KARMA AND REINCARNATION

Both Vedanta and Buddhism ascribe to the principle of karma which says that for every deed we do in this existence there is, for better or ill, a consequence, baggage which we then carry from one lifetime to the next.  But what exactly is karma?

Karma means action, work, a deed, which can be physical action, conscious or reflex, but also mental action, conscious or subconscious.  Karma is everything that we think or do.  Karma also means the Law of Causation, i.e. from this follows that.

When we do something or think a thought, this action or thought, even though apparently over and done with, will inevitably, sooner or later, produce an effect. This effect may be pleasant, unpleasant, or a mixture of both for us.  It may be long delayed.  We may never notice it.  Still, it will be produced.

Moreover, every action and every thought makes an impression upon our minds. This impression may be slight at first, but if the same action or thought is repeated, it will deepen into a groove of sorts, down which our future behavior will easily tend to run.

These mental grooves are then our tendencies, which make it possible to predict just how each of us will behave in a given situation in the future.  The sum of our karmas represents our character.  As new karmas are added and previous ones exhausted, or neutralized, our character changes.

While agreeing on the phenomenon of karma, Vedanta and Buddhism have different views of reincarnation.  With the former, a person who dies does not, except in the case where he has identified with the Atman, pass into a permanent state in heaven or hell, or in a condition elsewhere, but is reborn into another existence.

This next existence will terminate in due time and necessitate yet another birth.  Rebirth follows rebirth in an endless chain, and may occur in any of a series of planes.  On earth it could be in any of the forms of life, vegetable, animal, or human.

Since Buddhism does not accept the existence of a soul, it has a decidedly different take on reincarnation.  In Buddhism the karma-laden ego passes from one life to the next but in the manner of a seal that is pressed upon wax. What passes from the former to the latter is the elements engraved on the seal and then retained by the wax.  Nothing substantial is involved.  Another analogy is the passing of a flame from one candle to another.

In both Buddhism and Vedanta this process is quite impersonal, which is to say that unlike Christianity, there is no man in a white beard sitting on a celestial throne passing judgement on one's fate.  And, again, one's fate does not include an endless heaven or hell as in Christianity.

Vedanta holds that the individual can escape from karma and reincarnation at any time, as soon as he realizes that he is, in fact, the Atman, really realizes it.  The person escapes from karma and reincarnation because the Atman does not reincarnate. 

In Buddhism, getting free of karma and reincarnation comes only with the attainment of enlightenment, when the individual ego ceases to call itself "I" and dissolves in the featureless purity of Nirvana, as a drop of spray is merged in the sea.