page_title: Karma in Buddhism
section_title: Buddhist understanding of karma
hierarchical_section_title: Karma in Buddhism / Buddhist understanding of karma
caption_attribution_description: Tibetan chakra
context_page_description: Karma is a Sanskrit term that literally means "action" or "doing". In the Buddhist tradition, karma refers to action driven by intention which leads to future consequences. Those intentions are considered to be the determining factor in the kind of rebirth in samsara, the cycle of rebirth.
context_section_description: Karma and karmaphala are fundamental concepts in Buddhism. The concepts of karma and karmaphala explain how our intentional actions keep us tied to rebirth in samsara, whereas the Buddhist path, as exemplified in the Noble Eightfold Path, shows us the way out of samsara.
caption: Tibetan Bhavacakra or "Wheel of Life" in Sera, Lhasa.
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