What is Kamma?
The Pali word kamma (karma in Sanskrit) literally means action or doing. Any kind of volitional action, whether mental, verbal or physical is regarded as kamma. All such actions produce results (kamma vipaka) which the doer experiences. Unwholesome, selfish actions always result in painful feelings and perceptions whereas the results of wholesome actions are pleasant. Buddhism does not support the view that it is a law of ‘moral justice’ or ‘reward and punishment’, as there is no external agency that dispenses justice. Rather, kamma is a natural process of cause and effect in the ethical domain.
