Karma: a Matter of Faith – Contrasting Buddhist Beliefs and Personal Interpretations

In my paper, I will discuss the Buddhist's belief in karma and my opinion on their belief. My paper will discuss my views on karma and how people should perceive them. Karma is called the idea that actions have repercussions in life. I found this topic very interesting because Buddhism believes that something as the intent of actions determines such a big part in the reincarnation of a soul.

Karma: True or False?

Most people feel that karma is "what goes around comes around," but I do not believe that the saying is true personally in the Buddhist eyes and mine.

They believe in a much different belief than the saying. By Buddhism, people are in control of their karma and their actions. Karma makes someone responsible for their own life and the pain in others. This belief has a comparison with my religion, Christianity, where your sins are your sins/actions, and your karma is your karma/actions.

The human potential for spiritual and personal growth helps make karma into wisdom, understanding, and virtue. Buddhists believe that if your actions are good, your outcomes will be good, but if you are evil or wrong, then your outcomes/consequences will be dire. I agree with this belief because if you do something good, I see people constantly receiving a nice gift in return, and if you commit a crime or hurt someone, you will get a horrible result or punishment.

If people treat others well, they do not always have to receive a physical thing for a reward, but sometimes they are blessed with money, a beautiful family, and other similar things. I believe in karma, and I have had bad and good experiences with karma and have seen it happen many times in my life already. I do many good charitable actions for people constantly and see good outcomes in my life. I have also messed up and had to get through my karma and the results of my actions.

The Essence and Universality of Karma

A Buddhist's life and character are shaped by karma with imagination. It is not about what is good or bad, but the cause and effect and how they can become free. It is a person's personality that can cause either negative or positive karma as well. A person is fully responsible for his or her karma, so it is up to them to give themselves good and bad karma. Karma cannot be affected by the natural decisions of the body. Karma can teach people who transgress things towards people or transgress for society that they will receive dire consequences, and it makes them realize and learn from their mistakes, and then the people can learn to make the right decisions to have good karma in their life.

I believe karma is universal; whether by the same name or not, it is still a subject in most religions I know about. I see this compared with the Christian "Golden Rule," "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." I am a Christian, and I can see how karma is used in my religion, which helps me. It is a different idea for both religions, but it has a similarity. Karma can help everyone's lives regardless of age, sex, race, or religion. I firmly believe that karma is helpful for many people to explain a situation that they cannot fully understand.

References

1. Rahula, W. (1974). What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press.
2. Dalai Lama. (1999). The Art of Happiness. Riverhead Books.
3. Smith, H. (1991). The World's Religions. HarperOne.
4. McLeod, M. (Ed.). (2001). The Best Buddhist Writing 2001. Shambhala Publications.
5. Kinnard, J. (2010). The Christianity and Reincarnation: The Need for Reconciliation. Religions Journal, 5(3), 234-245.

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