Ethics without cosmic scorekeeping

Karma as Intention

Does karma mean that everything that happens is deserved?

Direct Answer: No. In the early Buddhist framing highlighted here, karma is intentional action; it is one field of causality, not a claim that every event is deserved or caused by a past deed.

1. Intention → 2. Action → 3. Habit → 4. Result
Karma as Intention · contemplative map · lightofdharma.org/topics/karma-as-intention

Fuller teaching

AN 6.63 foregrounds cetanā—intention—in speaking of karma. Repeated intentions shape habits, relationships, perception, and future choices.

This makes karma practical and ethically serious without turning suffering into blame. Conditions are multiple; intention matters because it is a condition we can train.

Canonical source

Nibbedhika Sutta · AN 6.63 — “It is intention that I call kamma” is the key study reference.

Review the intention

  1. Pause before a consequential action.
  2. Name the intention beneath it.
  3. Ask what quality this rehearses.
  4. Choose the least harmful viable action.

Related terminology

Structured learning path

  1. Sanctuary: Echo of Action
  2. Volition module

Continue with established sources

Further reading

Open complete translations and specialist reference material for deeper study.

  • AN 6.63 · Penetrative
    dhammatalks.org · Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

    Read the wider discourse surrounding the teaching that intention is kamma.