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mtalantikite 2 days ago

There are definitely descriptions of virtuous and non-virtuous results of actions (karma) in Mahayana/Vajrayana Buddhism. A teacher of mine, who spent 20+ years as a Gelug monk, gave a nice talk about it from a Vajrayana perspective [1].

The major innovation in Vajrayana would be an addition to the hierarchy you laid out, which is full Buddhahood in this lifetime and the tantric methods to get there. Nirvana/samsara are considered two perspectives of the same reality [2].

[1] starts about 20 min in, after the opening meditation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdYmiLvSzfY

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed2uc-0_n2s