goes to **Nibbāna**—the realm of supreme happiness…
所謂「冤親債主」，是指我們在過去生或今生，對人或動物所造下的惡業（อกุศล）。
例如，有些人我們殺過、傷害過，他們可能已經投生為天人或梵天。如果是天人，他們已經不執著了；但我們造下的罪業本身，仍然存在。
就像有人偷東西，失主不計較，但警察有職責追捕——不是警察想追，而是法律規定必須追。所以，業或冤債就像「法律」。
如果修行到「乾觀」（สุกขวิปัสสโก，純觀智階段），會說沒有實體，因為從未親見；但從「三明」（เตวิชโช）以上，就能親眼看見。就像我講過的故事，來佐證這件事……
……在佛曆2517年（西元1974年）某個夜晚，我修完禪定後，將功德迴向給冤親債主。
迴向時，有很多人來站著，但不是冤親債主，而是來隨喜功德的人。他們隨喜完後，有一位男子爬著進來，手持一把大斧頭。靠近後，他說：
「……我和你已經了結了。」
我問：「了結什麼？」
他說：「了結互相追殺、報復的事。」
我又問：「為什麼要追殺我？」
他說：「不是，我沒有追殺。」
我問：「那你來幹嘛？」
他就講述前因後果：「在過去數十生，我們一直互相交戰，是戰場上的宿敵。他每生都擅長斧頭，我每生都擅長雙手劍。如果是單挑，就一定派我們兩個上場。別人頭斷了，到了吃飯時間，就說『先停戰，吃完飯再打』。那天整天誰也沒佔上風。」
我問：「到底有什麼冤業？」
他說：「業的法則認為有，但現在業的法則已經瓦解了。」
我問：「現在你投生哪裡？」
他說：「我是梵天。」
我問：「梵天還會執著業債嗎？」
他答：「我沒有執著，是業的法則在執著……戰爭中那些沉重的業，就這樣結束了。」
我們迴向功德給冤親債主，他們收到或沒收到都無所謂。
我們做的善業，會帶來快樂；過去造下的惡業，我們無法阻止，但如果善業的力量強大，就能讓惡業追不上。這叫做「**做善業逃離惡業**」（ทำบุญหนีบาป），而不是「做善業洗淨惡業」。
世上沒有人從出生到死完全不造惡，所以如果要一一償還惡業，根本還不完。在佛教中唯一的方法，就是「**逃離惡業**」，方法如下：
1. 念想三寶功德：佛功德、法功德、聖僧功德。
2. 完全清淨地守持五戒。
3. 具足四無量心（พรหมวิหาร ๔）。
4. 具足四神足（อิทธิบาท ๔）並穩固。
5. 修習禪定，讓心穩住。
6. 努力圓滿十波羅蜜（บารมี ๑๐ ประการ）。
7. 努力斷除十結（สังโยชน์ ๑๐ ประการ）。
8. 圓滿十五行道（จรณะ ๑๕）。
當以上這些都圓滿穩固，就不再需要投生輪迴。
也就是說：無論何時死亡，都會往生**涅槃**——那是極樂的境界……
