Karma. Trauma

 B

You’re circling around some very deep Buddhist (and philosophical) questions here. Let me try to unpack them clearly:

1. Is your trauma other people’s karma?

Not exactly. In Buddhist thought, karma refers to intentional actions (especially those driven by greed, hatred, or delusion) and their results. Trauma itself is not an action—it’s more of a result (vipāka) of past conditions. If you pass along that pain by harming others, that new action creates fresh karma. But it doesn’t mean that the people you hurt “deserved” it as their karma in some neat, mechanical way. Karma is not about blame—it’s about cause and effect within a vast web of conditions.

2. Cycles of harm (like hazing, abuse, humiliation).

Yes, cycles of trauma often perpetuate because people repeat what was done to them. This isn’t because anyone “deserves it,” but because conditioning is powerful. People unconsciously copy behaviors they’ve been exposed to, mistaking them for normal or necessary. It only ends when someone becomes mindful enough to not pass the pain forward. That act of restraint is actually a form of generating skillful karma.

3. What about unintentional harm?

According to Buddhist teachings, the weight of karma depends on intention. If you lash out without awareness, the karma is less heavy than if you deliberately intend to harm. But unawareness (moha) is itself a root of suffering, so it’s still unskillful and still leaves traces. That’s why mindfulness training is so important—it helps stop the automatic cycle.

4. “Did they all deserve it?” or “Was it started by one evil person?”

Buddhism says samsara (the endless cycle of rebirth and suffering) has no beginning. There wasn’t a first abuser or a first victim. Conditioned existence simply keeps perpetuating itself until wisdom and compassion break the cycle. No one “deserves” suffering in a moralistic sense—it’s more that suffering happens wherever the conditions for it are present.

5. Breaking the cycle.

Yes—it usually takes a conscious choice, often sparked by some experience of kindness, compassion, or insight, to stop perpetuating trauma. You don’t need to “pay back” trauma with trauma. Karma is not fate—it’s flexible. Every moment of awareness is a chance to stop adding to the chain.

👉 So to your core question: Your trauma is not other people’s karma. Their suffering doesn’t “belong” to them. It’s part of the chain of conditioned actions and reactions, and the responsibility lies in whether you continue the chain or break it.

Would you like me to also explain how collective karma fits into this (since you mentioned military culture)? That could give more context for why entire groups sometimes share cycles of harm.