Seeker9 ji,
I guess under the Hindu view of things, Karma and reincarnation are conveniently entwined and provide an explanation for life on this planet, i.e how humans / other species comes into existence in the first place and what they need to do to get out of here via eons of rebirths. It also provides a nice foundation for justifying that great social control mechanism that is the caste system.
Or if understood correctly, that deeds decide the worth of a person.
This is from the Buddha, but I believe that many practicing Hindus might have been inspired to think along the same lines in spite of what the other members of their religion thought and did.
Quote:
"Not by birth is one an outcast; not by birth is one a brahman. By deed one becomes an outcast, by deed one becomes a brahman."
Like Isha Ji, who said it right at the start of this thread, I subscribe to the "As ye sow so shall ye reap" concept but in your current life. Which is actually really sound advice for living one's life here and now.
You mean you have to *believe* in it in spite of all the evidence out there, regarding people doing evil day in and day out and little sign of their experiencing any negative results.
Anyway, would you mind giving an example and showing the connection between any one particular cause and its corresponding result?
The main problems I have with Karma are:
1) Too deterministic / defeatist. "Oh I have been hit by a bus. It's because there is some unresolved Karma between me and the bus driver from a past life"
Quote:
It is karma operating through the law of cause and effect, action and reaction, that governs all life and binds the atman (the Self) to the wheel of saṃsāra (birth and death). The process of action and reaction on all levels — physical, mental and spiritual - is karma. God does not give us karma. We create our own. Karma is not fate; humans are believed to act with free will, creating their own destinies. According to the Vedas, if an individual sows goodness, he or she will reap goodness; if one sows evil, he or she will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of mankind's actions and their concomitant reactions in current and previous lives, all of which determine the future. However, many karmas do not have an immediate effect; some accumulate and return unexpectedly in an individual's later lives. The conquest of karma is believed to lie in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction.
Unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called papa, and good deeds bring forth sweet fruits, called punya. As one acts, so does he become: one becomes virtuous by virtuous action, and evil by evil action.<><end quote>
Does the above sound defeatist to you?
2) Collective Karma - Tens of thousands die at once in a natural disaster. "It was Karma. It was their time to go" Really?? All together at once???
You are right to question this. And it is not taught either by the Hindus nor the Buddhists. Yes I've heard some Buddhists refer to such an idea, but this is only because they don't understand.
If we link it to current life transactions and the Christian concept of temptation and doing the right thing, it makes more sense...I think.
If you do this, then you will be forced to invent your own ideas about what constitutes cause and what the effect and there'd be many holes you can't fill which you will have to simply ignore.
So how did we get here in the first place if not by some Karmic process? Any thoughts???
Birth, which is the first moment of consciousness of this life, is result of the last volitional activity of the previous life. Karma and its result.
