Do we reap
what we sow? Do we get what we deserve when we die?
Hinduism,
Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, India’s contribution to the world, teach that our
thoughts and actions have consequences, namely rewards or punishments. Goodness
leads to rewards and bad thoughts, words and actions lead to pain and
suffering. This, in a nutshell, is Karma.
On the
other end of the religious spectrum is Historic Christianity that teaches the
virtual opposite – Grace. The dictionary definition of grace is mercy, clemency
or pardon.
A brief
study of Grace and Karma is invaluable to those on either side as well as the
honest seeker. Karma and Grace gain utmost significance because they are two
fundamental and uncompromising doctrines within their respective worldviews. Christians
and Hindus would never compromise the doctrines of Grace and Karma,
respectively.
KARMA
Karma means
action, “Karma in Hinduism (Sanatana dharma) is considered to be a spiritually
originated law that governs all life. In the Law of Karma even though an
individual is considered to be the sole doer and enjoyer of his Karmas and
their 'fruits', according to Vedanta, the supreme being (The Divine) plays a
major role as the dispenser of the 'fruits' of Karma...”1
The
following is a listing of the basic facets of Karma:2
1. The
Hindu Scriptures, Uphanishads, Bhagavadgita and the Puranas, teach Karma.
2. Karma
applies to human beings, plants, animals and microorganisms. Karma also applies
to groups such as associations, organizations and nations; this is termed as
the collective karma.
3. Karma
does not apply to God. But gods and celestial beings are bound by the law of
Karma. (According to some Puranas, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva attained their
position of divine responsibilities because of their meritorious actions in
their previous births.)
4. Sin,
according to Hinduism, is an offense committed against human beings and not God.
5. Karma includes
both the physical and the mental actions (thoughts). Man possesses free will to
perform a good action, a good word or a good thought, and these would fetch him/her
rewards. Anything bad would fetch punishment. (Karma includes even our most
natural acts such as sleeping and breathing, hence non-action and deliberate
inaction is also a part of karma.)
6. Hinduism
recognizes four types of karma:
6.1
Sanchita Karma: It is sum total of the accumulated karma of previous
lives.
6.2
Prarabdha Karma: That part of the
sanchita karma that is currently activated in the present life and which
influences the course of the present life.
6.3
Agami Karma (Future Karma): The karma that arises out of the current
life activities, whose consequences will be experienced by the individual in
the coming lives.
6.4
Kriyamana Karma: This is the karma whose consequences are experienced in
this very life.
7. Reincarnation
is a necessary aspect of karma. Karma binds its subjects to cycles of births
and deaths by initiating the cycle of cause and effect. Rebirth would occur
until there is balance in the individual’s karmic account. The soul cannot
attain moksha (salvation) without exhausting the accumulated Karmas.
8. A soul
could exist for even a million years to exhaust the accumulated karmas. Thus
the individual soul carries the burden of its karma until a permanent
liberation is achieved through the renunciation of the doership and detachment
from the fruits of actions.
Hindus are
obligated to perform certain duties to neutralize their karma. There are two
mandatory karmas every Hindu ought to perform (it is sinful to not perform
these duties) and there is an optional karma:
8.1
Nitya Karma includes duties every human being ought to perform (sleep,
shower, eat, pray etc.).
8.2
Naimittika Karma includes duties that ought to be performed on specific
occasions such as festivals, solar, lunar eclipses, marriage, funeral rites
etc.
8.3
Kamyakarma includes optional duties such as going on a pilgrimage,
educating one’s children, property purchase, performing a sacrificial rite etc.
Hinduism
also teaches that since man can never develop the sense of being perfectly
right or wrong, performing these duties need not necessarily incur merit. Hence
spiritual means is necessary for a Hindu to be liberated from his/her karma, “Karma
ends when you have perfected yourself in art of doing Karma without attachment.
The ability to do Karma without attachment (without expectation of Karma-phala)
can be attained by perfecting oneself on the path to the Divine by following
various yogas - Karma yoga (yoga of
action without attachment), Bhakti yoga
(yoga of love for the Divine), Gyan yoga
(yoga of knowledge and awareness), Siddha
or Kundalini yoga (yoga of divine consciousness), Hatha yoga (purification of the body and mind through Asanas and
Pranayama), Laya yoga (yoga of
meditating on interior energy centers), Mantra
yoga (yoga of Divine or Sacred words, phrases, or syllables) or any combination
of these.”3 (Emphasis Mine).
GRACE
In the
Hindu worldview there is an inexorable connection between man’s actions and
consequences, not even death can break this connection, for the law of karma
carries over into the next incarnation.
However, in
the Christian worldview, the sin-punishment sequence can be interrupted by repentance
and confession of sins, with consequent forgiveness, and death brings a release
from the temporal effects of sin. God’s love and grace offer this privilege to
the repentant man.
God does
not deal with man based on man’s merit. God deals with man based on HIS own
goodness and generosity. God also deals with man based on his nature and need i.e.
man’s nature is that he is innately sinful and his perpetual need is to be forgiven.
Grace means
God’s goodness towards those who deserve only punishment. God supplies man with
undeserved or unmerited favors i.e. HIS favor is toward those who deserve no
favor but only punishment.
In other
words, salvation is a [free] gift from God to man (Romans 6: 23; Ephesians 2:
8-9). Salvation, according to Historic Christianity, is by the grace of God
(Ephesians 1: 5-8).The Bible also mentions God’s grace as an extravagant gift (Cf.
Titus 2: 11, 3: 3-7).
Since God’s
grace is unmerited, there is only one human attitude appropriate as an
instrument for receiving God’s grace, namely, faith (Cf. Romans 4: 16). While
it is faith that leads to man’s justification, justification must and will
invariably produce works appropriate to the nature of the new creature4
that man has become (Ephesians 2: 8-9; James 2: 17).
The good
news of Christianity is that God became man “full of grace and truth” (John 1:
14-17). God did not come in the form of Jesus Christ as a judge and
executioner, for if HE had done so, entire mankind would have been found guilty
and sentenced to everlasting punishment. But God became man to be gracious to
us.
Hence,
Christ died on the cross for the sake of man’s sins. The cross of Christ is a
symbol of the fullness of God’s grace.
HARMONY
A few
instances where Grace and Karma harmonize are:
1. Christianity
deems man as sinful [from birth]. Hinduism, by virtue of the law of karma, believes
that man would sin in thoughts, words and deeds.
2. Christianity
and Hinduism emphasize the need for punishment of sins.
3. The
Bible also mentions reaping and sowing (Job 4: 8, Psalm 126: 5). However, the act
of receiving rewards for our good deeds is in this life and in our life in
heaven (Matthew 16: 27; Revelation 22: 12).
DISSONANCE
The Bible
diverges from karma in these aspects:
1. Every
sin merits death and no amount of good works can override our bad thoughts,
deeds or words, for man is innately sinful. Hence, man ought to receive God’s
grace through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Good
works are an outcome of man’s trust and perpetual dependence upon Christ (Cf.
Philippians 2: 13).
3. Outside
of God’s love and forgiveness there is no hope for man. Because God loves the
sinful man, HE has offered a provision for him to repent and turn to Christ, so
that everyone who repents of his sins, declares that Christ is Lord and
believes in his heart that God raised HIM from the dead will be saved.
ENDNOTES:
1http://www.thekundaliniyoga.org/karma/karma_gods_law_action_fruit_rebirth_reincarnation_hindu_perspective.aspx#Types
of Karma, last accessed 2nd Feb 2017.
2http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_karma.asp,
last accessed 2nd Feb 2017. & http://www.hinduwebsite.com/conceptofkarma.asp#fn02,
last accessed 2nd Feb 2017.
3http://www.thekundaliniyoga.org/karma/karma_gods_law_action_fruit_rebirth_reincarnation_hindu_perspective.aspx#Types
of Karma, last accessed 2nd Feb 2017.
4Man who trusts and
remains in Christ becomes a new creation and will no longer live for himself (2
Corinthians 5: 17), man’s life will become spiritual.
This article was originally posted
at http://christianapologeticsalliance.com/2017/02/02/grace-vs-karma-2/
4 comments:
Well explained.
Thank you. God bless.
Excellent. Thank you for posting this.
Thank you brother William.
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