Editing Karma (section)

==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 his or her 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 his or her 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>