What is karma...?

Question

What is karma...?

Answer 1

kar·ma    /ˈkɑrmə/ Pronunciation Key -

–noun 1. Hinduism, Buddhism. action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman. Compare bhakti (def. 1), jnana.  

2. Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.  

3. fate; destiny.  

4. the good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something.

Answer 2

Simple: What goes around, comes around.

Also: Pay backs are a *****.

Answer 3

“Karma” simply means “action.” A Hindu is said to have good karma if he conforms to social and religious norms and bad karma if he does not. His action, or karma, determines his future in each successive rebirth. The Law of Karma has no provision for mercy or for forgiveness. It presents a despairing future of possibly a billion rebirths for a transmigrating soul. The prospect is so discouraging that the Maitri Upanishad of Hinduism states: “In this sort of cycle of existence what is the good of enjoyment of desires, when after a man has fed on them there is seen repeatedly his return here to earth? Be pleased to deliver me. In this cycle of existence I am like a frog in a waterless well.”

What people who believe themselves to be under the power of karma seek is what the Holy Bible shows man how to attain without rebirths. It reveals man to be the product of a Creator who is forgiving and merciful. Instead of putting man under the power of an unrelenting, impersonal law that requires sins to be expiated by rebirths, he lovingly provided a means for man to be forgiven of his sins and to be freed from miseries. An endless life in joy, peace and security is what he has promised to give as a free gift to all who obey him and worship him in the manner he wants to be worshiped.

By the sin-atoning sacrifice of a perfect man, Jehovah provided the means by which humans can be forgiven their sins. Regarding that One the Bible states: “To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone putting faith in him gets forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43) No matter what their past may have been, that sacrifice makes forgiveness possible if they are repentant. Jehovah does not require them to suffer through multitudinous rebirths to be purified of their sins. “Though the sins of you people should prove to be as scarlet, they will be made white just like snow; though they should be red like crimson cloth, they will become even like wool.”—Isa. 1:18.

Answer 4

karma can be alot of things. what gose around comes around but if you have done a lot of good in your life then karma dose not hit you a lo if you have done a lot of bad you will have a lto of karma when you do something bad somthing bad happens to you

Answer 5

Karma is when if you do something bad,something bad happens to you.What goes around,comes around to put it simple.

Answer 6

The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny.

Fate; destiny.

Answer 7

Whatever you give to the world, will come back to you.

If you send out positive energies, try to live a good life,

do right by others, that will return to you. The same way,

if you do badly by others, send out negative energies,

and don't care about anyone or anything, that will come

back to you.

It isn't always "Instant Karma"; some believe it evolves

to balance your scales over several incarnations of

life. So, each time you come back, you'd be trying to

balance the good and bad in each life.

And you don't always see the coming around of it; it

may happen in ways that are unseen to you.

But I strongly believe that we do affect our lives and

those of others in this way.

Answer 8

Basically karma is when you do something bad you get paid in full for it. Karma may not exist becuz of choice factor. Neither does destiny or fate.

http://www.answers.com/karma

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: karma

In Indian philosophy, the influence of an individual's past actions on his future lives or reincarnations. It is based on the conviction that the present life is only one in a chain of lives (see samsara). The accumulated moral energy of a person's life determines his or her character, class status, and disposition in the next life. The process is automatic, and no interference by the gods is possible. In the course of a chain of lives, people can perfect themselves and reach the level of Brahma, or they can degrade themselves to the extent that they return to life as animals. The concept of karma, basic to Hinduism, was also incorporated into Buddhism and Jainism.

For more information on karma, visit Britannica.com.



Philosophy Dictionary: karma

(Sanskrit, deed) In Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, the universal law of cause and effect, as applied to the deeds of people. A (deliberate) good or bad deed leads a person's destiny in the appropriate direction. The ripening of the deed may take more than one lifetime, tying the agent to the cycle of rebirth, or samsara; only deeds free from desire and delusion have no consequences for karma.



Buddhism Dictionary: karma

(Sanskrit; Pāli, kamma, action). The doctrine of karma states the implications for ethics of the basic universal law of Dharma, one aspect of which is that freely chosen and intended moral acts inevitably entail consequences (Pāli, kamma-niyama). It is impossible to escape these consequences and no one, not even the Buddha, has the power to forgive evil deeds and short-circuit the consequences which inevitably follow. A wrongful thought, word, or deed is one which is committed under the influence of the three roots of evil (akuśala-mūla), while good deeds stem from the opposites of these, namely the three ‘virtuous roots’ (kuśala-mūla). These good or evil roots nourished over the course of many lives become ingrained dispositions which predispose the individual towards virtue or vice. Wrongful actions are designated in various ways as evil (pāpa), unwholesome (akuśala), demeritorious (apuṇya), or corrupt (saṃkliṣṭa), and such deeds lead inevitably to a deeper entanglement in the process of suffering and rebirth (saṃsāra). Karma determines in which of the six realms of rebirth one is reborn, and affects the nature and quality of individual circumstances (for example, physical appearance, health, and prosperity). According to Buddhist thought the involvement of the individual in saṃsāra is not the result of a ‘Fall’, or due to ‘original sin’ through which human nature became flawed. Each person, accordingly, has the final responsibility for his own salvation and the power of free will with which to choose good or evil.



Asian Mythology: Karman

For Hindus (see Hinduism) and Jains (see Jainism), karman (karma is the nominative Sanskrit form) originally referred to proper ritual actions, but the term has come to denote past actions that will affect what happens to a person in various h***s or paradises after death and in the individual's particular rebirth or reincarnation. Literally, what one is now is the result of what one did in the past and what one is now contains seeds for the future. According to the Law of Karman, life is a series of deaths and rebirths determined by one's past actions. To achieve true liberation from the cycle of life (see Saṃsāra), one must theoretically achieve total nonaction, total negation of karman.

Buddhists (see Buddhism) also consider that a person's situation is determined by his or her karman, and that good karman can in some ways eliminate the results of bad karman.



Columbia Encyclopedia: karma

or karman (kär'mə, kär'mən) , [Skt.,=action, work, or ritual], basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The doctrine of karma states that one's state in this life is a result of actions (both physical and mental) in past incarnations, and action in this life can determine one's destiny in future incarnations. Karma is a natural, impersonal law of moral cause and effect and has no connection with the idea of a supreme power that decrees punishment or forgiveness of sins. Karmic law is universally applicable, and only those who have attained liberation from rebirth, called mukti (or moksha) or nirvana, can transcend it. Karma yoga (see yoga), the spiritual discipline of detachment from the results of action, is a famous teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita.

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Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia: Karma

A doctrine common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Theosophy, although not wholly adopted by Theosophists as taught in the other two religions. The word karma itself means "action," but implies both action and reaction. All actions have consequences, some immediate, some delayed, others in future incarnations, according to Eastern beliefs. Thus individuals bear responsibility for all their actions and cannot escape the consequences, although bad actions can be expiated by good ones.

Action is not homogeneous, but on the contrary contains three elements: the thought, which conceives the action; the will, which finds the means of accomplishment; and the union of thought and will, which brings the action to fruition. It is plain, therefore, that thought has potential for good or evil, for as the thought is, so will the action be. The miser, thinking of avarice, is avaricious; the libertine, thinking of vice, is vicious; and, conversely, one thinking of virtuous thoughts shows virtue in his or her actions.

There is also a viewpoint which believes that karma comes not from the action itself, but the beliefs and feelings which motivate or allow the action. "The law of karma is not a justice and retribution system, so anyone who has had much suffering in this life is not a victim of 'bad karma,' but simply finds themselves in predicaments that are simply the result of their own beliefs about themselves."

Arising from such teaching is the attention devoted to thought power. Using the analogy of the physical body, which can be developed by regimen and training based on natural scientific laws, Theosophists teach that character, in a similar way, can be scientifically built up by exercising the mind.

Every vice is considered evidence of lack of a corresponding virtue—avarice, for instance, shows the absence of generosity. Instead of accepting that an individual is naturally avaricious, Theosophists teach that constant thought focused on generosity will in time change the individual's nature in that respect. The length of time necessary for change depends on at least two factors: the strength of thought and the strength of the vice; the vice may be the sum of the indulgence of many ages and therefore difficult to eradicate.

The doctrine of karma, therefore, must be considered not in relation to one life only, but with an understanding of reincarnation. In traditional Hinduism individuals were seen as immersed in a world of illusion, called maya. In this world, distracted from the real world of spirit, one performs acts, and those actions create karma—consequences. In traditional teaching the goal of life was to escape karma. There was little difference between good and bad karma. Karma kept one trapped in the world of illusion.

During the nineteenth century, Western notions of evolution of life and the moral order were influenced by Indian teachings. Some began to place significance upon good karma as a means of overcoming bad karma. The goal gradually became the gaining of good karma, rather than escape. Such an approach to reincarnation and karma became popular in Theosophy and Spiritism, a form of Spiritualism.

Western scholars have often mistakenly viewed karma and fate as the same concept. Fate, however, is the belief that the path of one's life is established by agencies outside oneself. Karma is the opposite, implying the ability to alter one's path of life—in a future life if not the present—by altering one's feelings and beliefs, and by engaging in positive practices. "It is the coward and the fool who says this is fate," goes the Sanskrit proverb. "But it is the strong man who stands up and says, "I will make my fate."

According to this view, reincarnation is carried on under the laws of karma and evolution. The newborn baby bears within it the seeds of former lives. His or her character is the same as it was in past existences, and so it will continue unless the individual changes it, which he or she has the power to do. Each succeeding existence finds that character stronger in one direction or another. If it is evil the effort to change it becomes increasingly difficult; indeed a complete change may not be possible until many lifetimes of effort have passed. In cases such as these, temptation may be too strong to resist, yet the individual who has knowledge of the workings of karma will yield to evil only after a desperate struggle; thus, instead of increasing the power of the evil, he helps to destroy its potency. Only in the most rare cases can an individual free himself with a single effort.

The karmic goal in reincarnation, however, is said not necessarily to raise the soul to a higher plain of existence, but entreat enlightenment to reign at whichever level of existence the soul happens to find itself. "Many…see the process of enlightenment as "ascension"; it is in fact more true to say that it is a process of descension, that is bringing the light down to all levels."

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Answer 9

I Think Karama Was Like When You Find Your Like Inner Person A Bit Like Meditation Hoepe This Helped x

Answer 10

Karma is CAUSE and EFFECT.  like if you do something whether it be good or bad, you will always get an effect.  Kind of like "you reap what you sow".  

some people look at karma in a negative way but it's also positive.  some people do get away with stuff but karma may fall back on their family and friends.  cause and effect.

Answer 11

Karma is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies

The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others. The results or 'fruits' of actions are called karma-phala. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.

All living creatures are responsible for their karma — their actions and the effects of their actions — and for their release from samsara. The concept can be traced back to the early Upanishads.

The Esoteric Christian tradition, Essenian and later Rosicrucian schools teach it as the "Law of Cause and Consequence Effect". However, this western esoteric tradition adds that the essence of the teachings of Christ is that the law of sin and death may be overcome by the Love of God, which will restore immortality.