Karma. Sanskrit term meaning "deed" or "action". The karmic principle is the basic principle of the spiritual dimension of being. It is a principle of balance. Although commonly associated with Hinduism, Buddhism, and other oriental religions, it can be seen as expressive of the Torah in Judaism, considered as the eternal principle of righteousness embodied in the written Torah and also as expressed in the Golden Rule, to be found in Confucius, in Kant's Categorical Imperative, and in the form laid down by Jesus: "Do unto others as ye would have others do unto you." Contrary to the vulgar misunderstanding of it as a fatalistic principle, it is in fact a principle that preeminently implies and is based upon freedom of choice. It is associated with the principle of Reincarnation and may be thought to imply it. Actions, good or bad, have consequences upon the karma of each individual. Each individual has a karmic inheritance, good and bad, and sooner or later must work off the bad and develop the good. See Reincarnation.

 

Geddes MacGregor, Dictionary of Religion and Philosophy, New York: Paragon House, 1989

karma

(Sanskrit; Pāli, kamma, action). The doctrine of karma states the implications for ethics of the basic universal law of Dharma, one aspect of which is that freely chosen and intended moral acts inevitably entail consequences (Pāli, kamma-niyama). It is impossible to escape these consequences and no one, not even the Buddha, has the power to forgive evil deeds and short-circuit the consequences which inevitably follow. A wrongful thought, word, or deed is one which is committed under the influence of the three roots of evil (akuśala-mūla), while good deeds stem from the opposites of these, namely the three ‘virtuous roots’ (kuśala-mūla). These good or evil roots nourished over the course of many lives become ingrained dispositions which predispose the individual towards virtue or vice. Wrongful actions are designated in various ways as evil (pāpa), unwholesome (akuśala), demeritorious (apuṇya), or corrupt (saṃkliṣṭa), and such deeds lead inevitably to a deeper entanglement in the process of suffering and rebirth (saṃsāra). Karma determines in which of the six realms of rebirth one is reborn, and affects the nature and quality of individual circumstances (for example, physical appearance, health, and prosperity). According to Buddhist thought the involvement of the individual in saṃsāra is not the result of a ‘Fall’, or due to ‘original sin’ through which human nature became flawed. Each person, accordingly, has the final responsibility for his own salvation and the power of free will with which to choose good or evil.

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)

Karma  業  Sanskrit word meaning action, deed, moral duty, effect. Karma is moral action which causes future retribution, and either good or evil transmigration. It is also moral kernal in each being which survive death for further rebirth.

漢英-英漢-英英佛學辭典字庫

karma: ‘Action'. In the specifically Buddhist sense, it primarily means a morally skilful or unskilful action which determines specifically the manner of future existence of the doer. It is divisible as mano-karma, kāya-karma and vāk-karma. The latter two can induce avijñapti-karma. Karma can also be disinguished as individual and collective karma-s, of which the fruits of the latter are not regarded as vipāka, but adhipati-phala-s.

Sarvastivada Abhidharma, Sanskrit-English Glossary, by Bhikkhu KL Dhammajoti