Carried over of course from Hinduism but with at least two major differences: 1. rebirth is verified through ESP; and 2. it operates without a substantial soul.

Three Traditional Theories (Kalup (1), 46)

Vedantist (Upanishadic): Atman as doer of karma and enjoyer of the consequences. If Atman is an eternal, immutable spiritual substance, how can karma have anything to do with it? How can Atman carry karma? Corresponds to the theory of self-causation.

Materialist: All causes are external and physical. There is no moral responsibility. This is the theory of "hard" determinism discussed above. Corresponds to theory of external causation.

Jain View: Following their dualistic view, the soul, through its own deeds, causes karma to accrue physically in itself. The evil soul literally blackens itself with karma, and the good soul gradually becomes lighter in color (finally becomes translucent) as it expels karma from itself.

In response to these traditional views, the Buddha came up with a more psychological view. He did not deny that much karma comes as a result of physical contact. As opposed to the Jains, he rejected the idea that one could accrue karma involuntarily. For the Buddha one is responsible only for karma that is the result of conscious action. Many times the Buddha equated karma with volition.

In agreement with the Yoga-sutra the Buddha also agreed we are responsible for unconscious desires to perpetuating life and avoiding death. The craving for immortality is one that has be rooted out even at the unconsious level. Most of us can work at these problems from the conscious perspective by reaffirming the doctrine of impermanence and nonsubstantality.

Again the Buddha, with the aid of Kalup. (1), 48, attempts to show that his view is not strict determinism--it is conditionality not strict causality. Effects are only conditional upon certain circumstances; they are not causally related in a strict way.

The Parable of the Pinch of Salt. Salt represents one evil act--a unit of karma. It all depends on context in which it is found. QUOTE ON BOTTOM, p. 48.

The effect of a deed is not determined solely by the deed itself (rule governed morality), but the context and the personality in which the deed is committed.

These relative effects can be verified by ESP--through clairvoyance: "With his clear paranormal clairvoyant vision he sees beings dying and being reborn, the low and the high, the fair and the ugly, the good and the evil each according to his karma" (p. 44).

Even those with ESP may overlook the total causal nexus in which karma has played itself out. Some may see evil doers getting a lower rebirth; others may see just the opposite. Instead of concluding indeterminism, one must look more closely for subtle extenuating circumstances--such a quick changes of heart, etc. Here one can see the psychological emphasis that makes the Buddhist position so different from the Jains.

Three Considerations for Adjudicating Karma. 1. Merit acquired in the past; 2. life in appropriate surroundings; and 3. proper resolve or application. Does 3. bring in the idea of self-causation?

The Buddhist View of Conception. 1. Coitus of the parents; 2. Mother being fertile; and 3. the presence of a gandhabba. 1 & 2 produce the fetus, which develops into a nama-rupa. The latter is joined with a gandhabba, a surviving consiousness. There is instanteous rebirth; there is no intermediate state as in Tibetan Buddhism.

In Hinduism a gandhabba is a spirit or an angel. It is the lowest class of gods; one could gain this status by following minimal moral precepts.

52: If only consciousness survives, how is it that the new nama-rupa picks up the previous person's dispositions. Dispositions are located in the nama-rupa not consciousness, which is, as Kalup. himself says, is only the function of continuity, not the function of personal identity. Shouldn't the entire nama carry over from the earlier life?

Again we see the danger of an incipient dualism in the fact that consciousness is split off from the other skandhas.

"those that have not yet begun to bear fruit."

This is "storehouse" karma: this is karma within our control.

With acts of non-attachment (nishkama) we can "burn up" storehouse karma.

"those that have begun to bear fruit."

This is "ready" or "fate" karma: it is not within our control.

A mixture of freedom and determinism.

 

Nirvana with substrate (in the world; in the body):

"Herein, monks, a monk is a worthy one (arahat) who has destryoed the defiling impulses, lived [the higher] life, done what has to be done, laid aside the burden, achieved the noble goal, destroyed the fetters of existence, and is freed through insight (panna/prajna).  He retains his five senses, thorugh wich , as they are not yet destroyed, he experiences pleasant and unpleasant sensations and feels pleasure and pain.  This cessation of craving, hate, and confusion is called the nibbana with the substrate (i.e., the body) left (Kalup (1), p. 70).    (Contrast with Jain saints, who take on suprahuman qualities.)

Nirvana in the body is a state of happiness (sukha) without craving, hatred, or any emotional disturbance. Focus on the 4th Jhana, not the ninth. The higher jhanas, according to Kalupahana's interpretation, have therapeutic results. Contrary to earlier Hindu claims, the highest meditation does not give us anything we can know, esp. not some eternal utlimate reality like Brahman.

So the 9th jnana is not Nirvana, but neither is the 4th, which is simply the exit by which the Buddha left the wheel of Samsara.

Nirvana without Substrate (after death):

Although Kalup. uses this in this discussion of Nirvana with substrate, it seems like the first paragraph on the bottom of p. 74 actually describes Nirvana without substrate very well:

"There is, monks, that sphere wherin there is neither earth nor water nor fire nor air; there is neither the sphere of infinite space nor of infinite consciousness nor of nothingness nor of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-nonperception; where there is neither this world nor the world beyond nor both togetrher, nor moon nor sun; . . ."

Here all jhanas are transcended, and the neither/nor dialectic has eliminated any possible object of thought or existence.  See metaphorical description of Nirvana from Questions of Milinda,