The Differences Between the Buddhist Notion of Karma and the Notion of Fate

Fate and Karma
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Fate and Karma
For the longest time people have been curious about what their future holds. Life is a complex process that is associated with a lot of uncertainties. It is common for people to be curious about certain aspects about life, especially where they cannot be in a position to predict or clearly have a picture of what is to come. Like the issue about life after death, karma and fate are also some of the most sort after explanations ("GASB33H3 Lecture 3: The Teachings of the Buddha", 2016). People are generally curious about the what it is that is going to come in their future. The element of curiosity with reference to the future and the outcomes in life have pushed most people to be confused about fate and karma. Ideally, these are two important words that have some very deep meaning. This relative to the fact that, they play a great role in the way that people perceive their environment and the stimuli that they interact with. However, it is crucial to understand that they are two different words and they have different meaning and they different roles in a person life. Understanding their differences and their meaning is crucial.
To understand the elements behind karma it is crucial to understand Buddhism and how it came to be. At the same time, it is crucial to understand the guiding principles behind the teachings in Buddhism. Buddhism, has over the years developed and grown and shaped the way that people interact with their environment. At the start of Buddhism, especially after the death of Buddha, there were challenges as to how the doctrine would be spread ("RS 2281Lecture 4: The Teachings of the Buddha—Part II", 2016). This is relative to the fact that there were several schools of thought that had emerged during the first century. Most of the persons that were considered to be elders at the time were developing their own additions that they wanted included in the main teachings. There was also the issue of Buddhism, interacting with the different cultures and beliefs across the globe as the doctrines spread outside the home town ("GASB33H3: Global Buddhism in Historical and Contemporary Societies Lecture One: Introducing the Course", 2016). This brought about the issue of schism, where the elders wanted to bring their own additions to the set of rules that existed at the time. However, over time most of the sub schools died away and what remain was the true elements of Buddhism ("GASB33H3: Global Buddhism in Historical and Contemporary Societies Lecture One: Introducing the Course", 2016). This is a doctrine that is now based on the teachings of Buddha. Much of the rules were passed down the generations and were supposed to guide the people on how to act and behave ("GAS33BH3: Lecture 5 Early Buddhism after the Buddha", 2016). The oral traditions included what was referred to as the baskets. The doctrine that was left behind by Buddha is based on teaching, referred to as Abhidharma pitaka ("GASBH33H Lecture 2: The Life of the Buddha", 2016). Much of the teaching have philosophical elements which is the bases of this paper. It is these philosophies that impact the way that people interact with their environment and the way that they interpreted the events that take place in their lives or the stimuli that they get from their surroundings ("GAS33BH3: Lecture 5 Early Buddhism after the Buddha", 2016). The philosophies were mainly delivered using anecdotes, illustrations and stories. This would then be used to give meaning to the various aspects of life. One of the aspects of the teachings relates to karma.
When compared to Karma, fate is a related topic and one that has element likeness at a much intricate level with karma. However, it is crucial to note that the two are different. According to Buddhism, there is some an aspect of balance that exists between what one puts into their environment and what they get out of it ("GASB33H3 Lecture 3: The Teachings of the Buddha", 2016). This is to mean that, when ...