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Cosmic Justice
United Communities of Spirit
In this section we treat the principle of cosmic justice and the law of cause and effect. The maxim that a person reaps what he has sown, the doctrine of karma, and belief in divine retribution are different expressions of a common principle that the world is governed by justice. This section does not distinguish the specific manner in which justice will be vindicated; e.g., through one's fate in this life, through reincarnation into a being of a different status, or through one's fate in the afterlife. For the latter, regarding beliefs about heaven and hell, see Chapter 6.
The principle of justice bears the same ambiguous relationship to Ultimate Reality as does divine Law generally. In Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and African traditional religions it is God who executes judgment to maintain justice, while in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism the principle of justice is inherent in the fabric of the cosmos and is distinguished from and subordinate to the ultimate goal of Liberation. In Chinese religion there is both an impersonal Tao or Heaven which gives recompense according to principle and Taoist deities who execute judgment.
The collection of texts begins with passages on the principle of cause and effect, on justice as inherent to the nature of life. The next group of passages deals with the problem of the frequent delay between actions and the ripening of their fruits. The scriptures affirm that regardless of the delay, recompense is inescapable, sometimes describing it through the metaphor of Heaven's net. One solution to this problem is that recompense occurs in another life; here we offer several fundamental texts on karma, the impersonal law by which the deserts of one's deeds are reaped in the next incarnation. The next group of passages gives another solution, which is to envision that sure recompense comes only at the Last Judgment. The final group of passages depicts God, or his angels, as personally deciding and enforcing the judgment for one's deeds.
Interfaith passages at: origin.org/ucs/ws/theme017.cfm
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