Lecture 5, 6, 7: Karma, The Bhagavad Gita, Desireless Action Flashcards
The bare bones conception of karma is that
actions lead to personal consequences
word for habits
samskaras
Samskaras are believed to produce
the personal consequences while actions product habits, which repeat the action
What are the 6 steps of Karma in contemporary interpretation?
- Good Actions
- Good Habits
- Good Consequences
- Bad Actions
- Bad Habits
- Bad Consequences
Good habit is also considered
merit
2 problems with contemporary interpretations of karma
- Need a role for desire
2. No way to avoid merit and demerit
When an action is motivated by desire, it produces
a habit
3 steps to creating samskaras
- Pleasure = desire
- Pain = aversion
- Desires and Aversions produce habits
What is the reason we have habits?
we desire the result of the habit
The Bhagavad Gita is a
small text embedded in the Mahabharata
In the Bhagavad Gita, Krsna is….
An avatar of Visnu and a king that is close friends with Arjuna
What does Krsna do in the Bhagavad Gita battle?
Drives a chariot
Why is Arjuna in despair when surveying the land before battle?
he sees how he has to kill his teachers and cousins
What is Arjuna’s and Krsna’s dialogue about in the Bhagavad Gita
About one’s responsibilities to community as Arjuna doesnt want to fight and Krsna says he should
What is Krsna’s view on the Vedas in Bhagavad Gita
Vedas are flowery words to those with worldly values, which only result in rebirth
“As much use as there is in a well that is flooded on either side, so much use there is for the vedas for the brahman who knows reality” …was said by who in what text?
Krsna, the Bhagavad Gita
Is the view in Bhagavad Gita vedic or post?
post vedic, but not renunciate
What is the solution that Krsna offers to Arjuna?
Perform social responsibilities and do his dharma with desireless action to become a karma yogin
karma yogin
something like a renunciate . in action. Engage but not with desire.
3 problems with desire
- It causes suffering
- Compromises moral agency
- Desire plays an essential role in the production of merit and demerit
5 ways suffering is caused by desire
- Lack
- Disappointment in having
- Fear of losing
- Actually losing something
- Don’t want something anymore
How does desire effect moral agency?
The more desire, the harder it is to enter a state of mind where people can make the right decisions where all aspects are taken into consideration
2 problems with desireless action
- Desire for liberation
2. Desire to be desireless
