Religions and their Views on Karma and Reincarnation

Religions and their Views on Karma and Reincarnation

Just looking at a couple of other religions and their views on Karma and Reincarnation.

Hinduism is one of the main religions that have spread the beliefs of karma all around the world. Hindus believe in karma and that good deeds lead to more rewards and bad deeds lead to a life of suffering. Hindus believe that your karma not only affects you in the material world but also the spiritual realm. In Hinduism, karma goes beyond just whether your next life will be easy or hard. It can also determine your status on Earth. For example, good karma may cause you to reincarnate as a human again, and possibly at the top of society. Bad karma would cause you to reincarnate at the lowest levels of society or even as an animal. In Hinduism, karma is a law. It is automatic and not controlled by any god. It is the way the Universe operates, and no one can interfere. Unlike in Christianity, where you can pray to God for mercy and forgiveness, such acts don’t do much in Hinduism. If you have been struck by many calamities during this life, and you feel you don’t deserve it, it may be because of your deeds in a previous lifetime. For example, you may be married to someone who turned out to be a cheater. Even though you may not have done anything to deserve this treatment during this lifetime, you may have done something in a past lifetime to attract a cheater in this life. The only way to stop any pattern of bad karma is by continuing to be good throughout this lifetime. Only then, may you have a better life the next time you reincarnate.

In Buddhism, karma is created by the intention of an action, not the act itself. For example, maybe you are helping out your elderly relative who can no longer take care of herself. If you are helping her because you love her and want to be there for her, then you will generate good karma. If you are doing it simply because you want to be in her will when she passes, this will generate bad karma. Furthermore, good karma is differentiated from bad karma by how much one’s deeds contributed to the well-being of others. In Buddhism, you will continue to be reborn on Earth until you follow the Buddhist path, reach enlightenment, and resolve the bad karma you have created. Whereas in Hinduism there was no end to the cycle, Buddhism states that there is an end to reincarnation and gives instructions on how to get there.

As with Christianity, there is no belief in karma in Islam. Islam focuses on the “reap what you sow” belief. As with Christianity, it sounds similar to karma but isn’t. In this belief, good deeds get rewards while bad deeds are punished. However, this isn’t by some universal law of karma. This is by Allah, the God of Islam. As with Christianity, Allah is the supreme being that determines the fate of each human. A person who has committed crimes but repented and asked Allah for mercy may be spared. Another human who commits the same bad acts but does not pray to Allah may be punished. The belief of karma in Indian religions makes it sound like a law of cause and effect. In Islam (and Christianity), your salvation is on the whim of your God, not a neutral mechanism. Both systems can be freeing or frightening depending on who you are and what you believe.

New Age spiritualists tend to have diverse views. So it is safe to say that not every New Age guru is going to believe in karma. However, there is a very popular belief in this community of reincarnation and past lives. It is common for New Age followers to try to discover past lives in order to get answers and healing in this life. 

However, a common belief, which differentiates itself from eastern religions, is that karma is not separated into good or bad. Karma is like a debt. If you have harmful thoughts, words, or actions, then you will not be able to ascend into higher realms.

 There is no good karma to balance out the bad. Your point on Earth is to try to repay your “debt” by being kind and selfless. As with eastern religions, karma is simply a cause and effect mechanism, instead of a God being in charge of who will ascend and who won’t.

 There is no being (not even God, Spirit, whatever you choose to call it) who can interfere with karma and the other universal laws. This is just how the Universe works. The promising side to the New Age belief is that as soon as you recognize your problems as karma for a past deed, you can immediately go about repaying the debt and healing your karma. There are some New Age followers who don’t specifically use the term “karma.” However, there are other laws in this belief system that imply that karma is still a belief. Primarily, there are two laws that seem to mimic the karma system. The first law is the Law of Cause and Effect. This is simply karma but with a fancier title. Your deeds create reactions throughout the universe that will come back to you. If you are good and loving, you have more love, abundance, and other good things in your life. If you do bad deeds and are selfish, you are more likely to experience bad luck and calamities. The other law is more famous. It is called the Law of Attraction. Many people know about this law because of all the spiritual teachers who claim that you can get more abundance by focusing positively on what you want. However, the law goes deeper than that. Every thought, belief, action, and word you speak will affect your reality in some way. If you are negative and cruel, then negative things will happen to you. If you are positive and kind, then great things will happen to you. It’s not exactly a law of karma, but it works in a similar way. As with Buddhism, you have the chance to change your habits so that you can stop the karma and live a great life. You also have the chance to ascend into other realms and dimensions and stop the cycle of reincarnation. 

So there you have it -  “There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure.” - Jack E. Leonard.

“No one can dim the light that shines within”

Stay well,
Roger