The word karma, (Sanskrit: कर्म, pronounced cur-muh) is a highly misused term in the occidental world. It is commonly (mis)understood as a universal system of reward and retribution depending on what you do. While that approximates part of what the principle of karma states, it is not the whole story. The popular usages of karma (mispronounced as car-maa) seemingly propagates the notion of an invisible judge, personal or impersonal according to individual taste, who or which, rewards us for good deeds and punishes us for bad ones. If you ding someone's car and leave, you acquire bad karma; if you help a blind man across a street you acquire good karma. If someone cuts you off on the road, you swear that karma will get them.
It is not too difficult to see that this westernized karma is similar to the Abrahamic idea of a divine law-giver. Only more immediate: instead of waiting for the afterlife this deity rewards or punishes right here, right now. And also quite petty: instead of judging you for the bigger deeds or misdeeds, this deity looks at every little thing you do. One peculiarity of this idea is that people, when confronted with someone else's adverse actions, usually tend to invoke karma either to intimidate the other party that retribution is coming, or to feel a vengeful consolation that the offender will get his or her own. For example, if you are driving a compact and a huge SUV cuts you off, you can't do anything directly: so you might say to yourself that karma will get back at the SUV driver. Another is that people tend to think that good and bad deeds cancel each other out and you can become "karma neutral".
Fortunately, karma isn't a mean deity hiding behind the clouds and keeping a tab on all that you do. First of all, karma simply means action, for lack of a better word in English. However, the original meaning of the word action is physical action, as opposed to, thinking or speaking. For instance, we say "man of action" vis-à-vis someone who talks a lot but does little. The sense of action as implied by karma, though, is not limited to physical action only but also encompasses thoughts and words. So the act of thinking is an action, the act of speaking is an action, and of course the act of doing something is an action as well. Karma is action in thought, word and deed. Second, the principle of karma is two fold: (a) every action must bear its fruit and (b) every action leaves a mark on our character, determining who we are and who we become. The first half is external, the second, internal. Philosophically, if we drop the distinction between external and internal then the first half is indeed the whole principle and it encompasses the second, because the mark our actions leave on our character is also part of the result of our actions. But it's easier to break it into two halves and consider them separately.
The first part of this principle is what got translated into the western idea of karma. Unlike the western idea, the original principle doesn't talk of a personal account for each one of us where all good and bad deeds are tallied and maintained. There is no divine arbiter to reward or punish us according to our karma balance nor do good and bad deeds cancel each other out. Karma is indifferent to good or bad: there is neither reward nor punishment. Every karma (action) simply bears its fruit. Good and bad, reward and punishment are subjective attributes ascribed by the recipient of the results. The same result may be good to one person but bad to another or to the same person in a different situation. Some of the results are immediately manifested and easily traced back to their causative action. Some may take a while or some may not be as easily traced back and so on. So if you rob someone today and then donate money to charity tomorrow, unlike what some people expect, the two actions do not cancel each other out. The action of robbing will bear its fruit, as will the donation to charity.However, that is not all that karma does.
The second part of the principle may sound easier, since it's internal, but it is perhaps much graver than the first. Karma is like the blows from a sculptor's chisel and hammer on a block of stone, only the block is our own character. Every action, in thought, word or deed, leaves a mark on our character. It molds us into who we become. And that in turn dictates how we will act and react. One lie may lead to the next, one dishonesty to another, violent thoughts, words and deeds reinforce our violent nature but in the same way kind actions lead to kinder natures, one good deed may lead to another and so on. We sculpt our own lives with our own actions.
And thus forms an infinite chain of action. On one hand our actions determine the situations we find ourselves in, since after all, those situations are results of our own previous actions and thus inevitable. On the other hand, our actions also determine our character, and how we will behave in those situations. Through our actions we set our own stage and determine our own role. And since action is unavoidable we find ourselves bound to act out that role which in turn leads to another stage and another role. And as we toss around in this inescapable sea from one wave to the next, we perceive fleeting joy and fleeting sorrow.
It is not too difficult to see that this westernized karma is similar to the Abrahamic idea of a divine law-giver. Only more immediate: instead of waiting for the afterlife this deity rewards or punishes right here, right now. And also quite petty: instead of judging you for the bigger deeds or misdeeds, this deity looks at every little thing you do. One peculiarity of this idea is that people, when confronted with someone else's adverse actions, usually tend to invoke karma either to intimidate the other party that retribution is coming, or to feel a vengeful consolation that the offender will get his or her own. For example, if you are driving a compact and a huge SUV cuts you off, you can't do anything directly: so you might say to yourself that karma will get back at the SUV driver. Another is that people tend to think that good and bad deeds cancel each other out and you can become "karma neutral".
Fortunately, karma isn't a mean deity hiding behind the clouds and keeping a tab on all that you do. First of all, karma simply means action, for lack of a better word in English. However, the original meaning of the word action is physical action, as opposed to, thinking or speaking. For instance, we say "man of action" vis-à-vis someone who talks a lot but does little. The sense of action as implied by karma, though, is not limited to physical action only but also encompasses thoughts and words. So the act of thinking is an action, the act of speaking is an action, and of course the act of doing something is an action as well. Karma is action in thought, word and deed. Second, the principle of karma is two fold: (a) every action must bear its fruit and (b) every action leaves a mark on our character, determining who we are and who we become. The first half is external, the second, internal. Philosophically, if we drop the distinction between external and internal then the first half is indeed the whole principle and it encompasses the second, because the mark our actions leave on our character is also part of the result of our actions. But it's easier to break it into two halves and consider them separately.
The first part of this principle is what got translated into the western idea of karma. Unlike the western idea, the original principle doesn't talk of a personal account for each one of us where all good and bad deeds are tallied and maintained. There is no divine arbiter to reward or punish us according to our karma balance nor do good and bad deeds cancel each other out. Karma is indifferent to good or bad: there is neither reward nor punishment. Every karma (action) simply bears its fruit. Good and bad, reward and punishment are subjective attributes ascribed by the recipient of the results. The same result may be good to one person but bad to another or to the same person in a different situation. Some of the results are immediately manifested and easily traced back to their causative action. Some may take a while or some may not be as easily traced back and so on. So if you rob someone today and then donate money to charity tomorrow, unlike what some people expect, the two actions do not cancel each other out. The action of robbing will bear its fruit, as will the donation to charity.However, that is not all that karma does.
The second part of the principle may sound easier, since it's internal, but it is perhaps much graver than the first. Karma is like the blows from a sculptor's chisel and hammer on a block of stone, only the block is our own character. Every action, in thought, word or deed, leaves a mark on our character. It molds us into who we become. And that in turn dictates how we will act and react. One lie may lead to the next, one dishonesty to another, violent thoughts, words and deeds reinforce our violent nature but in the same way kind actions lead to kinder natures, one good deed may lead to another and so on. We sculpt our own lives with our own actions.
And thus forms an infinite chain of action. On one hand our actions determine the situations we find ourselves in, since after all, those situations are results of our own previous actions and thus inevitable. On the other hand, our actions also determine our character, and how we will behave in those situations. Through our actions we set our own stage and determine our own role. And since action is unavoidable we find ourselves bound to act out that role which in turn leads to another stage and another role. And as we toss around in this inescapable sea from one wave to the next, we perceive fleeting joy and fleeting sorrow.
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