Karma

Origin and etymology

"Karma" comes from the Sanskrit karman, which means "action" or "act", derived from the root kṛ- ("to do"). It first appears in the Upanishads (Vedic texts of the first millennium BC) and develops in the great Indian traditions. The concept enters Buddhism with Siddhartha Gautama (5th century BC) and Jainism with Mahavira. Each tradition nuances it: Tibetan Buddhism deploys it as a sophisticated theory of transmigration; Zen Buddhism reduces its importance compared to immediate enlightenment.

In Western 20th-century New Age, karma was popularised as a general concept, sometimes simplified as "what goes around comes around". The richest version of the original tradition includes nuances: there is collective karma (family, nation, era), mature karma (already manifesting), latent karma (will wait for another life), and the possibility of "cleansing" karma with conscious actions and spiritual practices.

Types of karma

Traditional schools distinguish three types: Sanchita karma (sum total of acts of all past lives, stored), Prarabdha karma (the portion of Sanchita that manifests in this specific life — what is already in motion), and Agami / Kriyamana karma (what you generate with your present acts, which will affect the future). This taxonomy is important: it indicates that not everything you live now can be changed (prarabdha is in motion), but what you generate with each present action is in your hands.

In karmic numerology, certain numbers (13, 14, 16, 19) are interpreted as "karmic debts" of the soul: specific lessons that the soul did not finish in past lives and that the present life offers the chance to resolve. Each debt has a concrete pattern and a corresponding learning.

Karma and daily life

An important idea: karma is not divine punishment. There is no moral judge rewarding or punishing. It is impersonal natural law, like gravity: if you throw a stone upwards, it returns to you. The conscious practice of karma is: observe what patterns repeat in your life (sign of active karma), respond consciously instead of with automatic reaction, and choose acts that generate waves of peace rather than damage. Meditation, honesty and service are considered the great "cleansers" of karma.