In class on Tuesday, we discussed the concept of attaining enlightenment at the end one's life. It's easy to see how one from a Judea-Christian viewpoint can mistakenly equate the concept of heaven with enlightenment.
In my opinion, the biggest difference is the idea of judgement. Judea-Christian followers believe that they will be judged by God upon their worldly death. The Hindu concept of enlightenment is similar in some regards yet very different in others. A person's Karma is dependent on their attainment of enlightenment. This has nothing to do with being judged; one's actions, and Karma, merely contribute to reaching the metaphysical idea of enlightenment. One either does or does not attain it at the end of a life, regardless of any judgement.
My one question is this; if Karma is based on action, what about intent? Action A can have drastically different "ripples" for persons B and C.
Karma (from my understanding) does seem to have a personalized/situational component to the actions that generate it. Intent probably does have an effect on the actions, because why you do something is in many cases just as, if not more important than what you are doing. The intent of your action will likely have some effect on how positive or negative the action ends up being.
ReplyDeleteWord, thought(i.e. intent), and deed make up Karma. Chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita touches this. If a person thinks of one thing and does another he is contradicting himself; therefore, he is a hypocrite. There is a verse in the Gita that speaks about Mityacharaha (i.e. Hypocrite).
ReplyDeleteRaj is entirely correct that words, thoughts (including intentions) and behavior are all, equally, action (karma). I would demur at Kaz's characterization of karma as personal, though -- the consequences of actions are as impersonal as the principle of cause and effect in physics. It is only from the perspective of the individual his- or herself that it matters WHO is affected by actions; the point is that all actions have effects, and that these effects impact you because they impact the universe.
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