PURPOSE The purpose of this study to examine the types of Buddhist karmic theories appearing in Nikāya and to examine their meanings. There is often an argument that karma is fatalism, so I will examine this through analysis of the theory of karma.
CONTENTS One of karma theory in Nikāya is that one receives current karma due to past actions. In this paper, the definition of karma and examples of karma are analyzed by type, focusing on the Buddha's teachings on karma in the early Buddhist scriptures, Nikāya. The karma theory of Nikāya is organized in detail into 12 examples, which can be organized into 4 types: karma and result, cessation of karma, karma and action, and denial of determinism. The content of denying the deterministic nature of karma and that it is possible to purify karma through action can be seen as a modification made by the Buddha by adding intention(cetanā) to the existing karma theory. In this paper, it is understood that there is an aspect in which Buddha reduced karma to an ethical problem by interpreting the essence of karma as an intention that precedes an action.
RESULTS The Buddhist doctrine of karma aim for nirvana by regulating and purifying behavior in the ethical aspect rather than fatalism.