Kamma [ Pali ] or Karma [ Sanskrit ] is derived from the root " kham ". It means to do, to commit or to perform. Literally, kamma means action, something we do or perform. According to the Buddhist doctrine, not all actions are designated kamma.
" Only those actions that are volitionally motivated by intention or cetana, under a mental factor [ cetasik ] of consciousness are called Kamma.
For example, the simple act of eating or drinking is not kamma because it is indeterminate action by nature. But eating with mindfulness and clarity of mind as a form of meditative practice is wholesome deed or kamma. Drinking intoxicants that cloud the mind and produce heedlessness is morally unwholesome, as is borne out by the crime or violence that are associated with such consumption.
Professor Carl Gustav Jung, the eminent psychologist, has conceded that it is something worthy of serious study. He observed ; " As a student of comparative religions, I believe that Buddhism is the most perfect one the world has ever seen. The philosophy of the Buddha, the theory of evolution, and the Law of Kamma were far superior to any other creed. "
The doctrine of kamma is based on the principle of causality or the law of cause and effect. It is the natural law of morality, which asserts that an intentional action will lead to a result proportionate in the nature and intensity to that intention. Kamically productions are those which are based on skilful, or wholesome [ kusala ]and unskilful, or unwholesome action [ akusala ]. A skilful action produces a result which is desirable, good, happy, while an unskil ful deed brings about just the opposite.
Often the word kamma is used not in reference to an intentional action, but also, wrongly, to indicate the result thereof. This kind of confusion is common even among the educated, not to mention the untrained who tend to be rather indiscreet in their choice of terms. Kamma means an action, never its result, that Pali calls vipaka.
Skilful or unskilful intention constitutes the motivation underlying the performance of an action. When there is an intention to perform kamma, it arises volitional energy that provides a moving force for such action whether wholesome or unwholesome, depending on the kind of volition at the moment. This action may be expressed through any of the three channels of body, speech, and mind. In fact, it is intention that conditions man's action and constitutes the basis for all mental formations.
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teachings
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