One of the most common misunderstandings in Buddhism is the tendency to treat karma as a mystical force, something similar to fate or divine destiny.

According to this mistaken view, everything we experience—every illness, every tragedy, every success, every hardship—is directly caused by actions performed in a previous life or earlier in this life.

This misunderstanding often leads to a sense of helplessness. If everything is simply the result of past karma, then one can only endure suffering, “pay the price,” and wait for the karma to run its course.

Some people go even further and attribute an almost divine personality to karma. They claim that helping someone who is suffering is interfering with cosmic justice. If a person is poor, sick, or oppressed, they say that it is the person’s karma and that helping them will somehow cause us to inherit their bad karma or be punished for interfering.

Such ideas are not taught by the Buddha.

Unfortunately, this way of thinking has become popular in certain Buddhist circles because it provides a convenient excuse for indifference. If every victim somehow “deserves” their suffering, then we can comfortably walk away and do nothing.

The Buddha taught something very different.

The Question of Sivaka

In the Sivaka Sutta (SN 36.21), a wanderer named Moliyasivaka approached the Buddha and asked:

“There are some brahmans and contemplatives who hold this view: Whatever a person experiences—pleasure, pain, or neither pleasure nor pain—is entirely caused by what was done before. What does Master Gotama say to this?”

In simple English, Sivaka was asking:

“Is everything that happens to us entirely the result of past karma?”

Before we proceed, it is important to remember that the Pali word kamma (Sanskrit: karma) literally means intentional action. It is not fate, destiny, or a supernatural force controlling our lives.

The Buddha’s Answer

The Buddha rejected the idea that all experiences are caused solely by past karma. He explained that suffering can arise from many different causes, including:

• disorders of bile,
• disorders of phlegm,
• disorders of wind,
• imbalance of bodily humours,
• changes in climate or seasons,
• carelessness and external stress,
• sudden attacks from outside,
• and also from one’s karma.

In other words, karma is one condition among many.

To insist that every experience is entirely due to past karma is, according to the Buddha, an extreme and mistaken view. After hearing this explanation, Moliyasivaka rejoiced and took refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.

What Wisdom Can We Derive From This?

1. Do Not Blame Everything on Past Karma

Some people believe that health and lifespan are entirely destined.

They would say: “One person exercises every day and suddenly dies of a heart attack, while another person smokes and eats junk food and lives to ninety.”

Therefore, they conclude that health is predetermined.

The Buddha’s teaching gives a more balanced perspective.

Past karma may indeed play a role in our health, but it is not the only factor. Genetics, lifestyle, diet, exercise, stress, sleep, environment, and access to medical care also matter. This means we still have responsibility. We should exercise, eat wisely, seek treatment when necessary, and cultivate healthy habits instead of resigning ourselves to fate.

2. Victims of Violence Are Not Necessarily Paying for Past Misdeeds

This point needs to be stated clearly.

If every act of suffering were simply repayment for past karma, then there would be no need for police, courts, or laws. Every crime could be dismissed with: “They deserved it.”

No sane society would accept such reasoning.

The Buddha never taught this.

People suffer for many reasons. Sometimes they become victims simply because another person chose to act with greed, hatred, or delusion. Victims of war, abuse, crime, and oppression are not necessarily suffering because of some hidden wrongdoing in a previous life.

This truth can feel uncomfortable because we prefer to believe that the world is perfectly fair and that every tragedy has a cosmic explanation. But the world we observe is often messy and unjust.

When an aggressor commits violence, the responsibility lies with the aggressor. Karma does not force someone to commit evil. The person always retains the capacity to choose.

To justify violence in the name of karma is to misunderstand karma entirely.

3. Refusing to Help Is Also Karma

Suppose we encounter someone in distress, and we can help.

Yet we choose to walk away because we think: “It is their karma.”

That very decision is also our karma.

Karma is not only about what happened in the past. It is also about what we are choosing to do right now.

Every moment presents us with opportunities to cultivate generosity, compassion, and wisdom—or indifference and selfishness. The doctrine of karma should never become an excuse for inaction.

In fact, understanding karma properly should inspire us to act more compassionately, because our present intentions and actions are shaping the future.

Karma Gives Responsibility, Not Fatalism

The Buddha did not teach a universe governed by blind fate.

Nor did he teach that everything is predetermined by past actions.

He taught a world of multiple causes and conditions, in which past karma influences us but does not imprison us.

This is good news.

It means that our present choices matter.

We are not merely paying for the past; we are also creating the future.

And when we encounter suffering—our own or that of others—the appropriate response is not passive resignation.

The appropriate response is wisdom, compassion, and skillful action.

May all be well and happy.