Neuroscience and Karma

Author(s): Jethalal S Zaveri, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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nature (svabhāva) and determinism (niyati) are finally determined by karman and there is no such thing as fortuitism.
The common ground among the different systems is the belief in the intrinsic purity of the soul and its capacity to recover its pure nature, by following a course of philosophical enlightenment, austerities and moral discipline. Also, there is general agreement regarding the nature of fruition, that is, virtuous or moral actions will fructify into enjoyment, while sinful and immoral ones will fructify in suffering. A significant difference is in the necessity of an external agency, such as God. The Jain doctrine emphasizes that the impurity of the soul itself determines the nature, quantity, duration and intensity of the karman at the time of bondage and eliminates the necessity of an external agency. More significant differences are, however, in the nature and pathways of ultimate emancipation. However, here again, there is remarkable unity that all systems accept nescience (avidyā) or (moha) as the fundamental hindrance to emancipation. It deludes the soul and diverts its interests in the world process, leading to the cycle of rebirths. The common aim of all the Indian religions is to show the ways and means to destroy
nescience.
Unorthodox view of Karman
At this point, we would like to clarify that the present work is neither a religious nor a moral treatise and it does not, therefore, aim to discuss the methods of destroying the karman. Its object is, rather, to view karman from a novel angle not the transcendental angle but an empirical angle· and to explain the importance of the role of karman in producing our mental states and behavioural patterns in scientific terms. The orthodox view, generally, depicts the karman as a villain - an enemy. All our actions, good and bad, are attributed to karman but there is hardly any attempt to explain how karman makes us do what we do.
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Now the doctrine of karman teaches us that pleasures and pain, urges and impulses, emotions and passions, our thoughts, speech and our actions are result of karman. At the same time, researches in neuroscience have established that there are reference standards in our
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