ABSTRACT
The fact that of all Eastern doctrines Karma and Rebirth excites the greatest interest in the West is probably due to its concern with action, for the Western mind is practically disposed. As already suggested, of the three main divisions of Indian Yoga, Karma Yoga, the way of right action, is more acceptable to the European mind than Jnana Yoga, the philosophic path, or Bhakti Yoga, the devotional way of the mystic. As generally understood the word Karma (Pali: Kamma) has three meanings, that of action, in the sense of action-reaction as a single unit, the natural law which ordains that action and reaction are equal and opposite, and the results of action, in the sense of the net resultant of a long series of acts by an individual or group. It is in this sense that a man speaks of his 'good Karma', or points to the 'evil Karma' being suffered now by a group or nation for its collective action in a day gone by.
