Karma: Sowing and Reaping
By Junbals
@Junbals (1421)
Philippines
April 2, 2019 8:24am CST
How can one explain why certain negative or even positive experience happens in one’s life? Can one valid explanation lie in the concept of Karma which started in the Buddhist tradition in the East? Karma stipulates that every action begets equal opposite reaction. Similarly, it entails that what one sows is what one reaps. In the Tibetan Buddhism, karma is not just a simplistic understanding of cause and effect. Karma means more than cause and effect. It implies that one bears responsibility for his deeds and misdeeds in his past life.
For the Chinese, when one is punished and purged in the next life, he is condemned to hell. And there are 18 kinds of hell, where one is given the chance to work his way out of the morass. It is believed that one is not condemned to hell forever. Like the law on gravity, the effects of karma are natural.
In Matthew 25, Jesus shared a parable of the goats and sheep in the Last Judgment. Ignoring the needs of others in the past life means one is condemned to hell in the here-after. Being compassionate to others now is a sure guarantee of heaven in the after-life. The doctrinal law on the Jewish “reward and punishment” is akin to the concept of karma.
What is sorely missing in the understanding of karma is handling deathbed conversion. A person, who has lived a sinful life, changes his heart as he lies dying. Based on karma principle, remorseful of his misdeeds, a dying sinner has no chance of getting good karma.
4 people like this
3 responses
@1hopefulman (45111)
• Canada
2 Apr 19
How does Karma explain bad things happening to good people and and good things happening to bad people?
"It implies that one bears responsibility for his deeds and misdeeds in his past life."
If we have a past life, how come most of us can't remember any past life? Did our life ever begin or are we eternal?
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (49753)
• India
4 Apr 19
In Hinduism too, the karmic principles too dominate the conversation. And even if a sinner gets to enjoy current life, he or she still might get the punishment in next birth or in hell.
Personally I try to follow the principle of doing good deeds and leave the rest to the God.
1 person likes this
@teenal (1400)
• Dublin, Ireland
4 Apr 19
I don't believe in Karma. I know some really good people and if Karma was real all their good deeds would be rewarded and they are not. I also know some really bad people who have done some really bad things and they seem to be having a great time with everything they touch going right. It doesn't seem fair but that's life. We don't reap what we sow.
