The Sanskrit word karma means actions.
And actions themselves, for them to have any kind of
moral weight arise from intentions.
So the karmic, the quality of an action,
and how it therefore leads to a particular result,
depends not on the action itself per se,
but mostly from the motivation.
So karma is essentially an act of mind.
So for instance, impelled by a negative emotion,
one founded on self-centreredness,
an emotion such as aggression or desire,
that prompts us to unskillful actions,
actions which will lead inevitably to suffering.
For ourselves and of course in many cases, for other beings.
So they are, in that sense, non virtuous.
They do not lead to good results.
But actions that are prompted from an impulse,
from a motivation that has overcome aggression,
or overcome desire, those we call virtuous actions.
And they lead necessarily to positive results,
to happiness for ourselves and,
if they affect others, happiness for them.
So karma is action. Often in the West we think karma is
the result, we talk about it in that way,
but that is in Sanskrit vipāka, that means result.
So perhaps we should say 'actions as causes and their results'
and that then encapsulates everything we mean by
the term karma. But it is particularly important that we
understand that the thing that largely shapes
both the quality of the action
and it's outcome is motivation.
That doesn't mean, by the way, what we're saying
you know like it's not enough for
me to have a good intention, because we could
have a good intention, but if we hadn't examined
how this action will work, then we're doing
it under the influence of ignorance.
And ignorance is a non virtuous motivation for Buddhism
because ignorance is a refusal to examine cause and effect.
So a truly virtuous action is one that is done,
having overcome desire, hatred, and ignorance.
So merely having the right intention
and a kind of sentimental, approximate, emotional way,
does not mean it's a virtuous action.
It must be one that is accompanied also by
an absence of ignorance. We must very much understand that.
When we put the emphasis on motivation,
we mean motivation in this fuller, more complete sense.
So our happiness, our future happiness,
and indeed our possibility to travel further
on the spiritual path depends upon on us choosing now
the right, the positive actions,
which will produce those situations in the future.
And similarly, our frustrations and disappointments,
and disillusionments, in short our miseries,
in short our sufferings, they've arisen from
our choice to privilege self over others,
and therefore act out of the disturbing emotions
of desire, hatred, and ignorance.
It's in this sense that karma can be said to
shape the world. We shape who we are,
and how we respond to things by our actions.
No god, no external force, no random element did this.
We create our future, that is how karma works.