essay on karma in english

Essay on Karma

Students are often asked to write an essay on Karma in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Karma

Understanding karma.

Karma is a concept originating from ancient India. It’s about the law of cause and effect. Simply put, it means that what you do will eventually come back to you.

Karma in Daily Life

In daily life, karma can be seen in how our actions affect our lives. If we help others, good things tend to happen to us. If we hurt others, we may face negative consequences.

The Importance of Karma

Understanding karma teaches us to be responsible for our actions. It encourages us to act positively, leading to a better life and a better world.

250 Words Essay on Karma

Karma, a concept deeply rooted in various Eastern philosophies, is commonly understood as the principle of cause and effect. It suggests that our actions, whether good or bad, inevitably return to us in some form, creating a cycle of action and consequence.

The Mechanics of Karma

Karma and personal growth.

The concept of karma encourages self-awareness and introspection. It prompts us to critically evaluate our actions and their potential consequences before we act. By doing so, we can strive to make choices that generate positive karma, fostering personal growth and contributing to collective well-being.

Karma in the Modern World

In the contemporary context, karma serves as a moral compass, guiding individuals towards ethical actions. It underscores the interconnectedness of all beings, urging us to act responsibly and compassionately. The belief that our actions will return to us may deter harmful behaviors and promote acts of kindness and generosity.

In conclusion, karma is a profound philosophical construct that encourages mindfulness, responsibility, and personal growth. It is a reminder that we are not isolated entities but integral parts of a complex web of life, where our actions reverberate beyond our immediate surroundings.

500 Words Essay on Karma

Karma, a concept rooted in various Eastern religions, is often understood as a cosmic principle of cause and effect. It’s an intricate system where actions and intentions are believed to influence the future, either in this life or a subsequent one. The essence of karma is that every action has consequences, and these consequences are not merely inflicted by an external force but are a direct result of the actions themselves.

Karma in Different Religions

In Hinduism, karma is a fundamental doctrine, closely linked with the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. The law of karma dictates that every action, thought, or decision one makes in their life will somehow influence their future lives.

In Jainism, karma is seen as a physical substance that clings to the soul, affecting its ability to reach liberation. The type and intensity of karma depend on the nature of the actions performed.

The Philosophical Implications of Karma

The concept of karma has profound philosophical implications. It introduces a moral dimension to the universe, suggesting that ethical conduct is not only a social necessity but also a cosmic one. It’s seen as a self-regulating system that maintains moral equilibrium, providing a sense of justice and fairness.

Karma and Modern Perspectives

In the modern world, karma is often misinterpreted as a form of divine retribution. However, its true essence is far from this simplified understanding. Karma is not about punishment or reward; it’s about understanding the interconnectedness of all things and the consequences of our actions.

The concept of karma has also found resonance in scientific fields. In psychology, the idea that our actions and intentions can shape our future aligns with the principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy. In physics, the law of action and reaction bears a striking resemblance to the law of karma.

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karma , in Indian religion and philosophy , the universal causal law by which good or bad actions determine the future modes of an individual’s existence. Karma represents the ethical dimension of the process of rebirth ( samsara ), belief in which is generally shared among the religious traditions of India. Indian soteriologies (theories of salvation ) posit that future births and life situations will be conditioned by actions performed during one’s present life—which itself has been conditioned by the accumulated effects of actions performed in previous lives. The doctrine of karma thus directs adherents of Indian religions toward their common goal: release ( moksha ) from the cycle of birth and death. Karma thus serves two main functions within Indian moral philosophy: it provides the major motivation to live a moral life, and it serves as the primary explanation of the existence of evil.

Derived from the Sanskrit word karman , meaning “act,” the term karma carried no ethical significance in its earliest specialized usage. In ancient texts (1000–700 bce ) of the Vedic religion , karma referred simply to ritual and sacrificial action. As the priestly theology of sacrifice was articulated by Brahman priests over the following centuries, however, ritual action came to be regarded as effective by itself, independent of the gods. Karma as ritual functioned autonomously and according to a cosmic ritual law.

The earliest evidence of the term’s expansion into an ethical domain is provided in the Upanishads , a genre of the Vedas (sacred scriptures) concerned with ontology , or the philosophical study of being. In the middle of the 1st millennium bce , the Vedic theologian Yajnavalkya expressed a belief that later became commonplace but was considered new and esoteric at the time: “A man turns into something good by good action and into something bad by bad action.” Although within the Vedic ritual tradition “good action” and “bad action” may have included both ritual and moral acts, this moral aspect of karma increasingly dominated theological discourse, especially in the religions of Buddhism and Jainism , which emerged about the middle of the 1st millennium bce . Both of these religions embraced ascetic modes of life and rejected the ritual concerns of the Brahman priests.

The connection between the ritual and moral dimensions of karma is especially evident in the notion of karma as a causal law, popularly known as the “law of karma.” Many religious traditions —notably the Abrahamic religions that emerged in the Middle East ( Judaism , Christianity , and Islam )—place reward and punishment for human actions in the hands of a divine lawgiver. In contrast, the classical traditions of India—Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, much like the Vedic sacrificial theology that preceded them—view karma as operating according to an autonomous causal law. No divine will or external agent intervenes in the relationship of the moral act to its inevitable result. The law of karma thus represents a markedly nontheistic theodicy , or explanation of why there is evil in the world.

Once a divine judge is taken out of the equation, a new question arises: within a causal sequence, how can an act produce an effect at a future time far removed from the act’s performance? Different Indian moral philosophies provide different answers, but all acknowledge some kind of karmic residue resulting from the initial act. Jainism, for example, regards karma as a fine particulate substance that settles on the soul ( jiva ) of one who commits immoral actions or has immoral thoughts, making it impure and heavy and miring it in the material world of rebirth. The Vedic ritualistic tradition that preceded Hinduism contributed the concept of the apurva , the latent potency created within the soul by ritual and moral actions. Much like a seed, an apurva sprouts into new realities in the distant future. Other traditions—e.g., Yoga and Buddhism—provide psychological explanations in which karmic residue produces dispositional tendencies ( samskara s) and psychological traces ( vasana s) that determine the future births and personality traits of an individual. Each of these examples demonstrates how the concept of karma provided a bridge between cause and effect separated by time.

The doctrine of karma implies that one person’s karma cannot have an effect on another person’s future. Yet, while karma is in theory specific to each individual, many aspects of Indian religions reflect the widely held belief that karma may be shared. For example, the doctrine of the transfer of merit , whereby one person can transfer his good karma to another, is found in both Buddhism and Hinduism. Ancestral offerings and other rituals for the departed show that acts done by the living are believed to influence the well-being of the dead. Finally, pious activities, including pilgrimages , are often performed for the benefit of living or deceased relatives.

Buddhism and Karma

Introduction to the Buddhist Understanding of Karma

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• Origins and Developments
• Figures and Texts
• Becoming A Buddhist
• Tibetan and Vajrayana Buddhism
• B.J., Journalism, University of Missouri

Karma is a word everyone knows, yet few in the West understand what it means. Westerners too often think it means "fate" or is some kind of cosmic justice system. This is not a Buddhist understanding of karma, however.

Karma is a Sanskrit word that means "action." Sometimes you might see the Pali spelling, kamma , which means the same thing. In Buddhism, karma has a more specific meaning, which is volitional or willful action. Things we choose to do or say or think set karma into motion. The law of karma is therefore a law of cause and effect as defined in Buddhism . 

Sometimes Westerners use the word karma to mean the result of karma. For example, someone might say John lost his job because "that's his karma." However, as Buddhists use the word, karma is the action, not the result. The effects of karma are spoken of as the "fruits" or the "result" of karma.

Teachings on the laws of karma originated in Hinduism, but Buddhists understand karma somewhat differently from Hindus.  The historical Buddha lived 26 centuries ago in what are now Nepal and India, and on his quest for enlightenment he sought out Hindu teachers. However, the Buddha took what he learned from his teachers in some very new and different directions.

The Liberating Potential of Karma

Theravada Buddhist teacher Thanissaro Bhikkhu explains some of these differences in this illuminating essay on karma . In the Buddha's day, most religions of India taught that karma operated in a simple straight line- past actions influence the present; present actions influence the future. But to Buddhists, karma is non-linear and complex. Karma, the Ven. Thanissaro Bhikku says, "acts in multiple feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present."

Thus, in Buddhism, although the past has some influence on the present, the present also is shaped by the actions of the present. Walpola Rahula explained in What the Buddha Taught (Grove Press, 1959, 1974) why this is significant:

"...instead of promoting resigned powerlessness, the early Buddhist notion of karma focused on the liberating potential of what the mind is doing with every moment. Who you are — what you come from — is not anywhere near as important as the mind's motives for what it is doing right now. Even though the past may account for many of the inequalities we see in life, our measure as human beings is not the hand we've been dealt, for that hand can change at any moment. We take our own measure by how well we play the hand we've got."

What You Do Is What Happens to You

When we seem stuck in old, destructive patterns, it may not be the karma of the past that's causing us to be stuck. If we're stuck, it's more likely that we're re-creating the same old patterns with our present thoughts and attitudes. To change our karma and change our lives, we have to change our minds. Zen teacher John Daido Loori said, "Cause and effect are one thing. And what is that one thing? You. That’s why what you do and what happens to you are the same thing."

Certainly, the karma of the past impacts your present life, but change is always possible.

No Judge, No Justice

Buddhism also teaches that there are other forces besides karma that shape our lives. These include natural forces such as the changing seasons and gravity. When a natural disaster such as an earthquake strikes a community, this is not some kind of collective karmic punishment. It's an unfortunate event that requires a compassionate response, not judgment.

Some people have a hard time understanding karma is created by our own actions. Perhaps because they are raised with other religious models, they want to believe there is some kind of mysterious cosmic force directing karma, rewarding good people and punishing bad people. This is not the position of Buddhism. Buddhist scholar Walpola Rahula said,

"The theory of karma should not be confused with so-called 'moral justice' or 'reward and punishment'. The idea of moral justice, or reward and punishment, arises out of the conception of a supreme being, a God, who sits in judgment, who is a law-giver and who decides what is right and wrong. The term 'justice' is ambiguous and dangerous, and in its name more harm than good is done to humanity. The theory of karma is the theory of cause and effect, of action and reaction; it is a natural law, which has nothing to do with the idea of justice or reward and punishment."

The Good, the Bad and the Karma

Sometimes people talk about "good" and "bad" (or "evil") karma. Buddhist understanding of "good" and "evil" is somewhat different from the way Westerners usually understand these terms. To see the Buddhist perspective, it's useful to substitute the words "wholesome" and "unwholesome" for "good" and "evil." Wholesome actions spring from selfless compassion, loving-kindness and wisdom. Unwholesome actions spring from greed, hate, and ignorance. Some teachers use similar terms, such as "helpful and unhelpful," to convey this idea. 

• Karma and Rebirth

The way most people understand reincarnation is that a soul, or some autonomous essence of self, survives death and is reborn into a new body. In that case, it's easy to imagine the karma of a past life sticking to that self and being carried over to a new life. This is largely the position of Hindu philosophy, where it is believed that a discrete soul is reborn again and again. But Buddhist teachings are very different.

The Buddha taught a doctrine called anatman , or anatta — no soul, or no self. According to this doctrine, there is no "self" in the sense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existence. What we think of as our self, our personality and ego, are temporary creations that do not survive death.

In light of this doctrine — what is it that is reborn? And where does karma fit in?

When asked this question, the renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, borrowing concepts from modern psychological theory, said that what gets reborn is our neurosis — meaning that it is our karmic bad habits and ignorance that gets reborn — until such time as we awaken fully. The question is a complex one for Buddhists, and not one for which there is a single answer. Certainly, there are Buddhists that believe in literal rebirth from one life to the next, but there are also others who adopt a modern interpretation, suggesting that rebirth refers to the repetitious cycle of bad habits we may follow if we have an insufficient understanding of our true natures. 

Whatever interpretation is offered, though, Buddhists are united in the belief that our actions affect both current and future conditions, and that escape from the karmic cycle of dissatisfaction and suffering is possible. 

• The Dhammapada
• Sadayatana: The Six Sense Organs and Their Objects
• The Five Remembrances
• What Buddha Didn't Say About God
• Anatman: The Teaching of No Self
• Reincarnation Without Souls?
• Samskara or Sankhara
• Buddhist Hell
• Definition of the Buddhist Term: "Skandha"
• Rebirth and Reincarnation in Buddhism
• The Five Skandhas
• The Metta Sutta: A Beloved Buddhist Teaching
• The Second Precept of Buddhism: Not Stealing
• Proselytization and Buddhism
• The Search for Original Buddhism