Thousands of years ago, when the first philosophical questions began to be written down, these concerns were not as concrete as they are today.

Ancient thinkers tried to answer very metaphysical and general questions, such as: what is the energy that guides everything that happens in nature in a coordinated way?

The concept of karma, born in Asia , is based on the idea that reality is articulated through a law of retribution according to which one obtains what is given in a moral sense.

What is karma?

In several religions and oriental philosophies such as Hinduism or Buddhism, karma is an all-enveloping energy that makes the moral actions performed have a return in the same style to the person who has done them. In other words, it is a kind of metaphysical compensation mechanism.

For example, if someone hurts someone, he does not have to be a victim of someone else’s abuse, but karma will ensure that the consequences of this action are also negative in nature and their intensity is in a similar proportion to the evil that has been done.

Somehow, the idea of karma introduces the idea of justice in the functioning of the world . A justice that imposes itself without us having to do anything about it. According to some currents of belief, karma is put into practice by divinities, while for other non-theistic religions such as Buddhism there is no god to operate this energy, but this way to stop you from reality, just like those mechanisms that are described by scientifically discovered natural laws.

Actions and consequences

The whole idea of karma is based on the belief that the consequences of our actions always correspond to the moral value they have . That is, that everything bad and everything good we do will come back to us in the form of consequences of the same value as the actions issued.

Moreover, actions that produce a certain karma are not only movements. For most Eastern philosophies and religions that have adopted this concept, thoughts also cost.

The origin of the concept

Etymologically, “karma” means “action” or “doing” . That is why it has not always been used with the metaphysical and religious meaning to which we are accustomed in the West.

It is believed that the first mention of karma as a concept related to retribution appeared in sacred Hindu texts in the 14th century BC. Specifically, is named in the book Chāndogya Upaniṣad , written in Sanskrit.

Due to its antiquity and the influence that Hindu cultures have had throughout history, the idea of karma has been adopted by several Asian societies and has merged with religions born in the south of the continent.

Types of karma

Traditionally, three types of karma have been considered to exist. They are as follows.

1. Prarabdha karma

The karma that is noted at the time the action is being performed . For example, when lying to a person, nerves cause one to speak in an unfamiliar way and nerves and shame appear.

2. Sanchita karma

The memories that have remained in our minds and have an effect on our future actions . For example, the sadness that comes from not having declared ourselves to someone and that makes us not give up expressing what we feel the next time we fall in love.

3. Agami karma

The effect that a present action will have in the future . For example, binges given for several weeks will make you worse off in the next few months.

The moral value of remuneration

These three types of karma are different facets of the same thing seen from different time perspectives. The Sanchita karma of the past produces the Prarabdha karma in the present, which generates the Agami karma in the times to come.

The three together form a sequence of causes and effects whose effects we cannot control . However, according to the way of thinking that uses the idea of karma, we can choose whether to do good or evil, that is, two types of cause-effect chains with a different moral value for us and for others.

Eastern philosophies and psychology

Karma and other concepts from Asia, such as Yin and Yang and meditation based on religious rituals, have become fashionable in certain forms of alternative therapy. However, it must be kept in mind that these ideas only make sense in a framework of beliefs without empirical basis and therefore it cannot be said that taking karma into account will allow us to make life treat us better. The concept of karma is not and cannot be reinforced by scientific discoveries.

It is true that believing in karma makes us experience reality differently (as with any new belief we adopt), but neither can we know if this change will be for the worse or for the better.