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The Law of Karma
By Nikhil Gangoli
The topic of this article is the concept of Karma, which is
common to most Eastern Philosophies be it Hinduism or
Buddhism.
It is said that in the second watch of the night when the
Buddha attained enlightenment he gained a different
kind
of knowledge, which complemented his knowledge of
rebirth ¨C
The Law of Karma.
Karma is mistaken in the West as a doctrine of Fate or
Predestination. It is not so. The word Karma literally
means
action ¨C and the Law of Karma is the infallible law of
cause
and effect, which governs the Universe.
The doctrine of Karma has many implications as to how
we may
lead our lives. In the first place it means that all our
actions
will lead to its natural consequence. We may not know
what the
consequence will be and in fact it may be delayed for
many lengths
of time but the consequence will follow inevitably. In
Tibetan Buddhism the inevitable retribution, which
however is
not obvious, is compared to the shadow of a kite or an
eagle as
it searches for its prey. When the eagle is high in the sky
its shadow is not to be seen. However when the eagle
swoops to
the ground to catch hold of its prey the menacing shadow
appears.
Similarly we are not aware of the consequences of our
actions for
most part but they will appear just as the shadow of the
eagle
suddenly appears.
The law of Karma is not confined to individuals ¨C there is
family
karma, national karma, International Karma, the Karma of
a city.
All these are mixed with the Karma of the Individual, and
thus
it happens that people lives are influenced by events
completely
beyond their control. All these Karma's are inter-related
and
can be understood in its full complexity only by an
enlightened
being.
The law of Karma gives us guidance as to how we may
lead our
lives. When misfortune strikes we know that it will not
last
forever but will pass in time. And we now know through
the law
of Karma that these are consequences, which have
inevitably followed
from our past actions. The attitude to have when
difficulties
befall us is this ¨C That this, which is happening, is the
coming
to fruition of our past Karma. We do not see the suffering
as a
punishment- or do we blame ourselves and indulge in
self-hatred.
Tibetans say that suffering is the broom, which sweeps
away our
negative karma. We can even be grateful that one karma
is coming
to an end.
Eastern philosophy is full of stories of how bandits and
murderers
have overcome their bad karma and gone on to become
¨C monks and
even saints. Angulimala is an example. He had killed 999
people
in his previous life as a bandit. But he was won over by
the Buddha
and went on to become a monk and a sage. Similarly in
Tibetan
Buddhism the story is told of Milarepa. He was a sorcerer
who killed
many people with his black magic for revenge or profit.
Yet through
his remorse and hardships and penances that he
underwent he went on
to become to become enlightened ¨C a figure of inspiration
to millions.
These are some brief remarks about Karma.
Please visit the Eastern Philosophy website and
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