Cause and Effect: A Study on the Concept of Karma in the Buddhist Tradition

Authors

  • Dorji Phuntsho Khasadrapchu Middle Secondary School, Ministry of Education and Skills Development

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17102/bjrd.rub.12.1.0033

Keywords:

Karma, Cause and effect, the Buddhist tradition, doctrine, Buddhist ethics, existence

Abstract

The most fundamental aspect of the Buddhist tradition is the concept of Karma. Karma is the basis of Buddhist ethics and principles that maintain that the entire universe is bound to a similar law. Our actions will decide what will happen to us, for we caused it. The current state of our existence is with our past Karma, and the present action will determine our future condition of existence. Karma is a special instance of cause and effect, according to which all our actions of body, speech, and mind are causes and all our experiences are their effects. The Law of Karma explains why each individual has a unique mental disposition, a unique physical appearance, and unique experiences. These are the various effects of the countless actions that each individual has performed in the past. We cannot find any two people who have created the same history of actions throughout their past lives. So we cannot find two people with identical states of mind, identical experiences, and identical physical appearances. Therefore, each person has different individual Karma, and each individual has to face the action of one's own Karma. Thus, the significance of this study is to determine the true concept of karma and its implication beyond our life in the Buddhist tradition.

Author Biography

Dorji Phuntsho, Khasadrapchu Middle Secondary School, Ministry of Education and Skills Development

Dorji Phuntsho is a teacher at Khasadrapchu Middle Secondary School in Thimphu, Bhutan. He has done his M.A. in Buddhist Studies, Philosophy, and Comparative Religions from India and a Bachelor of Education in Dzongkha from Paro College of Education. He has authored two books, and a few more books remain unpublished today amidst the covid pandemic. He has even published three peer-reviewed research papers in reputed international journals, and a few more papers are ongoing. His areas of research interest centered on education, Buddhist studies, comparative religions, Buddhist Archeology and culture, and Buddhist and Indian philosophy. He is currently the country manager or representative in one of the international indexing journals of IJESIR-Novus's Italy. He is an active scout Wood badge leader and 32nd batch Desuup (A Guardians of Peace) with running eleven years of teaching experience in the field of Tibetan language classes ranking from preprimary to ten standards as of today.

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Published

11-06-2023

How to Cite

Phuntsho, D. . (2023). Cause and Effect: A Study on the Concept of Karma in the Buddhist Tradition. Bhutan Journal of Research and Development, 12(1), 32–37. https://doi.org/10.17102/bjrd.rub.12.1.0033