How many times have you heard someone say, "She has bad karma", referring to someone who has had a run of bad luck. In the West, karma has often been interpreted as equal to the principle of "an eye for an eye"-the retaliatory principle that you are punished with the same punishment you inflict on another. However, this is a misconception and misunderstanding of the Buddhist meaning of karma. According to the Buddha's teaching, you are not made to pay for past mistakes, nor are you rewarded for your past good deeds-but you are, in fact, what you do or intend t do . More to the point, karma is the process by which your actions shape your life.
Since the Buddha did not acknowledge the presence of a theistic power, karma would not be associated with an external, objective judge. In the words of Shantideva (an eighth-century Buddhist teacher), "Suffering is a consequence of one's own action, not a retribution inflicted by an external power...We are the authors of our own destiny; and being the authors, we are ultimately...free".