Sensations result, which lead to craving and a clinging to existence. This condition triggers the process of becoming once again, producing a renewed cycle of birth, old age, and death. Through this causal chain a connection is made between one life and the next. Karma Print section Closely related to this belief is the doctrine of karma. Karma consists of a person's acts and their ethical consequences.
Human actions lead to rebirth, wherein good deeds are inevitably rewarded and evil deeds punished.
Thus, neither undeserved pleasure nor unwarranted suffering exists in the world, but rather a universal justice. The karmic process operates through a kind of natural moral law rather than through a system of divine judgment. One's karma determines such matters as one's species, beauty, intelligence, longevity, wealth, and social status. According to the Buddha, karma of varying types can lead to rebirth as a human, an animal, a hungry ghost, a denizen of hell, or even one of the Hindu gods. Although never actually denying the existence of the gods, Buddhism denies them any special role.