Doctrine Of Karma Research Articles

Is All Due to Karma? The Buddha's Stance

Abstract: The Buddha seems ambivalent in his position about whether all our feelings can be ascribed to karma, even if indirectly. He unequivocally states: "Karma distinguishes beings as inferior and superior," which covers various aspects of life that affect our feelings. On the other hand, again and again he criticizes some religions for holding the doctrine "whatever a person experiences is caused by karma," or puts aside karma in favor of obvious causation. This issue can be addressed in several ways: the Buddha implies a distinction between past and present karma, and the unthinkable nature of karma entails the question "Who are qualified to pronounce karma?" Also, the Buddha is careful to avoid a fatalistic view of karma doctrine, his skill in means leads to the inconsistency of his mode of expression, and the two levels of truth allow him to speak in conformity with worldly conventions endorsed by "the wise."

Belief in Karma: The Belief-Inducing Power of a Collection of Ideas and Practices with a Long History

This article provides an analysis of the concept of karma and related concepts, such as rebirth, merit, and transfer of merit, along with a historical survey focusing on classical texts. The attractiveness of the belief in karma lies in two main reasons. The first is the moral ideal of getting one’s just deserts on the basis of one’s actions and omissions. The second reason involves the idea of rebirth. The belief in both karma and rebirth can bring consolation with the hope of life hereafter, where one’s destiny is determined not by chance, but by the moral quality of one’s actions in this or previous lives. The belief in karma also incorporates diverging elements, such as transfer of merit. The practice of transfer of merit serves to improve an individual’s moral and religious status through rituals or other suitable means, while the doctrine of karma itself strongly speaks to the strict fulfilment of retributive justice. Both motives—fulfilling justice according to the law of karma and improving one’s moral status through transfer of merit—are psychologically powerful and attractive, although their mutual compatibility is debatable.

Concept of Atman (Self) in Indian Philosophy: A Review

For a long time, the human being has been hedonistic and optimistic nature but he had been surrounded by several fears, grieves, and challenges over the thousand thousands of years. His entire effort had been continuing to get the pleasure to be free from all kinds of sorrows. Over passed time, a burning reaction appeared against the Vedic regime and it was considered that the cause of whole human grieves is connected with the internal world not external. Under this consideration, it is declared that the entire fear and grieves of human lives is due to the acquired Karma of previous lives. And therefore these all phenomena gave birth to a “Mystical scripture” which is the basis of four pillars- the doctrine of ‘self’, the doctrine of rebirth, the doctrine of karma, and the doctrine of bondage and salvation, and it is also the base of Indian philosophy and Ayurveda. Actually, the term ‘Atma’ has derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Atman’ and that referred meaning is ‘Antarika’ (Internal). The first time systematic definition and doctrine of ‘self’ in the oldest Upanishads strongly announced that pure-self (Atman) and individualSelf (Jivatman) both are one, primitive, eternal, immortal, omnipotent, and permanent. And Ishwara Krishna was also same announced in Bhagavad Gita. The concept of Atman's “self” is considered a Prana (Breath) in Indian philosophy including Ayurveda. Though seeing the significance of Atman's “self”, the Indian philosophy and Ayurveda are called Adhyatmavadi (Spiritualistic).

Salesperson’s spiritual response to job burnout: the role of karma and the moderating impact of thought self-leadership

PurposeIn this conceptual paper, anchoring on the Hindu philosophical doctrine of karma, this study models the impact of salesperson’s karma orientation (KO) (a relatively new construct), in alleviating his/her job burnout. This study also explores the moderating impact of thought self-leadership (TSL).Design/methodology/approachThis study theorizes the impact of KO on salesperson’s burnout by integrating the job demand–resource model with spirituality and TSL literatures.FindingsUsing multi-dimensional construct of KO, this study proposes several research propositions to theorize the impact of each of the four dimensions (i.e. work as selfless action, work as duty towards others, detachment from work-related rewards and equanimity under environmental influences) on three aspects of job burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment). Additionally, this study also theorizes the moderating impact of TSL on the above-mentioned relationships.Practical implicationsOrganizations can adopt the karma doctrine for designing new sales jobs that provide higher meaningfulness and a greater sense of purpose to their salespeople, going beyond extrinsic rewards such as money. Higher KO among the business to business salespersons would lead them to derive higher intrinsic motivation to make karmic investments with their customers knowing that their good deeds with customers would eventually lead to good rewards for themselves, reducing their burnout, while also enhancing their well-being.Originality/valueThe paper makes an original theoretical contribution by theorizing the impact of Hindu philosophy of karma on salesperson’s job burnout, and hence well-being and eventual impact on organizational effectiveness.

Buddhism and no-Self Theory: Examining the Relation between Human Actions and Moral Responsibility

Buddhists endorse the concept of human actions and their consequences as they uphold the doctrine of karma. However, they deny the existence of a ‘permanent self’. Few questions arise in this regard. If a permanent self does not exist then who guides a person to decide the course of an action? How does a person choose to perform an action of the many alternatives in a situation? Who takes responsibility for the consequences of an action? This paper attempts to answer these questions by reinterpreting the Buddhist’s ‘no-self’ theory from epistemological and logical perspectives. This paper argues that Buddhists while rejecting the existence of a ‘permanent self’ affirm the existence of impermanent psychophysical entities (five skandhas). The mereological sum of these psychophysical entities is known as a ‘person’ who performs actions. A person becomes morally responsible for the consequences of an action justifying the Buddhist doctrine of karma.

After Comparative Philosophy: A Discussion of "Wilhelm Halbfass and the Purposes of Cross-Cultural Dialogue," by Dimitry Shevchenko

After Comparative Philosophy:A Discussion of "Wilhelm Halbfass and the Purposes of Cross-Cultural Dialogue," by Dimitry Shevchenko Purushottama Bilimoria (bio) Wilhelm Halbfass (1940–2000) deserves to be celebrated as a leading pioneer of the history of Indian philosophy in the modern era. The sheer volume of work in recent times and the extent of citations devoted to Halbfass' works well attest to the impact of his gallant endeavors. Dimitry [End Page 815] Shevchenko's article "Wilhelm Halbfass and the Purposes of Cross-cultural Dialogue" in this issue of Philosophy East and West is a most recent attempt to take further the goals and contours charted by Halbfass, with a focus, however, not so much on the history of Indian philosophy as on the prayojana (purpose) of inter-cultural or cross-tradition discursive engagement and the ramifications thereof for comparative philosophy. This makes for a timely discussion, and here I am grateful to be invited by the editors to offer a few comments by way of a response. Besides his remarkable oeuvre, some of my comments may be directed, albeit anecdotally, toward Halbfass' shyness, his wry style, and a certain motivation informing his scholarship. Halbfass placed himself within the European philosophical paraṃpara (lineage) of Hegel, Heidegger, and Gadamer (and to an extent Habermas), but, as will be noticed, I have a certain hesitation in acknowledging this grandeur; rather, I place him centrally within the German philological-Indological tradition—what elsewhere has been christened as 'Indologism' (Bilimoria 2009)—or at best in the interstices of Indology, philology, and classical philosophy (Mohanty 1997). And yet Halbfass' masterly exegetical study of traditional texts has provided a profound understanding of different traditions of India, from Vedānta to Vaiśeṣika to Mīmāṃsā, that stemmed from his commitment to non-orientalized scholarship and what it means to delve deep into a tradition's self-understanding. He wrote one of the more accessible books on Ādī Śaṅkara of Advaita Vedānta and Kumārila Bhaṭṭa of Pūrvamīmāṃsā fame, which, not surprisingly, contains one of the finest studies on the origins of the Brāhmaṇic doctrine of karma from the sacrificial ashes as it were of the fading apūrva ("unprecedented potentiae") theory of the ritualist Mīmāṃsakas (Halbfass 1980, p. 274). That study highlights the unique insights that Halbfass has offered in his close reading of the rather difficult and often marginalized darśana of the Mīmāṃsā (for its apparent ritualistic excesses, at the expense of much else of philosophical significance in the textual oeuvre), which has earned him timeless gratitude from traditional paṇḍita-scholars who have yet to work through the Orientalist legacy bequeathed by colonial scholars in India and pay more attention to 'India in Europe'. So much so that J. N. Mohanty, circa the mid-1970s, would recommend Halbfass' appointment as professor of Indian Philosophy to the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (where Halbfass had arrived as visiting lecturer in 1973). Halbfass wrote a splendid essay—"Happiness: A Nyāya-Vaiśeśika Perspective"—for a volume on Bimal K. Matilal that Mohanty and I co-edited (1997), and it was a sheer delight to work with him (though largely remotely). He had also kindly agreed to write for a volume on Mīmāṃsā and another for the Routledge History of Indian Philosophy, but sadly he passed away all too prematurely. [End Page 816] Let me turn for a moment to Halbfass' vision of comparative philosophy, which is the main concern that triggers this discussion. Mention is made that some form of comparative philosophy was being practiced by Indian scholars around the beginning of the twentieth century, and that a learned Society founded by S. V. Ketkar in Pune used the appellation "Comparative Theology and Philosophy." However, in his plenary lecture on "India and the Comparative Method" in the 1984 Research Conference on Asian and Comparative Philosophy, held in Honolulu (Shaner 1986), Halbfass made the case that the term describing the practice of "comparative philosophy" was actually not invented until after 1923 with the publication in 1926 of Paul Masson-Oursel's...

Karma Belief and Green Product Purchase Intention: Two Mediating Factors of Environmental Awareness and Global Warming Belief

Green marketing has established as an important topic among scholars and practitioners due to its importance in supporting a better world people are living in. The karma doctrine posits that all decisions and behaviors result in consequences. This belief is widely embraced globally as shown by previous research. Despite the importance of karma belief in daily life, research on the role of karma in consumers’ decision, in particular green marketing context is relatively rare. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether belief in karma can increase the intention to purchase green products. In order to achieve the study’s goal, data from 188 adult respondents were collected in this study. The respondents were reached by the convenience sampling method. Using a quantitative method, this study investigates the existence and type of relationship between constructs; thus, the analytical tool used is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). This study found that the relationship between karma belief and green product purchase intention is mediated by two constructs, namely, environmental awareness and global warming belief. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed.

Reinterpreting Buddhist's No-self Theory: A Philosophical Study on Human Actions and Moral Responsibilities

The relation between human actions and moral responsibility for the consequences of the actions is a debatable topic in contemporary Buddhism. The reason is each action has either good or bad consequence(s). If consequence(s) of an action are good, the action is praiseworthy and rewarding. But if consequence(s) of an action are disastrous then the action is blameworthy. Buddhists endorse the concept of human actions and their consequences as they uphold the doctrine of karma. However, they deny the existence of a ‘permanent self’. Few questions arise in this regard. If a permanent self does not exist then who guides a person to decide the course of an action? How does a person choose to perform an action of the many alternatives in a situation? Who takes responsibility for the consequences of an action? This paper attempts to answer these questions by reinterpreting the Buddhist’s ‘no-self’ theory from epistemological and logical perspectives. While answering these questions, the paper discusses libertarianism, paleo-compatibilism, hard-determinism, and soft-compatibilism theories. It finds out which theory supports Buddhist’s claim on human actions and moral responsibility for consequences of the actions. This paper argues that Buddhists while rejecting the existence of a ‘permanent self’ affirm the existence of impermanent psychophysical entities (five skandhas). The mereological sum of these psychophysical entities is known as a ‘person’ who performs an action. A person becomes morally responsible for the consequences of an action for the reason that it justifies the Buddhist’s doctrine of karma.

The Self, Karma and Rebirth

The paper has two main parts. The first part is devoted to the traditional Hindu viewpoint on the existence and permanence of the self as an immaterial substance. Various arguments offered by Hindu philosophers against the materialist view that the body is the self as well as arguments against the Buddhist view of the self as a stream of constantly changing states are discussed critically with reference to recent philosophical perspectives. The second part is devoted to the doctrine of karma and rebirth. A number of traditional arguments for the doctrine are studied analytically and critically as well as relevance of the doctrine for addressing the problem of evil that for many is a serious issue facing the creationist position. Finally, the major arguments of Plato who also held that the self is eternal and goes through reincarnation are critiqued from a comparative standpoint.

Toru Dutt’s Concern for Indian Culture and Immortal Hindu Mythology in Ancient Ballads

Indian culture is embodied in the collective consciousness of the nation governed by Sanatana Dharama the ancient yet eternal religion symbolized by the Vedas, the Upnishadas and the Gita. The Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan of Toru Dutt is replete with all the Indian cultural trends such as the supremacy of the doctrine of Karma, non-attachment from worldly things, self-surrender, devotion, illusiveness of this world, love, fidelity and parental devotion. ‘Savitri,’ ‘The Legend of Dhruva’ and ‘Sindhu’ present the doctrine of Karma. In the poem ‘Savitri’, Savitri tells Yama the doctrine of Karma. Toru Dutt has an ardent eye to feel the transitoriness and nothingness of this life. For her, life is a bubble on water of the earth and when man glances at it, it dies at the very moment and exists no more. The Indian mythology speaks about the devotion to the parents and Guru. In India both of them are considered equal to God. For the attainment of God, one should whole-heartedly devote to Him. If one loses one’s life in obedience to Him, his greatest obligation is done. Shravan Kumar, an ideal son sacrifices his whole life for the service of his parents and also breathes his last in their service. Chastity and love is another name of Savitri and Sita, Savitri falls in love with Satyavan and decides to marry him. Toru Dutt who was the innovative poetess of India, following the determinate sense and wisdom of life through poetry, endured the base of truth where Hindu views and philosophy were subjected. Thus, her poetry is a journey into the gallery of Indian mythology and Indian culture.

Pātañjala Yoga’s Theory of ‘Many-Lives’ through Karma and Rebirth and Its Eccentric ‘Theism’

This paper discusses the theory of rebirth as set forth in Classical Samkhya and Yoga and offers a new interpretive perspective.

Psychological solutions to Metaphysical problems in the Pārāyaṇa-vagga

Psychological solutions to Metaphysical problems in the Pārāyaṇa-vagga Eviatar Shulman (bio) The understanding of early Buddhist philosophy oscillates between two binary opposed interpretations. On the one hand we find a metaphysical system that hinges on the doctrine of karma and the attempt to exit saṃsāra. Here the Buddha is thought to attain a transcendence that takes place in some indescribable existential or ontological realm. On the other hand we encounter an empirical approach that sees the Buddha as a thinker who denied the credibility of metaphysical speculation and who advocated the relinquishing of philosophical positions, which is grounded in a concrete perception of impermanence and conditionality. There are also many intermediary positions between these two extremes and various formulations of their interaction or interpenetration, which become especially compelling when they are connected to contemplative theory and practice. Interestingly, these two paradigmatic approaches to early Buddhist thought find relatively distinct expression in the two earliest textual collections that exist in the Pāli canon. The second position is voiced by the Aṭṭhaka-vagga (AV), "The Chapter of Eights," a text that has naturally received a fair amount of attention since it corresponds to the ideological vectors of Buddhist modernism. The first, more metaphysical interpretation is articulated in the Pārāyaṇa-vagga (PV), "The Chapter on Going Beyond," a text that has quite interestingly remained outside the limelight of scholarly inspection, even though it is acknowledged as being just as old as the Aṭṭhaka, if not older. These two collections are the fourth and fifth books of the Sutta-Nipāta (SN), a rich collection of poems that is placed in the Khuddaka Nikāya. Together with "The Rhinoceros Horn Discourse" (Khaggavisāṇa-sutta) from the first book of the SN, these are accepted as the earliest surviving textual records of Buddhism, since (1) they are characterized by archaic poetry, (2) are mentioned by name and quoted in the prose suttas of the major four Nikāyas, and (3) are the only texts to have a commentary on them included within the Sutta-Piṭaka (the Mahā- and Cūḷa-Niddesa of the Khuddaka Nikāya).1 The goal of the present essay is to fill in this large scholarly lacuna and to conceptualize the philosophical position of the PV. In a subsequent essay in the following edition of Philosophy East and West, titled "The Polyvalent Philosophy and Soteriology of Early Buddhism," I will consider the significance of the PV and the relations between it and the AV and the Khaggavisāṇa-sutta for the broader understanding of the philosophical and contemplative culture of early Buddhism in its historical context. [End Page 506] A short word about the text itself is in order. Although I treat the main body of the PV as a coherent whole, this does not mean that I see it as univocal and as necessarily having been composed by a single author. The heart of the text is a series of sixteen sets of questions and answers between the Buddha and his students. As it exists today, this part of the text is preceded by an introduction (vatthu-gāthā) that provides a narrative framework for the sixteen poems. It is commonly accepted that this opening section was not part of the original version of the text, since the old Cūḷa-Niddesa commentary does not include it. There are other considerations that would support this understanding, mainly that the questions posed to the Buddha by Bhadravuddha and Mogharāja assume a different setting than the one introduced in the opening section.2 Without the organizing narrative framework, it is difficult to decide what the true relation between the sixteen sets of questions and answers is and whether they were collected from different sources. Whatever the origin of the poems, I will demonstrate that they share a thematic unity; this will support the idea that the text is more than an assembly of poems that originally circulated independently. The Message of the Pārāyaṇa-vagga The PV defines one main problem with the human condition: humanity is continuously attacked by a "flood" (ogha). This is a...

Political, Economic and Ethical Vision of Shukracharya in Shukra Niti

Like many ancient authors in India, Shukracharya too considered politics as an aspect of ethics. He called it moral science or Niti Shastra which he considered as the basis of virtue, wealth, enjoyment and salvation. He was in a view that it is with the help of this science that a ruler can conquer foe and can win a friend. He further added that Nitai Shastra is superior to other sciences because it aims at fulfilment and achievement of desire and interest of all that man seeks and happiness which is their chief end. This paper seeks to reveal Shukracharya's conception of statecraft and triad in king style that is satvika, rajsika and tamsika, and his doctrine of karma and prarabdha. An attempt is also made to bring out his expertise in financial regularity, particularly wage distribution, employer-employee relationship and his conception of so-called financial inclusion, what we call it today. Brihaspati is referred to as a great authority on statecraft by almost every writer on Indian polity in ancient world including Vyasa and Kautilya. This paper is an attempt to discover his conception of origin of a state which is employer-employee relationship list, like done by Hobbes, Lock and Rousseau. His ideas regarding kinship and system of justice are analysed. Brihashpatis’ idea on punishment is useful to many scholars and researchers in legal field.

Karma and Rebirth in the Stream of Thought and Life

This essay explores the concepts of karma and rebirth in the light of some key themes from the later work of Wittgenstein. After clarifying what it means to “bring words back from their metaphysical to their everyday use” it is considered how certain Wittgenstein-influenced philosophers, notably İlham Dilman and D. Z. Phillips, have sought to recover the meaning of “soul” from metaphysical misappropriations by invoking Wittgenstein’s notion of a “picture” The sort of conceptual recovery involved in this task resembles, in some respects, the “demythologizing” and “psychologizing” approaches of certain interpreters of the doctrine of karma and rebirth, especially within the context of Buddhist studies. Illustrative examples of these approaches are compared and contrasted and discussed in relation to instances of individuals articulating their belief in karma and rebirth. On the basis of this discussion, it is concluded that the interpretive approaches in question fail to account for the sense of individual responsibility for one’s own present circumstances that is central to how talk of karma and rebirth frequently operates “in the stream of thought and life.”

Karma, Morality, and Evil

AbstractThe doctrine of karma has been praised as a rational and morally edifying explanatory response to the existence of evil and apparent injustice in the world. Critics have attacked it as a morally misguided dogma that distorts one's vision of reality. This essay, after outlining the traditional doctrine, examines three criticisms that have been central to recent debates: firstly, that the doctrine offers no practical guidance; second, that it faces a dilemma between free will and fatalism; and third, that it involves a morally repugnant form of blaming victims for their own misfortunes. Possible responses are considered, the depth of the disagreement is highlighted, and a morally significant difference between alternative ways of articulating the belief in karma is analyzed.

Buddhism, Science, and the Truth About Karma

AbstractBuddhism's reputation as a ‘scientific religion’ has led contemporary Buddhists to advocate eliminating the doctrine of karma and its metaphysical concept of rebirth. This movement to modernize Buddhism evinces little understanding of how the karma concept actually functions in Buddhist societies. This article argues that traditional Buddhists invoke karma performatively in order to orient their personal experiences rather than to make metaphysical claims. In doing so, Buddhist tradition challenges and enriches the limited sense of realism that takes precedence in the dialogue between Buddhism and science. This challenge needs to be appreciated in order to render Buddhism an equal partner in the dialogue rather than the mere object of scientific critique.

Fields of Merit, Harvests of Health: Some Notes on the Role of Medical Karma in the Popularization of Buddhism in Early Medieval China

One of the most significant philosophical doctrines of Buddhism, and an idea that has remained at the centre of its theory and practice in virtually all historical times and places, is karma. The motivations for being involved in the accumulation of karmic merit in early medieval China were diverse, but one frequently mentioned goal was the health of the physical body. This brief article examines several facets of the relationship between karma and well-being, providing a few examples of the wide range of sources on this subject and reflecting on its role in the popularization of Buddhism in China. I argue that medical metaphors were central to how the doctrine of karma was explained to diverse audiences, that the translation of these ideas emphasized connections with indigenous beliefs and social practices and that medical karma encouraged the self-regulation of behaviour and thoughts in conformity with Buddhist ideology.

Creative Sincerity: Thai Buddhist Karma Narratives and the Grounding of Truths

AbstractHow do people become sincerely committed to shared beliefs? Many theories explain how people come to claim beliefs publicly, but provide inadequate explanations as to why they take these ideas seriously. I resolve this by adapting a form of practice theory to conceptualize shared meanings not as externally imposed social products, but as a creation of active psychosocial negotiations that reflect autobiographical narratives. Although the Thai Buddhist doctrine of karma is often expressed through abstract, transcendent theological propositions, people understand it through personal narratives grounded in a knowing self. Expressions of beliefs, then, should not be seen as statements of doctrines but, rather, as attempts to articulate a relationship between a self and an understanding of reality, negotiated through narrative. Although dogmas may summarize beliefs, they do not necessarily inspire them; commitments to beliefs are an effect of the narrative organization of experience. Ironically, sincere beliefs about objective realities are the creative products of individual minds. Locating belief in experiential narratives moves beyond deterministic notions of belief as institutionally defined dogmas, and allows one to see actions as reflecting sincere beliefs as well as the personal strategies often discussed in practice theory.

The Doctrine of Karma and Saṃsāra in Upaniṣads and Early Buddhism

The Doctrine of Karma and Saṃsāra in Upaniṣads and Early Buddhism

What the Buddha thought

PrefaceBackground InformationChapter 1: IntroductionChapter 2: More about karma, and its social contextChapter 3: The antecedents of the karma doctrine in brahminismChapter 4: Jain antecedentsChapter 5: What did the Buddha mean by no soulA?Chapter 6: The Buddha's positive values: love and compassionChapter 7: Assessing the evidenceChapter 8: Everything is burning: the centrality of fire in the Buddha's thoughtChapter 9: Causation and non-random processChapter 10: Cognition language nirvanaChapter 11: The Buddha's pragmatism and intellectual styleChapter 12: The Buddha as satirist brahmin terms as social metaphorsChapter 13: Is this book to be believed?Appendix: The Buddha's appropriation of four (or five?) brahminical terms