Are the disabled suffering due to past evil kamma?
Not all present results are the results of kamma done in previous lives. If one drives carelessly and has a road accident one may end up disabled. However, some people are born with physical or mental disabilities, and some get killed or injured due to the carelessness of others. In such cases we must assume that the cause lies with the victim’s past kamma. It does not follow that careless or drunken drivers should not be prosecuted if they accidentally injure someone. Even though they had no intention to cause an accident, carelessness is blameworthy, Killing someone by recklessness is not murder, but it may be manslaughter, and should be punished severely. The likely result of such reckless or negligent behaviour is that at some point in the future one will suffer a similar fate, and be killed or injured through no fault of one’s own.
