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Karma and Buddhism

I am a firm believer in the time tested statement "what goes around, comes around."

Hearing this phrase when I was younger was the first time I have ever heard anything remotely

related to the idea of karma. Most writings that are based around the idea of karma highlight a

close relationship of our actions as people and the results their yield. The idea of karma is not an

original Buddhist idea, rather that it being a crucial aspect of Hinduism that transcended its way

to its distant cousin. In Karma and Its Fruit in the book The Buddha and His Teachings,

Buddhist scholar Nyanponika Thera goes over the seemingly double-edged blade that is the

Buddhist idea of Karma, an idea that our karmic actions do not only just affect the doer of the

action, but the object of the deed as well. The author goes over the different concepts of karma,

especially its modifiability, and the concept of how character affects karmic gain or loss.

If one asks a general population about what their idea of karma is, many of them will

answer with the same answer. These people have the generalized preconceived notion that karma

is a give-and-get idea, where if you do something, you will receive the equivalent one way or

another. Although correct in some circumstances, this "eye for an eye" idea is not really the case

in the idea of Buddhist karma. The Buddhist idea of karma is not as rigid as many people would

like to believe. A key aspect to karma in the mind of the Buddhists is its sense of modifiability.

Modifiability of karma is a basic idea that the magnitude of the results of an action do not

necessarily have to agree with what deed was done before hand. For example, if one was to

murder a person, they will not be murdered by another person. In the text, the author quotes the

Buddha, who states that "if one says that a person who performs a karmic action that is variable

experienceable, will reap its results accordingly. in that case there will be a religious life and an
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opportunity for making a complete end of suffering." In this quote, the Buddha explains validates

the idea of karma modification. Without it, liberation from the samsaric cycle of suffering would

be impossible, which would defeat the entire purpose of Buddhist philosophy. Modifiability of

karma is a crucial aspect to Buddhism; without it, there would be no possible way to attain

spiritual enlightenment.

Another aspect of the modifiability of Buddhist karma that the author reflects on that is

important is the idea of character being a deciding factor of ultimate karmic gain or loss. Take

the analogy of two people who commit a minor societal offense, in the setting of human law.

One person is a model citizen, who has never wronged in his life, the other being a person who is

used to a life of crime. After the same offense had been committed, society might turn its cheek

on the model citizen, but deem the low-life as a nuisance, and throw them in jail. This brings up

an idea of a "karma bank" that bases the consequences of deeds and actions around prior karmic

actions. A single offense may not bear weighty results on a person who holds virtuous qualities,

as to someone who is poor in virtue. However, this isn't the only condition that can cause

modification.