Everything about Karma totally explained
Karma (
Sanskrit: कर्म, "act, action, performance";
Pali:
kamma) is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Nepalese and Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of
cause and effect (for example, the cycle called
samsara) described in
Hindu,
Jain,
Sikh and
Buddhist philosophies.
The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called . In religions that incorporate
reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.
Views
Throughout this process, some traditions (
for example, the
Vedanta), believe that
God plays some kind of role, for example, as the dispenser of the fruits of karma or as exercising the option to change one's karma in rare instances. In general, followers of Buddhism and many Hindus consider the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma. Another view holds that a
Sadguru, acting on God's behalf, can mitigate or work out some of the karma of the disciple.
Many instances of Karmic retribution and correlation are also evident in the Bible.
Law of Karma
All living creatures are responsible for their karma — their actions and the effects of their actions — and for their release from
samsara. The concept can be traced back to the early
Upanishads.
The
Esoteric Christian tradition,
Essenian and later
Rosicrucian schools teach it as the "Law of Cause and Consequence/Effect". However, this
western esoteric tradition adds that the essence of the teachings of
Christ is that the law of
sin and
death may be overcome by the
Love of God, which will restore
immortality.
Exceptions
Actions don't create karma (good or bad) when performed by an individual in the state of
Moksha or liberation. Such a person is called "Stithaprajna". The monist,
Adi Sankara taught "Akarmaiva Moksha," which means "Moksha can be attained only by doing, not by a process of effort". All actions performed by one in the state of Moksha are called
Dharma.
Fourth state
Hindus believe that everything in the
Universe is in a state of creation, maintenance, or destruction. Similarly, the mind creates a thought, maintains or follows it for some time, and the thought ultimately dies down (perhaps to be replaced by another thought). In addition to the three states of consciousness, Hinduism puts forward a fourth state of being called
Turiya or pure consciousness, where the mind isn't engaged in thinking but just observes the thoughts. Actions in the Turiya state don't create karma. Meditation is a practice aimed at giving individuals the experience of being in this objective state. An individual who is constantly in the turiya state is said to have attained moksha where their actions happen as a response to events (and not because of thought process); such actions don't result in accumulation of karma as they've no karmic effect.
In the Indian religions
Hinduism
One of the first and most dramatic illustrations of karma can be found in the
epic Mahabharata. 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, explains to Arjuna the concept of "duty" among other things and makes him see that it's 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.
Karma means "deed" or "act" and more broadly names the universal principle of
cause and
effect, action and reaction that governs all life. Karma isn't fate, for humans act with
free will creating their own destiny. According to the Vedas, if we sow
goodness, we'll reap goodness; if we sow
evil, we'll 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.
Karma is considered to be a spiritually originated law. Many Hindus see God's direct involvement in this process, while others consider the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma. Karma isn't punishment or retribution but simply an extended expression or consequence of natural acts. The effects experienced are also able to be mitigated by actions and are not necessarily fated. That is to say, a particular action now isn't binding to some particular, pre-determined future experience or reaction; it isn't a simple, one-to-one correspondence of reward or punishment.
Hindu scriptures divide karma into three kinds:
Sanchita (accumulated),
Prarabdha (fruit-bearing) and
Kriyamana (current) karma. All
kriyamana karmas become
sanchita karma upon completion. From this stock of
sanchita karma, a handful is taken out to serve one lifetime and this handful of actions, which has begun to bear fruit and which will be exhausted only on their fruit being enjoyed and not otherwise, is known as
prarabdha karma. 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 enjoyed in one lifetime, leading to the cycle of birth and death. A
Jiva can't attain moksha until the accumulated
sanchita karmas are completely exhausted.
Sikhism
Within
Sikhism, all living beings are described as being under the influence of
Maya's three qualities namely
Rajas (mode of passion),
Tamas (mode of ignorance), and
Saatav (mode of goodness). 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 preforming 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.
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 to create "seeds" in the mind that will sprout into the appropriate result (Pāli
vipaka) when they meet with the right conditions. Most types of karmas, with good or bad results, will keep one within the wheel of
samsāra; others will liberate one to
nirvāna.
Buddhism relates karma directly to motives behind an action. Motivation usually makes the difference between "good" and "bad", but included in the motivation is also the aspect of ignorance; so a well-intended action from a deluded mind can easily be "bad" in the sense that it creates unpleasant results for the "actor".
Other Niyama Dharmas
In Buddhism, karma isn't the only cause of anything that happens. The following are the five "Niyama Dharma" that cause effects.
The last four cover "conditions" or "circumstances" in which karmic potential can ripen as a result.
Jainism
Karma in
Jainism conveys a totally different meaning as commonly understood in the
Hindu philosophy and western civilization. In
Jainism, karma is referred to as karmic dirt, as it consists of very subtle and microscopic particles for example pudgala that pervade the entire universe. 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, for example 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.
According to Padmanabh Jaini "this emphasis on reaping the fruits only of one’s own karma wasn't 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."
The key points where the theory of Karma in Jainism differs from the other religions, can be stated as follows:
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)
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).
Under Jain theology, a soul is released of worldly affairs as soon as it's 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.
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.
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.
Analogs of karma
If we accept that the logical ethical consequence of the law of karma is to behave responsibly, and the tenet of the law of karma is essentially "if you do good things, good things will happen to you — if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you," then it's possible to identify analogs with other religions that don't rely on karma as a metaphysical assertion or doctrine.
Karma doesn't specifically concern itself with salvation as it implies a basic socio-ethical dynamic. The law of karma as a mechanism functions like a judge of one's actions, similar to the concept of God as judge in relation to "good and bad works" in the western religions. The Apostle Paul similarly states: "man reaps what he sows" (External Link
).
Similarly, the Egyptian goddess Ma'at (the divine judge) played a similar and impartial role meting out justice in a manner very similar to karma; Ma'at couldn't be appeased by faith or regret — an action done was done, with no space for the more recent theistic concept of grace.
Parallels may also be found in the Greek goddess Ananke (Necessity, Inevitability, or Compulsion), who was the mother of the Moirae (Fates) and dealt out one's "heimarmene" (allotted portion) strictly according to one's actions both in this life and in previous incarnations, and in Germanic Wyrd.
Western interpretation
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. For some, karma is a more reasonable concept than eternal damnation for the wicked. Spirituality or a belief that virtue is rewarded and sin creates suffering might lead to a belief in karma.
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 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 school of Vedanta, as well as Gautama Buddha's teachings, one is advised to either avoid, control or become mindful of the effects of desires and aversions as a way to moderate or change one's karma (or, more accurately, one's karmic results or destiny).
Spiritism
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 incarnating (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're 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're elevated. A spirit may choose to be born on a world inferior to his own as a penance or as a mission.
New Age and Theosophy
The idea of karma was popularized in the Western world through the work of the Theosophical Society. Kardecist and Western New Age reinterpretations of karma frequently cast it as a sort of luck associated with virtue: if one does good or spiritually valuable acts, one deserves and can expect good luck; conversely, if one does harmful things, one can expect bad luck or unfortunate happenings. 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.'
There is also the metaphysical idea that, because karma is a force of nature and not a sentient creature capable of making value judgments, karma isn't about good and evil deeds, because applying those labels would be judgmental, but that it's about positive and negative energy, where negative energy can include things not seen as "being bad" like sadness and fear, and positive energy can be caused by being creative and solving problems as well as by exuding love and doing virtuous acts.It is referred to as "omniverse karma" or "omni-karma" because it requires the existence of an omniverse, that space that contains all possible universes. The omniverse idea includes concepts such as souls, 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.
Footnotes
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