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Single character for Buddhist Karma
This is the simplest way to express the idea of Karma. This is the Buddhist concept of actions committed in a former life affecting the present and future.
Out of the context of Buddhism, this Karma character means one's profession in life, trade, occupation, business, study, or career.
The Karma definition applies to both Chinese and Japanese for this character. This also works as Korean Hanja as Karma; although the meaning can vary depending on context (my Korean dictionary gives the definition of profession/occupation).
See Also: Buddhism
Transliterated personal name
卡瑪 is the most common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Karma.
Note: This sounds like Karma but does not have the meaning of Karma in Chinese. See our other entry if you are looking for the Buddhist idea of Karma.
In fact, if your name is Karma, I strongly suggest that you use a word that means Karma, rather than this one that sounds like Karma (meaning is more important and universal in Chinese/Japanese/Korean).
宿業 is the Buddhist concept of Past Karma. Simply put, it's the sum of all the good and bad from all previous lives (perhaps earlier in your current life). This term is not commonly used outside of the Buddhist faith (you'll have a tough time finding a non-Buddhist Asian person that knows this word).
Other ways to translate this are “The karma of previous existence,” “The karma remaining from prior existences,” or simply “Former karma.”
See Also: Buddhism
有緣 means: related; brought together by fate; same karma; those who have the cause, link, or connection.
有緣 is a common word in Chinese but usually only used in the context of Buddhism in Japanese.
Buddhists will say this refers to those that are influenced by and responsive to the Buddha.
姻緣 means “Destiny that brings lovers together.” It can also be translated technically as “Predestined matrimonial affinity” (wow, talk about taking the romance out of this word - that was from the Oxford C-E dictionary).
This speaks to the fate (or karma) that brings a husband and wife together. I would translate this as “Together by fate” or “Joined by destiny” but in the context of marriage. You could use this for non-married lovers, but the first character has a suggestion that this refers to those that are married.
These search terms might be related to Karma:
Brought Together From 1000 Miles Away by Fate
Choose Your Own Destiny
Destiny
Destiny / Fate
Destiny Determined by Heaven
Dragon and Phoenix Brings Luck
Fate / Chance Meeting
Fate / Opportunity / Chance
Fortune Favors the Bold
Fortune Favors the Brave
Good Luck
Good Luck / Good Fortune
Happiness / Fortune / Lucky
House of Good Fortune
I Am the Master of My Destiny
I Control My Own Destiny
Opportunity / Good Luck
Optimism / Happy With Your Fate
Predestined Love / Love by Fate
Serendipity / Chance Discovery
Serendipity / Happy Coincidence
Serendipity / Lucky Coincidence
Serendipity / Nice Coincidence
Soldier of Fortune
Such is Life / Such is Destiny
Tea Fate
The Karma/Fate/Destiny That Brings Lovers Together
The Red Thread of Fate
Wealth / Fortune / Riches / Abundance
Wealth / Riches / Fortune
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Karma | 業 业 | gou / go | yè / ye4 / ye | yeh |
Karma | 卡瑪 卡玛 | kǎ mǎ / ka3 ma3 / ka ma / kama | k`a ma / kama / ka ma | |
Karma (of your past lives) | 宿業 宿业 | shukugou / shukugo | sù yè / su4 ye4 / su ye / suye | su yeh / suyeh |
Shadow of Karma Dogged by Karma | 業影 业影 | gou you / gouyou / go yo | yè yǐng / ye4 ying3 / ye ying / yeying | yeh ying / yehying |
Karma - Cause and Effect | 因果 | inga | yīn guǒ / yin1 guo3 / yin guo / yinguo | yin kuo / yinkuo |
Karma Connection | 有緣 有缘 | uen | yǒu yuán / you3 yuan2 / you yuan / youyuan | yu yüan / yuyüan |
Wheel of Karma | 業輪 业轮 | gōrin | yè lún / ye4 lun2 / ye lun / yelun | yeh lun / yehlun |
The Karma/Fate/Destiny that Brings Lovers Together | 姻緣 姻缘 | yīn yuán / yin1 yuan2 / yin yuan / yinyuan | yin yüan / yinyüan | |
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.
Some people may refer to this entry as Karma Kanji, Karma Characters, Karma in Mandarin Chinese, Karma Characters, Karma in Chinese Writing, Karma in Japanese Writing, Karma in Asian Writing, Karma Ideograms, Chinese Karma symbols, Karma Hieroglyphics, Karma Glyphs, Karma in Chinese Letters, Karma Hanzi, Karma in Japanese Kanji, Karma Pictograms, Karma in the Chinese Written-Language, or Karma in the Japanese Written-Language.
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Karma was last searched for by someone else on Oct 3rd, 2024