Types of Karma - Good and Bad Karma

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There is good Karma, there is bad Karma, and as the wheel of life moves on, old Karma is exhausted and again fresh Karma is accumulated. Although at first it may appear that nothing can be more fatalistic than this doctrine, yet a little consideration will show that in reality this is not the case. Karma is twofold, hidden and manifest, Karma is the man that is, Karma is his action. True that each action is a cause from which evolves the countless ramifications of effect in time and space.

(WILLIAM Q. JUDGE, The Path, Sep. 1886)

Karma is the generic appellation assigned to the cosmic adjudicating mechanism, which reconciles causes and consequences with exacting justice. There is an erroneous conception in circulation, which purports that karma is exclusive and restricted to malicious deeds and their corresponding consequences. Contrary to this illusory concept, karma embraces the full spectrum of causes and corresponding consequences for every thought, speech, emotion or deed; whether they be benign or malign. Thus, two types of karma can be distinguished as follows:

1.       Good or wholesome karma

2.       Bad or unwholesome karma

Each of these types of karma will speedily be highlighted as follows:

Good or wholesome karma

 Peace and harmony produce good karma

Caring for animals produces good karma

Good or wholesome karma can be viewed as the totality of the causes, consequences and ramifications of the wilful, purposeful, intentional and deliberate exertion of a thought, speech, emotion or deed, such that embedded in that exertion are constructive and wholesome properties such as wisdom, positive knowledge, selfless love, compassion, humility and unassuming general purity of intent; such that the product yielded by the execution of such an exertion will be desirable and beneficial to both the executor of that exertion and to associated recipients of the consequences thereof.

There prevail certain dispositions or tendencies whose incubation and eventual manifestation possess the viability for yielding wholesome or good karma. Such inclinations encompass purity and sincerity of any exertion; abstinence from undesirable desires such as exaggerated lust, avarice, vainglory; and the concerted adoption of wholesome dispositions such as non-judgmentality, generosity, selflessness, tolerance, forgivingness, perseverance, equanimity, temperance, fortitude, habitual assimilation of spiritual literature, devotion, meditation, just to mention a few. Generally, all that is canopied by the designation virtue has that viability for yielding positive karma. In Buddhism, the noble Buddha alluded to exertions that generate wholesome karma as skilful. By this denotation, a skilful event implies an activity that is performed and devoid of craving, resistance and delusion. On similar basis, as regards good karma, the bible also states:

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

(Galatians 5:16-18)

And also, it is stated:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  

(Galatians 5:22-23)

Contrary to popular subscription, happiness cannot be harvested from exterior sources as implied by certain counterfeit social dictums. The seed that yields happiness must be germinated and fostered from inside; then and only then can its bountiful harvest overflow the bounds of interiority and exteriorise its delicious fruits. Therefore, the venerable Masters do not by any means advocate the express dereliction of one’s social milieu and redundancy from one’s role in society, in favour of asceticism in some cave in the Himalayan Mountains. Rather, the noble Masters intimate that individuals should uphold the status quo of their responsibilities; but that they should master the spiritual art of discharging one’s functions in such a highly effective and efficacious manner, and in a fashion that generates productive consequences both for one self and to society at large.

Bad or unwholesome karma

War is bad karma that causes even more bad karma

Killing animals produces terrible bad karma that causes war

Bad or unwholesome karma can be viewed as the totality of the causes, consequences and ramifications of a wilful, purposeful, intentional and deliberate activity, whether such an activity be of the character of a thought, speech, emotion or deed; and such that within the content of that activity is embedded destructive properties such as debauchery, wrath, attachment, vainglory, egoism, agitation, intolerance, vindictiveness, impatience, recklessness in conduct, callousness or antagonism to spiritual literature or spiritual practice. Thus, the fruits that accrue from such an activity are naturally undesirable and unbeneficial to both the executor of that activity and to others.

In Buddhism, events of the character of unwholesome karma are alluded to as unskilful, because such events are accompanied by craving, resistance and delusion, and by virtue of such accompaniment, they naturally beget anguish for their perpetuator. Thus, it is stated:

Bad karma is the spiritual debt one has accumulated for one's mistakes from all previous lives and this life. It includes killing, harming, taking advantage, cheating, stealing, and more. On Mother Earth, when you buy a house, you take out a mortgage from a bank. This mortgage is your debt to the bank. You pay every month for fifteen, twenty, or thirty years to clear your financial debt. In the spiritual realm, if you have bad karma, you may have to pay for many lifetimes to clear your spiritual debt.

(ZHI GANG SHA, The Power of Soul)

Unwholesome karmic causes and consequences pollute the spiritual ecology of the universe and induce alienation to its intrinsic harmonious rhythm; and hence, prompt discordance. Nonetheless, considering the efficacy of the intrinsic self-regulatory mechanisms of the universe, the agents of that discordance are speedily ejected from the spiritual ecology of the universe, and redirected to their originator; such that the perpetuator of unwholesomeness will certainly be the final recipient of its perilous products; reaping dissatisfaction and distress in due time.

The physiology of the human spiritual instruments is such that spiritual energy travels in a circular pattern within specific ethereal vehicles known as magnetic fields. The persistent generation or incubation of unwholesome karma poses as a hindrance to that natural pattern of energy circulation within these magnetic fields. This hindrance in the circulation of spiritual energy then ramifies onto the physical realm, and its symptoms become manifest as physical illness. Therefore, physical ailment can only be viewed as intense symptoms of spiritual discordance. The scenario regarding impediment in the circulation of spiritual energy in relationship to physical ailment can be analogised to a pipe conveying water.

Now, a water pipe is designed such that its internal cavity poses as the medium via which water can flow. Suppose the cavity of that water pipe is obstructed by a piece of rock; hence, hampering the smooth flow of water within that pipe. The eventuality is that, pressure will mount within the water pipe to the degree that the pipe would puncture, bursting out forceful splashes of water. Suppose the pipe is repaired by sealing the perforation engendered by the hindrance, without disposing of that solid rock that obstructs the internal cavity of the pipe, the inextricable implication is that, another puncture will be imminent, simply because the causation of the puncturing and puncture has not been addressed. Thus, the enduring remedy to this bewilderment would be to dispose of that solid rock within the pipe. Thus, to re-establish the wholesomeness of the pipe, the obstructing material must be disposed of, simultaneously as the puncture on the pipe is sealed.

Attempting to remedy physical ailments without tackling their causation is tantamount to the above illustration of sealing the perforation on the pipe without disposing of the primordial cause of the puncture. Therefore, the phenomenon of mind cure advocates that through the adoption of a constructive mental attitude, one can diminish the gravity of certain physical ailments. Nonetheless, mind cure is more effective for those who are well versed in mind culture than those who are not.

Now, on a recap of this phenomenon of karma proper, it should hereupon be accentuated that regardless of the apparent inconsequentiality of a thought, speech, emotion or deed; irrespective of its apparent triviality and regardless of space and time, its legitimate consequences must follow in due time. To imagine escapism from the consequences of one’s deeds is entirely indefensible. Sooner or later, the proper magnitude of legitimate consequences must catch up with the individual. Thus, in the bible, it is stated:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

(Galatians 6:7-9)

It will amount to unproductive self-deception to sow oranges and aspire towards reaping bananas. Such a possibility is simply implausible. Therefore, in the Buddhist Dhammapada, it is stated:

Not in the sky, not in the mid-ocean, or entering a mountain cave is found that place on earth where one may escape the consequences of an evil deed.

Below is a poetic depiction of the law of karma:

The liberty to maketh what thy desireth is yours,

The necessity to desireth what thy maketh is inevasive;

If thy desires and maketh that which is desirable,
the desirable shall be reaped;

But if thy maketh that which is undesirable,
the undesirable will desire to be desired by thee;

Undesirable though it might be because thy maketh.

To desire that which is spiritual is to desire the desirable,

And to desire the desirable,
will beseech salvation and eternal bliss.

An appetite for the undesirable is the causation of expatiation;

Therefore desire the desirable;

and detest the undesirable with all thy might.

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