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{{short description|Concept about individuals' intent and actions influencing those individuals' future}}
{{About|the Indian religious concept}}
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{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}
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| footer = Karma symbols such as the [[endless knot]] (above) are common cultural motifs in Asia. Endless knots symbolize interlinking of cause and effect, a karmic cycle that continues eternally. The endless knot is visible in the center of the [[prayer wheel]].
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| caption2 = Endless knot on Nepalese temple prayer wheel
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'''Karma''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɑr|m|ə}}, from {{langx|sa|कर्म|}}, {{IPA|sa|ˈkɐɾmɐ|IPA|Karma.ogg}}; {{langx|pi|kamma|italic=yes}}) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences.<ref>See:
* Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, New York, pp 679–680, Article on Karma; Quote – "Karma meaning deed or action; in addition, it also has philosophical and technical meaning, denoting a person's deeds as determining his future lot."
* The Encyclopedia of World Religions, Robert Ellwood & Gregory Alles, {{ISBN|978-0-8160-6141-9}}, pp 253; Quote – "Karma: Sanskrit word meaning action and the consequences of action."
* Hans Torwesten (1994), Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism, {{ISBN|978-0-8021-3262-8}}, Grove Press New York, pp 97; Quote – "In the Vedas the word karma (work, deed or action, and its resulting effect) referred mainly to..."</ref> In [[Indian religions]], the term more specifically refers to a principle of [[cause and effect]], often descriptively called the '''principle of karma''', wherein individuals' intent and actions (cause) influence their future (effect):<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312474/karma |title=Karma |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |year=2012 |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503134927/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312474/karma |url-status=live}}</ref> Good intent and good deeds contribute to good karma and happier [[Reincarnation|rebirths]], while bad intent and bad deeds contribute to bad karma and worse rebirths. In some scriptures, however, there is no link between rebirth and karma.<ref name=halbfass2000>{{cite book| last=Halbfass| first=Wilhelm| language=de| year=2000| title=Karma und Wiedergeburt im indischen Denken| publisher=Diederichs| location=Munich, Germany| isbn=978-3-89631-385-0}}</ref><ref>Lawrence C. Becker & Charlotte B. Becker, Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2nd edition (2001), {{ISBN|0-415-93672-1}}, Hindu Ethics, pp 678</ref> 

In [[Hinduism]], karma is traditionally classified into four types: [[Sanchita karma]] (accumulated karma from past actions across lifetimes), [[Prarabdha karma|Prārabdha karma]] (a portion of Sanchita karma that is currently bearing fruit and determines the circumstances of the present life), Āgāmi karma (future karma generated by present actions), and [[Kriyamana karma|Kriyamāṇa karma]] (immediate karma created by current actions, which may yield results in the present or future).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Agus |first=Nyoman |title=Karma on Hinduism Philosophy Perspective |journal=International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Culture |volume=5 |issue=2 |year=2019 |pages=52–58 |url=https://sloap.org/journals/index.php/ijllc/article/download/850/1375/1693 }}</ref>

Karma is often misunderstood as fate, destiny, or predetermination.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wasserman |first=Danuta |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqkPEAAAQBAJ&dq=sanchit+karma&pg=PA23 |title=Oxford Textbook of Suicidology and Suicide Prevention |date=2021-01-08 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-883444-1}}</ref> Fate, destiny or predetermination has specific terminology in Sanskrit and is called [[Prarabdha karma|Prarabdha]].

The concept of karma is closely associated with the idea of rebirth in many schools of Indian religions (particularly [[Karma in Hinduism|in Hinduism]], [[Karma in Buddhism|Buddhism]], [[Karma in Jainism|Jainism]], and [[Sikhism]]),<ref name="KarmaParveshSingla">{{cite book|author=Parvesh Singla |title=The Manual of Life – Karma |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1mXR35jX-TsC |access-date=4 June 2011 |publisher=Parvesh singla |pages=5–7 |id=GGKEY:0XFSARN29ZZ}}</ref> as well as [[Taoism]].<ref name="evawong">Eva Wong, Taoism, Shambhala Publications, {{ISBN|978-1-59030-882-0}}, pp. 193</ref> In these schools, karma in the present affects one's future in the current life as well as the nature and quality of future lives—one's ''[[saṃsāra]]''.<ref name="jbowker" /><ref name="jamesloch" />

Many [[New Agers]] believe in karma, treating it as a law of cause and effect that assures cosmic balance, although in some cases they stress that it is not a system that enforces punishment for past actions.{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=286}}

==Definition==
The term ''karma'' ({{langx|sa|कर्म|}}; {{langx|pi|kamma|italic=yes}}) refers to both the executed 'deed, work, action, act' and the 'object, intent'.<ref name=halbfass2000/>

[[Wilhelm Halbfass]] (2000) explains karma (''karman'') by contrasting it with the [[Sanskrit]] word ''[[Kriyā|kriya]]'':<ref name=halbfass2000/> whereas ''[[Kriyā|kriya]]'' is the activity along with the steps and effort in action, ''karma'' is (1) the executed action as a consequence of that activity, as well as (2) the intention of the actor behind an executed action or a planned action (described by some scholars<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner|Julius Lipner]] (2010), Hindus: Their religious beliefs and practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, pp 261–262</ref> as metaphysical residue left in the actor). A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent.<ref name=halbfass2000/>

Difficulty in arriving at a definition of karma arises because of the diversity of views among the [[Schools of hinduism|schools of Hinduism]]; some, for example, consider [[Karma in Hinduism|karma]] and [[Reincarnation in Hinduism|rebirth]] linked and simultaneously essential, some consider karma but not rebirth to be essential, and a few discuss and conclude karma and rebirth to be flawed fiction.<ref name="wkasrb">see:

* Kaufman, W. R. (2005), Karma, rebirth, and the problem of evil, Philosophy East and West, pp 15–32;
* Sharma, A. (1996), On the distinction between Karma and Rebirth in Hinduism, Asian Philosophy, 6(1), pp 29–35;
* Bhattacharya, R. (2012), Svabhāvavāda and the Cārvāka/Lokāyata: A Historical Overview, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 40(6), pp 593–614</ref> [[Karma in Buddhism|Buddhism]] and [[Karma in Jainism|Jainism]] have their own karma precepts. Thus, karma has not one, but multiple definitions and different meanings.<ref name=Coward-Karma>{{cite encyclopedia |author=[[Harold Coward]] |year=2003 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Science of Religion |publisher=MacMillan Reference |isbn=978-0-02-865704-2 |title=Karma}}</ref> It is a concept whose meaning, importance, and scope varies between the various traditions that originated in India, and various schools in each of these traditions. According to Manu Doshi, all Aryan philosophies accept karma but Jainism has gone deeper into this subject.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/atmasiddhi1/page/n70/mode/1up | title=Atmasiddhi–The Jain Path of Enlightenment | date=28 December 2008 }}</ref> [[Wendy Doniger|Wendy O'Flaherty]] claims that, furthermore, there is an ongoing debate regarding whether karma is a theory, a model, a paradigm, a metaphor, or a [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] stance.<ref name="wdointro" />

=== Principle of karma ===
''Karma'' also refers to a conceptual principle that originated in India, often descriptively called the ''principle of karma'', and sometimes the ''karma-theory'' or the ''law of karma''.<ref name="karlpotter">Karl Potter (1964), The Naturalistic Principle of Karma, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Apr. 1964), pp. 39–49</ref>

In the context of theory, ''karma'' is complex and difficult to define.<ref name="wdointro">{{harvc|author=Wendy D. O'Flaherty |c=Introduction |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=xi–xxv}}.</ref> Different schools of [[Indology]] derive different definitions for the concept from ancient Indian texts; their definition is some combination of (1) causality that may be [[Ethics|ethical]] or non-ethical; (2) ethicization, i.e., good or bad actions have consequences; and (3) rebirth.<ref name="wdointro"/><ref name=wdochapter1>{{harvc|author=Wendy D. O'Flaherty |c=Karma and rebirth in the Vedas and Purāṇas |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pages=3–37}}.</ref> Other Indologists include in the definition that which explains the present circumstances of an individual with reference to their actions in the past. These actions may be those in a person's current life, or, in some schools of Indian traditions, possibly actions from their past lives; furthermore, the consequences may result in the current life, or a person's future lives.<ref name="wdointro" /><ref>{{harvc|author=Karl Potter |c=The karma theory and its interpretation in some Indian philosophical systems |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=241–267}}.</ref> The law of karma operates independent of any deity or any process of divine judgment.<ref>See:
* For Hinduism view: Jeffrey Brodd (2009), World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Saint Mary's Press, {{ISBN|978-0-88489-997-6}}, pp. 47;
* For Buddhism view: Khandro Rinpoche (2003), This Precious Life, Shambhala, pp. 95
</ref>

==== Causality ====
[[File:Karma AS.jpg|upright=0.8|thumb|right|Karma as action and reaction: if we show goodness, we will reap goodness]]A common theme to theories of karma is its [[principle of causality]].<ref name="karlpotter"/> This relationship between karma and causality is a central motif in all schools of [[Karma in Hinduism|Hindu]], [[Karma in Buddhism|Buddhist]], and [[Karma in Jainism|Jain]] thought.<ref name="brucer">Bruce R. Reichenbach, The Law of Karma and the Principle of Causation, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 38, No. 4 (Oct. 1988), pp. 399–410</ref> One of the earliest associations of karma to causality occurs in the ''[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]'' verses 4.4.5–6:

{{Blockquote|
1=<poem>
Now as a man is like this or like that,
according as he acts and according as he behaves, so will he be;
a man of good acts will become good, a man of bad acts, bad;
he becomes pure by pure deeds, bad by bad deeds;

And here they say that a person consists of desires,
and as is his desire, so is his will;
and as is his will, so is his deed;
and whatever deed he does, that he will reap.
</poem>
|2=[[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]|3=<ref>{{Citation
|year=2013 | orig-date= 1879
| publisher= Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs
| translator= Max Müller
|title=Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6
|url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/brihadaranyaka-upanishad-4-4-5-6|access-date=2023-01-14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413042723/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/quotes/brihadaranyaka-upanishad-4-4-5-6 |archive-date=13 April 2013 }}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The words "deed", "acts" above are rendered from ''karma''.<ref name=jbbu>{{Cite web|url=https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jrblack/web/SKT/DL/upanishads.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140107061016/https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/jrblack/web/SKT/DL/upanishads.html|archive-date=2014-01-07|access-date=2023-01-14
| first = James| last= Black
| title=Brihadaranyaka Original Sanskrit & Müller Oxford English Translations
| publisher= University of Wisconsin
| year=2011
}}</ref>}}
}}

The theory of karma as causation holds that: (1) executed actions of an individual affects the individual and the life he or she lives, and (2) the intentions of an individual affects the individual and the life he or she lives. Disinterested actions, or unintentional actions do not have the same positive or negative karmic effect, as interested and intentional actions. In Buddhism, for example, actions that are performed, or arise, or originate without any bad intent, such as covetousness, are considered non-existent in karmic impact or neutral in influence to the individual.<ref>Anguttara-Nikaya 3.4.33, Translator: Henry Warren (1962), Buddhism in Translations, Atheneum Publications, New York, pp 216–217</ref>

Another causality characteristic, shared by karmic theories, is that ''like deeds'' lead to ''like effects''. Thus, good karma produces good effect on the actor, while bad karma produces bad effect. This effect may be material, moral, or emotional – that is, one's karma affects both one's happiness and unhappiness.<ref name="brucer" /> The effect of karma need not be immediate; the effect of karma can be later in one's current life, and in some schools it extends to future lives.<ref>see:
* {{harvc|author=James McDermott |c=Karma and Rebirth in Early Buddhism |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=165–192}}
* {{harvc|author=Padmanabh Jaini |c=Karma and the problem of rebirth in Jainism |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=217–239}}
* {{harvc|author=Ludo Rocher |c=Karma and Rebirth in the Dharmasastras |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=61–89}}</ref>

The consequence or effects of one's karma can be described in two forms: ''[[phala]]'' and ''[[Samskara (Indian philosophy)|samskara]]''. A ''phala'' ({{Literal translation|fruit' or 'result}}) is the visible or invisible effect that is typically immediate or within the current life. In contrast, a ''samskara'' ({{Langx|sa|संस्कार}}) is an invisible effect, produced inside the actor because of the karma, transforming the agent and affecting their ability to be happy or unhappy in their current and future lives. The theory of karma is often presented in the context of ''samskaras''.<ref name="brucer" /><ref>Damien Keown (1996), Karma, character, and consequentialism, The Journal of Religious Ethics, pp 329–350.</ref>

Karl Potter and [[Harold Coward]] suggest that karmic principle can also be understood as a principle of psychology and habit.<ref name="karlpotter"/><ref name=coward1983>[[Harold Coward]] (1983), "Psychology and Karma", ''Philosophy East and West'' 33 (Jan): 49–60.</ref>{{refn|group=note|Karl Potter's suggestion is supported by the Bhagavad-Gita, which links good bondage and bad bondage to good habits and bad habits respectively. It also lists various types of habits – such as good (sattva), passion (rajas) and indifferent (tamas) – while explaining karma.<ref name="karlpotter"/> In Yoga Sutras, the role of karma to creating habits is explained with ''Vāsanās''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Whicher |title=The Integrity of the Yoga Darsana: A Reconsideration of Classical Yoga |publisher=State University of New York |isbn=0-7914-3816-3 |chapter=Chapter 3 |date=13 November 1998 |pages=102–105}}</ref>}} Karma seeds habits (''[[vāsanā]]''), and habits create the nature of man. Karma also seeds [[Self-perception theory|self perception]], and perception influences how one experiences life-events. Both habits and self perception affect the course of one's life. Breaking bad habits is not easy: it requires conscious karmic effort.<ref name="karlpotter"/><ref>{{cite journal|first=Ian |last=Whicher |date=1998 |title=The final stages of purification in classical yoga |journal=Asian Philosophy |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=85–102|doi=10.1080/09552369808575474 }}</ref> Thus, psyche and habit, according to Potter and Coward, link karma to causality in ancient Indian literature.<ref name="karlpotter"/><ref name=coward1983/> The idea of karma may be compared to the notion of a person's 'character', as both are an assessment of the person and determined by that person's habitual thinking and acting.<ref name="jamesloch" />

====Ethicization====
The second theme common to karma theories is ethicization. This begins with the premise that every action has a consequence,<ref name="jbowker" /> which will come to fruition in either this life or a future life; thus, morally good acts will have positive consequences, whereas bad acts will produce negative results. An individual's present situation is thereby explained by reference to actions in his present or in previous lifetimes. Karma is not itself "[[Reward system|reward and punishment]]", but the law that produces consequence.<ref>Francis X. Clooney, Evil, Divine Omnipotence, and Human Freedom: Vedānta's Theology of Karma, The Journal of Religion, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Oct. 1989), pp. 530–548</ref> [[Wilhelm Halbfass]] notes that good karma is considered as ''[[dharma]]'' and leads to ''[[Punya (Hinduism)|punya]]'' ('merit'), while bad karma is considered ''[[adharma]]'' and leads to ''[[Pāpa|pāp]]'' ('demerit, sin').<ref name=halbfass1998>Wilhelm Halbfass (1998), "Karma and Rebirth (Indian Conceptions)", ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge, London.</ref>

Reichenbach (1988) suggests that the theories of karma are an [[ethical theory]].<ref name="brucer" /> This is so because the ancient scholars of India linked intent and actual action to the merit, reward, demerit, and punishment. A theory without ethical premise would be a pure [[causal relation]]; the merit or reward or demerit or punishment would be same regardless of the actor's intention. In ethics, one's intentions, attitudes, and desires matter in the evaluation of one's action. Where the outcome is unintended, the moral responsibility for it is less on the actor, even though causal responsibility may be the same regardless.<ref name="brucer" /> A karma theory considers not only the action, but also the actor's intentions, attitude, and desires before and during the action. The karma concept thus encourages each person to seek and live a moral life, as well as avoid an immoral life. The meaning and significance of karma is thus as a building-block of an ethical theory.<ref>see:
* James Hastings et al. (1915), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (Hymns-Liberty), Volume VII, Article on Jainism, pp 469–471;
* [[Christopher Chapple|Chapple, Christopher]] (1975), Karma and the path of purification, in Virginia Hanson et al. (Editors) – Karma: Rhythmic Return to Harmony, {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0663-9}}, Chapter 23;
* Krishan, Y. (1988), The Vedic origins of the doctrine of karma, South Asian Studies, 4(1), pp 51–55</ref>

====Rebirth====
The third common theme of karma theories is the concept of [[reincarnation]] or the cycle of rebirths (''[[saṃsāra]]'').<ref name="jbowker" />{{Sfn|Obeyesekere|2005|pp=1-2, 108, 126–128}}{{Sfn|Juergensmeyer|Roof|2011|pp=272–273, 652–654}} Rebirth is a fundamental concept of [[Reincarnation in Hinduism|Hinduism]], [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|Buddhism]], Jainism, and Sikhism.<ref name="jamesloch">James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Rosen Publishing, New York, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pp 351–352</ref> Rebirth, or ''saṃsāra'', is the concept that all life forms go through a cycle of reincarnation, that is, a series of births and rebirths. The rebirths and consequent life may be in different realm, condition, or form. The karma theories suggest that the realm, condition, and form depends on the quality and quantity of karma.<ref>James Lochtefeld (2002), The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2, Rosen Publishing, New York, {{ISBN|0-8239-2287-1}}, pp 589</ref> In schools that believe in rebirth, every living being's soul transmigrates (recycles) after death, carrying the seeds of Karmic impulses from life just completed, into another life and lifetime of karmas.<ref name="jbowker" /><ref name=Coward-Karma/> This cycle continues indefinitely, except for those who consciously break this cycle by reaching ''[[moksha]]''. Those who break the cycle reach the realm of gods, those who do not continue in the cycle.

The concept has been intensely debated in ancient literature of India; with different schools of Indian religions considering the relevance of rebirth as either essential, or secondary, or unnecessary fiction.<ref name="wkasrb" /> Hiriyanna (1949) suggests rebirth to be a necessary corollary of karma;<ref>M. Hiriyana (1949), Essentials of Indian Philosophy, George Allen Unwin, London, pp 47</ref> Yamunacharya (1966) asserts that karma is a fact, while reincarnation is a hypothesis;<ref>M Yamunacharya (1966), Karma and Rebirth, Indian Philo. Annual, 1, pp 66</ref> and Creel (1986) suggests that karma is a basic concept, rebirth is a derivative concept.<ref>Austin Creel (1986), in Editor: Ronald Wesley Neufeldt, Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-87395-990-2}}, Chapter 1</ref>

The theory of "karma and rebirth" raises numerous questions – such as how, when, and why did the cycle start in the first place, what is the relative Karmic merit of one karma versus another and why, and what evidence is there that rebirth actually happens, among others. Various schools of Hinduism realized these difficulties, debated their own formulations – some reaching what they considered as internally consistent theories – while other schools modified and de-emphasized it; a few schools in Hinduism such as [[Charvaka]]s (or Lokayata) abandoned the theory of "karma and rebirth" altogether.<ref name=halbfass2000/><ref name=halbfass1998/><ref name="ReferenceA">Ronald Wesley Neufeldt, Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-87395-990-2}}</ref><ref>A. Javadekar (1965), Karma and Rebirth, Indian Philosophical Annual, 1, 78</ref> Schools of Buddhism consider karma-rebirth cycle as integral to their theories of [[soteriology]].<ref>Damien Keown (2013), Buddhism: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-966383-5}}</ref><ref>Étienne Lamotte(1936), Le traité de l'acte de Vasubandhu: Karmasiddhiprakarana, in Mélanges chinois et bouddhiques 4, pp 151–288</ref>

== Early development ==
[[File:Tema Nezahat Gokyigit Park 1060584 nymphaea.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Lotus symbolically represents karma in many Asian traditions. A blooming lotus flower is one of the few flowers that simultaneously carries seeds inside itself while it blooms. Seed is symbolically seen as cause, the flower effect. Lotus is also considered as a reminder that one can grow, share good karma and remain unstained even in muddy circumstances<ref>Maria I. Macioti, The Buddha Within Ourselves: Blossoms of the Lotus Sutra, Translator: Richard Maurice Capozzi, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-2189-2}}, pp 69–70</ref>]]
{{anchor|Etymology}}
The [[Vedic Sanskrit]] word  [[:wikt:कर्मन्#Sanskrit|{{IAST|kárman-}}]] ([[Nominative case|nominative]] {{IAST|kárma}}) means 'work' or 'deed',<ref name="krishan" /> often used in the context of [[Srauta]] rituals.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
| quote = a neuter ''n''-stem, {{lang|sa|कर्म}} from the root ''{{IAST|√kṛ}}'' {{lang|sa|कृ}} "to do, make, perform, accomplish, cause, effect, prepare, undertake"
| url = http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0300/mw__0334.html
| title = kṛ,कृ
| year = 1899
| page = 301
| place = Delhi
| dictionary = Monier-Williams Sanskrit–English Dictionary
| publisher = Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
| editor1 = Monier Monier-Williams
| editor2 = E. Leumann
| editor3 = C. Cappeller
| display-editors = etal
| access-date = 7 January 2014
| archive-date = 24 September 2015
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924134232/http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0300/mw__0334.html
| url-status = live
}}</ref> In the ''[[Rigveda]]'', the word occurs some 40 times.<ref name="krishan">{{cite journal|last=Krishan |first=Y.|year=1988 |title=The Vedic Origins of the Doctrine of Karma|journal=South Asian Studies|volume=4 |issue=1|pages=51–55 |doi=10.1080/02666030.1988.9628366<!--|access-date=1 May 2016-->}};<br />
{{cite book|author=Krishan, Yuvraj |title=The Doctrine of Karma: Its Origin and Development in Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist, and Jaina Traditions|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1997|isbn=978-81-208-1233-8|pages=4, 12, 17–19, for context see 1–27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Bi6FWX1NOgC |access-date=11 October 2016|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111060833/https://books.google.com/books?id=_Bi6FWX1NOgC|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[[Satapatha Brahmana]]'' 1.7.1.5,  ''sacrifice'' is declared as the "greatest" of works; ''Satapatha Brahmana'' 10.1.4.1 associates the potential of becoming [[Immortality|immortal]] (''amara'') with the karma of the ''[[agnicayana]]'' sacrifice.<ref name="krishan" />

In the early Vedic literature, the concept of karma is also present beyond the realm of rituals or sacrifices. The Vedic language includes terms for sins and vices such as āgas, agha, enas, pāpa/pāpman, duṣkṛta, as well as for virtues and merit like sukṛta and puṇya, along with the neutral term karman.

{{Blockquote|text=Whatever good deed man does that is inside the Vedi; and whatever evil he does that is outside the Vedi.|source=[[Shatapatha Brahmana]] 11.2.7.33}}

The verse refers to the evaluation of virtuous and sinful actions in the afterlife. Regardless of their application in rituals (whether within or outside the Vedi), the concepts of good and evil here broadly represent merits and sins.

{{Blockquote|text=What evil is done here by man, that it (i.e. speech = [[Brahman]]) makes manifest. Although he thinks that he does it secretly, as it were, still it makes it manifest. Verily, therefore one should not commit evil.|source=[[Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana]] 2.13.5}}{{Blockquote|text=This is the eternal greatness of the Brahmin. He does not increase by kárman, nor does he become less. His [[Ātman (Hinduism)|ātman]] knows the path. Knowing him (the ātman) one is not polluted by evil karman.|source=[[Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa]] 3.12.9, 7–8}}

The Vedic words for "action" and "merit" in pre-Upaniṣadic texts carry moral significance and are not solely linked to ritual practices. The word karman simply means "action," which can be either positive or negative, and is not always associated with religious ceremonies; its predominant association with ritual in the Brāhmaṇa texts is likely a reflection of their ritualistic nature. In the same vein, sukṛta (and subsequently, puṇya) denotes any form of "merit," whether it be ethical or ritualistic. In contrast, terms such as pāpa and duṣkṛta consistently represent morally wrong actions.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bodewitz | first=Henk | editor-first1=Dory | editor-first2=Jan | editor-first3=Karel | editor-last1=Heilijgers | editor-last2=Houben | editor-last3=Van Kooij | title=Vedic Cosmology and Ethics | chapter=Non-ritual kárman in the Veda | publisher=BRILL | date=2019-05-15 | isbn=978-90-04-39864-1 | doi=10.1163/9789004400139_020 | pages=253–261}}</ref>

The earliest clear discussion of the karma doctrine is in the ''[[Upanishads]]''.<ref name="jbowker">"Karma" in: John Bowker (1997), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Oxford University Press.</ref><ref name="krishan" /> The doctrine occurs here in the context of a discussion of the fate of the individual after death.{{sfn|Tull|1989|p=28}} For example, causality and ethicization is stated in [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad|''Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad'']] 3.2.13:{{Sfn|Juergensmeyer|Roof|2011|p=653}}{{sfn|Tull|1989|p=31}}<blockquote>Truly, one becomes good through good ''deeds'', and evil through evil ''deeds''. </blockquote>Some authors state that the ''[[Saṃsāra|samsara]]'' (transmigration) and karma doctrine may be non-Vedic, and the ideas may have developed in the "[[shramana]]" traditions that preceded [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]].<ref>see:
*Y. Masih (2000) ''A Comparative Study of Religions'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, {{ISBN|81-208-0815-0}}, page 37, Quote – "This confirms that the doctrine of transmigration is non-aryan and was accepted by non-vedics like Ajivikism, Jainism and Buddhism. The Indo-aryans have borrowed the theory of re-birth after coming in contact with the aboriginal inhabitants of India. Certainly Jainism and non-vedics [..] accepted the doctrine of rebirth as supreme postulate or article of faith."
*Gavin D. Flood (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, [[Cambridge University Press]]: UK {{ISBN|0-521-43878-0}}, page 86, Quote – "The origin and doctrine of Karma and Saṃsāra are obscure. These concepts were certainly circulating amongst sramanas, and Jainism and Buddhism developed specific and sophisticated ideas about the process of transmigration. It is very possible that the karmas and reincarnation entered the mainstream brahaminical thought from the sramana or the renouncer traditions."
*Bimala Law (1952, Reprint 2005), The Buddhist Conception of Spirits, {{ISBN|81-206-1933-1}}, Asian Educational Services; in particular, see Chapter II</ref> Others state that some of the complex ideas of the ancient emerging theory of karma flowed from Vedic thinkers to Buddhist and Jain thinkers.<ref name="wdointro"/><ref>Krishan, Y. (1985), The doctrine of Karma and Śraddhas, Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 66, No. 1/4, pages 97–115</ref> The mutual influences between the traditions is unclear, and likely co-developed.<ref>{{harvc|author=Wendy D. O'Flaherty |c=Introduction |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=xvii–xviii}}; Quote – "There was such constant interaction between Vedism and Buddhism in the early period that it is fruitless to attempt to sort out the earlier source of many doctrines, they lived in one another's pockets, like Picasso and Braque (who, in later years, were unable to say which of them had painted certain paintings from their earlier, shared period)."</ref>

Many philosophical debates surrounding the concept are shared by the Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions, and the early developments in each tradition incorporated different novel ideas.<ref name="wendydonigerpxii">{{harvc|author=Wendy D. O'Flaherty |c=Introduction |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pp=xii–xxiii}}</ref> For example, Buddhists allowed karma transfer from one person to another and sraddha rites, but had difficulty defending the rationale.<ref name="wendydonigerpxii"/><ref>{{harvc|author=James McDermott |c=Karma and rebirth in early Buddhism |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pages=165–192 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n188}}.</ref> In contrast, Hindu schools and Jainism would not allow the possibility of karma transfer.<ref>{{harvc|author=Padmanabh Jaini |c=Karma and the problem of rebirth in Jainism |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pages=217–239 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n240}}.</ref><ref>{{harvc|author=Ludo Rocher |c=Karma and rebirth in the Dharmaśāstras |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4WZTj3M71y0C/page/n86 |pages=61–89}}.</ref>

==In Hinduism==
{{Main|Karma in Hinduism}}
The concept of karma in Hinduism developed and evolved over centuries. The earliest ''[[Upanishads]]'' began with the questions about how and why man is born, and what happens after death. As answers to the latter, the early theories in these ancient Sanskrit documents include ''[[Panchagni Vidya|pancagni vidya]]'' (the five fire doctrine), ''pitryana'' (the cyclic path of fathers), and ''devayana'' (the cycle-transcending, path of the gods).<ref>Colebrooke, H. T. (1829), Essay on the Philosophy of the Hindus, Part V. Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 2(1), 1–39</ref> Those who perform superficial rituals and seek material gain, claimed these ancient scholars, travel the way of their fathers and recycle back into another life; those who renounce these, go into the forest and pursue spiritual knowledge, were claimed to climb into the higher path of the gods. It is these who break the cycle and are not reborn.<ref name="wmahony">{{cite book |author=William Mahony |year=1987 |chapter=Karman: Hindu and Jain Concepts |editor=Mircea Eliade |title=Encyclopedia of Religion |publisher=Collier Macmillan |place=New York}}</ref> With the composition of the Epics – the common man's introduction to [[dharma]] in Hinduism – the ideas of causality and essential elements of the theory of karma were being recited in folk stories. For example:
{{Blockquote|
1=As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps; no man inherits the good or evil act of another man. The fruit is of the same quality as the action.
|2=[[Mahabharata]]|3= xii.291.22<ref>E. Washburn Hopkins, Modifications of the Karma Doctrine, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, (Jul., 1906), pp. 581–593</ref>
}}

The 6th chapter of the ''[[Anushasana Parva]]'' (the Teaching Book), the 13th book of the ''Mahabharata'', opens with [[Yudhishthira]] asking [[Bhishma]]: "Is the course of a person's life already destined, or can human effort shape one's life?"{{sfn|Chapple|1986|loc=Chapter 3 and Appendix 1}} The future, replies Bhishma, is both a function of current human effort derived from free will and past human actions that set the circumstances.{{sfn|Chapple|1986|pp=60–64}} Over and over again, the chapters of Mahabharata recite the key postulates of karma theory. That is: intent and action (karma) has consequences; karma lingers and doesn't disappear; and, all positive or negative experiences in life require effort and intent.<ref>{{harvc|author=J. Bruce Long |c=The concepts of human action and rebirth in the Mahābhārata |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pages=38–60}}.</ref> For example:
{{Blockquote|
1=<poem>
Happiness comes due to good actions, suffering results from evil actions,
by actions, all things are obtained, by inaction, nothing whatsoever is enjoyed.
If one's action bore no fruit, then everything would be of no avail,
if the world worked from fate alone, it would be neutralized.
</poem>
|2=[[Mahabharata]]|3=xiii.6.10 & 19{{sfn|Chapple|1986|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}}<ref>Manmatha Nath Dutt, ed. (1896), "Vana Parva", ''A prose English translation of the Mahabharata'', Elysium Press, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wy0MAAAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA46 46-47].</ref>{{refn|group=note|There is extensive debate in the Epic Mahabharata about karma, free will and destiny across different chapters and books. Different characters in the Epic take sides, some claiming destiny is supreme, some claiming free will is.<ref>[[Daniel H. H. Ingalls, Sr.|Daniel H. H. Ingalls]], Dharma and Moksa, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 7, No. 1/2 (Apr–Jul 1957), pp. 44–45; Quote – "(...) In the Epic, free will has the upper hand. Only when a man's effort is frustrated or when he is overcome with grief does he become a predestinarian (believer in destiny)."; Quote – "This association of success with the doctrine of free will or human effort (purusakara) was felt so clearly that among the ways of bringing about a king's downfall is given the following simple advice: 'Belittle free will to him, and emphasize destiny.{{'"}} (Mahabharata 12.106.20)</ref>}}
}}

Over time, various schools of Hinduism developed many different definitions of karma, some making karma appear quite deterministic, while others make room for free will and moral agency.<ref name=Coward-Karma/> Among the six most studied schools of Hinduism, the theory of karma evolved in different ways, as their respective scholars reasoned and attempted to address the internal inconsistencies, implications and issues of the karma doctrine. According to Professor [[Wilhelm Halbfass]],<ref name=halbfass2000/>
* The [[Nyaya]] school of Hinduism considers karma and rebirth as central, with some Nyaya scholars such as [[Udayana]] suggesting that the Karma doctrine implies that God exists.<ref>Sharma, C. (1997). ''A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy'', Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, {{ISBN|81-208-0365-5}}, pp. 209–10</ref>
* The [[Vaisheshika|Vaisesika]] school does not consider the karma from past lives doctrine very important.
* The [[Samkhya]] school considers karma to be of secondary importance (second to [[Prakṛti|''prakrti'']]).
* The [[Mīmāṃsā|Mimamsa]] school gives a negligible role to karma from past lives, disregards ''[[samsara]]'' and ''[[moksa]]''.<ref>{{harvc|author=Wilhelm Halbfass |c=Karma, apūrva, and "natural" causes: observations on the growth and limits of the theory of samsara |in=O'Flaherty |year=1980 |pages=268–302}}.</ref>
* The [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] school considers karma from past lives to be secondary, one's behavior and psychology in the current life is what has consequences and leads to entanglements.<ref name="wmahony" />
* The [[Vedanta]] schools (including [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita]]) accept the doctrine of karma, and they hold that it does not function on its own power, instead they think that God ([[Ishvara|Isvara]]) is the dispenser of the fruit (phala) of karma. This idea is defended in the [[Brahma Sutras|''Brahmasutras'']] (3.2.38).<ref>Francis X Clooney (1993), ''Theology After Vedanta: An Experiment in Comparative Theology,'' State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-1365-4}}, pages 68-71</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brahma Sutras (Shankara Bhashya) |date=2014-03-05 |title=Chapter III, Section II, Adhikarana VIII |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/brahma-sutras/d/doc74952.html |access-date=2022-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307164709/https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/brahma-sutras/d/doc74952.html |archive-date=7 March 2023 |url-status=live |website=www.wisdomlib.org}}</ref>

The above schools illustrate the diversity of views, but are not exhaustive. Each school has sub-schools in Hinduism, such as that of non-dualism and dualism under Vedanta. Furthermore, there are other schools of Indian philosophy, such as [[Charvaka]] (or Lokayata; the [[Materialism|materialists]]), that denied the theory of karma-rebirth, as well as the existence of God; to this non-Vedic school, the properties of things come from the nature of things. [[Causality]] emerges from the interaction, actions, and nature of things and people, making determinative principles such as karma or God unnecessary.<ref>{{cite thesis
|title=Lokayata: la philosophie dite matérialiste dans l'Inde classique
|author=Franco, Élie
|url=https://www.sudoc.fr/041081900
|access-date=2023-01-14
|type=Dissertation
|publisher=Université Paris Nanterre
|year=1981
|oclc=490451138
|archive-date=7 March 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307164709/https://www.sudoc.fr/041081900
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>Franco, Élie (1998), "Nyaya-Vaisesika", ''Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge, London.</ref>

==In Buddhism==
{{Main|Karma in Buddhism}}
Karma and ''karmaphala'' are fundamental concepts in Buddhism,{{sfn|Kragh|2006|p=11}}{{sfn|Lamotte|1987|p=15}} which explain how our intentional actions keep us tied to rebirth in ''[[Saṃsāra|samsara]]'', whereas the Buddhist path, as exemplified in the [[Noble Eightfold Path]], shows us the way out of ''samsara''.<ref>{{cite book|author=P. T. Raju |title=Structural Depths of Indian Thought |url=https://archive.org/details/structuraldepths0000raju |url-access=registration |year=1985| publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-88706-139-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/structuraldepths0000raju/page/147 147]–151 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Charles Eliot |title=Japanese Buddhism |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-79274-1 |pages=39–41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIzsAgAAQBAJ}}</ref>

The cycle of rebirth is determined by karma, literally 'action'.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=712}}{{refn|group=note|In early Buddhism rebirth is ascribed to craving or ignorance,{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi}}{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=416}} and the theory of karma may have been of minor importance in early Buddhist soteriology.{{sfn|Matthews|1986|p=124}}{{sfn|Schmithausen|1986|pp=206-207}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1998|p=13}}}} ''Karmaphala'' (wherein ''[[phala]]'' means 'fruit, result'){{sfn|Kalupahana|1992|p=166}}{{sfn|Keown|2000|pp=36-37}}{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=19}} refers to the 'effect' or 'result' of karma.{{sfn|Kopf|2001|p=141}}{{sfn|Kragh|2006|p=11}} The similar term ''karmavipaka'' (wherein ''[[vipāka]]'' means 'ripening') refers to the 'maturation, ripening' of karma.{{sfn|Keown|2000|pp=36-37}}{{sfn|Keown|2000|pp=810-813}}{{sfn|Klostermaier|1986|p=93}}

In the Buddhist tradition, ''karma'' refers to actions driven by intention (''[[cetanā]]''),{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1998}}{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=119-120}}{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|p=19}}{{refn|group=note|Rupert Gethin: "[Karma is] a being's intentional 'actions' of body, speech, and mind—whatever is done, said, or even just thought with definite intention or volition";{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}} "[a]t root karma or 'action' is considered a mental act or intention; it is an aspect of our mental life: 'It is "intention" that I call karma; having formed the intention, one performs acts (karma) by body, speech and mind.'"{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=120}}}} a deed done deliberately through body, speech or mind, which leads to future consequences.{{sfn|Gombrich|1997|p=55}} The ''Nibbedhika Sutta'', [[Anguttara Nikaya]] 6.63:
{{blockquote|Intention (''[[cetana]]'') I tell you, is kamma. Intending, one does kamma by way of body, speech, & intellect.<ref>{{Cite web
| translator = Thanissaro Bhikkhu
| year= 1997
| at = AN 6.63, PTS: A iii 410
|title=Nibbedhika Sutta: Penetrative
|url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an06/an06.063.than.html|access-date=2023-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813042845/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an06/an06.063.than.html |archive-date=13 August 2014}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|There are many different translation of the above quote into English. For example, Peter Harvey translates the quote as follows: "It is will (''cetana''), O monks, that I call karma; having willed, one acts through body, speech, and mind." (A.III.415).{{sfn|Harvey|1990|pp=39–40}}}}}}
How these intentional actions lead to rebirth, and how the idea of rebirth is to be reconciled with the doctrines of [[Anicca|impermanence]] and [[Anatta|no-self]],{{sfn|Dargyay|1986|p=170}}{{refn|group=note|Dargray: "When [the Buddhist] understanding of karma is correlated to the Buddhist doctrine of universal impermanence and No-Self, a serious problem arises as to where this trace is stored and what the trace left is. The problem is aggravated when the trace remains latent over a long period, perhaps over a period of many existences. The crucial problem presented to all schools of Buddhist philosophy was where the trace is stored and how it can remain in the ever-changing stream of phenomena which build up the individual and what the nature of this trace is."{{sfn|Dargyay|1986|p=170}}}} is a matter of philosophical inquiry in the Buddhist traditions, for which several solutions have been proposed.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=712}} In early Buddhism, no explicit theory of rebirth and karma is worked out,{{sfn|Matthews|1986|p=124}} and "the karma doctrine may have been incidental to early Buddhist soteriology."{{sfn|Schmithausen|1986|pp=206-207}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1998|p=13}} In early Buddhism, rebirth is ascribed to craving or ignorance.{{Sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi}}{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=416}}
Unlike that of Jains, Buddha's teaching of karma is not strictly deterministic, but incorporated circumstantial factors such as other [[Niyama]]s.{{sfn|Kalupahana|1975|p=127}}<ref name="Bhikkhu 2010"/>{{refn|group=note|[[Thanissaro Bhikkhu]]: "Unlike the theory of [[causality|linear causality]] — which led the [[Vedas|Vedists]] and [[Jainism|Jains]] to see the relationship between an act and its result as predictable and tit-for-tat — the principle of ''[[Idappaccayatā|this/that conditionality]]'' makes that relationship inherently complex. The results of kamma ("kamma" is the Pali spelling for the word "karma") experienced at any one point in time come not only from past kamma, but also from present kamma. This means that, although there are general patterns relating habitual acts to corresponding results [MN 135], there is no set one-for-one, tit-for-tat, relationship between a particular action and its results. Instead, the results are determined by the context of the act, both in terms of actions that preceded or followed it [MN 136] and in terms one's state of mind at the time of acting or experiencing the result [AN 3:99]. [...] The feedback loops inherent in ''this/that conditionality'' mean that the working out of any particular cause-effect relationship can be very complex indeed. This explains why the Buddha says in AN 4:77 that the results of kamma are [[Acinteyya|imponderable]]. Only a person who has developed the mental range of a Buddha—another imponderable itself—would be able to trace the intricacies of the kammic network. The basic premise of kamma is simple—that skillful intentions lead to favorable results, and unskillful ones to unfavorable results—but the process by which those results work themselves out is so intricate that it cannot be fully mapped. We can compare this with the [[Mandelbrot set]], a mathematical set generated by a simple equation, but whose graph is so complex that it will probably never be completely explored."<ref name="Bhikkhu 2010"/>}} It is not a rigid and mechanical process, but a flexible, fluid and dynamic process.{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=42}} There is no set linear relationship between a particular action and its results.<ref name="Bhikkhu 2010"/> The karmic effect of a deed is not determined solely by the deed itself, but also by the nature of the person who commits the deed, and by the circumstances in which it is committed.<ref name="Bhikkhu 2010"/>{{sfn|Kalupahana|1975|p=131}} ''Karmaphala'' is not a "judgement" enforced by a God, Deity or other supernatural being that controls the affairs of the Cosmos. Rather, ''karmaphala'' is the outcome of a natural process of cause and effect.{{refn|group=note|[[Khandro Rinpoche]]: "Buddhism is a nontheistic philosophy. We do not believe in a creator but in the causes and conditions that create certain circumstances that then come to fruition. This is called karma. It has nothing to do with judgement; there is no one keeping track of our karma and sending us up above or down below. Karma is simply the ''wholeness'' of a cause, or first action, and its effect, or fruition, which then becomes another cause. In fact, one karmic cause can have many fruitions, all of which can cause thousands more creations. Just as a handful of seed can ripen into a full field of grain, a small amount of karma can generate limitless effects."{{sfn|Khandro Rinpoche|2003|p=95}}}}
Within Buddhism, the real importance of the doctrine of karma and its fruits lies in the recognition of the urgency to put a stop to the whole process.{{sfn|Gombrich|2009|pp=21-22}}{{sfn|Vetter|1988|pp=79-80}} The ''Acintita Sutta'' warns that "the results of karma" is one of the four incomprehensible subjects (or ''[[acinteyya]]''),{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=14}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Acintita Sutta: Unconjecturable|at=4.77 |url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.077.than.html |work=Anguttara Nikaya|access-date=2023-01-14 |url-status=live|archive-date=22 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122020618/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an04/an04.077.than.html}}</ref> subjects that are beyond all conceptualization,{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=14}} and cannot be understood with logical thought or reason.{{refn|group=note|Dasgupta explains that in Indian philosophy, acintya is "that which is to be unavoidably accepted for explaining facts, but which cannot stand the scrutiny of logic."{{sfn|Dasgupta|1991|p=16}} See also the ''[[Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta]]'' "Discourse to Vatsagotra on the [Simile of] Fire," Majjhima Nikaya 72,{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=852}}<ref name="MN72">{{cite web |url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.072.than.html |access-date=2023-09-09|title=Aggi-Vacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |website=www.accesstoinsight.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606055741/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.072.than.html|archive-date=6 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> in which the Buddha is questioned by Vatsagotra on the "ten indeterminate question,"{{sfn|Buswell|Lopez|2013|p=852}} and the Buddha explains that a [[Tathagata]] is like a fire that has been extinguished, and is "deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the sea".<ref name="MN72"/>}}

[[Nichiren Buddhism]] teaches that transformation and change through faith and practice changes adverse karma—negative causes made in the past that result in negative results in the present and future—to positive causes for benefits in the future.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fowler |first= Jeaneane and Merv |date=2009 |title= Chanting in the Hillsides |page=78}}</ref>

== In Jainism ==
{{Main| Karma in Jainism}}
{{See also|Causes of Karma (Jainism)|God in Jainism}}
[[File:Types of Karma.JPG|thumb|[[Types of Karma (Jainism)|Types of ''Karmas'']] as per Jain philosophy]]

In [[Jainism]], karma conveys a totally different meaning from that commonly understood in [[Hindu philosophy]] and western civilization.<ref name="autogenerated1">Hermann Kuhn, Karma, the Mechanism, 2004</ref> [[Jain philosophy]] is one of the oldest Indian philosophy that completely separates body (matter) from the soul (pure consciousness).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/dravya|title=dravya—Jainism|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> In Jainism, karma is referred to as karmic dirt, as it consists of very subtle particles of matter that pervade the entire universe.<ref>Acharya Umasvati, Tattvartha Sutra, Ch VIII, Sutra 24</ref> Karmas are attracted to the karmic field of a soul due to vibrations created by activities of mind, speech, and body as well as various mental dispositions. Hence the karmas are the [[subtle matter]] surrounding the [[consciousness]] of a soul. When these two components (consciousness and karma) interact, we experience the life we know at present. [[Jain texts]] expound that seven ''[[Tattva (Jainism)|tattvas]]'' (truths or fundamentals) constitute reality. These are:<ref>{{cite book|first=Acharya |last=Pujyapada |translator=S. A. Jain|title=Reality|date=1992|publisher=Jwalamalini Trust|url=https://archive.org/details/Reality_JMT |page=[https://archive.org/details/Reality_JMT/page/n34 7]}} {{open access}}</ref>

# ''[[Jīva (Jainism)|Jīva]]'': the soul which is characterized by consciousness
# ''[[Ajiva|Ajīva]]'': the non-soul
# ''[[Asrava|Āsrava]]'': inflow of auspicious and evil karmic matter into the soul.
# ''[[Bandha (Jainism)|Bandha]]'' (bondage): mutual intermingling of the soul and karmas.
# ''[[Samvara]]'' (stoppage): obstruction of the inflow of karmic matter into the soul.
# ''[[Nirjara]]'' (gradual dissociation): separation or falling off of part of karmic matter from the soul.
# ''[[Moksha (Jainism)|Mokṣha]]'' (liberation): complete annihilation of all karmic matter (bound with any particular soul).

According to [[Padmanabh Jaini]],

<blockquote>This emphasis on reaping the fruits only of one's own karma was not restricted to the Jainas; both Hindus and Buddhist writers have produced doctrinal materials stressing the same point. Each of the latter traditions, however, developed practices in basic contradiction to such belief. In addition to ''shrardha'' (the ritual Hindu offerings by the son of deceased), we find among Hindus widespread adherence to the notion of divine intervention in ones fate, while Buddhists eventually came to propound such theories like boon-granting bodhisattvas, transfer of merit and like. Only the Jainas have been absolutely unwilling to allow such ideas to penetrate their community, despite the fact that there must have been tremendous amount of social pressure on them to do so.{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p=137}}</blockquote>

[[File:Thirthankara Suparshvanath Museum Rietberg RVI 306.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Shrivatsa]] or the karmic knot depicted on the chest of the [[Tirthankara]]]]

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.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|p=107}} Karma either defiles the soul further, or refines it to a cleaner state, and this affects future rebirths.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|pp=107–115}} Karma is thus an [[efficient cause]] (''[[nimitta]]'') in Jain philosophy, but not the [[Material Cause|material cause]] (''[[Upādāna|upadana]]''). The soul is believed to be the material cause.{{sfn|Jaini|1998|pp=117–118}}

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): ''samyaka darśana'' ('Right Faith'), ''samyaka jnāna'' ('Right Knowledge') and ''samyaka charitra'' ('Right Conduct').
* In Jain theology, a soul is released from worldly affairs as soon as it is able to emancipate from the ''karma-bandha''.<ref name="FN2M">{{cite encyclopedia | title=From Nigoda to Moksa: The Story of Marudevi | encyclopedia=Jainism and Early Buddhism: Essays in Honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini | publisher=Asian Humanities Press (an imprint of Jain Publishing Company) | author=Jaini, Padmanabh S. | editor=Qvarnström, Olle | year=2003 | volume=I | location=Fremont CA | pages=1–28}}</ref> 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.<ref name="FN2M" />
* 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.<ref>Sancheti Asoo Lal, Bhandari Manak Mal, ''First Steps to Jainism (Part Two): Doctrine of Karma, Doctrine of Anekant and Other Articles with Appendices'', Catalogued by [[Library of Congress|Library of U.S. Congress]], Washington, Card No. 90-232383</ref>

===Eight Karmas===
There are eight types of Karma which attach a soul to Samsara (the cycle of birth and death):{{sfn|Jaini|2000|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}}<ref>{{Cite book |first1=Shiv |last1=Sharma |title=The Soul of Jainism: Philosophy and Teachings of Jain Religion |isbn=978-81-288-1343-6 |date=30 March 2016 |publisher=Fusion Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JDPjCwAAQBAJ&q=eight+karmas+in+jainism&pg=PT109}}</ref>

# '''''Jnanavarniya''''' (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 ''jnanavarniya'' karma which prevents the five types of knowledge: ''mati jnana'' (sensory knowledge), ''shruta jnana'' (articulate knowledge), ''avadhi jnana'' ([[clairvoyance]]), ''mana paryaya jnana'' ([[telepathy]]) and ''kevala jnana'' ([[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 becoming 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).
# '''''Nama''''' (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 ''namakarma'' which determines the body of living organism into which the soul must enter.
# '''''Gotra''''' ([[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.
# '''''Antaraya''''' (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.

==Reception in other traditions==
===Sikhism===
{{Sikhism sidebar}}
In [[Sikhism]], all living beings are described as being under the influence of the three qualities of ''[[Maya (illusion)|maya]]''. Always present together in varying mix and degrees, these three qualities of ''maya'' bind the soul to the body and to the earth plane. Above these three qualities is the eternal time. Due to the influence of three modes of ''maya's'' nature, ''[[jiva]]s'' (individual beings) perform activities under the control and purview of the eternal time. These activities are called ''karma'', wherein the underlying principle is that karma is the law that brings back the results of actions to the person performing them.

This life is likened to a field in which our karma is the seed. We harvest exactly what we sow; no less, no more. This infallible law of karma holds everyone responsible for what the person is or is going to be. Based on the total sum of past karma, some feel close to the Pure Being in this life and others feel separated. This is the law of karma in [[Gurbani]] ([[Sri Guru Granth Sahib]]). Like other Indian and oriental schools of thought, the Gurbani also accepts the doctrines of karma and reincarnation as the facts of nature.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gurbani.org/webart40.htm |title=Gurbani.org |access-date=5 October 2008 |archive-date=29 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070129135407/http://www.gurbani.org/webart40.htm }}</ref>

===Falun Gong===
David Ownby, a scholar of Chinese history at the University of Montreal,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kahn|first=Joseph|date=22 August 2008 |title=Book Review {{!}} 'Falun Gong and the Future of China,' by David Ownby|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/books/review/Kahn-t.html|access-date=14 March 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=23 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923121905/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/books/review/Kahn-t.html |url-status=live}}</ref> asserts that [[Falun Gong]] differs from Buddhism in its definition of the term "karma" in that it is taken not as a process of award and punishment, but as an exclusively negative term. The Chinese term ''[[De (Chinese)|de]]'', or 'virtue', is reserved for what might otherwise be termed 'good karma' in Buddhism. Karma is understood as the source of all suffering – what Buddhism might refer to as 'bad karma'. According to [[Li Hongzhi]], the founder of Falun Gong: "A person has done bad things over his many lifetimes, and for people this results in misfortune, or for cultivators, its karmic obstacles, so there's birth, aging, sickness, and death. This is ordinary karma."{{sfn|Ownby|2008|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}}

Falun Gong teaches that the spirit is locked in the cycle of rebirth, also known as ''[[Saṃsāra|samsara]]'',<ref name="TRAN">{{cite book |translator=Li Hongzhi |chapter=Lecture 2:Transcending the Five Elements and Three Realms |title=Zhuan Falun (English Version) |chapter-url=https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture2.html#4 |url=http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zflus.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609043918/http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zflus.html|archive-date=9 June 2011 |access-date=31 December 2007 |date=5 January 1996 |url-status=live}}</ref> due to the accumulation of karma.<ref name="kar">{{cite book |translator=Li Hongzhi |date=5 January 1996 |chapter=Lecture 4: Transformation of Karma, Zhuan Falun |title=Zhuan Falun (English Version) |chapter-url=https://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/lecture4.html#2 |access-date=2008-01-01}}</ref> This is a negative, black substance that accumulates in other dimensions lifetime after lifetime, by doing bad deeds and thinking bad thoughts. Falun Gong states that karma is the reason for suffering, and what ultimately blocks people from the truth of the universe and attaining [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|enlightenment]]. At the same time, karma is also the cause of one's continued rebirth and suffering.<ref name="kar"/> Li says that due to accumulation of karma, the human spirit upon death will reincarnate over and over again, until the karma is paid off or eliminated through cultivation, or the person is destroyed due to the bad deeds he has done.<ref name="kar"/>

Ownby regards the concept of karma as a cornerstone to individual moral behaviour in Falun Gong, and also readily traceable to the Christian doctrine of "one reaps what one sows". Others say [[Matthew 5:44]] means no unbeliever will not fully reap what they sow until they are judged by God after death in Hell. Ownby says Falun Gong is differentiated by a "system of transmigration", although, "in which each organism is the reincarnation of a previous life form, its current form having been determined by karmic calculation of the moral qualities of the previous lives lived." Ownby says the seeming unfairness of manifest inequities can then be explained, at the same time allowing a space for moral behaviour in spite of them.{{sfn|Ownby|2008|p=110}} In the same vein of Li's ''[[monism]]'', matter and spirit are one, karma is identified as a black substance which must be purged in the process of cultivation.{{sfn|Ownby|2008|p={{page needed|date=September 2023}}}}

According to Li, <blockquote>Human beings all fell here from the many dimensions of the universe. They no longer met the requirements of the Fa at their given levels in the universe, and thus had to drop down. Just as we have said before, the heavier one's mortal attachments, the further down one drops, with the descent continuing until one arrives at the state of ordinary human beings.<ref name="ZFLII">{{ cite web
| author = Li Hongzhi
| author-link= Li Hongzhi | url=http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zfl2.htm 
| title = Zhuan Falun, Volume II |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821023901/http://www.falundafa.org/book/eng/zfl2.htm|archive-date=21 August 2011
| orig-date= 1996 | year= 2008
}}</ref></blockquote>He says that, in the eyes of higher beings, the purpose of human life is not merely to be human, but to awaken quickly on Earth, a "setting of delusion," and return. "That is what they really have in mind; they are opening a door for you. Those who fail to return will have no choice but to [[reincarnation|reincarnate]], with this continuing until they amass a huge amount of karma and are destroyed."<ref name="ZFLII" />

Ownby regards this as the basis for Falun Gong's apparent "opposition to practitioners' taking [[medication|medicine]] when ill; they are missing an opportunity to work off karma by allowing an illness to run its course (suffering depletes karma) or to fight the [[illness]] through cultivation." [[Benjamin Penny]] shares this interpretation. Since Li believes that "karma is the primary factor that causes sickness in people," Penny asks: "if disease comes from karma and karma can be eradicated through cultivation of ''xinxing'', then what good will medicine do?"<ref name="Fellow">{{cite web |url= http://www.nla.gov.au/grants/haroldwhite/papers/bpenny.html |author=[[Benjamin Penny]] |title=The Past, Present and Future of Falun Gong – A lecture by Harold White Fellow, Benjamin Penny, at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2001 |publisher=Harold White Fellowships |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325202921/http://www.nla.gov.au/grants/haroldwhite/papers/bpenny.html |archive-date=25 March 2008 |access-date=31 December 2007 }}</ref> Li himself states that he is not forbidding practitioners from taking medicine, maintaining that "What I'm doing is telling people the relationship between practicing cultivation and medicine-taking." Li also states that "An everyday person needs to take medicine when he gets sick."<ref>Lectures in United States, 1997, Li Hongzhi.{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}}</ref> Danny Schechter (2001) quotes a Falun Gong student who says "It is always an individual choice whether one should take medicine or not."<ref name="schechter">Danny Schechter, ''Falun Gong's Challenge to China: Spiritual Practice or Evil Cult?'', Akashic books: New York, 2001, pp. 47–50.</ref>

===Taoism===
{{Taoism}}
Karma is an important concept in [[Taoism]]. Every deed is tracked by deities and spirits. Appropriate rewards or retribution follow karma, just like a shadow follows a person.<ref name="evawong" />

The karma doctrine of Taoism developed in three stages.<ref name="lkohn">{{cite journal |author=Livia Kohn |date=1998 |url=http://www.languages.ufl.edu/EMC/subscribers/vol4/vol4kohn.pdf |title=Steal holy food and come back as a Viper: Conceptions of Karma and Rebirth in Medieval Daoism |journal=Early Medieval China|volume=4|pages=1–48|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109063052/http://www.languages.ufl.edu/EMC/subscribers/vol4/vol4kohn.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2014 }}</ref> In the first stage, causality between actions and consequences was adopted, with supernatural beings keeping track of everyone's karma and assigning fate (''ming''). In the second phase, transferability of karma ideas from Chinese Buddhism were expanded, and a transfer or inheritance of Karmic fate from ancestors to one's current life was introduced. In the third stage of karma doctrine development, ideas of rebirth based on karma were added. One could be reborn either as another human being or another animal, according to this belief. In the third stage, additional ideas were introduced; for example, rituals, repentance and offerings at Taoist temples were encouraged as it could alleviate Karmic burden.<ref name="lkohn"/><ref>Erik Zurcher (1980), Buddhist influence on early Taoism, T'oung Pao, Vol. 66, pp 84–147</ref>

===Shinto===
Interpreted as {{nihongo|''musubi''|産霊}}, a view of karma is recognized in [[Shinto]] as a means of enriching, empowering, and affirming life.<ref>{{cite book|author=Aidan Rankin|date=3 February 2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg8UWWZPxw4C&pg=PA133|title=Shinto: A Celebration of Life|isbn=978-1-84694-438-3|page=133| publisher=John Hunt }}</ref> ''Musubi'' has fundamental significance in Shinto, because creative development forms the basis of the Shinto worldview.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Basic Terms of Shinto: M |url=https://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/bts/bts_m.html#:~:text=Musubi,of%20the%20Shinto%20world%20view. |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp |archive-date=2 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202163120/https://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/bts/bts_m.html#:~:text=Musubi,of%20the%20Shinto%20world%20view. |url-status=live }}</ref>

Many deities are connected to musubi and have it in their names.

==Discussion==
===Free will and destiny===

One of the significant controversies with the karma doctrine is whether it always implies [[destiny]], and its implications on free will. This controversy is also referred to as the [[moral agency]] problem;<ref name=wrkaufman>Kaufman, W. R. (2005), Karma, rebirth, and the problem of evil, Philosophy East and West, pp 15–32</ref> the controversy is not unique to karma doctrine, but also found in some form in [[Monotheism|monotheistic religions]].<ref>[Moral responsibility] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University (2009); Quote – "Can a person be morally responsible for her behavior if that behavior can be explained solely by reference to physical states of the universe and the laws governing changes in those physical states, or solely by reference to the existence of a sovereign God who guides the world along a divinely ordained path?"</ref>

The free will controversy can be outlined in three parts:<ref name=wrkaufman/>

# A person who kills, rapes or commits any other unjust act, can claim all his bad actions were a product of his karma:  he is devoid of free will, he can not make a choice, he is an agent of karma, and he merely delivers necessary punishments his "wicked" victims deserved for their own karma in past lives. Are crimes and unjust actions due to free will, or because of forces of karma?
# Does a person who suffers from the unnatural death of a loved one, or rape or any other unjust act, assume a moral agent is responsible, that the harm is gratuitous, and therefore seek justice? Or, should one blame oneself for bad karma over past lives, and assume that the unjust suffering is fate?
# Does the karma doctrine undermine the incentive for moral education—because all suffering is deserved and consequence of past lives, why learn anything when the balance sheet of karma from past lives will determine one's action and sufferings?<ref>Herman, Arthur (1976), The Problem of Evil in Indian Thought, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas</ref>

The explanations and replies to the above free will problem vary by the specific school of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The schools of Hinduism, such as [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] and [[Advaita Vedanta]], that have emphasized current life over the dynamics of karma residue moving across past lives, allow free will.<ref name=Coward-Karma/> Their argument, as well of other schools, are threefold:

# The theory of karma includes both the action and the intent behind that action. Not only is one affected by past karma, one creates new karma whenever one acts with intent – good or bad. If intent and act can be proven beyond reasonable doubt, new karma can be proven, and the process of justice can proceed against this new karma. The actor who kills, rapes or commits any other unjust act, must be considered as the moral agent for this new karma, and tried.
# Life forms not only receive and reap the consequence of their past karma, together they are the means to initiate, evaluate, judge, give and deliver consequence of karma to others.
# Karma is a theory that explains some evils, not all (cf. [[moral evil]] versus [[natural evil]]).<ref>Reichenbach, Bruce (1990), The Law of Karma, University of Hawaiʻi Press, Honolulu, {{ISBN|978-0-333-53559-2}}</ref><ref name="mdeb" />

Other schools of Hinduism, as well as Buddhism and Jainism that do consider cycle of rebirths central to their beliefs and that karma from past lives affects one's present, believe that both free will (''[[cetanā]]'') and karma can co-exist; however, their answers have not persuaded all scholars.<ref name="wrkaufman" /><ref name="mdeb">Matthew Dasti and Edwin Bryant (2013), Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-992275-8}}</ref>

===Psychological indeterminacy===
Another issue with the theory of karma is that it is psychologically indeterminate, suggests Obeyesekere (1968).<ref name=goerl>G. Obeyesekere (1968), Theodicy, sin and salvation in a sociology of Buddhism, Practical religion, Editor: E.R. Leach, Cambridge University Press</ref> That is, if no one can know what their karma was in previous lives, and if the karma from past lives can determine one's future, then the individual is psychologically unclear what if anything he or she can do now to shape the future, be more happy, or reduce suffering. If something goes wrong, such as sickness or failure at work, the individual is unclear if karma from past lives was the cause, or the sickness was caused by curable infection and the failure was caused by something correctable.<ref name=goerl/>

This psychological indeterminacy problem is also not unique to the theory of karma; it is found in every religion adopting the premise that God has a plan, or in some way influences human events. As with the karma-and-free-will problem above, schools that insist on primacy of rebirths face the most controversy. Their answers to the psychological indeterminacy issue are the same as those for addressing the free will problem.<ref name=mdeb/>

===Transferability===
Some schools of Indian religions, particularly within [[Buddhism]], allow transfer of karma merit and demerit from one person to another. This transfer is an exchange of non-physical quality just like an exchange of physical goods between two human beings. The practice of karma transfer, or even its possibility, is controversial.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>see:
* Charles Keyes (1983), Merit-Transference in the Kammic Theory of Popular Theravada Buddhism, In Karma, Editors: Charles Keyes and [[Valentine Daniel]], Berkeley, University of California Press;
* F.L. Woodward (1914), The Buddhist Doctrine of Reversible Merit, The Buddhist Review, Vol. 6, pp 38–50</ref> Karma transfer raises questions similar to those with [[substitutionary atonement]] and vicarious punishment. It undermines the ethical foundations, and dissociates the causality and ethicization in the theory of karma from the moral agent. Proponents of some Buddhist schools suggest that the concept of karma merit transfer encourages religious giving and that such transfers are not a mechanism to transfer bad karma (i.e., demerit) from one person to another.

In Hinduism, Sraddha rites during funerals have been labelled as karma merit transfer ceremonies by a few scholars, a claim disputed by others.<ref>Ronald Wesley Neufeldt, Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0-87395-990-2}}, pp 226, see Footnote 74</ref> Other schools in Hinduism, such as the [[Yoga (philosophy)|Yoga]] and [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita Vedantic]] philosophies, and Jainism hold that karma can not be transferred.<ref name=wdointro/><ref name=wdochapter1/>

===The problem of evil===
There has been an ongoing debate about karma theory and how it answers the [[problem of evil]] and related problem of [[theodicy]]. The problem of evil is a significant question debated in monotheistic religions with two beliefs:<ref>{{cite book |author=R. Green |year=2005 |chapter=Theodicy |title=The Encyclopedia of Religion |edition=2nd |editor=Lindsay Jones |volume=12 |publisher=Macmillan Reference |isbn=978-0-02-865733-2}}</ref>

# There is one God who is absolutely good and compassionate ([[Omnibenevolence|omnibenevolent]]); and
# That one God knows absolutely everything ([[Omniscience|omniscient]]) and is all powerful ([[Omnipotence|omnipotent]]).

The problem of evil is then stated in formulations such as, "why does the omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipotent God allow any evil and suffering to exist in the world?" Sociologist [[Max Weber]] extended the problem of evil [[Sociology of Religion (book)|to Eastern traditions]].<ref>Max Weber (Translated by Fischoff, 1993), The Sociology of Religion, Beacon Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8070-4205-2}}, pp. 129–153</ref>

The problem of evil, in the context of karma, has been long discussed in Eastern traditions, both in theistic and non-theistic schools; for example, in ''[[Uttara Mīmāṃsā]]'' Sutras Book 2 Chapter 1;<ref>Francis Clooney (2005), in The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism (Editor: [[Gavin Flood]]), Wiley-Blackwell, {{ISBN|0-631-21535-2}}, pp. 454–455</ref><ref>Francis Clooney (1989), "Evil, Divine Omnipotence and Human Freedom: Vedanta's theology of Karma", ''Journal of Religion'', Vol. 69, pp 530–548</ref> the 8th century arguments by [[Adi Shankara|Adi Sankara]] in [[Brahma Sutras|''Brahma Sutra'']] ''[[Bhashya|bhasya]]'' where he posits that God cannot reasonably be the cause of the world because there exists moral evil, inequality, cruelty and suffering in the world;<ref name="bilimoria">P. Bilimoria (2007), Karma's suffering: A Mimamsa solution to the problem of evil, in Indian Ethics (Editors: Bilimoria et al.), Volume 1, Ashgate Publishing, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-3301-3}}, pp. 171–189</ref><ref>See Kumarila's ''Slokavarttika''; for English translation of parts and discussions: P. Bilimoria (1990), "Hindu doubts about God {{en dash}} Towards a Mimamsa Deconstruction", ''International Philosophical Quarterly'', 30(4), pp. 481–499</ref> and the 11th century theodicy discussion by [[Ramanuja]] in ''[[Sri Bhasya]]''.<ref name="bilimoria2013" /> Epics such as the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', for example, suggest three prevailing theories in ancient India as to why good and evil exist {{en dash}} one being that everything is ordained by God, another being karma, and a third citing chance events (''yadrccha'', यदृच्छा).<ref name="ehudson" /><ref>Manmatha Nath Dutt (1895), English translation of The Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 159, verse 15</ref> The ''Mahabharata'', which includes Hindu deity [[Vishnu]] in the [[Vishnu#Avatars|avatar]] of [[Krishna]] as one of the central characters, debates the nature and existence of suffering from these three perspectives, and includes a theory of suffering as arising from an interplay of chance events (such as floods and other events of nature), circumstances created by past human actions, and the current desires, volitions, dharma, adharma and current actions (''purusakara'') of people.<ref name="ehudson" /><ref>Gregory Bailey (1983), Suffering in the Mahabharata: Draupadi and Yudhishthira, Purusartha, No. 7, pp. 109–129</ref><ref>[[Alf Hiltebeitel]] (2001), Rethinking the Mahabharata: A Reader's Guide to the Education of the Dharma King, University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|978-0-226-34053-1}}, Chapters 2 and 5</ref> However, while karma theory in the ''Mahabharata'' presents alternative perspectives on the problem of evil and suffering, it offers no conclusive answer.<ref name="ehudson">Emily Hudson (2012), Disorienting Dharma: Ethics and the Aesthetics of Suffering in the Mahabharata, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-986078-4}}, pp. 178–217</ref><ref>P.B. Mehta (2007), The ethical irrationality of the world {{en dash}} Weber and Hindu Ethics, in Indian Ethics (Editors: Billimoria et al.), Volume 1, Ashgate, {{ISBN|978-0-7546-3301-3}}, pp. 363–375</ref>

Other scholars<ref>Ursula Sharma (1973), Theodicy and the doctrine of karma, ''Man'', Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 347–364</ref> suggest that [[Nontheism|nontheistic]] Indian religious traditions do not assume an omnibenevolent creator, and some<ref>The Nyaya-Vaisesika school of Hinduism is one of the exceptions where the premise is similar to the Christian concept of an omnibenevolent, omnipotent creator</ref> theistic schools do not define or characterize their God(s) as monotheistic Western religions do and the deities have colorful, complex personalities; the Indian deities are personal and cosmic facilitators, and in some schools conceptualized like Plato's [[Demiurge]].<ref name="bilimoria2013">P. Bilimoria (2013), Toward an Indian Theodicy, in The Blackwell Companion to the Problem of Evil (Editors: McBrayer and Howard-Snyder), 1st Edition, John Wiley & Sons, {{ISBN|978-0-470-67184-9}}, Chapter 19</ref> Therefore, the problem of theodicy in many schools of major Indian religions is not significant, or at least is of a different nature than in Western religions.<ref>G. Obeyesekere (I968), Theodicy, sin and salvation in a sociology of Buddhism, in Practical religion (Ed. Edmund Leach), Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-05525-3}}</ref> Many Indian religions place greater emphasis on developing the karma principle for first cause and innate justice with Man as focus, rather than developing religious principles with the nature and powers of God and divine judgment as focus.<ref>B. Reichenbach (1998), Karma and the Problem of Evil, in Philosophy of Religion Toward a Global Perspective (Editor: G.E. Kessler), Wadsworth, {{ISBN|978-0-534-50549-3}}, pp. 248–255</ref> Some scholars, particularly of the [[Nyaya|Nyaya school]] of Hinduism and Sankara in ''Brahma Sutra bhasya'', have posited that karma doctrine implies existence of god, who administers and affects the person's environment given that person's karma, but then acknowledge that it makes karma as violable, contingent and unable to address the problem of evil.<ref>Bruce R. Reichenbach (1989), Karma, Causation, and Divine Intervention, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 135–149</ref> Arthur Herman states that karma-transmigration theory solves all three historical formulations to the problem of evil while acknowledging the theodicy insights of Sankara and Ramanuja.<ref>Arthur Herman, The problem of evil and Indian thought, 2nd Edition, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, {{ISBN|81-208-0753-7}}, pp. 5 with Part II and III of the book</ref>

Some theistic Indian religions, such as Sikhism, suggest evil and suffering are a human phenomenon and arises from the karma of individuals.<ref>P. Singh, Sikh perspectives on health and suffering: A focus on Sikh theodicy, in Religion, Health and Suffering (Editors: John Hinnells and Roy Porter), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-7103-0611-1}}, pp. 111–132</ref> In other theistic schools such as those in Hinduism, particularly its Nyaya school, karma is combined with [[dharma]] and evil is explained as arising from human actions and intent that is in conflict with dharma.<ref name=bilimoria2013/> In nontheistic religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and the Mimamsa school of Hinduism, karma theory is used to explain the cause of evil as well as to offer distinct ways to avoid or be unaffected by evil in the world.<ref name=bilimoria/>

Those schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism that rely on karma-rebirth theory have been critiqued for their theological explanation of suffering in children by birth, as the result of their sins in a past life.<ref>Whitley Kaufman (2005), Karma, rebirth, and the problem of evil, Philosophy East & West, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 15–32</ref> Others disagree, and consider the critique as flawed and a misunderstanding of the karma theory.<ref>Chadha and Trakakis (2007), Karma and the Problem of Evil: A Response to Kaufman, Philosophy East & West, Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 533–556</ref>

==Comparable concepts==
{{further|Poetic justice|Mills of God}}
[[File:It Shoots Further Than He Dreams.jpg|alt=|thumb|''It Shoots Further Than He Dreams'' by John F. Knott, March 1918]]
[[Western culture]], influenced by Christianity,<ref name=KarmaParveshSingla/> holds a notion similar to karma, as demonstrated in the phrase "[[wikt:what goes around comes around|what goes around comes around]]".

=== Christianity ===
Mary Jo Meadow suggests karma is akin to "Christian notions of [[Christian views on sin|sin]] and its effects."<ref name="Meadow2007">{{cite book|last=Meadow|first=Mary Jo|title=Christian Insight Meditation|date=28 August 2007|publisher=Wisdom Publications Inc|isbn=978-0-86171-526-8|page=199}}</ref> She states that the Christian teaching on a [[Last Judgment]] according to one's charity is a teaching on karma.<ref name="Meadow2007"/> Christianity also teaches morals such as [[wikt:reap what one sows|one reaps what one sows]] ([[Epistle to the Galatians|Galatians]] 6:7) and [[live by the sword, die by the sword]] ([[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 26:52).<ref>{{cite book|title=Karma, rhythmic return to harmony |author=Haridas Chaudhuri|year=2001 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-208-1816-3|pages=78 & 79 |quote=The Meaning of Karma in Integral Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ve_Nim-MChcC&pg=PA78}}</ref> Most scholars, however, consider the concept of Last Judgment as different from karma, with karma as an ongoing process that occurs every day in one's life, while Last Judgment, by contrast, is a one-time review at the end of life.<ref>Raymond Collyer Knox and Horace Leland Friess, The Review of Religion, Volume 1, Columbia University Press, pp 419–427</ref>

===Judaism===
There is a concept in Judaism called in Hebrew ''midah k'neged midah'', which is often translated as "measure for measure".<ref>{{citation |url=https://kotar.cet.ac.il/kotarapp/index/Page.aspx?nBookID=99643983&nTocEntryID=99646212&nPageID=99643996 |title=Measure for measure in the storytelling Bible |author=Jonathan Jacobs |isbn=965-7086-28-0 |publisher=Tvunot |year=2006 |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130055316/https://kotar.cet.ac.il/kotarapp/index/Page.aspx?nBookID=99643983&nTocEntryID=99646212&nPageID=99643996 |url-status=live }}</ref> The concept is used not so much in matters of law, but rather in matters of [[divine retribution]] for a person's actions. [[David Wolpe]] compared ''midah k'neged midah'' to karma.<ref>{{Cite AV media
|title=Toldot - Training the Hands of Esau with the Voice of Jacob
| last= Wolpe | first= David
| place=Los Angeles
| date= 18 November 2017
| chapter= Drash
|url=https://www.sinaitemple.org/worship/sermons/toldot-training-hands-esau-voice-jacob/|access-date=2023-01-14|publisher=Sinai Temple}}</ref>

===Psychoanalysis===
[[Carl Jung]] once opined on unresolved emotions and the [[synchronicity]] of karma;
{{Blockquote|When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate.<ref>Jung, C.G. and Wolfgang Pauli, The Interpretation of Nature and Psyche, New York: Pantheon Books, 1955</ref>}}

Popular methods for negating [[cognitive dissonance]] include [[meditation]], [[metacognition]], [[counselling]], [[psychoanalysis]], etc., whose aim is to enhance emotional self-awareness and thus avoid negative karma. This results in better emotional hygiene and reduced karmic impacts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/what-is-karma-223607|title=What is Karma?|date=September 3, 2013 |access-date=2020-05-23|website=www.speakingtree.in|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802235655/https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/what-is-karma-223607|url-status=live |archive-date=2 August 2020}}</ref> Permanent neuronal changes within the [[amygdala]] and left [[prefrontal cortex]] of the human brain attributed to long-term meditation and metacognition techniques have been proven scientifically.<ref>Davidson, Richard J.; Kabat-Zinn, Jon; Schumacher, Jessica; Rosenkranz, Melissa; Muller, Daniel; Santorelli, Saki F.; Urbanowski, Ferris; Harrington, Anne; Bonus, Katherine; and Sheridan, John F. (2003) "Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation." ''Psychosomatic Medicine'' '''65''': 564–570.</ref> This process of emotional maturation aspires to a goal of [[Individuation]] or [[self-actualisation]]. Such [[peak experiences]] are hypothetically devoid of any karma ([[nirvana]] or [[moksha]]).

=== Theosophy ===
The idea of karma was popularized in the [[Western world]] through the work of the [[Theosophical Society]]. In this conception, karma was a precursor to the [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]] ''law of return'' or ''[[Rule of Three (Wicca)|Threefold Law]],'' the idea that the beneficial or harmful effects one has on the world will return to oneself. Colloquially this may be summed up as 'what goes around comes around.'

Theosophist [[I. K. Taimni]] wrote, "Karma is nothing but the Law of Cause and Effect operating in the realm of human life and bringing about adjustments between an individual and other individuals whom he has affected by his thoughts, emotions and actions."<ref>I.K. Taimni ''Man, God and the Universe'' Quest Books, 1974, p. 17</ref> [[Theosophy]] also teaches that when humans reincarnate they come back as humans only, not as animals or other organisms.<ref>E.L. Gardner ''Reincarnation: Some Testimony From Nature'' 1947</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Adrsta]]
* ''[[Amor fati]]''
* [[Anantarika-karma]]
* [[Causes of karma in Jainism]]
* [[Consequentialism]]
* [[Divine retribution]]
* [[Ethic of reciprocity]] ( = "Golden Rule")
* {{slink|Hoʻoponopono#Freedom from karma|}}
* [[Instant Karma!]]
* [[Judgement (afterlife)]]
* [[Just-world fallacy]]
* [[Karma yoga]]
* [[Luck]]
* [[Moksha]]
* [[My Name Is Earl]]
* [[Nishkam Karma]]
* [[Pratītyasamutpāda]]
* [[Saṅkhāra]]
* [[Self-fulfilling prophecy]]
* [[Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Karma]]
* [[Types of Karma]]
* [[Unintended consequence]]
* [[Vāsanā]]
* [[Work (Christian theology)]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|30em}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Bhikkhu 2010">{{Citation |translator=Thanissaro Bhikkhu |title=Wings to Awakening: Part I |year=2010 |publisher=Metta Forest Monastery |place=Valley Center, CA |url=http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings.pdf |access-date=14 April 2015 |pages=47–48 |url-status=live |archive-date=23 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200123014508/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/wings.pdf}}</ref>
}}

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{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last1 =Lichter | first1 =David | last2 =Epstein | first2 =Lawrence | year =1983 | chapter =Irony in Tibetan Notions of the Good Life | editor-last1 =Keyes | editor-first1 =Charles F. | editor-last2 =Daniel | editor-first2 =E. Valentien | title =Karma: An Anthropological Inquiry | publisher =University of California Press}}
* {{Citation |last=Padmakara Translation group |year=1994 |chapter=Translators' Introduction |title=The Words of My Perfect Teacher |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{EB1911 poster|Karma}}
*[https://www.britannica.com/topic/karma Karma] – Encyclopedia Britannica

{{Indian philosophy}}
{{Spirituality-related topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Karma| ]]
[[Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Hindu philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Jain philosophical concepts]]
[[Category:Reincarnation]]