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Vol. XXVI, 2003
DOCTRINE OF KARMA A SCIENTIFIC VIEW....
ring to it as good deeds and bad deeds. However, most philosophies do not go beyond action as its meaning. It is the Jaina philosophy that has given it a much wider meaning. In Jaina parlance the word karma has two connotations 1. The action and 2. The karma-matter.
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Now, I present a little scientific analysis of the nature of karma and the way it gets associated with the soul and affects its destiny. According to Jaina thought karma-matter or 'Karma pudgala-vargana' is the finest variety of matter that has the capacity of invading the soul-space. When we compare it with the existing scientific knowledge about matter and its wave and energy transformations, we can see that karma-matter may be some kind of electromagnetic waves that vibrate at different frequencies.
The fact that our thoughts and actions are affected by surrounding electromagnetic field is a foregone conclusion. People living in the vicinity of high tension (HT) electric transmission lines are known to suffer some neurological and psychosomatic disorders. It is because the strong electromagnetic field in their vicinity adversely affects their normal functioning and throws them out of tune. Similarly the electromagnetic field created by the vibrations of karma-matter casts its influence on our neurological system and endocrine glands that are regulated by bodyelectricity and force us to behave in a particular manner.
The karmic (electromagnetic) waves are grouped in eight wave-bands, termed as asta-karma, just like normal electromagnetic waves are classified as Low-frequency band, High-frequency (HF) band, Very High Frequency (VHF) band, Ultra High-frequency (UHF) band, microwave band, etc. Each of these types. gets attracted towards the soul when it performs any physical mental or vocal activity that itself causes it to vibrate at specific frequencies. Just like a radio receiver can select specific frequency-band when it is tuned to that frequency, the soul vibrating at a particular frequency also receives karmic waves of matching frequency and that is how some actions attract and bind knowledge obscuring karma-matter while some others bind other types.
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Then comes the question of destiny and karmic retribution. Like a pre-set television-set, set to receive different channels at different times, the karmic associations also have a built in clock that decides the dormancy (abädhä-käla) and the time of fruition (udaya) of a particular type of karmic bondage. When the time of fruition of a particular type of karma comes, the karma-body (Karmaṇa Śarīra) and the soul associated with it are forced to vibrate at a specific frequency. This
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