11. May 19, 2014 Karma

I hear “Christians” use the term “Karma” every day and it makes me want to hit them on the side of their head and knock some sense into them.

The website www.religionfacts.com has this article on Karma;

What is Karma?

The Sanskrit word karma means "actions" or "deeds." As a religious term, karma refers to intentional (usually moral) actions that affect one's fortunes in this life and the next. Karma (or kamma in Pali) is a concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, but interpreted in different ways. This article focuses specifically on Hindu beliefs about karma.

The concept of karma or "law of karma" is the broader principle that all of life is governed by a system of cause and effect, action and reaction, in which one's deeds have corresponding effects on the future. Karma is thus a way of explaining evil and misfortune in the world, even for those who do not appear to deserve it - their misfortune must be due to wrong actions in their previous life.

In Hindu texts, the word karma first appears in the ancient Rig Veda, but there it simply means religious action and animal sacrifice. There is some hint of the later meaning of karma in the Brahmanas, but it is not until the Upanishads that karma is expressed as a principle of cause and effect based on actions. One example is in Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5.

Karma is regarded as a fundamental law of nature that is automatic and mechanical. It is not something that is imposed by God or a god as a system of punishment or reward, nor something that the gods can interfere with.

The word karma refers primarily to "bad karma" - that which is accumulated as a result of wrong actions. Bad karma binds a person's soul (atman) to the cycle of rebirth (samsara) and leads to misfortune in this life and poor conditions in the next. The moral energy of a particular moral act bears fruit automatically in the next life, manifested in one's class, disposition, and character.

Hindu texts also prescribe a number of activities, such as pilgrimages to holy places and acts of devotion, that can wipe out the effects of bad karma. Such positive actions are sometimes referred to as "good karma." Some versions of the theory of karma also say that morally good acts have positive consequences (as opposed to simply neutral).

In Vedanta and Yoga teachings, there are three types of karma:

1. Prarabdha karma - karma experienced during the present lifetime
2. Sancita karma - the store of karma that has not yet reached fruition
3. Agamin or sanciyama karma - karma sown in the present life that will come to fruition in a future life
   

The process by which karma is understood to work through various rebirths is as follows:

1. Good or bad actions create impressions (samskaras) or tendencies (vasanas) in the mind, which in time will come to fruition in further action (more karma).
2. The seeds of karma are carried in the subtle body (linga), in which the soul transmigrates.
3. The physical body (sthula sarira) is the field in which the fruit of karma is experienced and more karma is created.
   

The purpose of life in Hinduism is thus to minimize bad karma in order to enjoy better fortune in this life and achieve a better rebirth in the next. The ultimate spiritual goal is to achieve release (moksha) from the cycle of samsara altogether. It may take hundreds or thousands of rebirths to get rid of all of one's accumulated karma and achieve moksha. The person who has become liberated (attained moksha) creates no more new karma during the present lifetime and is not reborn after death.

Various methods to attain moksha are taught by different schools, but most include avoiding attachment to impermanent things, carrying out one's duties, and realizing the ultimate unity between one's soul or self (atman) and ultimate reality (Brahman).

As a follower of Christ, we have the following scriptures:

Proverbs11:18 The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.

Luke 6: 37-38 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

2Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Job 4:8 As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

We refer to this natural law of “What goes around, comes around” as the Law of Sowing and Reaping. Hinduism calls this a natural law but does recognize the one law giver. It revolves around their belief in reincarnation. Eventually one can get out of the cycle of reincarnation after several thousand times around if they master being a good person.

Here is a warning to those who call themselves “Christian”. If you accept and use the term “Karma” you are in fact stating that you believe that the practice of a false religion is true. And by using that term you are in fact practicing that false religion yourself.

Here is what scripture says to the people of God who practice false religions;

Psalm 4: 2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame ? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods ?

Psalm 24: 3-4 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

Jeremiah 13: 24-25 "I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you," declares the LORD, "because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.”

Amos 2: 4-5 This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Judah, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. Because they have rejected the law of the LORD and have not kept his decrees, because they have been led astray by false gods, the gods their ancestors followed, I will send fire upon Judah that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem."

Deuteronomy 32: 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.

Matthew 7: 15-23 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

If you are one that uses the term “karma” and refer to yourself as “Christian”, I suggest you take inventory of your heart and seek the Holy Spirits direction as to what “beliefs” need to be removed. A true follower of Christ will seek to purge, with Gods help, those things that do not reflect Christ. I have had to do this many times. I am certain that I have more to purge. A follower of Christ is not one who is perfect (in the flesh or mind) but one being made perfect into the image and likeness of Christ, not by his own efforts but by the working of the Holy Spirit in him. We cannot do this in our own effort. Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Blessings, Tom


By the way, Yoga is another practice by the false Hindu religion. If you choose to practice Yoga, do so at your own risk.