World Religion Essay

The ecological Implication of Karma theory understood

The Karma theory is the theory that everything has a cause and effect, it is the fundamental doctrine in Buddhism Karma is described as a karmic memory trace, we think first then we act. We will be analyzing the current ecological landscape through a Karmic lens, as sustainers of the planet we are obligated to respond to the changes in the air, water, earth, plants, and animals, with increasing globalization and large scale agricultural changes our society is facing an environmental crisis.
This issue is pervasive among numerous countries from South East Asia to Europe and as far as the Americas, pollution specifically is suffocating the Ganges of India and fertilizers are destroying the soils of India. With India’s history in environmental sustainability, Buddhism has played a major role in the management of land and natural resources, the belief system that has sustained them is dukkha (suffering) a key message that aided in living correctly. Juxtaposed with the beliefs from the Western tradition there is a stark contrast, humans are described as being separate from nature whereas the Indian ideology depicts humans as being intimately interconnected with nature, the belief is that harming any aspect of nature be it air, water, earth, plants or animals is equivalent to harming one’s self.
Even with a strong moral foundation, there’s something to be said as to why ethics has not protected South Asia from the environmental problems of the modern industry and the changes in agricultural demands, evidence suggests that it hasn’t been sufficiently understood and applied. In the west you see continuous ecological reflection but in India it has taken sometime to reach the forefront, this has been the case because of negligence. India didn’t want to make it their problem, but the catastrophe of Bhopal, the pollution in the Ganges and the acid rain deterioration of the Taj Mahal has made it clear that environmental concerns are nothing to play with. Some of the responses from the Indian community has highlighted scriptural sources speaking of the cosmos, the atmosphere, the earth, plants, animals and humans as all God’s body, the Buddhist recognize all these things as divine, in so an ethic of reverence is demanded from all humans towards all manifestations of God’s body. This means that the Law of Karma binds individuals who respect the divine to the environment, the theory of karma is a cultural movement and a religious practice that has had an influence on Indians across the landscape irrespective of cultural upbringing, tribal or local affiliations, the environmental questions that we deal with today were alluded by the generation of old because of how we live our lives, the
The ecological Implication of Karma theory understood

Karma theory hopes to provide an ethically responsible answer as to how humans ought to interact with the environment. Where western philosophy separate nature from humans and subjects it to human domination, karma theory rejects the idea of nature being separate from humans and vice versa, this way of thinking is evident in Jainism. Jainism is a religion that deals with no Gods, the religion teaches that you’re saved by perfection through a successful life, the Jaina perspective believes that there is no separation between humans and other forms of beings, instead there’s a continuous cycle, in this cycle our souls are entrapped in different stages of karmic bondages, this is caused by placing emphasis on oneself only until we are purified will we be free from bondage, above all the most influential way to get out of bondage is to practice non-violence (ahimsa). The ethics behind Jainism non-violent obligation requires not only reverence and respect towards other humans but also respect towards souls, things that aren’t like us, these things have a karmic bond and a covering the wove human and nature together, with such a comprehensive and well

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