Karma in Tibetan Buddhism
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Karma in Tibetan Buddhism is one of the central issues addressed in Eastern philosophy, and an important part of its general practice. In Tibetan Buddhism, karma is created by physical actions, speech, and even thoughts. There is no concept of good nor bad karma—simply karma. Tibetan Buddhism teaches that every creature has transmigrated helplessly since beginningless time under the influence of ignorance and that their lack of understanding has led to performance of actions that have created connections with cyclic existence. To break this pattern, one must reorient their thinking to accord with reality.[1] Tibetan Buddhism draws on the current human intellect for problem solving as opposed to a higher deity or power.
Karma literally means "action," but it refers to action in a comprehensive way that includes thoughts, words, and deeds. Furthermore, it includes all the effects of these various kinds of action, both the immediate and visible effects and the long-term and invisible effects. Karma is the force that connects all the moments of life to each other and all things to each other.[2]
In terms of a person's own motivations and aspirations, the issue of others' karmic results is scarcely relevant. The importance is his or her own intention.[3] Karma is a dependent entity-—one whose forces are a direct result of one’s thoughts, actions, and words. According to Tibetan Buddhism, the Buddha taught that one’s present life is only one in a beginningless series of incarnations, and each of these is determined by one’s actions in previous lives.[1] Tibetan Buddhist philosophy believes that we are born again after we die, and subsequently, the karma we create in past lives is carried into our next. The Tibetan Buddhist concept of karma is similar to Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which holds that for every action there is a concordant reaction. This is presented as a universal law that has nothing to do with abstract ideas of justice, reward, or punishment.[1] Karma, whether one is aware of it or not, is constantly being created. Tibetan Buddhism teaches that karma can have immediate reactions, or reactions may come later in life, in a future life, or in the bardo interval between lives, which creates the basis for the form in which the next life will take. By understanding the ball-and-chain relationship between karma and the individual, one can better understand Tibetan Buddhism as a whole.