Wednesday
Oct272010
Karma and the New Church
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 Malcolm, Pearse and Todd discuss karma and the New Church. Is karma real? How is it typically understood in pop-culture? Is there an New Church idea of karma? Listen in on the discussion, and join in with the comments section of the website. Thanks for listening!
Reader Comments (4)
I don't understand why you would choose a non-christian theme for a christian podcast. I listened and kept waiting for something that would pull this back into the realm of the church's scope. Although karma shares some philisophical ideas in common with the Christian ideas of "a life lived and an after-life received", I don't see how the discussion benefits any listener who isn't a budhist interested in the christian perception of karma. Budhism in full is an interesting religion to compare Christianity to and I would enjoy hearing a full discussion on that in the future. Thank the narrator's for their effort and taking the time to produce the podcast.
I am not at all an expert on Karma, but buddhist friends I have seem to hold this a bit differently than you describe here. I also would like to note that meditation is not focusing on your belly button! I have never heard meditation described as selfish. I think if the goal is to meditate than that would be selfish. But meditation as part of a practice to be a force of lovingkindness in the world is not at all selfish (imho).
Here's a link to the article Todd referenced in the show.
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/loy11.htm
It's true that in this brief discussion, and in this casual format, we didn't do Christianity or Karma their full justice, but I think it is worth bringing them up, considering how popular an idea karma is in the Christian world. In the future, I would love to interview someone on Buddhism in full, and maybe discuss the differences and similarities between it and New Christianity. It would also give them the opportunity to set me straight on karma.
If you have any nominations of someone we could interview, send us an email to chapmanpodcast@gmail.com
Very cool. I also neglected to say the positive! I love that this conversation is happening. I do think it is relevant. Thanks for making it happen and stimulating the conversation! [I'll see if I can find a buddhist who wants to be interviewed for this. :) ]