Karma
Karma is, in the traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, the law of moral causality according to which every action produces consequences for its author, in this life or in subsequent lives. The word literally means act or action.
Origin and etymology
The Sanskrit word karman is derived from the verbal root kr-, to do. The concept appears in the Upanishads (c. 800-500 BCE), notably the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, which establishes the relationship between actions and destiny. Early Buddhism, from the historical Buddha in the 6th-5th century BCE onward, took up and nuanced the concept: for Buddhism, it is intention (cetana) more than the material act that produces karma. Jainism attributes a quasi-physical dimension to karma: it is a subtle matter that attaches to the soul and weighs it down. The Western diffusion of the concept dates from the 19th century, through translations of Sanskrit texts and the influence of the Theosophical Society founded in 1875.
Evolution and tradition
Schools diverge in their conception of karma. Classical Hinduism distinguishes three types: sanchita karma (accumulated from past lives), prarabdha karma (ripening in this life), kriyamana karma (being created now). Buddhism rejects the idea of a permanent soul that would carry karma, but maintains causal continuity. Jainism proposes liberation through strict asceticism that dissolves accumulated karma. The Theosophical Society with Helena Blavatsky popularized in the West a moralizing reading of karma as automatic cosmic justice, a simplification often far from the original doctrines. Contemporary New Age offers even looser versions.
Practical use
In contemporary spirituality, karma serves as a conceptual frame for understanding the difficulties encountered and orienting actions toward beneficial effects. On Tarotoui, karma is documented among the traditional spiritual concepts. Some tarot or numerology readings evoke karmic debts or karmic lessons, readings inherited from theosophy. The practical ethics drawn from karma often reduce to paying attention to the consequences of actions and to the quality of intention. This general ethics is compatible with many spiritual and philosophical traditions.
Going further
Confusing karma with fatalism is a common Western distortion. The Indian doctrine of karma does not teach strict determinism: it recognizes the freedom of present action, which modifies the karmic course. Note also that the moralizing reading (you deserve what happens to you) is less faithful to the sources than the phenomenological reading (acts leave traces, internal and relational). The metaphysical status of karma remains a matter of belief, not of demonstration.