karma

The myriad things you do to others
will return for you yourself to undergo. (FHS )

According with the karma that is done,
That is the way the retribution is born.
The doer is non-existent.
This is what is spoken by all Buddhas.
(FAS Ch10 )

Who plants mangoes, mangoes shall he eat.
Who plants thorn-bushes, thorns shall wound his feet.
(Indian proverb, quoted Keyes, Karma, p. 49)

Because of ignorance, living beings create karma. The word 'karma' means activity, activity that is based upon desire and governed by the law of cause and effect (see causation). For every good and bad act of the body, of speech, and of thought performed in the present, there is a corresponding result which is experienced in the future. In every moment we experience the results of our past body-, speech- and thought- karma and simultaneously create new karma which will bear fruit in the future. Thus karma is the primary force which keeps us in the cycle of rebirth, continually being reborn in the various realms of existence (see Six Paths of Rebirth).

The law of karma clearly explains why people undergo seemingly unwarranted rewards and retributions. Everything that happens to us, whether good or bad, has a reason, a cause, in the past.

Ananda, these living beings who do not recognize the fundamental mind all undergo rebirth for limitless aeons. They do not attain true purity, because they keep getting involved in killing, stealing, and lust, or because they counter them and are born according to their not killing, not stealing, and lack of lust. If these three kinds of karma are present in them, they are born among the troops of ghosts. If they are free of these three kinds of karma, they are born in the destiny of the gods. The incessant fluctuation between the presence and absence of these three kinds of karma gives rise to the cycle of rebirth. (SS VII )

"Karma is a Sanskrit term that refers to that which is made by the activity of body, speech, or mind. What is the difference between 'cause' and 'karma'? Cause refers to a single incident; karma is a long accumulation of causes. There are many causes and conditions that constitute karma, and each being has his own karma. Therefore, the states encountered by living beings differ. Some encounter great joy because they planted good seeds long ago, while others must endure a great deal of hardship, always living in difficult situations, because they have only sown bad causes. In general, if you plant good seeds, you reap good fruit; if you plant bad seeds, you reap bad fruit.

"Good deeds and bad are done by you alone, and no one forces you to do either. Even the work of becoming a Buddha is something to which you alone must apply effort; no one else can make you do it, and nobody can do it for you. If you do the work, you will plant the seeds of Buddhahood... If you do the deeds, the karma, of Buddhas, you will be a Buddha in the future; if you do the deeds of demons, you will become a demon." (SPV 101-102)

If you care to know of past lives' causes,
Look at the rewards you are reaping today.
If you wish to find out about future lives,
You need but notice what you're doing right now.
(Sutra on Cause and Effect, FHS 32)

"Living beings' ignorance leads them to act in upside-down ways, and their various upside-down acts create various kinds of karma. According to their various kinds of karma, they undergo various retributions. Why do people do evil things: it is because of their ignorance, their lack of understanding, their delusions. Their delusions lead to the creation of bad karma, and since they create bad karma they undergo the retribution of suffering. It is a three part process: delusion, leading to the creation of bad karma, which leads to the retribution of suffering... You can't say which precedes the other; they follow after one another in continuous revolution, life after life, aeon after aeon. Where would you say it all began? There is no beginning. It's an endless cycle on the spinning wheel of the six paths of rebirth.

"Each of us born here in the world is like a mote of dust which suddenly rises high, suddenly falls low, suddenly goes up and suddenly descends. When your actions are good and meritorious you are born higher. When you do things which create offenses, you fall. Therefore, we people should do good things and perform meritorious deeds. Don't do things which create offenses, because this world runs on the principle of cause and effect, the law of karma. And 'the seeds of karma naturally run their course': you undergo a (reward or) retribution for whatever you do... ." (SS I 172-173)

"You Can't Take It With You"

"Once there was a fabulously wealthy old man who had a beautiful wife and three fine, intelligent sons. But from the time this man had been born, he didn't pay any attention to anything but money. He ignored his father, his mother, and his brothers and sisters. The only thing he didn't ignore was money. He knew money like the back of his hand. It was his best friend and closest relative. He even wrote a verse about it:

What heaven has conferred is called

'Money'. According to this money it is

called 'money'. Money . . . ah . . . may not

be left for a moment.

Actually, this is a rather perverted take-off on the first chapter of the Chinese classic, The Doctrine of the Mean, which reads, 'That which has been conferred by heaven is called the nature; according with the nature is called the path. . . . The path may not be left for a moment.'

"He named his oldest son 'Gold'. His second son he named 'Silver'. He decided to give his third son an unusual name and called him 'Karmic Obstacle.' When his third son had grown up and he himself was already old, he got sick. He was completely bedridden and couldn't walk. Although he was very rich, after he was sick for some time, no one looked after him. His beautiful wife kept her distance, and his intelligent sons never came to visit him. He gritted his teeth and thought, 'I hope I hurry up and die. But being dead alone in King Yama's den will be very lonely. I should take someone with me.' He called for his wife and said, 'I'm not going to recover from this lingering illness. I hope to die soon. Won't you go with me?'

"'How can you ask a thing like that?' she said. 'Nobody can die for anyone else. How could you expect me to want to go along with you? Are you sure you haven't lost your marbles?'

"And so the old man called his eldest son. 'Gold,' he said, 'I have always loved you the most. Did you know that?'

"'Yes, father,' said his son. "I know you love me the most.'

"'Well, son, I'm going to die. Would you go along with me?'

"'You old blockhead!' came the reply. 'You're an old man. I'm young. How can you ask me to do something like that? And you claim to be fond of me. If you were, you wouldn't ask me to die with you!' And he ran off.

"Then the old man spoke to his second son, 'Silver, wont' you die with me?'

"'You're really messed up,' said his son. 'How can you expect me to die just because you are dying?'

"There was nothing the man could do but call for his youngest son, Karmic Obstacle. 'You are the youngest,' he said. 'I love you the most. I could die, but I can't bear to part with you. What am I going to do? He didn't dare ask outright for his son to go with him, but the boy caught on right away.

"'If you love me so much, I'll go with you,' said his son. The old man was delighted.

"'You haven't let me down,' he said. 'I always liked you best, and now I know you are my most filial son.'

"His pretty wife wouldn't go with him, and his sons Gold and Silver wouldn't go. The only one who went with his father to the hells was his young son Karmic Obstacle. And so it is said:

You can't take your gold and silver

With you on your dying day;

But your karmic obstacles

Stick with you all the way! . . ."

(DFS I 48-50)

No One Can Escape His/Her Karma

And there were the mighty King Crystal . . . . Crystal exterminated the Gautama clan. [He] sank into the unintermittent hell while still alive. (SS VII 86)

"King Crystal and the Buddha were supposedly relatives, though in fact they were not. King Crystal's father, also a king, wanted to marry into the Gautama clan. Since the Gautama clan was a more honorable one than the king's, the members of the Gautama clan did not like the idea. No one wanted to give a daughter to the king in marriage, but they didn't dare refuse outright, because the king was powerful. A refusal might have resulted in a lot of trouble. Finally they decided among themselves to send one of their servant girls, a particularly beautiful one, and pretend she was of the Gautama clan. King Crystal was an offspring of that marriage.

"Once, while the king was still a child, someone built a temple for the Buddha, complete with an elaborate Dharma Seat.. When the seat was finished, but before the Buddha himself had ascended the platform to sit on it and speak Dharma, the child who was to become King Crystal climbed up and sat on it. The Buddha's disciples and the donors who saw him all scolded him, saying, 'You're the son of a slave; how dare you sit in the Buddha's seat?' Hearing them call him that, he was outraged, and he said to his attendant, 'Wait until I am king and then remind me of what was said here today, lest I forget it. People from the Gautama clan say I'm the son of a slave. Remind me of that. I intend to get even.'

"Later, when he was king, his attendant did remind him, and the king issued an edict that the entire Gautama clan was to be exterminated, including the Buddha himself. When Mahamaudgalyayana got wind of this, he went to the Buddha to report. 'We have to think of away to save them,' he said. But the Buddha didn't say anything. And so Maudgalyayana loosed his spiritual powers, put five hundred members of the Gautama clan into his precious bowl, and sent them to the heavens. He thought they would be safe there. When the king had completed the extermination, Maudgalyayana told Shakyamuni Buddha, 'I've got five hundred Gautamans in a bowl stashed away in the heavens, and so the clan isn't totally gone after all. I'll bring them down now and let them go.' But when he had recalled them and took a look at his bowl, he found nothing there but blood. "Why was I unable to save them?' asked the puzzled Maudgalyayana. He wanted the Buddha to explain the causes and conditions.

"'Ah, you don't know,' said the Buddha, "On the causal ground, a long time ago, at a place where the weather was hot, there was a pool with schools of fish in it. The two leaders of the schools were named Bran and Many Tongues. The water in the pool evaporated in the intense heat, and since the people in the area didn't have anything else to eat, they ate the fish. In the end there was just a mud-hole, but even then they noticed a movement in the mud. Digging in, they found the two big fish-kings--Bran and Many Tongues. At that time, I, Shakyamuni Buddha, was a child among these people, who were later to become the Gautama clan. Seeing that the two fish were about to be devoured alive, I beat them over the head three times with a club to knock them out first.' That is why in his life as a Buddha he had to endure a three-day headache as retribution. 'Further, the fish Bran was the present King Crystal, and the fish Many Tongues was his attendant who reminded him of the words spoken by the Gautama clan to the king as a child. And so it was fated that he would exterminate the Gautama clan.' Even though Shakyamuni had become a Buddha, he could not rescue his people from the fixed karma they were destined to repay."

1) Chinese Mandarin: ye and also [py] yángshí     [wg] yang-shih     羊石,  (Chinese Character Source: Muller DDB, 2007)
2) Sanskrit: karma,   3) Pali: kamma,   4) Alternate Translations: action, deeds, occupation,   5) Tibetan: lä    (Tibetan Source: HH Dalai Lama Illuminating, 2002, p. 200)

See also: rebirth, causation, God, repentance and reform.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: karma--FHS 22-32 (Sutra of Cause and Effect in the Three Periods of Time)=CL II; SPV 101-2; SS I 172-173; SS II 139-159.

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 117-120)
 

"Intentional (but not necessarily conscious) action; the working of cause and effect, whereby positive (virtuous) actions produce happiness and negative (non-virtuous) actions produce suffering." (Source: HH Dalai Lama Illuminating, 2002, p. 200)

Source: http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/tamil/

karma 報應, 羊石

karman 羯摩

karmic defilement 業染

karmic impressions 習氣

karmic impressions of affliction 煩惱習

karmic impressions of deluded attachment 妄執習氣

karmic impressions of ignorance 無明氣

karmic impressions that function without specific limitations 通習氣

karmic mental function 心作

karmic momentum 習氣力

karmic power of the great vows 大願業力

(Source: Muller DDB, 2007: http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb/indexes/term-en.html)

羊石

Meanings:

Senses:

(Source: Muller DDB, 2007: http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?7f.xml+id('b7f8a-77f3'))

報應

Meanings:

Senses:

果

Meanings:

Senses:

(Source: Muller DDB, 2007: http://buddhism-dict.net/cgi-bin/xpr-ddb.pl?67.xml+id('b679c'))

What is karma?

How are we responsible for our own karma? And can we change it?

The question of destiny or karma has greatly preoccupied philosophers in both the West and the East. One Western theory is that when we are born our lives are like a sheet of paper on which nothing is written. Each life then develops as a result of its surroundings and the forces acting on it - parents, friends, society, the dominant culture, and so on.

Buddhism, however, teaches the eternity of life; that we have lived countless lives already. This means that we are not born as blank pages, but pages on which countless impressions have already been made. According to Buddhism, life is forever existing in the cosmos; sometimes it is manifest and sometimes latent. Just as when we sleep and then awaken; our conscious mind awakens and our body feels refreshed. Between the sleeping and awakening, our consciousness carries on in a sub-conscious state. Similarly one's life continues eternally in alternating states of life and death. Death is as much a part of living as sleep is part of the process of living.

Karma is thus the accumulation of effects from the good and bad causes that we bring with us from our former lives, as well as from the good and bad causes we have made in this lifetime, which shapes our future. Karma is a Sanskrit word that means 'action'. Karma is created by actions - our thoughts, words and deeds - and manifests itself in our appearance, behavior, attitudes, good and bad fortune, where we are born or live - in short, everything about us. It is all the positive and negative influences or causes that make up our complete reality in this world.

Unlike some other philosophies though, Buddhism does not consider one's karma or destiny to be fixed; since our minds change from moment to moment, even the habitual and destructive tendencies we all possess to varying degrees can be altered. In other words, Buddhism teaches that individuals have within themselves the potential to change their own karma.

All that we do in one lifetime affects the negative and positive balance of our karma. For example, if we are born poor in this lifetime and spend our life giving to others whatever we can give, we are making causes to change the negative karma of being poor. On the other hand, if we spend our life envying or hating or even stealing from others, we are adding to our negative balance of karma.

Buddhism teaches we have all amassed karma throughout countless lives and that we not only experience the effects of this karma now, but we continue to recreate it. However, the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin teaches that there is an area of our life that is more profound than our karma - our Buddhahood or Buddha nature. The purpose of our Buddhist practice is to reveal this area and to allow its pure life force to purify our lives and change our karma at the deepest level.

As SGI President Daisaku Ikeda explains: "It is the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin that enables the pure life force of the Buddha state, which has existed within us since time without beginning, to well forth in unceasing currents. It changes all the tragic causes and effects that lie between and unveils the pure causes and effects which exist from the beginningless past towards the present and the future. This is liberation from the heavy shackles of destiny we have carried from the past. This is the establishment of free individuals in the truest sense of the term."

Source: http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/faqs/karma.html

 

karma

[業] (Skt; Pali kamma; Jpn go )

Potentials in the inner, unconscious realm of life created through one's actions in the past or present that manifest themselves as various results in the present or future. Karma is a variation of the Sanskrit karman, which means act, action, a former act leading to a future result, or result. Buddhism interprets karma in two ways: as indicating three categories of action, i.e., mental, verbal, and physical, and as indicating a dormant force thereby produced. That is, one's thought, speech, and behavior, both good and bad, imprint themselves as a latent force or potential in one's life. This latent force, or karma, when activated by an external stimulus, produces a corresponding good or bad effect, i.e., happiness or suffering. There are also neutral acts that produce neither good nor bad results. According to this concept of karma, one's actions in the past have shaped one's present reality, and one's actions in the present will in turn influence one's future. This law of karmic causality operates in perpetuity, carrying over from one lifetime to the next and remaining with one in the latent state between death and rebirth. It is karma, therefore, that accounts for the circumstances of one's birth, one's individual nature, and in general the differences among all living beings and their environments. It was traditionally viewed as a natural process in which no god or deity could intervene. The Hindu gods, in fact, were subject to the same law of karma as people, having become gods supposedly through the creation of good karma. The idea of karma predates Buddhism and was already prevalent in Indian society well before the time of Shakyamuni. This pre-Buddhist view of karma, however, had an element of determinism, serving more to explain one's lot in life and compel one to accept it than inspiring hope for change or transformation. The Brahmans, who were at the top of the Indian class structure by birth, may well have emphasized this view to secure their own role. The idea of karma was further developed, however, in the Buddhist teachings. Shakyamuni maintained that what makes a person noble or humble is not birth but one's actions. Therefore the Buddhist doctrine of karma is not fatalistic. Rather, karma is viewed not only as a means to explain the present, but also as the potential force through which to influence one's future. Mahayana Buddhism holds that the sum of actions and experiences of the present and previous lifetimes are accumulated and stored as karma in the depths of life and will form the framework of individual existence in the next lifetime. Buddhism therefore encourages people to create the best possible karma in the present in order to ensure the best possible outcome in the future. In terms of time, some types of karma produce effects in the present lifetime, others in the next lifetime, and still others in subsequent lifetimes. This depends on the nature, intensity, and repetitiveness of the acts that caused them. Only those types of karma that are extremely good or bad will last into future existences. The other, more minor, types will produce results in this lifetime. Those that are neither good nor bad will bring about no results. Karma is broadly divided into two types: fixed and unfixed. Fixed karma is said to produce a fixed result—that is, for any given fixed karma there is a specific effect that will become manifest at a specific time. In the case of unfixed karma, any of various results or general outcomes might arise at an indeterminate time. Irrespective of these differences, the Buddhist philosophy of karma, particularly that of Mahayana Buddhism, is not fatalistic. No ill effect is so fixed or predetermined that good karma from Buddhist practice in the present cannot transform it for the better. Moreover, any type of karma needs interaction with the corresponding conditions to become manifest. See also fixed karma; unfixed karma.

 

immutable karma

[定業] (Jpn jogo )

See fixed karma.

 

fixed karma

[定業] (Jpn jogo )

Also, immutable karma. The opposite of unfixed karma. Karma that inevitably produces a fixed or set result, whether negative or positive. The Dharma Analysis Treasury lists the four causes of fixed karma. They are (1) actions motivated by exceptionally strong earthly desires or by a profoundly pure mind; (2) actions, whether good or evil, done habitually; (3) actions, whether good or evil, performed in relation to such sources of benefit as the three treasures of Buddhism; and (4) actions causing harm to one's parents. Fixed karma may also be interpreted as karma whose effects are destined to appear at a fixed time. In this case, fixed karma may be of three types depending on when its effects will appear: (1) karma whose effects are destined to appear in the same lifetime; (2) karma whose effects are destined to appear in the next lifetime; and (3) karma whose effects are destined to appear in a third or even later lifetime. As a general rule, lighter karma is said to manifest itself in the same lifetime that it was created, while exceptionally good or bad karma will be carried over into subsequent lifetimes. Fixed karma was traditionally considered unchangeable, but Nichiren states in his writing On Prolonging One's Life Span, "Karma also may be divided into two categories: fixed and unfixed. Sincere repentance will eradicate even fixed karma, to say nothing of karma that is unfixed" (954).

 

mutable karma

[不定業] (Jpn fujo-go )

See unfixed karma.

 

unfixed karma

[不定業] (Jpn fujo-go )

Also, mutable karma. The opposite of fixed karma. Karma that does not necessarily produce a speci-fic kind of result or reward, or yields an effect that is not destined to appear at or within a certain fixed time. It is regarded as lighter and unhindered wisdom easier to change than fixed karma. See also fixed karma.

Source: http://www.sgilibrary.org/search_dict.php

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)

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www.Amitabha-Buddha.com, www.Amitabha-Sutra.com,
www.Bhaisajya-Guru.com, www.Medicine-Buddha.org,
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www.Samantabhadra-Bodhisattva.com, www.Ksitigarbha-Bodhisattva.com, www.Ksitigarbha.com,
www.Nagarjuna-Bodhisattva.com, www.Nalanda-University.com, www.Tibetan-Thangka.com,
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(as found in the scripture storehouse of the Indian Sanskrit-Siddham, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese traditions of the Nalanda Tradition of ancient Nalanda University) of Shakyamuni Buddha, and his Arya Sagely Bodhisattva Bhikshu Monk and Upasaka disciples. 

These Good and Wise Advisors (Kaliyanamitra) Dharma Master teachers include Arya Venerables Nagarjuna, Ashvaghosha, Aryasura,  Kumarajiva, Shantideva, Chandrakirti, Chandragomin, Vasubandhu, Asanga, Hui Neng, Atisha, Kamalashila, Dharmarakshita, Tsong Khapa, Thogme Zangpo, Patanjali, Sushruta, Charaka, Vagbhata, Nichiren, Hsu Yun, Hsuan Hua, Shen Kai, Tenzin Gyatso, Kyabje Zopa, Ajahn Chah, Vasant Lad, and other modern day masters.  We consider them to be in accord with Master Hsuan Hua’s "Seven Guidelines for Recognizing Genuine Teachers"

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At Nalanda Online University we practice daily and introduce you to (via downloadable multimedia MP3 audio and WMV video lectures) the teachings and practices of the Five Traditions transmitted by the Buddha Shakyamuni:

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See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

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5.  Pure Land Devotional School  (Bhakti Puja - Buddha-Bodhisattva Mindfulness and Nama Japa --
         Name Recitation of Buddhas Amitabha-Amitayus, Medicine Buddha - Bhaisajya Guru - Akshobhya,
         and Bodhisattvas: Avalokiteshvara-Guanyin-Chenrezig-Mahakala, Tara, Samantabhadra Universal Worthy,
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Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533  Paperback: 284 pages.  www.BTTSOnline.org     www.Amazon.com  
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118     http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw     

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007:  Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991.  296 pages.  ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5  www.Shambhala.com,   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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To increase by 100,000 times the merit created:
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To the far reaches of space in the ten directions,
May my behavior become just like that.

For as long as space remains,
And for as long as wandering beings remain,
May I too remain for that long,
Dispelling the sufferings of wandering beings.

(Like Ananda says in the Shurangama Sutra introduction to the Shurangama Mantra,
"And even could the nature of shunyata melt away, my vajra-like Supreme Resolve would still remain unmoved.)

Whatever sufferings wandering beings might have,
May all of them ripen on me,
And through the Bodhisattva assembly,
May wandering beings enjoy happiness.

May the teachings,
the sole medicine for the sufferings of wandering beings
And the source of all happiness,
Continue to endure for a very long time,
With material support and shows of respect.
 

Updated May 10, 2008