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Karma

Saslou

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I am currently reading The Power of Karma by Mary Browne

Quote - Karma is justice. It does not punish or reward. We will suffer for the pain we have caused and we will reap from the good we've produced.

So if each individual is solely responsible for their own karma, be it good or bad how then can it be justified when bad shit happens to good people other than a bloody hard learning curve.

Children learn from their role models ..If the role model is not an exceptionally good one such as a mother or father (so pretty much stuck with them) Then is this somehow the kids karma.

I am aware if i put karma into the realm of life paths then it makes more sense but this book (at present) isn't going there so i am curious as to your thoughts on the subject.

Do you believe in karma?
 

guesswho

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If something very bad and very unlikely and random happened to you during your lifetime I assure you that you wouldn't believe in karma.

Karma defies probabilities.
Unrelated events remain unrelated events. So if you do something good to someone, it won't rise the chance of some general good happening back to you.

Let's analize the most basic of helping.

Event A: You give a begger money.
Event B: You have an exam in a week.

Will the begger raise your chances of passing the exam? No.
Will the begger cause some random reward by destiny? No.

Because giving the begger money is an independent event.

Another example which I find relevant.

Event A: Mother lives a sinful life, doing all kinds of nasty shit, hurting her loved ones.
Event B: Son dies in a car accident.

How can event A and event B relate to each other? I don't see any relationship.

And now..about the first thing I said.
If something very bad would have happened to you (which I doubt), viewed from the karma perspective, would be the effect of something you did or your parents did.

It's like you had it coming from destiny.
 

Arclight

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Karma explained in simplicity, is just that.. Simple.
It's too easy and sounds like something akin to Santa Claus.

We all know that many of your good deeds go unrewarded and bad things happen to everybody all the time.
All sorts of nasty people seemingly have it made in life.

But maybe it needs to be measured over a life time?

There is also something about likewise attracting likewise. There is definitely something true about getting out of life what you put into it.
But is it cosmic??

I am not sure.
 

Gerbah

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From how you worded your post it sounds like your question is more about what suffering means rather than karma? I don't think all suffering signifies guilt. Sometimes a person is a victim.

I do believe in karma in the sense of justice, that I think the universe is set up with justice. And that eventually things come back to balance, even if this takes until after we're dead. Time is only relative anyway.
 

mmhmm

meinmeinmein!
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i believe in karma.
it must be from growing up in a buddhist country.
 

Salomé

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Karma is justice. It does not punish or reward. We will suffer for the pain we have caused and we will reap from the good we've produced.
It's not difficult to find test cases which disprove this hypothesis.

So, no. The universe doesn't give a shit about justice.
 

Moiety

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Karma, heaven, guardian angels.....

I feel so safe knowing our constructs are there for me.
 

Mole

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Karma, Transubstantiation and Jealousy

Karma is poetic. All we need to do to believe in Karma is suspend our disbelief.

Karma is exactly the same as transubstantiation. For transubstantiation is pure poetry and all we need to do is suspend our disbelief for poetry to work its magic.

So Karma and transubstantiation are beautiful magical poetry.

But alas they are not compatible. For those that believe in Karma don't believe in transubstantiation; and those who believe in transubstantiation don't believe in Karma.

And although they tell me poetry does nothing, poetry is so powerful. Why just the other day, I mentioned transubstantiation to an Anglican priest and he bristled because the big difference between Catholics and Anglicans is transubstantiation. And only a short time ago they were killing each other over transubstantiation. So it is not too much to say that poetry is a matter of life and death.

Reason, we know, can never kill a poem. It takes a poem to kill another poem.

They say my God is a jealous God, and each poem is mad with jealousy of every other poem.
 

Magic Poriferan

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Karma is reassuring for those who suffer by giving them a sense of comfort.
It's reassuring for those who are living quite comfortably, because it justifies all their fortune. It can even assist someone doing a crime, because they can put the responsibility on fate, and say that if they do wrong, the power that be can decide (plenty of leaders used that shtick).

So it's nice to believe. I, however, see no evidence that it is true, nor can I think of any explanation for why it would be the case. And since I don't think everybody could agree on exactly what justice is, that makes the existence of karma even more of a conundrum.

It's not difficult to find test cases which disprove this hypothesis.

So, no. The universe doesn't give a shit about justice.

Really? and you can substantiate this claim?

:huh:

How exactly do you want that substantiated?
 

Saslou

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Thanks for all the comments so far .. It's nice to see the different perspectives :)

From how you worded your post it sounds like your question is more about what suffering means rather than karma? I don't think all suffering signifies guilt. Sometimes a person is a victim.

Well i suppose suffering can be a result of karma if you believe in it.

Victim .. Would they only be getting their karma back .. You reap what you sow .. Well according to this book anyway.

I have no intention of continuing the book .. It from my opinion is trying to clump everything into a box and life isn't that simple. We are complex beings.
 

Lark

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I think this is part of the reason I dont believe in Karma in an Indian or Asian sense, instead I believe in some of the consequential theorising in the Christian scriptures, ie your sins will find you out, the first shall be last etc.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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I am currently reading The Power of Karma by Mary Browne

Quote - Karma is justice. It does not punish or reward. We will suffer for the pain we have caused and we will reap from the good we've produced.

So if each individual is solely responsible for their own karma, be it good or bad how then can it be justified when bad shit happens to good people other than a bloody hard learning curve.

Children learn from their role models ..If the role model is not an exceptionally good one such as a mother or father (so pretty much stuck with them) Then is this somehow the kids karma.

I am aware if i put karma into the realm of life paths then it makes more sense but this book (at present) isn't going there so i am curious as to your thoughts on the subject.

Do you believe in karma?

I don't believe in karma in the Hindu sense. However I think there is some element of truth to it. Specifically I'd say you can't control everything that happens, but you can control some things. And for those things you can control you have a much better chance of getting good results if you treat people well.
 
T

ThatGirl

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If you're a sociopathic serial killer who never gets caught. Are you above karma?


I mean isn't karma essentially just a conscience?
 

Mole

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The Poetry Challenged

It seems odd to me to take Karma literally. After all, there is no evidence for Karma. In fact to seek evidence for Karma is like seeking evidence for a poem. It is something only a philistine would do.

But of course once we take Karma literally the temptation is to apply deductive logic. And once we apply deductive logic, we then argue about the result. It's like arguing about the number of angels that can dance on the point of a needle.

It's such an odd and perverse thing to do that it is crying out for a psychological explanation.

And it's not as though Karma is an isolated instance, for exactly the same process is applied to other parts of the New Age.

Yet we have a clue. Those who apply deductive logic to poetry and argue about the results, also say they can't understand poetry.

It's as though they are poetry challenged and the New Age has been invented just for them.
 

nolla

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I see some truth in the idea of karma. I see that the no1 thing to do karma's work are the social networks. The ways people connect. Let's say you meet two persons, one asshole and one genuinely good person. Which one is more likely to have friends and acquaintances who wish the best to them and would be more likely to help them? This is pretty extreme example, but I think it works like that. People sense what other people are up to, some better than others, but when you take up all the people who have ever met you and count it all up, the negativity or positivity you've given is what will come back to you. Of course it's not exact and sometimes the shithead will win the lottery, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. But, I think that whenever people are involved in making the decision (lottery is luck), the good guys will win a bit more than the bad guys. It is a subtle thing, and there are more to it than just good and bad, but in general I think it works a bit like this...
 

Void

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Yes. Just send me all your money and I'll send you the answer by return.

www.teesforall.com_images_Family_Guy_Stewie_Chat_Total_Idiot_Black_Shirt.jpg
 

Daedalus

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Karma is not justice. Justice implies an observer...because justice is defined by the observer. What i might consider to be justice might seem unjust through the eyes of another. Justice is very relative


I think of Karma as a machine. impartial. It does not care about humans or anything else in this universe(s). Like newton's third law, it is a machine that calculates and sets in motion actions and reactions.


Karma is a good replacement for "god" as karma cannot be "bribed" through "prayer" or "confessions". This version of karma is why some Hindu schools of thought claim that there is no god and everything in this universe is equal. Why need a god when you have a perfectly impartial system of justice that is not only immune to all human feelings and failings? (eg: regret...sympathy...elation...charity) but also transcends the "human centric" worldview most religions have


Why are humans any more special than a rat? they are not...in an universal scale, does it matter to a supernova if it destroys a planet with humans..or one with rats? it does not. Karma as an impersonal force transcends humanity and any other "ity" or "ism".
 
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