Karma is an exceedingly central concern in the Darma, the Buddha's teachings.

Most of us have heard the word,

and we have a vague idea that a lot of us believe that it has something to do with what goes around comes around or something like that.

That if you act unskillfully, in some way you'll be repaid in kind.

Karma is more than just a causal law.

It's actually in spiritual practice. It's a kind of a refuge. It's a resource. It's a guiding principle in life. It's a way of orienting ourselves with other people.

It serves so many purposes, especially given the fact that Buddhism could be considered to be an atheist spiritual tradition in the sense that while the Buddha never said that

gods don't exist but it's very clear that he taught that God's even if they do exist cannot rescue us from our

suffering. That suffering is something that is largely a concern of how we use our own minds and how we act.

And that rather than look towards a God or a deity

to heal our emotional wounds and undo our guilt or shame or repair, the damages in life that it's our responsibility in some way to address.

So to step in and take the place of where in most spiritual paths God as the kind of Santa Claus plays a role.

If you're good, you get ice cream and you get to go to heaven. And if you're bad, you don't get ice cream, I gather, and you go to hell.

So to step into that to create a kind of moral foundation for life and a sense of order to the way we

interpret the universe,

karma is essentially a central concern.

So karma is actually, to be clear,

the word actually means action results is the word vipaka we

talk about karma we never talk about vipaka but actually Vipaka is the end results of your actions.

Some people believe that karma is the central factor that authors your future

rebirths. So the way you act in this life your future reburts.

So the way you act in this life pays and determines what quality of life

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