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Karma (Sanskrit karman) or Kamma (Pāli) means "action" or "doing"; whatever one does, says, or thinks is a karma.
In Buddhism, the term karma is used specifically for those actions which spring from :
- 1) mental intent
- 2) mental obssessions
which bring about a fruit or result (vipāka), either within the present life, or in the context of a future rebirth. Karma is the engine which drives the wheel of saṃsāra for each being.
In a discourse (A.N. VI.63 Nibbedhika Sutta) the Buddha said :
- “Intention, monks, is kamma I say. Having willed, one acts through body, speech and mind”.
Karma is used as an ethical principle, rather than a cosmological explanation for the world. Buddhists believe that the actions of beings will affect their own future, and because of this there are no private actions: all actions have a consequence.
The emphasis of karma in Buddhism is on cause, not on effect: Buddhists do not say "it was due to her karma that it happened to her" - indeed the karmic consequences of one's actions are dependent on sufficient conditions.
Buddhism distinguishes saṃsāric happiness (birth in the high realms), from the final state of enlightenment: nirvana; so likewise there is saṃsāric good karma, which leads to the high realms (such as the human realm), and then there is liberating karma - which is supremely good.
Therefore the major dichotomy is saṃsāric karma and liberating karma, of which the former is typically divided into the three: good, neutral, and bad (in accordance with the degree of samsaric happiness or suffering that will mature as a consequence). Likewise, liberating karma is divided into three: according to whether it will mature the being as a śrāvakabuddha, pratyekabuddha, or a samyaksambuddha.
In Buddhism, the term karma is often used to refer only to saṃsāric karma, as indicated by the twelve nidanas of dependent origination.
The differentiation between "good" karma and "liberating" karma has been used by some scholars to argue that the development of Tantra depended upon Buddhist ideas and philosophies.
Because of the inevitability of consequence, Karma entails the notion of Buddhist rebirth. However, karma is not the sole basis of rebirth. The rebirths of eighth stage (and above) Bodhisattvas in the Mahayana tradition refers to those liberated beings who consciously choose to be reborn in a future life in order to help others still trapped in saṃsāra.
Some people have problems with the teaching on karma, often of what exactly the Buddha is asking them to believe in when asking them to have conviction in karma.
- First, action really is happening -- it's not an illusion.
- Second, you really are responsible for your actions. There's no outside force like the stars or some good or evil being acting through you. When you're conscious, you're the one who decides what to do.
- Third, your actions have results -- you're not just writing on the water -- and those results can be good or bad depending on the quality of the intention behind the act.
See also
External links
"Karma in Buddhism"