Corporate Karma Meaning, Methodology, Guidelines for good Corporate Karma

Karma is the concept of action or deed understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect. It is also seen as the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during successive phases of one’s existence.

Karma is a distinctive feeling, aura or the idea that one reaps what one sows-destiny; fate. Its the effects of all actions which are viewed as actively shaping one’s past, present and future experiences.

Karma is the concept of an “Action” or “Deed” which fuels the entire cycle of cause and effect. As a leader, you and your corporation help communities. Acting and responding in an ethical and moral manner is building up a positive corporate Karma either knowingly or unknowingly because it is displaying a positive corporate culture; employees are empowered, and the surrounding community feels valued, rather than feeling as though they are being taken advantage of (e.g. resources, tax breaks etc.).

Methodology

The relationship between the soul and karma, states Padmanabh Jaini, can be explained with the analogy of gold. Like gold is always found mixed with impurities in its original state, Jainism holds that the soul is not pure at its origin but is always impure and defiled like natural gold. One can exert effort and purify gold, similarly, Jainism states that the defiled soul can be purified by proper refining methodology. Karma either defiles the soul further, or refines it to a cleaner state, and this affects future rebirths. Karma is thus an efficient cause (nimitta) in Jain philosophy, but not the material cause (upadana). The soul is believed to be the material cause.

The key points where the theory of karma in Jainism can be stated as follows:

Karma operates as a self-sustaining mechanism as natural universal law, without any need of an external entity to manage them. (absence of the exogenous ‘Divine entity’ in Jainism)

Jainism advocates that a soul attracts karmic matter even with the thoughts, and not just the actions. Thus, to even think evil of someone would endure a karma-bandha or an increment in bad karma. For this reason, Jainism emphasise on developing Ratnatraya (The Three Jewels): samyak darśana (‘Right Faith’), samyak jnāna (‘Right Knowledge’) and samyak charitra (‘Right Conduct’).

In Jain theology, a soul is released of worldly affairs as soon as it is able to emancipate from the karma-bandha. In Jainism, nirvana and moksha are used interchangeably. Nirvana represents annihilation of all karmas by an individual soul and moksha represents the perfect blissful state (free from all bondage). In the presence of a Tirthankara, a soul can attain Kevala Jnana (‘omniscience’) and subsequently nirvana, without any need of intervention by the Tirthankara.

The karmic theory in Jainism operates endogenously. Even the Tirthankaras themselves have to go through the stages of emancipation, for attaining that state.

Jainism treats all souls equally, inasmuch as it advocates that all souls have the same potential of attaining nirvana. Only those who make effort, really attain it, but nonetheless, each soul is capable on its own to do so by gradually reducing its karma.

Eight Karmas

There are eight types of Karma which attach a soul to Samsar (the cycle of birth and death):

Gyanavarniya (Knowledge-obstructing): Like a veil prevents a face and its features from being seen, this karma prevents the soul from knowing an object along with details about that object. This karma obstructs the soul from realizing its essential quality of knowledge. In its absence, a soul is omniscient. There are five sub-types of gyanavarniya karma which prevents the five types of knowledge: mati gyan (sensory knowledge), shrut gyan (articulate knowledge), avadhi gyan (clairvoyance), mana paryay gyan (telepathy) and keval gyan (omniscience).

Darshanavarniya (Perception-obstructing): Like a gatekeeper prevents the sight of the king, this karma prevents an object from being perceived, hiding it. This karma obstructs the soul from realizing its essential quality of perception. In its absence, a soul completely perceives all substances in the universe. There are nine sub-types of this karma. Four of these prevent the four types of perception; visual perception, non-visual perception, clairvoyant perception and omniscient perception. The other five sub-types of darshanavarniya karma bondage induce five kinds of sleep causing reduction in consciousness: light sleep, deep sleep, drowsiness, heavy drowsiness, and sleep-walking.

Vedaniya (Sensation-producing): Like licking honey from a sword gives a sweet taste but cuts the tongue, this karma makes a soul experience pleasure and pain. The soul’s bliss is continuously disturbed by experiences of external sensual pleasure and pain. In the absence of the vedaniya karma, the soul experiences undisturbed bliss. There are two sub-types of this karma; pleasure-producing and pain-producing.

Mohniya (Deluding): Like a bee becomes infatuated with the smell of a flower and is attracted to it, this karma attracts the soul to the objects that it considers favorable while repelling it from objects it considers unfavorable. It creates a delusion in the soul that external objects can affect it. This karma obstructs the soul’s essential quality of happiness and prevents the soul from finding pure happiness in itself.

Ayu (Lifespan-determining): Like a prisoner remains trapped by iron chains (around his legs, hands, etc.) this karma keeps a soul trapped in a particular life (or birth).

Naam (Body-producing): Like a painter creates various pictures and gives them various names, this karma gives souls various types of bodies (that are classified based on various attributes). It is the naamkarma which determines the body of living organism into which the soul must enter.

Gotra (Status-determining): like a potter makes short and tall pots, this karma bestows a low or high (societal) status on the body of soul. It creates social inequalities and, in its absence, all souls are equal. There are two sub-types of gotra karma: high status and low status.

Antaray (Power-obstructing): Like a treasurer obstructs a king from spending his wealth, this karma prevents the soul from using its innate power for acts of charity, profit, enjoyment, repeated enjoyment and will-power. It obstructs and prevents the soul’s essential quality of infinite power from manifesting. In its absence, a soul has infinite power.

Guidelines for good Corporate Karma

1. Be clear about your organisation’s values: Most companies have mission statements and values that dictate their corporate vision, but how many truly conduct their business with these at the forefront of their minds? Research shows that if people are exposed to a strong value code, it can have a profound, subconscious effect on their behaviour and decision-making. But it is important that an organisation’s values are created in collaboration with staff so that they become the natural way of doing business.
2. Make it personal: It is vital that you not only employ ‘good’ people, but also people who approach everything that they do with a ‘good’ mindset because they will have a net positive effect on the business and those around them. The best way to encourage employees to adopt this attitude is to help them look at the bigger picture by thinking about long-term goals and approaching tasks from an enterprise-wide perspective. One way to achieve this is to create objectives for staff that reflect the organisation’s values. Too often, objectives are set without considering the ways in which they will be met. As a result, it is important to make clear that it is better to act with integrity than lose sight of what is ‘good’ to meet short-term goals. Research has also shown that people respond better to values that are personal to them rather than those that are dictated by someone else. By working with them to create value-based objectives or a personal code of conduct, you can help to equip your employees with the ‘good’ hardwiring that will inform their daily decisions and career development.
3. Think about the long-term: To be ‘Good’, individuals have to understand how their actions contribute to the long-term success of the business. This means that it is important to communicate your company’s long-term goals and clarify ongoing performance against those goals. If staff have a clear understanding of the bigger picture, they are more likely to comprehend how they can help to meet these goals through their day-to-day activities. Discussing the ‘how’ is a useful way of bringing this concept to life.