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Karma

Karma - the cosmic scorecard

Karma is the mechanism that determines the quality of life. The happiness of a being's present life is the result of the moral quality of the actions of the being in its previous life.

A soul can only achieve liberation by getting rid of all the karma attached to it.

Karma is a logical and understandable way of making sense of good and evil, the different qualities of different lives and the different moral status of different types of creature, without having to involve rules laid down by a god.

Karma works without the intervention of any other being - gods or angels have no part to play in dispensing rewards or punishments.

Karma is a concept found in religions which include reincarnation in their beliefs. Different religions have different ideas as to exactly how karma operates.

The Jain idea of karma is much more elaborate and mechanistic than that found in some other Eastern religions.

Karma is a physical substance

Jains believe that karma is a physical substance that is everywhere in the universe. Karma particles are attracted to the jiva (soul) by the actions of that jiva.

It may be helpful to think of karma as floating dust which sticks to the soul, or as types of atomic particle which are attracted to the soul as a result of our actions, words and thoughts. On their own, karma particles have no effect but when they stick to a soul they affect the life of that soul.

We attract karma particles when we do or think or say things: we attract karma particles if we kill something, we attract karma particles when we tell a lie, we attract karma particles when we steal and so on.

The quantity and nature of the karma particles sticking to the soul cause the soul to be happy or unhappy and affect the events in the soul's present and future lives.

It's a compound process in that the accumulation of karma causes us to have bad thoughts, deeds, emotions and vices, and these bad actions (etc) cause our souls to attract more karma, which causes more bad thoughts, and so on.

Avoiding and removing karma

Karma can be avoided in two ways

• By behaving well - so no karma is attracted
• By having the right mental state - so that even if an action attracts karma, the correct mental attitude of the being means that karma either doesn't stick to that soul or is discharged immediately

Some karmas expire on their own after causing suffering. Others karmas remain. The karma that has built up on the soul can be removed by living life according to the Jain vows.

Outline of karma

• Karma is a physical substance
• This substance is everywhere in the universe
• There are 8 forms of karma
• The mental, verbal and physical actions of the jiva attract karma to it. The more intense the activity, the more karma is attracted
• The karma sticks to the jiva because negative characteristics of the jiva, passions like anger, pride and greed, make the jiva sticky. Karma can be warded off by avoiding these negative characteristics
• If the being is without passions then the karma does not stick, thus a person can avoid karma sticking to them by leading a religiously correct life
• Karma must be burned off the jiva in order for it to make spiritual progress. Living according to the Jain vows is the way to get rid of karma
• The jiva takes its karma with it from one life to another

The 8 types of karma

These types of karma can be split equally into destructive and non-destructive karma.

Destructive karmas

• mohaniya-karma (delusory):
  • deludes the jiva
  • causes attachment to false beliefs
  • prevents the jiva living a correct life

• jnana-avaraniya-karma (knowledge-obscuring):
  • interferes with the jiva's intellect and senses
  • prevents the jiva understanding the truth
  • blocks the jiva's natural omniscience

• dars(h)an-avarniya-karma (perception-obscuring):
  • interferes with perception through the senses

• antaraya-karma (obstructing):
  • obstructs the energy of the jiva
  • blocks the doing of good acts that the jiva wants to do

Non-destructive karmas

• vedaniya-karma (feeling-producing):
  • determines whether the jiva has pleasant or unpleasant experiences

• nama-karma (physique-determining):
  • determines the type of rebirth
  • determines the physical characteristics of the new life
  • determines the spiritual potential of the new life

• ayu-karma (life-span-determining):
  • determines the duration of a being's life (within the limits of the species into which the jiva is reborn)

• gotra-karma (status-determining):
  • determines the status of a being within its species