Transformasi Konsep Karma Phala dalam Negosiasi Nilai Tradisional dan Modernitas pada Masyarakat Buleleng

Abstract

Hindu philosophy serves as an ethical foundation in Balinese society, particularly through the concept of Karma Phala as the law of moral cause and effect. The development of modernity has encouraged changes in the way people understand and actualize this concept in social life. This study aims to analyze the negotiation between traditional values and modernity in Hindu ethics and to examine the transformation of the meaning of Karma Phala among the people of Buleleng, Bali. The study employed a qualitative approach with an interpretative phenomenological design. Data were collected through literature review, limited participant observation in banjar activities, and semi-structured interviews with nine informants purposively selected from Bungkulan, Kubutambahan, and Kalibukbuk Villages. Data were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña. The findings reveal that the communities in the three villages demonstrate different tendencies in interpreting Karma Phala. The people of Bungkulan tend to maintain an understanding of Karma Phala as a spiritually oriented cosmic moral law. The community of Kubutambahan exhibits a more adaptive interpretation by integrating spiritual dimensions with social consequences in everyday life. Meanwhile, the people of Kalibukbuk emphasize Karma Phala as a principle of social ethics related to trust, reputation, and interpersonal relationships. The findings indicate that modernity encourages the reinterpretation of Karma Phala through the expansion of its meaning from a spiritual dimension toward a more contextual manifestation in social life without eliminating the metaphysical foundation that constitutes the core of Hindu teachings. This value negotiation produces a form of Hindu ethics that is more reflective, adaptive, and relevant to contemporary society.