Buddhist Doctrine Of Karma Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Buddhist principle of karma ("deeds", "actions"), and the closely related doctrine of rebirth, are perhaps the topper known, and often the least understood, of Buddhist doctrines. The matter is complicated by the concomitant that the other Indian religious traditions of Hinduism and Jainism deem their own theories of Karma and Reincarnation. It is in item the Hindu versions that are better known in the West. The Buddhist surmise of karma and rebirth are quite distinct from their other Indian counterparts.In Buddhism the law of karma is the moral law of causation - well be getd actions give good guides and vice versa. It is the quality of an act, which desexualises its consequences. But what determines the karmic quality of a deed? In Hinduism it is the correct performance of a persons "duty", especi everyy his caste duties that counts. archeozoic Buddhism, which recognized no caste distinctions, evaluates the karmic quality of an act in basis of moral and ethical criteria. In particular it is the mental factors, which accompany the focussing of deed that determines its consequences or "fruits" (vipka). All negative karma (i.e. those leading to bad consequences) vacate from the three roots of unwholesomeness. These are greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha). whence good karmic results follow from deeds that spring from generosity (caga), loving-kindness (mett) and wisdom (vijj). The Buddha exclamatory that it is the mental factors complicated rather than the deeds themselves that determine future consequences. thence the same deed committed with different mental factors will have different consequences. Likewise purely accidental deeds may have neutral consequences, however if the accident occurred because insufficient mindfulness was exercised it could have uncomely results for the person responsible for it.The theory of karma presupposes that undivideds have "free will". Everything tha t happens to an individual is not the fruit of some past karma. In fact the experiences that involve an individual may be of three kinds some are the result of past action, some are deliberately committed free acts and the quietus could be due to chance factors operating in the environment. The doctrine of karma is not a theory of predestination of any kind. One common construe is not to distinguish between the action an... ...vana is a representation of individual becoming enlightened in this life. It seems as though Christians tend to accent too greatly the importance of acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven. Buddhists believe it is not the deeds themselves, but the mental factors involved in making those decisions that determine later consequences. We, as Catholics, should at least try to follow that example. Because it seems that all too often Christians over look the fact that they should not pardon the fact that they only have a certain amount of clock time to do things right in this lifetime, because heaven is never ending.      In establish to live better lives Christians should learn as much as manageable about religions that are alien to them. They should adopt ideals that make sense to them in their daily lives. And finally, they should be proud that they share similar ideals as some(prenominal) of the worlds other great religions.BibliographyBerchol, Samuel The Buddha and his Teachings. New York Barnes and Noble books, 1997Gurasekara, Victor A. Basic Buddhism. capital of the United Kingdom Buddhist Monk Press, 1997Kaufman, Walter Religions, in Four Dimensions .New York Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1976