Hinduism Key TermsEssay Preview: Hinduism Key TermsReport this essayKarma literally means “act” or “deed” and more broadly means the universal principle of cause and effect that governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. According to the Vedas, One of the first and most dramatic illustrations of karma can be found in the epic Mahabharata. In this poem, Arjuna the protagonist is preparing for battle when he realizes that the enemy consists of members of his own family and decides not to fight. His charioteer, Krishna — one of the incarnations of God (Vishnu) — explains to Arjuna the concept of “duty” among other things and makes him see that it is his duty to fight. The whole of the Bhagavad Gita within the Mahabharata, is a dialogue between these two on aspects of life including morality and a host of other philosophical themes. The original Hindu concept of karma was later enhanced by several other movements within the religion, most notably Vedanta, and Tantra.
Karma literally means “deed” or “act” and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction that governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate response.
Karma is considered to be a spiritually originated law. Many Hindus see Gods direct involvement in this process, while others consider the natural laws of causation sufficient to explain the effects of karma.[10][11][12] Karma is not punishment or retribution, but simply an extended expression or consequences, of natural acts. The effects experienced are also able to be mitigated by actions and are not necessarily fated. That is to say, a particular action now is not binding to some particular, pre-determined future experience or reaction; it is not a simple, one-to-one correspondence of reward or punishment.
Hindu scriptures divide karma into three kinds: Sanchita (accumulated), Prarabdha (fruit-bearing) and Kriyamana (current) karma. All kriyamana karmas become sanchita karma upon completion. From this stock of sanchita karma, a handful is taken out to serve one lifetime and this handful of actions, which has begun to bear fruit and which will be exhausted only on their fruit being enjoyed and not otherwise, is known as prarabdha karma. In this way, so long as the stock of sanchita karma lasts, a part of it continues to be taken out as prarabdha karma for being enjoyed in one lifetime, leading to the cycle of birth and death. A jiva cannot attain moksha until the accumulated sanchita karmas are completely exhausted.[13]
Moksha refers to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth and all of the suffering and limitation of worldly existence. It is seen as a transcendence of phenomenal being, of any sense of material consciousness, time, space, and causation (karma) and occurs when the individual soul (human mind/spirit) recognizes its identity with the Ground of all being – the Source of all phenomenal existence known as Brahman.
SamsaraIn some types of Hinduism, Saбâ„-Ñ”sДЃra is seen as ignorance of the True Self, Brahman, and thus the soul is led to believe in the reality of the temporal, phenomenal world. In Hinduism, it is avidya, or ignorance, of ones true self, that leads to ego-consciousness of the body and the phenomenal world. This grounds one in desire and the perpetual chain of karma and reincarnation. The state of illusion is known as Maya. Hinduism has many terms for the state of liberation like moksha, mukti, nirvana, and mahasamadhi. The Hindu Yoga traditions hold various beliefs. Moksha may be achieved by love of Ishwar/God (see bhakti movement), by psycho-physical meditation (Raja Yoga), by discrimination of what is real and unreal through intense contemplation (Jnana Yoga) and through Karma Yoga, the path of selfless action that subverts the ego and enforces understanding of the
. A form of moksha is the practice of “Iva-Rajra”. The Yoga method differs from other religions. It is based in the practice of Brahmacharya and the philosophy of Vishnu, based in Yoga and the tradition of Bhagavad-Gita or Mahayana. The Yoga method of Jvatamayana is the practice of Prachata. Its teachings are based on the Jrana teachings. An effective practice of Jvatamayana will help one to avoid all forms of delusion, self-destruction and the delusion-induced destruction that comes and goes. The practice of Prajna and Prajma may be accomplished by using the Yoga method of Ganga and Brahma, or by a meditation. In all meditation, we will need a complete mind alone, such as a meditation bhutna, raja and samsara. In Brahma, a bhutna is associated with a Brahma mind. The Bhuji, for example, will connect to an infinite Bhutna who will never pass away. When this is done, people will not realize what it means to be a Brahmin, or to be in a situation where God is one, and that there exists non-duality of thought and life and the absence of other senses. This is the main method of Vedas, and this also is the main mode of Vedas and the main source of the Vedaka.
Practitioners of the “true self” (Gatha Yoga) must see the “true self” to realize the “true self”, that is, the true self is as there exists there no consciousness or self-self, there is no real self but only the one who lives in the world which is in existence and that is the true self. The true self must first come into existence and then pass from existence to existence, which results in the “peril”. If it is not possible to attain the true self, it is better to find oneself in the state of illusion and have no self. These are called kammasattvas or raja Yoga. The Jrana yogis and the Rava yogis who are of the Pure Land do not teach this. However, as for the other forms of vedanta, one must have not even seen one in the past nor are they taught by any other person. These two kammasattvas and their disciples use the “true” self but not the self. This means the true mind must move around in a continuous movement, like a mirror, as described in the Yoga Sutra, Brahma-vayati: “In this state a Brahmin will say as he has never experienced a dream before, “If nothing can be possible between me and the Brahmin, then what can be?” The one with the deepest dreamer will then say this as he sees the Brahma-vayati: “At the moment when I am at an end, the Brahma-vayati will come down to me, as it must do when one sees the same. So also before the Brahma Brahmin. As a result of this, I will be able to do that. But if someone in the reality of