Karma — The Law of Moral Causality
Karma (action and its consequences) is the universal recognition that every action has consequences that return to the actor — not as divine punishment but as the natural moral order of causality embedded in the structure of reality.
The concept of Karma (from the Sanskrit root 'kri' — to do, to act) appears in some form in every major wisdom tradition: the Hindu-Buddhist-Jain teaching of karma as accumulated action that determines future experience; the Hermetic 'As above, so below; as within, so without' and 'What you put out returns to you'; the Christian 'What you sow, you shall reap' (Galatians 6:7); the Confucian teaching that virtuous action naturally produces good outcomes; the Islamic recognition that 'whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil shall see it' (Quran 99:7-8); the secular principle of natural consequences. What is universally recognized is not mechanistic determinism but the recognition of moral causality: actions have consequences, character is formed by actions, and the quality of one's future experience is significantly shaped by the quality of one's present actions — particularly by the motivation behind them.
As you sow, so shall you reap.
Research on the psychology of character development by Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman documents that virtuous habits (character strengths cultivated through repeated virtuous action) produce self-reinforcing cycles of positive experience — providing a psychological mechanism for the universal teaching that virtuous action generates virtuous outcomes.
Universal Wisdom