Christian Karma?

A Note on New Testament Passages Apparently Consonant with the Buddhist Notion of Karma Author(s): Roger Corless Reviewed work(s): Source: Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol. 6 (1986), pp. 141-144 Published by: University of Hawai'i Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1390136 . Accessed: 04/01/2012 14:26
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

University of Hawai'i Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to BuddhistChristian Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

NEWSAND NOTES

A Karma? Note on New Christian Testament Consonant Passages Apparently with the BuddhistNotion of Karma
RogerCorless Duke University

The following Note is offered as a resourcefor the comparisonof the Buddhist and Christian moral universes. The point of view adopted is Buddhist, and, controlled by this viewpoint, a list of New Testamentpassageswhich appearto be compatible with the Buddhist teaching on karma is generated. The list of passagesquoted aims to be representativebut does not aspireto be exhaustive. No attempt is made to drawdefinitive conclusionsabout the similarityof Buddhist and Christiandoctrinesconcerning the effects of moral action. The New Testamentis treated as a whole, without regard to questions of form, text, or redactioncriticism.The translationof the NewJerusalem Bible which is, in my view, noticeably superiorto all previous attempts to Englishing the Bible, has been used in most cases.
i.

THE CERTAINTY

OF THE FRUITING

OF KARMA:

Once even an apparentlyinsignificant action has been willfully performed by a sentient being, the fruiting of that action is certain. Hence, even giving a cup of cold waterto a disciple ofJesus will be rewarded(Matt. 10:42; Mark9:41). In the Last Days, at the eschaton or the parousia, all deeds will most certainly receive their recompense (Matt. 16:27; 25:31-46; I Cor. 3:12-15; II Thess. 1:6-7).
2.. THE CONGRUITY OF SEED AND FRUIT:

Just as a grain of wheat produceswheat and not corn,1so the fruiting of karma is in accordwith its seed. Thus one tests a Christian teacher by observing his actions, since neither grapesnor figs come from thorn bushes, thistles, or brambles (Matt. 7:16; Luke6:44). The gross action of karma, which is either directly observable by sentient
Studies 6 (1986). ? by the East-West Buddhist-Christian Religions Project,Universityof Hawaii. All rights reserved.

142

ROGERCORLESS beings or provableby logic, is paralleledby subtle action, which is known to us only on the authorityof the Buddha's word.2Thus, as the gift is observablyin accordancewith the request made to an earthly father, so it is, according to Jesus, when it is asked of God (Matt. 7:9-10; Luke 11:11-12). Righteous recompense according to human law is acknowledged by the criminals crucified with Jesus (Luke 23:41), but strict parity is also recognised on the spiritual plane. One receives a prophet's rewardfor welcoming a disciple as a prophet and an upright person's rewardfor welcoming a disciple as an upright person (Matt. 10:41). A person who injureswill be injured (II Pet. 2:12). One harvests generously or sparselyaccordingas one has sown (II Cor. 9:6), and in general one reapsas one sows because "God is not to be fooled" (Gal. 6:7). There is a distinction between worldly (laukika)and trans-worldly (lokottara) action, each operating on its own plane. Whether one reapscorruptionor eternal life depends on whether one has sown in self-indulgence or in the Spirit (Gal. 6:8). If one receives praise from humans for pious actions one cannot receivea subsequent rewardin heaven (Matt. 6:1-4), while conversely,persecution on earth for the sake of the Gospel will ensure a heavenly reward(Matt. 5:12; Luke 6:23). As Santidevaexalts the love of enemies over friends as bringing greaterkarmicrewards(Bodhicaryavatara, chap. 6) so in the New Testament the love of friends is considered unremarkablebut the love of enemies brings great reward(Matt. 5:43-48; Luke6:27-35).
3. THE MAGNIFICATION OF THE EFFECT:

The term "karmicfruit" (karma-phala)is not entirely metaphorical.Just as a seed producesan entire tree with leaves and fruits,3so a karmically-laden action may be small but its fruit is great. Thus a simile of the Kingdom (Mark4:3032), also called the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 13:31-32) and the Kingdom of God (Luke 13:18-19), is the tiny mustardseed which growsinto a large tree. The magnification of the effect is also seen in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30) or Pounds (Luke 19:11-27) where, as long as something is done (that is, the mechanism of karmais activated) the money yields various amounts up to one thousand percent, but if no action is taken it is as if there was never any money at all. The rewardfor giving is in general much greater than the size of the gift (Luke6:38-the final phraseis a non sequitur and may originally have been part of another logion). By renouncing laukika benefits such as home and family one obtains lokottara benefits which are a hundredfold (Matt. 19:29; Mark 10:29-30) or at any rate "manifold" (pollaplasiona: Luke 18:30). As the fruiting of karma is dependent upon both a prior cause (hetu) and attendant conditions (pratyaya),so in the Parableof the Sower(Matt. 13:3-23; Mark4:3-20; Luke 8:5-15) the seed, which is richly if confusingly called both the Word of God and the hearers of the Word of God, magnifies its effect accordingto the barren,fertile, or other conditions in which it finds itself.

NEW TESTAMENT AND KARMA A distinctly theistic (Isvaravadin) interpretationof the magnification of the effect is found in the parables of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and the in Laborers the Vineyard(Matt. 20:1-16) where the size of the rewardis dependent upon God and the actors in the parables complain that they have been unfairlytreated.
4. THE EXTENSION BEYOND THIS PRESENT LIFETIME:

143

It is uncommon to find Christians believing in re-birth, although the belief seems never to have been officially condemned. The debate over its ambiguous status will here be ignored.4 The fruiting of action in heaven, however, is well attested, and is implied in many of the passagesalreadyquoted. One passageis often instanced as implying a belief in previouslives. In John 9:2 Jesus is asked if a certainman has been born blind because of the sin of his parents or of himself. It was generally believed that the sin of parents could affect offspring (e.g., Exod. 20:5), but that a man born blind could have been presumed to have sinned is taken to mean that he must have been thought to have sinned in a former life. However, in the cultural context of the time this would be somewhat odd; given the strong Hellenistic and Gnostic influences on the FourthGospel, some referenceto a possibly Pythagoreanmetempsychosis cannot be altogether ruled out, it seems easier to take it as a question about in utero contamination from a sinning mother. The teaching of fetal contamination was present in Rabbinic tradition: for example, the fetus of a pregnant woman participatedin the idolatryof the mother if she worshippedan idol.5
5. THE PRACTICE OF DHARMA:

The fruiting of karmabeing what it is, death, as a fruit of evil deeds, may come at any moment. The realization of this, which is one of the three topics of reflection within the analytic meditation on impermanence,6 stimulates the Buddhist to focus on Dharma practiceand relinquish attachment towardssense objects. Thus, the rich man who trusted in his laukikawealth is ridiculed since he does not realize that he will die that very night (Luke 12:20). And as the so practiceof Dharma now is as wise as amassingprovisionsfor a long journey,7 the wise Christiancounts the cost beforehand and renounceslaukika pleasures immediately (Luke 14:28-33).

NOTES 1. Examplesgiven by Geshe Lhundup Sopa while giving teachings on Geshe Chekawa'sSeven Points of Thought Transformation (blo.sbyong.don. bdun. ma) at Deer Park, Madison, Wisconsin, May27 toJune 1, 1986. 2. This distinction was made clear by Ven. Tsultrim Gyatso Rimpoche during teachings on the BodhisattvaPath at KarmaThegsum Choling, Durham, North Carolina,on August 13, 1986. 3. Examplegiven by Geshe Sopa, ibid.

144

ROGERCORLESS
4. On this see the brilliant and controversialbooks of Geddes MacGregor:Reincarnationin Christianity(Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1978) and Reincarnationas a ChristianHope (New York:Barnesand Noble, 1982). 5. C. K. Barrett, The GospelAccording to John (London: SPCK, 1955), p. 295, and Midrashic referencesthere cited. 6. The three topics are: (i) the certaintyof death; (ii) the uncertaintyof the time of death; (iii) the Dharmaas one's only supportat the time of death. 7. Examplegiven by Geshe Sopa, ibid.