The dogma of karma
QUESTION: Masters, in our culture, we have piles of documents that can prove the existence of karma. And the karma will influence the afterlife of any beings, who may be suffering in hell, be an animal, or give birth to the poor due to their badness. Beings may give birth to the rich, be angels or be out of Six Directions of Reincarnation due to their goodness. In your previous answers, you mentioned that when we are out of our body, we can experience the unconditional love no matter what we have done if only we want no more traveling on Earth. But in our documents, things will not be so simple: You have to pay off your bad karmas and do things well and then you can experience unconditional love. Why haven’t you mentioned the power of karma? Is that system only suited to Chinese culture country? ~Roger, Taiwan
ANSWER: “Karma” is a Sanskrit word, not a Chinese one, and is a precept in many world religions. Each controlling body, whether it be religious, political, or educational, has its own set of rules and regulations that the adherents take as the truth in all things, and they are recorded in multiple manners so people accept them. This creates the belief system accepted by people which tells them how to live their life.
One’s beliefs may change from time to time, as when one no longer needs something always believed as true. The world itself goes through these cycles. For centuries all men believed the world was flat and you would fall off the edge if you got too close, so no one sailed very far out into any body of water. Astronomers for several decades were persecuted for stating that your sun did not revolve around your Earth; now everyone knows your Earth revolves around your sun.
Christian religions believe in a God who hands out punishment for what people have done in life, resulting in their going to either Heaven or Hell. Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Sikh beliefs explain all of life with the concept of karma that you have mentioned. It is important with any belief system you adopt that you feel comfortable within it and understand the principles.
We do not espouse any Earth religion. Those systems work fine while souls are in physical form, but our experience is that the only place there can be judgment, and therefore the only place there is punishment, is on Earth. Once your soul leaves your human body it no longer is affected by negative energies. It enters into an unconditionally loving energy where everything is looked at as just an experience from which souls can learn.