![]() Further, Buddhist philosophy also states that when karma becomes the supreme principle superior to gods and men, it is difficult to assign any place to the initiative and endeavour of man. If everything that happens is determined by it, it is hard to see why the individual should take thought of what he does. He cannot but act in harmony with the law. Salvation is another name for acquiescence in the course of things. Karma, according to Buddhism, is not a mechanical principle, but is organic in character. The self grows and expands. There is no self, but only an evolving consciousness which may be spread out in a series of states. Though the present is determined by the past, the future remains open and depends on the direction of one's will. The willpower of the present by the past is not, however, a merely mechanical one. The law of karma tells that there is continuity between the past and the present and that the present accords with the past. However, this does not mean that the present is the only possible outcome of the past. As per the theories in Buddhism, when a person attains the highest condition, it is said that karma has no effect. All the past deeds with their results vanish for ever. The condition of freedom is past good and evil. It is also believed that morality ceases to be of otherworldly worth when moral acts are looked upon as an obstruction to final bliss, in so far as they inevitably bring about a reward and maintain the round of existence. All moral conduct is a preparation for the final state. When the ideal is realised the struggle ceases. It is the Upanishad doctrine that whatever the individual who has attained liberation does, he does without attachment. It is not deeds in themselves that bring about results, but deeds springing from selfish desires. It is often said that the highest condition is therefore above moral rules and the operation of the law of karma, yet morality has an organic bearing on the end. Throughout life there are changes. Birth and death are vital changes. Buddhism does not explain the means by which the stability of karma is maintained between two lives separated by the phenomenon of death. Buddhism says that Law of Karma keeps going the life process and when it is exhausted the existence of an individual terminates. |