{"id":208,"date":"2019-11-26T11:43:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T16:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/encyclopediabuddhicaf19.andrewquintman.wescreates.wesleyan.edu\/blog\/?p=208"},"modified":"2019-11-30T10:20:38","modified_gmt":"2019-11-30T15:20:38","slug":"karma-merit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/encyclopediabuddhicaf19.andrewquintman.wescreates.wesleyan.edu\/blog\/uncategorized\/karma-merit\/","title":{"rendered":"Karma & Merit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Karma is derived from the Sanskrit word \u201cKarman,\u201d which translates to action or deed. The doctrine of karma implies that the actions of an individual leave a karmic residue, where events in the past, as well as events in the present determine future contingencies. Therefore, \u201csow a thought to reap an act. Sow an act and reap a habit, sow a habit and reap a character, sow a character and reap a destiny. Or simply, what goes around comes around\u201d (Dhiman, 37). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“What goes around comes around.” Link<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On synthesizing this quotation, a\nformula can be derived: cause = effect. According to this karmic universe,\nevery premeditated action has a direct outcome on the individual, while it may\nalso have an outcome on a third-party individual in the transfer of merit. Merit-making\noccupies a central role in the karmic theory of action, as it is equated with\nreligious action in South and Southeast Asia. The fulfillment of the other modes\nof the Path of the Buddha: panna, samadhi\n<\/em>and sila <\/em>(wisdom, mental discipline\nand morality) is often deemed challenging to pursue to any considerable degree.\nTherefore, Buddhists and Buddhist monks alike place merit-making at the center\nof the practice of Theravada Buddhism. \u201cMerit is seen as a form of spiritual\ninsurance, an investment made with the expectation that in the future \u2013 and probably\nin a future existence \u2013 one will enjoy a relatively prolonged state without\nsuffering\u201d (Keyes, 267). The accumulation of merit\/demerit in past lives as\nwell as in one\u2019s present life contributes to a karmic legacy, which could\neither relieve, prolong or eliminate states of suffering. This may also be true\nin in the case of easing another individual\u2019s state of suffering through the\ntransfer of merit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion of transferring merit to\nancestors originated in Vedic customs, but eventually became commonplace in\nmany denominations: including Buddhism and Jainism. The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad <\/em>from the Brahmanical tradition describes a\nman appropriating to himself the good deeds of a woman with whom he engages\nwith physically, as her \u201cvulva is the sacrificial ground; her pubic hair is the\nsacred grass; her labia majora are the Soma-press; and her labia minora are the\nfire blazing at the center\u201d (Bronkhorst, 92). In this particular instance, the\nman receives the goods deeds of the women and an unparalleled quantity of knowledge,\nwhile the woman appropriates to herself the good deeds of the man, without the\nexorbitant knowledge.  This is\ndemonstrative of how karma and merit go hand in hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same theory that is believed\nin the Brahmanical tradition can also be applied to Mahayana Buddhism. Numerous\nBuddhists not only devote themselves to the practice of Buddhism, but also to attaining\na state of Buddhahood. These bodhisattvas undertake strict vows in order to\naccomplish the sacrificial journey to complete enlightenment. The path to enlightenment\ninvolves \u201ctaking on the suffering of others and transferring their own merits\nto them\u201d (Bronkhorst, 95).  Demerits\nfunction likewise. For example, in the Naraka\n<\/em>(hell) section of the Realms of\nRebirth<\/em>, each hell hosts a particular type of individual for committing a\nsin. \u201cA nihilist who claims that the truth is untruth is consumed by fire in Patapana <\/em>hell\u201d (The Realms of Rebirth, 7).\nThis is representative of an individual\u2019s actions affecting the domain in which\nthey dwell. The fact that someone is consumed by fire implies that everyone\nwithin that hell would get consumed by the exact same fire, as punishment in\nthis realm of existence spares nobody. Once consumed by the fire, they submit\nthemselves to the bonds of karma setting samsara\n<\/em>(cyclic existence) in motion. The performance of bad deeds transfers\ndemerits across that particular realm of rebirth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Hell Section displayed at the bottom of the Six Realms of Rebirth. Link<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karma, merit and ascetics also come\nto the fore in Jainism, although with varying mobility. There is a story where\na young woman from Bombay travels to a shrine in \u015aa\u0144khe\u015bvar P\u0101r\u015bvan\u0101th <\/em>to perform a three day fast hoping to improve\nher father\u2019s health. Her fast (aththam<\/em>)\nconsisted of only minimal water on the second and third day. Devotional practices\nand ascetic rituals characterized the three days, as she hoped her father\u2019s condition\nwould ameliorate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jain monastics distinguished by their white robes and non-violent practices. Link <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These ascetic undertakings\ninvolved mental and physical constraints to curb the cultivation of new karma,\nand eliminate the existing karma clinging onto her father\u2019s soul. \u201cAsceticism\nin the Jain tradition has a twofold goal: the prevention of new karma coming\ninto contact with and thereby binding the soul, a process known in karma theory\nby the technical term of samvara<\/em>; and\nthe elimination of karma already in binding contact with the soul, a process\nknown as nirjar\u0101<\/em>\u201d(Qvarnstr\u00f6m,\n130). This is an example of how one can alter their karmic status to eliminate\nkarma clinging onto the soul by transferring merit through sacrifice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karma and merit essentially boil down to the rational thought that allows us to remove ourselves from our conditioning, or that like the rest of the material universe, our actions are predetermined by past events. However, the Buddha argued that our capacity to acknowledge this rational dichotomy and to choose between one of two logically equal views is evidence of a will that can be freed from the subjective reasoning we acquire through individual experience. To assume a purely fatalistic perspective on our karmic destiny would imply the constant performance of good deeds in order to acquire merit to either transfer it onto another individual or to ensure rebirth into an ideal realm of existence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dhiman,\nSatinder, Gary E. Roberts, and Joanna E. Crossman. The\nPalgrave Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Fulfillment<\/em>. London:\nPalgrave Macmillan, 2018. [ The book establishes the doctrine of Karma and its\nplace in Indian philosophy, while it also attempts to provide answers to how\nkarma would play out on different personalities. The fatalistic aspect of this\nencyclopedia entry draws inspiration from the section \u201cDoes Karma imply\nfatalism?\u201d, pages 37-41.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyes,\nCharles F., and E. V. Daniel. Karma: An Anthropological\nInquiry<\/em>. Oakland: University of California Press, 1983.[The book discusses how\nkarmic ethos finds expression in the discourse of Buddhists of the Theravadin\ntradition and the centrality of merit-making, pages 261-271.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronkhorst,\nJohannes. Karma<\/em>. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2011. [An\naccount of the various texts giving expression to the fundamentally individual\nnature of karmic retribution and the transfer of merit, pages 91-96.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lopez,\nDonald. Buddhist Scriptures<\/em>. London: Penguin UK, 2004. [A detailed\ncause-effect summary of the performance of good and bad deeds in the six realms\nof rebirth, pages 3-18.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qvarnstr\u00f6m,\nOlle. Jainism and Early Buddhism: Essays in Honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini<\/em>.\nJain Publishing Company, 2003. [An alternative approach to karma and merit\ntransfer, as seen by Jains. Commonalities and differences with Buddhism demonstrated,\npages 129-133.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

External Links <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For an insight on how karma is engrained in memory, click here <\/a>to hear Sadhguru’s solution to letting go of our memory, in turn “breaking the karmic trap.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A collection of abstract karmic art, alongside various depictions of Avalokiteshvara can be found here. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AJR, an American pop band produced the song karma<\/a>. The song revolves around the band appealing to their doctor for not having already reaped the benefits of performing good deeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Readings <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Holt, John C. Assisting the Dead by Venerating the Living: Merit Transfer in the Early Buddhist Tradition<\/em>. Numen, 1981. [Determines how religious interpretations of death valorize the human meaning of life. Discusses the early intent of Buddhist monks to perform meritorious actions in order to release the cycle of sams\u0101ra.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronkhorst, Johannes. Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism<\/em>. Leiden: BRILL, 2011. [Provides parallels to the book cited above, Jainism and early Buddhsim<\/em>. Contains arguments against Buddhism finding its roots in Vedic Brahmanism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MacFarquhar, Larissa. How To Be Good.<\/em> The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 2011. [Questions whether or not there is a connection between the positive karma we generate in one life and the quality of our life by providing scientific scenarios.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gethin, Rupert. Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations from the Pali Nikayas<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. [Expands on the Buddhist understanding that only intentional actions contribute to karmic residue.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karma is derived from the Sanskrit word \u201cKarman,\u201d which translates to action or deed. The doctrine of karma implies that the actions of an individual leave a karmic residue, where events in the past, as well as events in the present determine future contingencies. Therefore, \u201csow a thought to reap an act. Sow an act … <\/p>\n

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