Karma: Encyclopedia II - Karma - Analogs of Karma - God the judge

Karma - Analogs of Karma - God the judge

If we accept that the basic ethical purpose of Karma is to behave responsibly, and that the tenet of Karma may be simply stated 'if you do good things, good things will happen to you - if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you', then it is possible for us to identify analogs with other religions that do not rely on Karma as a metaphysical assertion or doctrine.

Karma does not specifically concern itself with salvation - it is just as important within a basic socio-ethical stance. However, as a mechanic, Karma can be identified in purpose with the concept of God's relation to 'good works' as found within Christianity, as well as any other religions that assert an omnisicent, omnipotent judge, as Hinduism considers with respect to the role of Karma.

Similarly, the Egyptian goddess Maat (the divine judge) played a similar an impartial role meting out justice in a manner very similar to Karma; Maat could not be appeased by faith or regret - an action done was done, with no space for the more recent theistic concepts of grace, as Hinduism allows for its role of God.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Analogs of Karma - God the judge", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki