Karma


Karma
Karma is a Hindu word meaning “action” - the process of cause and effect. First appearing in the Upanishads (800—500 BC), the concept of karma is basic to most Asian religious systems. While Brahman texts' view karma as affecting only ritual activity, the Upanishads imply that karma refers to all types of action as well as to a more abstract principle pertaining to action and consequences.
Perhaps arising even earlier, Jainism maintains that karma is a substance from which one must ultimately extricate oneself. The idea of karma was first brought to the west by Madam Blavatsky along with Theosophy. She said: “There is good karma, there is bad karma, and as the wheel of life moves on, old karma is exhausted and again fresh karma is accumulated.” The notion of karma implies a consistent process of cause and effect that can be used to describe, explain, or predict the past, present, and the future condition of things. Most religions agree that any given situation is determined by the fruit (phala), good or bad, of past sown seeds (bija) and that continuing and future effects will be		Desire and aversion occur naturally to a soul. Because of the conditioning of desire and aversion, karma clings to the soul. After death, this karmic bondage draws the soul into physical existence again where it builds a body based upon its karma. Once in the body, individual acquires senses. Through the senses, objects in the environment are perceived. From perception comes desire and aversion and the cycle begins again. This cycle ends for those who attain liberation, whereas it is unending for those who do not. - Panchastikaya - sur
determined by the ongoing accumulation of thoughts and deeds. Whether or not the terms used are reward and punishments, action and consequence or desire and aversion, karma is identical to the scientific principle of cause and effect. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and others assume karma to be essential to understanding an individual's current life situation and future prospectsThe notion of karma implies a consistent process of cause and effect that can be used to describe, explain, or predict the past, present, and future condition of things. All agree that, at a minimumt, current situations are partially predetermined by the fruit (phala), good or bad, of past sown seeds (bija) and that continuing and future effects will be determined by the ongoing accumulation of deeds and intentions. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and others all assume that an understanding of karma is essential to understanding the causes of an individual's current life situation and future prospects, as well as his or her moral destiny, good fortune, and social status. In viewing the philosphy of these religions, we see that the idea of karma has evolved from a natural force, into a system of accumulated rewards and punishments. A similar view is found in modern metaphysics, in which karma is seen less as an expression of cause and effect and more as a type of onus or punishment. As the ‘soul’ continues through the cycles of life and death, various actions in past lives produce the genetic inheritance and environment into which the individual enters life. It is from these initial “karmic” roots that the current life evolves. And the actions of this life produce the "karma" of the next life. Thus karma travels from one life to another. Karma, the process by which the consequences of actions of a past life is manifested in our current life is manifest in character, tendencies, talents, interests and abilities, the qualities of the physical body and the environment into which one is born and all subsequent environments.. Though the karmic actions of our past lives may affect us, we do not consciously recall them. Karma, the package of desire and aversion we possessed at death, selects the genes we are born with and the environment into which we are born All aspects of our current life can be traced back to the elements that existed at birth which in turn were selected by the karma of our past life.

_____________________________________________