Beware Of Karma!

Karma, also known as Karman is a basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The doctrine of Karma states that one's state in this life is a result of actions both physical and mental in past carnations, and action in this life can determine one's destiny in future incarnations. Karma is a natural, impersonal law of moral cause and effect and has no connection with the idea of a supreme power that decrees punishment of forgiveness of sins. Karmic law is universally applicable, and only those who have attained liberation from rebirth, called mukti (or moksha) or nirvana, can be transcend it. (The Columbia Encyclopedia)

Everything that we have ever thought, spoken, done or caused is karma, as is also that which we think, speak or do this very moment. Many people believe the principle of karma, but they do not apply it in their everyday life. When Karma is occurring individuals tend to blame it on god “why does it have to be me?”, “why has god done this to me?”, “What did I do to deserve this?” They tend to blame it on god instead of the wrong actions and deeds they have performed. “You get what you give”, This quote is a short explanation of Karma by the Buddhist. In other words whatever you do on purpose to others, a similar thing will happen to yourself in the future. Causing suffering to others will cause suffering to us. On the other hand, causing happiness to others will result in happiness to oneself. Karma is understood as a nature’s balance and is not personally imposed. Nature is not moral, therefore "Karma is not a moral code and sin is not ultimately immoral."

To understand karma first it needs to be defined. Karma can be described as a form of cause and effect. The dictionary defines karma as sum of person’s actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next. In Sanskrit karma is defined as volitional action that is undertaken deliberately or knowingly. This also fits together as self-determination and a strong will power to abstain from inactivity. Karma also separates human beings from other creatures in the world. Karma is a notion that constantly proves the Newton theory of every action creates an equal and opposite reaction. Every time we do something we create a cause and in time will produce its corresponding reaction. It is the personality of the human that causes either negative or positive karma. Karma could be caused by both the physical and mental aspects of the body regardless of if it brings achievement now or in the future. Karma cannot be affected by the natural reflexes of the body. “A person is responsible for his or her own karma”(Karma and Reincarnation, 2010). In other words it is up to a person to give themselves good karma and move to a higher form in the next life or their doing for bad karma and devolving to a lower form.If you live religiously well you will create positive karma for the future and soften negative karma of the past.

I think this is a very good belief and most religions believe in it in one form. “Christianity has the golden rule”(Subhamoy, 2010). Most religions have some type of karmic belief although they may not come right out and say it. Karma seems to really be about living your life in a good way. Be kind to other treat people with respect and help them. Nothing really confused me I did a lot of research on karma, however, I did learn a lot. I didn’t know the different types of karma or how the belief in karma differed from the Hindu and Buddhist religions. I found it was very logical. Everyone believes in karma in some form. People say don’t do something bad or wrong because it will come back around and get you in the end. I find it appealing because everyone wants to believe that when someone hurts you in some way that they will have something bad happen to them later on. One of my friends says that it is just a way of life some way to live with being good to everyone. He doesn’t necessarily believe that something bad will happen but just that is how you should live our life by being a good person. This is an acceptable answer to me. It helps to explain why possibly some bad things happen to someone and that they should react positively to what happened.