Karma
Karma in Indian religions is
the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which
causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called saṃsāra)
originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh
philosophies.[2]
'Karma'
is an Indian religious concept in contradistinction to 'faith' espoused by Abrahamic
religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), which view all human
dramas as the will of God as opposed to present—and past—life actions. In
theistic schools of Hinduism, humans have free will to choose their own
actions, which require only the will of God to implement karma's consequences.
Buddhism and Jainism do not accord any role to a supreme God or Gods, but the
principal belief is the same. In Indian beliefs, the karmic effects of all
deeds are viewed as actively shaping past, present, and future experiences. The
results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala.[3]
Contents
[hide] |
A
concept of karma (along with samsara and moksha)
may originate in the shramana tradition of which Buddhism and Jainism are continuations. This
tradition influenced the Brahmanic religion in
the early Vedantic (Upanishadic)
movement of the 1st millennium BC. This worldview was adopted from this
religious culture by Brahmin orthodoxy, and Brahmins wrote the earliest
recorded scriptures containing these ideas in the early Upanishads. Until recently,
the scholarly consensus was that reincarnation is absent from the earliest
strata of Brahminical literature. However, a new
translation of two stanzas of the Rig Veda indicate that the Brahmins may have
had the idea, common among small-scale societies around the world, that an
individual cycles back and forth between the earth and a heavenly realm of
ancestors. In this worldview, moral behavior has no influence on rebirth. The
idea that the moral quality of one's actions influences one's rebirth is absent
from
Some
traditions (i.e., the Vedanta),
believe that a supreme being plays some kind of role, for example, as the
dispenser of the 'fruits' of karma[14] or as
exercising the option to change one's karma in rare instances. In general,
followers of the Buddhism and many followers of Hinduism traditions consider
the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma.[15][16][17] Another
view holds that a Sadguru, acting on a god's behalf, can mitigate or work
out some of the karma of the disciple.[18][19][20] And
according to the Jainism
perspective, neither a god nor a guru have any role in a person's karma—the
individual is considered to be the sole doer and enjoyer of his karmas and
their 'fruits'. Laws of karma are codified in some books.[21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
Main article: Karma in Hinduism
Karma
in Hinduism is also considered to be a spiritually originated law. Many Hindus
see God's direct involvement in this process; others consider the natural laws
of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma.[28][29][30] However,
followers of Vedanta, the
leading extant school of Hinduism today, consider Ishvara,
a personal supreme God, as playing a role in the delivery of karma. Theistic
schools of Hinduism such as Vedanta
thus disagree with the Buddhist and Jain views and other Hindu views that karma is merely a law of
cause and effect but rather is also dependent on the will of a personal supreme
God. Examples of a personal supreme God include Shiva in Shaivism
or Vishnu in Vaishnavism.
A good summary of this theistic view of karma is expressed by the following:
"God does not make one suffer for no reason nor does He make one happy for
no reason. God is very fair and gives you exactly what you deserve."[31]
Karma
is not punishment or retribution but simply an extended expression or
consequence of natural acts. Karma means "deed" or "act" and
more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, that governs all life. The effects experienced are
also able to be mitigated by actions and are not necessarily fated. That is to
say, a particular action now is not binding to some particular, pre-determined
future experience or reaction; it is not a simple, one-to-one correspondence of
reward or punishment.
Karma
is not fate, for humans act
with free will creating their
own destiny. According to the Vedas, if one sows goodness,
one will reap goodness; if one sows evil,
one will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their
concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our
future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate
response.
One
of the first and most dramatic illustrations of Karma can be found in the Bhagavad
Gita. In this poem, Arjuna
the protagonist is preparing for battle when he realizes that the enemy
consists of members of his own family and decides not to fight. His charioteer,
Krishna (an avatar of god),
explains to Arjuna the concept of dharma (duty) among other things
and makes him see that it is his duty to fight. The whole of the Bhagavad
Gita within the Mahabharata,
is a dialogue between these two on aspects of life including morality and a host
of other philosophical themes. The original Hindu concept of karma was later
enhanced by several other movements within the religion, most notably Vedanta, and Tantra.
In
this way, so long as the stock of sanchita
karma lasts, a part of it continues to be taken out as prarabdha
karma for being experienced in one lifetime, leading to the cycle of birth
and death. A Jiva
cannot attain moksha
until the accumulated sanchita karmas
are completely exhausted.[32]
Within
Sikhism, all living beings
are described as being under the influence of Maya's
three qualities. Always present together in varying mix and degrees, these
three qualities of Maya bind the Soul to the body and to the earth plane. Above
these three qualities is the eternal time. Due to the influence of three modes
of Maya's nature, jivas (individual beings) perform activities under the
control and purview of the eternal time. These activities are called Karma. The
underlying principle is that karma is the law that brings back the results of
actions to the person performing them.
This
life is likened to a field (Khet) in which our Karma
is the seed. We harvest exactly what we sow. No less, no more. This infallible
law of Karma holds everyone responsible for what the person is or going to be.
Based on the total sum of past Karma, some feel close to the Pure Being in this
life, and others feel separated. This is the Gurbani's
(Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) law of Karma. Like
other Indian as well as oriental school of thoughts, the Gurbani
also accepts the doctrines of Karma and reincarnation as the facts of nature.[33]
Main article: Karma
in Buddhism
In
Buddhism, karma (Pāli kamma)
is strictly distinguished from vipāka,
meaning "fruit" or "result". Karma is categorized within
the group or groups of cause (Pāli hetu) in the chain
of cause and effect, where it comprises the elements
of "volitional activities" (Pali sankhara) and "action" (Pali bhava). Any action is
understood as creating "seeds" in the mind that will sprout into the
appropriate result (Pāli vipaka)
when met with the right conditions. Most types of karmas, with good or bad
results, will keep one within the wheel of samsāra, while
others will liberate one to nirvāna.
Buddhism
links karma directly to the motives behind an action. Motivation usually makes
the difference between "good" and "bad" actions; but
included in the motivation is also the aspect of ignorance such that a
well-intended action from an ignorant mind can subsequently be interpreted as a
"bad" action in the sense that it creates unpleasant results for the
"actor".
In
Buddhism, karma is not the only cause of everything that happens. The
commentarial tradition classifed causal mechanisms
governing the universe as taught in the early texts in five categories, known
as Niyama Dhammas:[34][35]
Main article: Karma
in Jainism
See also: Types of Karma
(Jainism) and Causes of Karma (Jainism)
Karma
in Jainism conveys a totally
different meaning as commonly understood in the Hindu philosophy and western
civilization.[36]
In Jainism, karma is
referred to as karmic dirt, as it consists of very subtle and microscopic
particles i.e. pudgala that pervade the entire
universe.[37]
Karmas are attracted to the karmic field of a soul on account of vibrations
created by activities of mind, speech, and body as well as on account of
various mental dispositions. Hence the karmas are the subtle matter surrounding
the consciousness of a soul. When these two components, i.e. consciousness and
karma, interact, we experience the life we know at present.
Herman
Kuhn quoting from Tattvarthasutra describes
karmas as – a mechanism that makes us thoroughly experience the themes of
our life until we gained optimal knowledge from them and until our emotional
attachment to these themes falls off.[36]
According
to Padmanabh Jaini
"this emphasis on reaping the fruits only of one’s own karma was not restricted
to the Jainas; both Hindus and Buddhist
writers have produced doctrinal materials stressing the same point. Each of the
latter traditions, however, developed practices in basic contradiction to such
belief. In addition to shrardha (the ritual Hindu offerings by the son of
deceased), we find among Hindus widespread adherence to the notion of divine
intervention in ones fate, while Buddhists
eventually came to propound such theories like boon-granting bodhisattvas,
transfer of merit and like. Only Jainas have been
absolutely unwilling to allow such ideas to penetrate their community, despite
the fact that there must have been tremendous amount of social pressure on them
to do so."[38]
The
key points where the theory of Karma in Jainism differs from the other
religions such as theistic traditions of Hinduism, can
be stated as follows:
1.
Karma in Jainism operates as a
self-sustaining mechanism as natural universal law, without any need of an external
entity to manage them. (absence of the exogenous "Divine Entity" in
Jainism)
2.
Jainism advocates that a soul's karma
changes even with the thoughts, and not just the actions. Thus, to even think
evil of someone would endure a "karm-bandh"
or an increment in bad karma. It is for this reason, that Jainism gives a very
strong emphasis on "samyak dhyan"
(Rationality in thoughts) and "samyak darshan"
(Rationality in perception) and not just "samyak
charitra" (rationality in conduct).
3.
Under Jain theology, a soul is released
of worldly affairs as soon as it is able to emanicipate
from the "karm-bandh". A famous
illustration is that of Mata Marudevi, the mother of Shri Rishabh Dev, the first Tirthankar of present time cycle, who reached such emanicipation by elevating sequentially her thought
processes, while she was visiting her Tirthankar son.
This illustration explains how "Nirvana" and "Moksha" are different in Jainism, from other
religions. In the presence of a Tirthankar, another
soul achieved Keval Gyan
and subsequently Nirvana, without any need of intervention by the Tirthankar.
4.
The karmic theory in Jainism operates
endogenously. Tirthankars are not attributed
"godhood" under Jainism. Thus, even the tirthankars
themselves have to go through the stages of emanicipation,
for attaining that state. While Buddhism does give a similar and to some extent
a matching account for Shri Gautama
Buddha, Hinduism maintains a totally different theory where "divine
grace" is needed for emanicipation.
5.
Jainism treats all souls equally, in as
much as it advocates that all souls have the same potential of attaining
"nirvana". Only those who make effort,
really attain it, but nonetheless, each soul is capable on its own to do so by
gradually reducing its karma.[39]
An
academic and religious definition was mentioned above. The concept of karma is
part of the world view of many millions of people throughout the world. Many in
western cultures or with a Christian upbringing have incorporated a notion of
karma. The Christian concept of reaping what you sow from Galatians 6:7 can be
considered equivalent to Karma.[40]
According
to karma, performing positive actions results in a good condition in one's
experience, whereas a negative action results in a bad effect. The effects may
be seen immediately or delayed. Delay can be until later in the present life or
in the next. Thus, meritorious acts may mean rebirth into a higher station,
such as a superior human or a godlike being, while evil acts result in rebirth
as a human living in less desirable circumstances, or as a lower animal. Some
observers[who?] have compared the
action of karma to Western notions of sin and judgment by God or Gods, while others
understand karma as an inherent principle of the universe without the
intervention of any supernatural Being. In Hinduism, God does play a role and
is seen as a dispenser of karma; see Karma in Hinduism for
more details. The non-interventionist view is that of Buddhism and Jainism.
Most
teachings say that for common mortals, being involved with karma is an
unavoidable part of daily living. However, in light of the Hindu philosophical
Although
Islam views all human dramas as the will of Allah (God), the Koran states that the
good or bad fortunes that befall man are the results of God's reactions to man's
own actions as shown from part 28 (Surat Al-Qasas), part 3 (Surat Al-Imran), and part 30 (Surat Al-Ruum).[41][42][43]
Main article: Spiritist
doctrine
In
Spiritism,
karma is known as "the law of cause and effect", and plays a central
role in determining how one's life should be lived. Spirits are encouraged to
choose how (and when) to suffer retribution for the wrong they did in previous
lives. Disabilities, physical or mental impairment or even an unlucky life are
due to the choices a spirit makes before reincarnating
(that is, before being born to a new life).
What
sets Spiritism apart from the more traditional religious
views is that it understands karma as a condition inherent to the spirit,
whether incarnated or not: the consequences of the crimes committed by the
spirit last beyond the physical life and cause him (moral) pain in the
afterlife. The choice of a life of hardships is, therefore, a way to rid
oneself of the pain caused by moral guilt and to perfect qualities that are
necessary for the spirit to progress to a higher form.
Because
Spiritism always accepted the plurality of inhabited
worlds, its concept of karma became considerably complex. There are worlds that
are "primitive" (in the sense that they are home to spirits newly
born and still very low on intellect and morals) and a succession of more and
more advanced worlds to where spirits move as they are elevated. A spirit may
choose to be born on a world inferior to his own as a penance or as a mission.
The
idea of karma was popularized in the Western world through the
work of the Theosophical
Society. In this conception, karma is affiliated with the Neopagan law of return or Threefold Law,
the idea that the beneficial or harmful effects one has on the world will
return to oneself. Colloquially this may be summed up as 'what goes around
comes around.'
In
the west, karma is often confused with concepts such as the soul, psychic energy, synchronicity (a concept
originally from psychoanalyst Carl
Jung, which says that things that happen at the same time are related), and
ideas from quantum or theoretical physics (which most
physicists would not grant as having any bearing on morality or codes of
conduct, much less on supernatural notions). This mishmash of word associations
is well illustrated by the once-common bumper sticker "My karma ran over
your dogma."
Since
the 20th century emergence of emotional
intelligence as a novel paradigm for viewing human experience, karma has
become a sectarian term which umbrellas the entire collection (both conscious
and subconscious) of human emotionality.[44] This
modern view of karma, devoid of any spiritual exigencies, obviates the need for
an acceptance of reincarnation
in Judeochristian societies and attempts to portray karma
as a universal psychological phenomenon which behaves predictably, like other
physical forces such as gravity.
Sakyong
Mipham eloquently summed this up when he said;
Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice
it.[45]
This
view of karma, as a universal and personally impacting emotional constant,
correlates with Buddhist
and Jungian
understanding that volition (or libido, created from personal
and cultural biases) is the primary instigator of karma. Any
conscious thought, word and/or action, arising from a cognitively unresolved
emotion (cognitive
dissonance), results in karma.[46]
Jung once opined on
unresolved emotions and the synchronicity
of karma;
'When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears
outside as fate.'[47]
Popular
methods for negating cognitive dissonance include meditation, metacognition,
counselling, psychoanalysis, etc.,
whose aim is to enhance emotional self-awareness and thus avoid negative karma.
This results in better emotional hygiene and reduced karmic impacts.[48] Permanent
neuronal changes within the amygdala and left prefrontal cortex of
the human brain attributed to long-term meditation and metacognition
techniques have been proven scientifically.[49] This
process of emotional maturation aspires to a goal of Individuation or self-actualisation. Such
peak experience are hypothetically devoid of any karma (nirvana).
As
Rabindranath
Tagore most eloquently explained about the heat
of human emotions;
Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the
extinguishing of the flame because day is come[50]
1.
^
kárman—"act,
action, performance"—a neuter n-stem, nominative kárma कर्म ;
from the root √kṛ
which means "to do, make, perform, accomplish, cause, effect,
prepare, undertake"
2.
^
The
Manual of Life - Karma,Parvesh Singla,
section 1
3.
^
A
Dictionary of Some Theosophical Terms, Powis Hoult, 1910, p.67.
4.
^
Joanna Jurewicz, The
Rigveda, 'small scale' societies and rebirth
eschatology. See [1].
5.
^
Gananath Obeyesekere, Imagining
Karma: Ethical Transformation in Amerindian, Buddhist, and
6.
^
Y. Masih (2000) In : A
Comparative Study of Religions, Motilal Banarsidass Publ :
7.
^
Karel Werner, The
Longhaired Sage in The Yogi and the Mystic. Karel
Werner, ed., Curzon Press, 1989, page 34. "Rahurkar speaks of them as belonging to two distinct
'cultural strands' ... Wayman also found evidence for
two distinct approaches to the spiritual dimension in ancient India and calls
them the traditions of 'truth and silence.' He traces them particularly in the
older Upanishads, in early Buddhism, and in some later literature."
1.
^
Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge
University Press :
2.
^
Padmanabh S. Jaini 2001
“Collected Paper on Buddhist Studies” Motilal Banarsidass Publ 576 pages ISBN
81-208-1776-1: "Yajnavalkya’s reluctance and
manner in expounding the doctrine of karma in the assembly of Janaka (a reluctance not shown on any other occasion) can
perhaps be explained by the assumption that it was, like that of the
transmigration of soul, of non-brahmanical origin. In
view of the fact that this doctrine is emblazoned on almost every page of sramana scriptures, it is highly probable that it was
derived from them." Page 51.
3.
^
Govind Chandra Pande,
(1994) Life and Thought of Sankaracarya, Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 81-208-1104-6 :
Early Upanishad thinkers like Yajnavalkya were
acquainted with the sramanic thinking and tried to
incorporate these ideals of Karma, Samsara and Moksa into the vedic
thought implying a disparagement of the vedic
ritualism and recognising the mendicancy as an ideal.
Page 135.
4.
^
A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN
0-7100-9258-X - "The Upanishads were like a breath of fresh air
blowing through the stuffy corridors of power of the vedic
brahminism. They were noticed by the Brahmin
establishment because the yogis did not owe allegiance to any established
religion or mode of thought.. So although, the
Upanishads came to be noticed by Brahmin establishment, they were very largely
saying what may well have been current among other sramanic
groups at that time. It can be said that this atheistic doctrine was evidently
very acceptable to the authors of Upanishads, who made use of many of its
concepts." Page 27.
5.
^
A History of Yoga By Vivian Worthington 1982 Routledge ISBN
0-7100-9258-X: "The idea of re-incarnation, so central to the older sramanic creeds is still new to many people throughout the
world. The Aryans of the Vedic age knew nothing of it. When the Brahmins began
to accept it, they declared it as a secret doctrine. […] It will be seen from
this short account of Jains, that they had fully
developed the ideas of karma and reincarnation very early in history. The
earliest Upanishads were probably strongly influenced by their teachings.
Jainism the religion, Samkhya the philosophy and yoga
the way to self discipline and enlightenment dominated the spiritual life of
Indian during the Dravidian times. They were to be overshadowed for over
thousand years by the lower form of religion that was foisted on the local
inhabitants by the invading Aryans, but in the end it was Sramanic
disciplines that triumphed. They did so by surviving in their own right and by
their ideas being fully adopted by the Brahmins who steadily modified their own
vedic religion." Page
35.
6.
^
"The sudden appearance of this theory [of karma] in a full-fledged form is
likely to be due, as already pointed out, to an impact of the wandering muni-and-shramana-cult, coming
down from the pre-Vedic non-Aryan time." Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, Early Buddhism
and the Bhagavadgita. Motilal
Banarsidass Publ., 1998,
page 76.
7.
^
The Brahma
Sutras - Chapter 3
8.
^
Pratima Bowes, The Hindu Religious Tradition
54–80 (Allied Pub. 1976) ISBN
0710086687
9.
^
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, at 217–225 (18th reprint
1995) ISBN
81-85301-75-1
10.
^
Alex Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present 154–56 (
11.
^
Yogananda, Paramahansa, Autobiography
of a Yogi, Chapter 21 ISBN
1-56589-212-7
12.
^
Swami Krishnananda on the Guru mitigating the karma of the
disciple
13.
^
Swami B. V. Tripurari on grace of the Guru destroying karma
15.
^
三世因果經﹣即佛印禪師論三世因果勸世文
18.
^
梁武帝问志公禅师因果文
20.
^
偽經《佛說三世因果經》的誤導
21.
^
E.g., Compare Swami-Krishnananda.org
with Pratima Bowes, The Hindu Religious
Tradition 54–80 (Allied Pub. 1976) ISBN
0-7100-8668-7
22.
^
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. II, at 217–225 (18th reprint 1995) ISBN
81-85301-75-1
23.
^
Alex Michaels, Hinduism: Past and Present 154–56 (
24.
^
Gitamrta.org
25.
^
Goyandaka J, The Secret of Karmayoga,
Gita Press,
26.
^
Gurbani.org
27.
^
Caroline
Augusta Foley Rhys Davids, Buddhism.
Reprint by Read Books, 2007, Books.Google.com
28.
^
Padmasiri De Silva, Environmental philosophy and
ethics in Buddhism. Macmillan, 1998, page 41. Books.Google.com
29.
^ a
b
Hermann Kuhn, Karma, the Mechanism, 2004
30.
^
Acharya Umasvati, Tattvartha Sutra, Ch VIII, Sutra 24
31.
^
Padmanabh Jaini, Collected
papers on Jaina Studies, Chapter 7, Pg 137
32.
^
Sancheti Asoo Lal, Bhandari Manak
Mal - Fist Steps to Jainism (Part Two): Doctrine of Karma, Doctrine of Anekant and Other Articles with Appendices - Catalogued by Library of U.S. Congress, Washington, Card No.
90-232383
33.
^
Bible (King James)/Galatians
34.
^
"If any does good, the reward to him is better
than his deed; but if any does evil, the doers of evil are only punished (to
the extent) of their deeds." The
Holy Koran; Section 28, Verse 84
35.
^
"What! when a single disaster smites you -although
ye smote (your enemies) with one twice as great- do ye say? "Whence is
this?" Say (to them): "It is from yourselves: for Allah hath
power over all things." The
Holy Koran; Section 3, Verse 165
36.
^
"Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those
before them? They were superior to them in strength: they tilled the soil and
populated it in greater numbers than these have done: there came to them their
Messengers with Clear (Signs). (Which they rejected, to their own
destruction): it was not Allah who wronged them, but they wronged their own
souls." The
Holy Koran; Section 30, Verse 9
37.
^
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence.
38.
^
GoodReads.com
39.
^
"I declare, O Bhikkhus, that volition is Karma.
Having willed one acts by body, speech, and thought." (Anguttara
Nikaya)
40.
^
Jung, C.G. and Wolfgang Pauli, The Interpretation of
Nature and Psyche,
41.
^
Buddha, at First Council of monks (approx. 544 b.c.e.):
Bhikkhus, this is the one and the only way for the
purification (of the minds) of beings, for overcoming sorrow and lamentation,
for the cessation of physical and mental pain, for attainment of the Noble
Paths and for the realization of Nibbana. That (only
way) is the four satipatthanas. What are these four?
Here (in this teaching), bhikkhus, a bhikkhu (i.e. a disciple) dwells perceiving again and again
the body (kaya) as just the body (not mine, not I,
not self, but just a phenomenon) with diligence, clear understanding, and
mindfulness, thus keeping away covetousness and mental pain in the world; he
dwells perceiving again and again feelings (vedana)
as just feelings (not mine, not I, not self but just as phenomena) with
diligence, clear understanding, and mindfulness, thus keeping away covetousness
and mental pain in the world; he dwells perceiving again and again the mind (citta) as just the mind (not mine, not I, not self but just
a phenomenon) with diligence, clear understanding, and mindfulness, thus
keeping away covetousness and mental pain in the world; he dwells perceiving
again and again dhammas as just dhammas
(not mine, not I, not self but just as phenomena) with diligence, clear
understanding, and mindfulness, thus keeping away covetousness and mental pain
in the world.
42.
^
Davidson, Richard J., Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jessica
Schumacher, Melissa Rosenkranz, Daniel Muller, Saki F. Santorelli, Ferris Urbanowski, Anne Harrington, Katherine Bonus, and John F.
Sheridan. "Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by
Mindfulness Meditation." Psychosomatic Medicine 65 (2003): 564-70
43.
^
ThinkExist.com
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Categories: Buddhist philosophical
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