Karma for Hinduism is the idea of "action" or "deed". The basic concept of karma is that the actions that a person performs in this lifetime will reflect his caste next lifetime. For example, if someone has good karma in his current lifetime, he will be in a higher caste his next lifetime. Unlike the more modern view of karma, which is that all bad deeds will reflect in the near coming moments, the Hindu view of Karma is that actions will reflect in one's next life. Karma is affected by Dharma, which is the idea of "law". Dharma is the religious duty of a caste member, and if one practices good dharma, he will have good karma. Achieving good karma will lead to the person being in a higher caste when he is reincarnated through Samsara. Eventually, through good karma, the person will be released from samsara, which is known as Moksha. Once someone has achieved moksha, they have found their Atman and they have become one with Brahman.

     Karma for Buddhism is very similar because it is one of the concepts Buddha kept while creating his own religion. The only main difference between the two is that instead of becoming one with Brahman, the person will reach Nirvana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma

Class Notes