Guest guest Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Namaste Hiroko, Scroll down and read some information. Om Bholenath -------------------------------- Karma in Hinduism Definition "Karma" literally means "deed" or "act", and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which Hindus believe governs all consciousness. It is believed that only beings that can distinguish right from wrong, such as adult humans, can accumulate Karma. Animals and young children are not responsible to accumulate Karma as they are incapable of discriminating between right and wrong. However, all sentient beings can feel the effects of Karma, which are pleasure and pain.[5] 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 concommitant 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. In contrast to Axel Michaels' personal opinion, statements in both Upanishads and Bhagavad-Gita provide overwhelming evidence of established and conclusive doctrines of karma and transmigration of soul. Unkindness yields spoiled fruits, called paap, 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.[6] There are three types of karma in Hinduism: sanchita karma, the sum total of past karmas yet to be resolved; prarabdha karma, that portion of sanchita karma that is to be experienced in this life; and kriyamana karma, the karma that humans are currently creating, which will bear fruit in future. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva, that karma literally means "deed or act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction which governs all life. As he explains it, karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. The Vedas tell us that if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami further notes that karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determine our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas rebound immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other births. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_in_Hinduism Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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