Karma is a word that cannot be translated. One of its main meanings is “act”. However, in the ancient language of the Hindus (called Sanskrit) there are so many interpretations of karma that it is impossible to decipher it so literally.
If you disclose this value, based on the quality of its everyday use, then you can notice that a huge part of the semantic load of this word has been lost or has simply lost much clarity. According to a survey among Americans, the following was found out: people believe that karma is fate. Moreover, this is necessarily a bad fate, evil rock, an unchanging and incomprehensible force that originates in the past and is projected onto the future. Americans use this word in the sense that it is impossible to fight karma, and people are powerless in the face of an implacable fate. Therefore, many people believe that karma is fatalism, and reject the eastern concept. Indeed, according to uneducated people, karma can justify any injustice or suffering: “He is poor, and this is his karma”, “She has no children - this is all karmic.” From such thoughts one step to the allegations that these people are unambiguous and deserve suffering. To date, however, pseudo-Buddhist concepts have spread. Everywhere you can see ads on the basis of the "diagnosis of karma." In specialized institutions, people are given the opportunity to learn their karma with one hundred percent accuracy. The phrase “purge of karma” is popular, and such a rite is performed by various magicians, psychics, and sorcerers. However, few of them really thought about what he was trying to do.
The erroneous perception is a consequence of the fact that karma is a Buddhist concept that was brought from East to West along with a completely non-Buddhist one. At the moment, to be extremely honest, we can say that many modern Buddhists perceive karma as a fatal fate and evil rock. However, an early primordial tradition shows that this view is also erroneous.
In traditional Buddhism, karma is a multifaceted, non-linear and complex concept. Strange as it may seem, in this matter the past is not given much importance, unlike the ideas of modern Americans. Many pre-Buddhist schools in India believed that karmic responsibility follows a direct linear path, that is, actions in the distant past clearly affect the future and the present. However, such a concept implied a limited freedom of choice . Buddhists looked at the question a little differently.
For followers of the teachings of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, karma is a complex network of cause and effect feedbacks in which the present moment is shaped by past, present, and even future actions. Therefore, the present is not necessarily absolutely predetermined by the past. The nature of this perception of karma is symbolized by a water stream. Thus, karma is not submissive impotence. This is the idea that a person can release his hidden possibilities at the moment. After all, it’s important not where you came from. The motives of the mind at this second are important.