Preface·5
Introduction·11

letter.
15 Prerequisites for Reading This Book
1.
This book's perspective and overview·15
2.
History and Literature of Indian Buddhism·20

Chapter 1: The Concept of Karma in Indian Religion 29
1.
Before Buddha·29
2.
At the time of Buddha, 40

Chapter 2: The Karma Concept of Traditional Buddhism - General Theory 55
1.
Principles of Karma·55
2.
Background of Karma·76
3.
The Evolution of Karma: A Review of the Angulimala Tale · 86

Chapter 3: The Karma Concept of Traditional Buddhism - Part 95
1.
Group A (what kind of business)·95
2.
Group B (Which part of the body was used to perform the action)·116
3.
Group C (What is the result?)·128

Chapter 4: Buddha and Karma 141
1.
The Relationship Between Buddha and the Law·141
2.
Buddha in the Jatakas·150
3.
Buddha in the Avadhana·160

Chapter 5: The Karma Concept of Mahayana Buddhism 169
1.
A public service that transcends self-inflicted suffering·169
2.
The Problem of Karma in Pure Land Buddhism·180
3.
The Sociality of Karma·185

Chapter 6: Karma and Modern Society 199
1.
A Discriminatory Society·199
2.
A Hereditary Society·208
3.
A Society That Doesn't Look Back·213
4.
An Irresponsible Society·220
5.
A Society Lacking Physicality·227

The final chapter.
What is the Buddhist concept of karma? 235

In conclusion·244
Translator's Note·248
Citations and Key References·252

1
This book deals with the Buddhist ideas of karma and reincarnation.
This is also organized from the perspective of ‘Buddhism’.
In other words, the purpose is to 'historically' reveal how karma and reincarnation were born in ancient India, how they were transmitted, and what developments they underwent, rather than 'scientifically' confirming or clarifying them.

Recently, a variety of books have been published discussing the intersection between Buddhism and science.
Since Buddhism, which does not recognize a Creator, must use 'intellect' and 'reason' to think logically in order to understand the world, it is bound to be scientific.
Therefore, finding the intersection between the two fields and studying Buddhism from a natural scientific perspective may be a characteristic of Buddhism.

But Buddhist studies is not a natural science.
This book does not scientifically argue, for example, “What is the actual subject of reincarnation?” but rather seeks to historically elucidate “What was thought to be reincarnated in ancient India?”
Therefore, “What reincarnates as an objective fact?”, “Can the subject of reincarnation be scientifically identified?”, and “Do the six realms of reincarnation actually exist?” are not the areas of interest of this book.

2.
This book begins with the recognition that "everything that happens in reality cannot escape the constraints of time and space."
Therefore, we closely trace how the Buddhist concept of karma, born in the historical soil of ancient India, was formed and developed, and further explore what insights it can provide into the problems of modern society and the meaning of human existence.


Karma, one of the core doctrines of Buddhism, goes beyond simply explaining the consequences of good and evil; it is the law of causality that permeates all of human life.
The author views this idea as a living and moving thought within 'time' and 'space', and provides a balanced explanation of the historical development and ideological depth of Buddhism.

Each chapter of this book, consisting of six chapters, explores the Buddhist concept of karma from a multi-layered perspective: historical, ideological, literary, and contemporary.
Therefore, this book is not a simple commentary on Buddhist doctrine.
This is a philosophical exploration that provides insight into the essence of human existence and the problems of modern society, based on the logic of 'karma' operating in time and space.
Translating ancient wisdom into contemporary language, this book reexamines the core ideas of Buddhism with humanistic depth and a realistic perspective, offering a fresh perspective and perspective on karma.

3.
The author explains the reason for publishing this book, saying, “Although the concept of karma in Indian Buddhism is quite important not only for Buddhism but also for our own lives, I felt sorry that there was no easily accessible introductory book. As a scholar who has studied karma in Indian Buddhism for a long time, I decided to publish this book.”

The translator said, “After reading this book for the first time, I immediately read it again and was amazed at how it explained karma in Buddhism in such a detailed way while being written in a way that was easy to understand. I learned a lot from it.”

In this way, this book examines the historical nature of 'karma', which all Buddhists inevitably encounter, and 'reincarnation', which follows 'karma' like its backside, in an easy-to-understand manner, and further reflects on the modern significance of the idea of ​​karma.
Another advantage is that it helps understanding by citing various scriptures and tales.