Hindu karma not the same as buddhist karma?

Guardian Saturday Comment Pages
Questions, questions: What is karma and how does it work?
361 words
31 May 2008
The Guardian
42
English
© Copyright 2008. The Guardian. All rights reserved.

The actor Sharon Stone is not the first public figure to have invoked the concept of karma. Radiohead, Boy George and John Lennon have all trodden the same path, yet her ill-advised usage of the word has had a far greater impact.

Stone's suggestion that the devastating Chinese earthquake was brought about by Beijing's nastiness to her "very good friend" the Dalai Lama infuriated a top fashion and cosmetics firm - Dior reacted by dropping her from its Chinese advertising - and an economic superpower in one fell swoop.

Karma is a complex idea that is important to Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs. The word means simply "action", but its meaning is connected with the causes and effects of the choices we make. Our minds are like a blank piece of paper and every action we perform makes a stamp on that piece of paper. The marks become impressions and these grow and develop into experiences. Tibetan Buddhists believe that actions lead to effects and that all our experiences are the effects of previous actions.

Kama Tobgyal, from the Tibetan Buddhist centre Kagyu Samye Dzong London, says: "If you watch a violent movie before you go to bed, you may have nightmares. If you have a warm, intimate conversation with your partner before you sleep you may have a pleasant dream. But these experiences may happen in another life. The idea is to avoid negative actions. From the Buddhist point of view, everything is karma."

Stone is not the first person to fall foul of a skewed interpretation of karma. The former footballer Glenn Hoddle lost his job as England manager for saying that disabled people were being punished for sins in a previous life. "The karma is working from another lifetime. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap."

Stone and Hoddle may have thinking of Hindu karma, which is different to the Buddhist one. In the Hindu tradition, broadly speaking, beneficial effects are the result of beneficial actions and negative effects are the fruit of negative actions. Riazat Butt