The idea of karma in Western Civilization has grown to an exponential misunderstanding of the true meaning behind the word. We see karma in almost every TV/Movie program and all, give the wrong definition of the truth behind the word karma. Karma is the “sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.”(Wikipedia) Karma is not about helping an old man cross the street and then you being rewarded with the winning numbers to the 211 million dollar jackpot. Doing one good deed once a month does not help one’s luck or stature among the gods as portrayed on TV today. Karma in Hinduism and Buddhism means “action” and is the “spiritual principle of cause and effect.” (Wikipedia)
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This bias nature originally began in early Hinduism when the “Brahmin or priestly class placed themselves at the head of the divinely-ordained hierarchy of the four social classes.”(Peter Harvey Page 10) Live this life with good karmic fortune, perhaps your next life will propel you further along the caste system as long as you stay in satisfying karmic merit. Unlike Hinduism and its belief in role based karmic merit, Buddhism suggests the idea of individual karmic merit without the idea of a caste system. One gains positive karmic standing through the action of finding enlightenment to hopefully discover Nirvana and is not expected to climb the ladder of life. Having a life that is pure and full of knowledge is one step closer to discovering an eternal understanding of life. Both Buddhism and Hinduism suggest that living a life of valuable karmic deed is essential to discovering the next level of knowledge. Karma plays a large role in shaping an individual in both religions but is not the only agent effecting believers in both religions. The idea of ridding attachment and living through suffering is the next step to understand knowledge and Nirvana. This path in both religions involves many steps and many practices that can never be explained by simply using words. Understand the self and learning of knowledge is the …show more content…
Hindu Culture suggest the idea of the self which is forever long lasting and is the mechanism that is reincarnated. Not the body but the self is what becomes of a person in the next life and so on until that person has reached eternal paradise with Brahman. Buddhism recognizes the idea of the non-self which is not about possessing a soul but rather possessing the idea of knowledge. Knowledge is what becomes one’s future existence and is the only part of a person that is reincarnated. The idea of karma in both religions differ when surrounding the idea of the individual or in a role based society. Both religions possess their own quality of similarities and differences but both share a main goal in the pursuit of life. Gaining knowledge and understanding of life through positive karmic deeds is what both religions suggest in order to find Nirvana and eternal knowledge with
This bias nature originally began in early Hinduism when the “Brahmin or priestly class placed themselves at the head of the divinely-ordained hierarchy of the four social classes.”(Peter Harvey Page 10) Live this life with good karmic fortune, perhaps your next life will propel you further along the caste system as long as you stay in satisfying karmic merit. Unlike Hinduism and its belief in role based karmic merit, Buddhism suggests the idea of individual karmic merit without the idea of a caste system. One gains positive karmic standing through the action of finding enlightenment to hopefully discover Nirvana and is not expected to climb the ladder of life. Having a life that is pure and full of knowledge is one step closer to discovering an eternal understanding of life. Both Buddhism and Hinduism suggest that living a life of valuable karmic deed is essential to discovering the next level of knowledge. Karma plays a large role in shaping an individual in both religions but is not the only agent effecting believers in both religions. The idea of ridding attachment and living through suffering is the next step to understand knowledge and Nirvana. This path in both religions involves many steps and many practices that can never be explained by simply using words. Understand the self and learning of knowledge is the …show more content…
Hindu Culture suggest the idea of the self which is forever long lasting and is the mechanism that is reincarnated. Not the body but the self is what becomes of a person in the next life and so on until that person has reached eternal paradise with Brahman. Buddhism recognizes the idea of the non-self which is not about possessing a soul but rather possessing the idea of knowledge. Knowledge is what becomes one’s future existence and is the only part of a person that is reincarnated. The idea of karma in both religions differ when surrounding the idea of the individual or in a role based society. Both religions possess their own quality of similarities and differences but both share a main goal in the pursuit of life. Gaining knowledge and understanding of life through positive karmic deeds is what both religions suggest in order to find Nirvana and eternal knowledge with