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Re: Reincarnation? Karma?
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: Reincarnation? Karma?
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From: mpt@mail.utexas.edu (michael tandy)
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Date: 19 Jun 1995 19:11:43 GMT
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From news@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu Mon Jun 19 15: 02:10 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
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References: <3rij6i$get@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
In article <3rij6i$get@ucunix.san.uc.edu>, jgraham@lbs.lon.ac.uk (John Graham) says:
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>I have a lot of trouble accepting karma and reincarnation; as well as the
>Eastern versus Western concept of the soul.
Though it is often translated as "soul," it is important to
know that the word "atma" isn't the same as the Judeo-christian
concept of soul. The atma is described in some detail in the Gita,
as well as in the Upanisads. It is first of all, non-material. It
is eternally distinct from the various material bodies that it
may inhabit, connected to them only through attachment and
misidentification. The primary symptom of the atma is
conciousness, which animates the body. The presence of the atma
defines a living body. Practically, there are innumerable bodies
that are inhabited by the conditioned atma, and these also include
stones, clouds, and mountains, for the symptoms of living beings
are birth, growth, maintenance, production of by-products
(such as offspring), dwindling, and death. As a matter of fact,
almost everything is seen as alive and personal in Vedic
literature, which is one reason there are so many deities in
Hinduism.
-m
