Karma are one’s actions, which cause results and consequences.  Karma is a universal and natural law, similar to other natural and physical laws which govern the universe.  When someone commits an action, it creates a seed for a future result.  That seed, with the proper conditions and time, can ripen. The ripening of karma is the consequence for one’s action.  However that karmic seed can also be burned or delayed from arising.

Karma should not be understood as a fate or a destiny.  This is because (1) One creates one’s own karma (2) Karma is always changing and (3) Karma only ripens under the proper conditions or circumstances. So it is not exact or destined that a specific consequence for a specific action will ripen at a fated time.  The karma that is affecting someone right now can be karma from only a few moments ago, or possibly millions of lifetimes ago. 

The basis for the ripening of karmic seeds is also due to the individual. These actions can be subdivided into the motivation and the application of the action. 

Each action we perform has either a pure motive or an ulterior/impure motive.  Once we form the mental motive, we apply it and perform an action, which is either beneficial or harmful.  One should be aware that sometimes the motive and application might be conflicting.  For example, one’s impure motive might be to build a big temple in order to become famous, but in application this is very beneficial for the world.

Actions leave a karmic imprint or seed that remains in the stored consciousness.  When the conditions are correct, the seed can ripen and the consequence for one’s previous action will result.

In order to avoid accumulating negative karma, ten unwholesome actions to avoid are:  (1) Killing other living beings (2) Taking another’s property (3) Indulging in sexual misconduct (4) Purposely lying to deceive (5) Slandering others (6) Speaking ill of others (7) Engaging in idle chatter (8) Wishing to covet someone else’s property or having jealously for their belongings  (9) Resenting others and (10) Holding views which are unvirtuous.

The Five Precepts that are beneficial to practice are:  1) To not kill  2) To not steal 3) To not commit sexual misconduct  4) To not lie deceitfully and  5) To not take intoxicants

These precepts should be viewed not as commandments but as guidelines for a practitioner. This way, one can practice morality. Such discipline is a working basis for meditative concentration.

The mind is a stream of consciousness that continues after death, through the process of rebirth.  At the time of death, the mind-consciousness goes through an intermediate period (bardo) and then is reborn at the moment of conception.  Therefore, rebirth does not concern a soul or divine piece (atman); rebirth is the continuation of the mind.  The mind, like the Ganges River of India, is always there but the experiences it undergoes, like the ever-changing water that flows down the river, is constantly in motion. The mind also continues like a candle flame. As one candle burns down, the flame is transferred to another candle.

One’s mental habits are the imprints created over lifetimes and are often coupled with karmic imprints.  One’s karma and one’s mental habits are the cause for one’s rebirth into a specific state of existence.