What is Karma?

We are kept prisoners in the circle of birth and death because of our ignorance, attachment and aversion. We are all alike insofar as we are subject to afflictions, yet there are many differences among living beings with which we are all familiar. For instance, some of us are wealthy, while others of us are poor; some are strong and healthy while others are weak and diseased, and so forth. All difference arising which separates beings from actions, needs and behaviors are what we call karma. Karma also determines what kind of next life into which one should be reborn. We might also recall that part of the Buddha’s experience on the night of his enlightenment consisted of gaining an understanding of how karma determines the rebirth of living beings–how living beings migrate from happy to unhappy and from unhappy to happy conditions as a consequence of their particular karma. So, the real definition of karma is action; that is to say, the act of doing this or that. This action however is not mechanical nor is it unconscious or involuntary. On contrary, karma is intentional, conscious, deliberate action motivated by volition or will