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Karma the Cause and Effect of Our Actions

Updated: Oct 31, 2022

Colorful illustration of karma cause and effect symbols with  yin yang symbol.

Karma: The Cause and Effect of Our Actions

Written by Randi Fine, Narcissistic Abuse Expert

Narcissistic Abuse Awareness and Guidance with Randi Fine

Karma, the cause and effect of our actions, is often thought of as reciprocal punishment, with the same connotation as, “An eye for an eye.” Many people use the word "karma" to describe negative forces that they are powerless over, using comments like, “I can’t help that I keep losing my job. It’s just my karma.” And some people misinterpret the word to mean fate.

How many times have you heard people who were in the middle of a crisis say, “Why is God punishing me like this” or “What did I do that made God so angry with me?” Many believe that an omnipresent, supreme being keeps track of their behavior and hands out punishments either accordingly or at will.

Karma, a word that comes from the Sanskrit language, basically means “action.” It has nothing to do with punishment. It doesn’t describe the effect of our action – it’s the action itself.

There is universal accountability but it isn’t always cut and dry. Karma is the cause and effect of our actions; a the law of nature. The law of nature is rigid like basic math. No matter how you look at it, one plus one equals two. There is no weighing and consideration done by the universe, no absolute right or wrong, no gray area. It is not some kind of cosmic game. Karma is strictly cause and effect. It’s a guiding law that holds us completely accountable for our words and actions.

We cannot trick karma by just going through the motions of living a good life and doing good things. It’s not about material success or earning merit awards. It is the intention behind your motives that counts. Doing things that benefit you but hurts others creates bad karma. Anything you do from the heart that is beneficial to others produces good karma.