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It seems that there are various interpretations of karma. Dogen, founder of the Soto Zen school, taught that karma can be experienced in this same life. I swear I've read far earlier sources discuss karma in a manner outside of rebirth in samsara, but I can't find those sources at this time.

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I can't help you on the religious origins of this, but the concept got introduced to me by a game by this dude named Richard Garfield in the early 90s. If I recall correctly, the term that that dude and a bunch of other WotC folks used was "mana".

It took a while before I learned that it was apparently a term in hawaiian slang, but it usually seems appropriate, especially when you're discussing this with folks old enough to remember alpha, beta, and unlimited Magic: the Gathering.

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