Hinduism
Karma Theory - Hinduism
The
Upanishads, originating as commentaries on the Vedas between about 800 and 200
B.C., contain speculations on the meaning of existence that have greatly influenced
Indian religious traditions. Most important is the concept of atman (the human
soul), which is an individual manifestation of brahman . Atman is of the same
nature as brahman , characterized either as an impersonal force or as God, and
has as its goal the recognition of identity with brahman . This fusion is not
possible, however, as long as the individual remains bound to the world of the
flesh and desires. In fact, the deathless atman that is so bound will not join
with brahman after the death of the body but will experience continuous rebirth.
This fundamental concept of the transmigration of atman , or reincarnation after
death, lies at the heart of the religions emerging from India.
Indian religious tradition sees karma as the source of the problem of transmigration.
While associated with physical form, for example, in a human body, beings experience
the universe through their senses and their minds and attach themselves to the
people and things around them and constantly lose sight of their true existence
as atman , which is of the same nature as brahman . As the time comes for the
dropping of the body, the fruits of good and evil actions in the past remain
with atman , clinging to it, causing a tendency to continue experience in other
existences after death.
Good deeds in this life may lead to a happy rebirth in a better life, and evil
deeds may lead to a lower existence, but eventually the consequences of past
deeds will be worked out, and the individual will seek more experiences in a
physical world. In this manner, the bound or ignorant atman wanders from life
to life, in heavens and hells and in many different bodies. The universe may
expand and be destroyed numerous times, but the bound atman will not achieve
release.
The true goal of atman is liberation, or release (moksha ), from the limited
world of experience and realization of oneness with God or the cosmos. In order
to achieve release, the individual must pursue a kind of discipline (yoga, a
"tying," related to the English word yoke) that is appropriate to
one's abilities and station in life. For most people, this goal means a course
of action that keeps them rather closely tied to the world and its ways, including
the enjoyment of love (kama ), the attainment of wealth and power (artha ),
and the following of socially acceptable ethical principles .
Some people, however, may be interested in breaking the cycle of rebirth in
this life or soon thereafter. For them, a wide range of techniques has evolved
over the thousands of years that gives Indian religion its great diversity.
The discipline that involves
physical
positioning of the body (hatha-yoga), which is most commonly equated with yoga
outside of India, sees the human body as a series of spiritual centers that
can be awakened through meditation and exercise, leading eventually to a oneness
with the universe.
Tantrism is the belief in the Tantra (from the Sanskrit, context or continuum),
a collection of texts that stress the usefulness of rituals, carried out with
a strict discipline, as a means for attaining understanding and spiritual awakening.
These rituals include chanting powerful mantras; meditating on complicated or
auspicious diagrams (mandalas); and, for one school of advanced practitioners,
deliberately violating social norms on food, drink, and sexual relations.
Karma: A central aspect of all religious discipline, regardless of its
emphasis, is the importance of the guru, or teacher. Indian religion may accept
the sacredness of specific texts and rituals but stresses interpretation by
a living practitioner who has personal experience of liberation and can pass
down successful techniques to devoted followers. In fact, since Vedic times,
it has never been possible, and has rarely been desired, to unite all people
in India under one concept of orthodoxy with a single authority that could be
presented to everyone.
Instead, there has been a tendency to accept religious innovation and diversity
as the natural result of personal experience by successive generations of gurus,
who have tailored their messages to particular times, places, and peoples, and
then passed down their knowledge to lines of disciples and social groups. As
a result, Indian religion is a mass of ancient and modern traditions, some always
preserved and some constantly changing, and the individual is relatively free
to stress in his or her life the beliefs and religious behaviors that seem most
effective on the path to deliverance.
KARMA
|| VEDAS
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