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Please indulge me in one more question about Karma

Earlier I asked a question about karma and most expressed a disbelief in the concept. I certainly respect the fact that each of you has your own view on the subject, but would you reevaluate your opinion if I offered the following ...?

Views from the west have somewhat hijacked and warped the true definition of "karma". It has been turned into something resembling cosmic justice when that was never the intention. The true vedic explanation of karma is much simpler and easier to understand and digest.

Karma means momentum. It suggests that if actions have gone in a certain direction then other actions following or surrounding them will go in that direction as well. For example ... I attended a Niners football game years ago in San Francisco. I am a huge Niners fan and my team was getting destroyed. Nothing was going right. But in the midst of this debacle I and some others observed one of the linebackers make an excellent tackle. There was a little clapping but not much more - and a TV timeout. During this brief timeout I and my friends stop up and cheered/screamed our heads off for the linebacker. We kept screaming and urging others to stand and cheer. Soon our whole section was standing and cheering. The team looked up and many of them started patting him on the back for the tackle. The rest of the stadium (then still Candlestick) started to cheer as well and they wave even began. Suddenly the place was rocking and the players were patting him and high fiving one another. When play resumed the now fired-up defensive lineman overpowered the opposing O-linemen and hit the QB as he was passing - resulting in an interception and a touchdown for the Niners. THAT is karma.

Specifically karma recognizes that a myriad of forces interact within and around us at all times and they all effect one another. We've all know that guy who was involved in shady activities and his "friends" all seemed to be on the shady side and he always had some kinda scam going on and bad luck seemed to always surround him and he complained that he just couldnt buy a break. Its karma. NOT because of some "cosmic justice", but because shady people tend to associate with other shady people and find themselves in places with shady things going on where more police are on the lookout so their actions are more highly scrutinized and they get in more trouble etc... . Trouble begats trouble because they share similar habitats and circumstances. It has NOTHING to do with magic or mysticism as some believe. It just points out that the influences that surround us carry similar types of character and implications. If you make a practice of being mean to people then hostility because a great part of your life.

Now there is a retribution aspect of sorts in that if you do bad things and you're expecting or needing a good turn its' likelihood of happening is less. Not because of magic but because the influences that surround you don't necessarily accompany such good fortune. If you do good things in life and a bad things happens there's a good chance that good things will come along soon because you surround yourself with that. If you wear a smile you're likely to be confronted with more smiles. It's momentum from your prior acts affecting you in the present. Thats the true meaning of Karma.

Does that change your feelings on the subject in the least??

JeffMesser 8 Mar 4
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25 comments

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9

I still don't believe in it, but just as you respect my view on the subject so I respect yours - and I'm sure that the vast majority of other people on this site will do the same because we're a nice bunch, so feel free to continue posting whatever you like 🙂

Jnei Level 8 Mar 4, 2018

Same, I still don't believe in karma myself, yet appreciate your comments.

8

Ask Drumpf, if Karma exists, it's for sure biting him on the ass..ha!

OH...I hope...i.hope...hurry up!!!

3

It is a law of physics and all of nature that everything has and causes a reaction. What we put out comes back--we are like a giant magnet. I think we also create our own reality to a great extent---so what we think, our actions become our reality. Like ripples in a pond, what we do causes the next step----as for pay back--in a religous sense, no, I don't think there is some deity in the sky who gives a damn about teaching us a lesson or feeding its ego by playing with our lives.

3

I do believe in karma, but not necessarily the same way that you do, although the word "momentum" is interesting. I don't think karma is a "retribution", but I do think it is a way of balancing.

marga Level 7 Mar 4, 2018
2

Yes, you are correct (in spite of the football example). I use the term Real World Karma. No magic. No hocus-pocus. No deities. Just real world cause and effect.

If you invite negative events into your life, negative things will be more likely to happen. Or if you act in negative ways, people will be more likely to treat you negatively. And the opposite is true.

2

It was a good read anyway. I think what people think is karma is simply, when we make decisions based on our values and morals we are building our own self worth. Self worth is what dictates where you are going, up or down. When you do what's right things seem to go right because you feel better about yourself. And worse when you know you are wrong.

2

I like that. It makes sense to me

1

Despite the eastern religion vibes attached to it, karma is unproven and in practice dangerous, as it too easily succumbs to subjective thinking about just desserts, and retribution, and reward and punishment. In polly waffle thinking it sounds good, but there's not a scrap of evidence for it, save for human subjective cause and effect thinking, and I've expunged it from my own thinking as yet another religious and pseudo religious nonsense concept from the Bronze Age. Even in human subjective thinking and observation, where do you see it? Little children die in cancer wards in hospitals. Rich greedy assholes live long lives and die in beds of luxury. Where's the karma folks?

I work in criminal law and I see evidence of karma daily. People hang out with the "wrong crowd" and bad things happen - because they are more likely to put themselves in bad situations. I also do volunteer work and I see it there daily. A person starts off down and they force a smile upon their face and by the end of the day they are happy and making others happy. You not only change or continue your own fate but you affect that of others. Science is a wonderful tool but we have yet to crack its' applications on a holistic level with clear understanding. A smile forces chemical changes in the body due to a physical reaction to the muscles used which leads to endorphins being released which aids in alleviating stress which propagates more good feelings and also changes the tenor of our speech and interactions which achieves a similar effect in others which makes you a person others tend to flock around which changes your social structure which supports a more healthy personal social order etc... It ALL interacts. And to the extent that it all interacts each little wheel drives the ones behind and in front of it. Affecting any one has a tendency to affect them all. I used to show my friends this picture to describe it ...

@kauva I believe that what we observe in life are two things: cause and effect, and probability. Effects resulting from causes, and the greater and lesser probability of outcomes. Karma is a nonsense term with a mystical intent to explain these things. Also, I lived in an Buddhist country for many years. I have seen this concept in a cultural context. Poor people? Bad karma. Rich people? Good karma. A lot of nonsense all of it. I began by saying I think it is a dangerous concept. I still say that, and there's not a scrap of evidence for it, like reincarnation.

1

I like your take on Karma. I too believe in the concept of karma,, cause and effect, balance, its all good thoughts to me. I think everyone should feel free to as well, or not. The nice thing for me in being agnostic is the latitude to explore all things and choose what I feel resonates with me, and allow that for others.

1

I was never taught that there was anything cosmic or magic about it. My mom told me it was a word that describes that you get out of the world what you put into it. If you are nice to people, more people will me nice to you. If you are rude and unkind, same. I believe it holds true on average.

MsAl Level 8 Mar 4, 2018
1

Thank you for this definition of karma. It seems to explain much of my life, or my perception of my life.

1

That still doesn't consider that karma in the Vedic sense works through reincarnation. It's still mysticism.

JimG Level 8 Mar 4, 2018

it's all a matter of perspective my friend. there's a reason that Shakyamuni Buddha never directly addressed the self-no self issue. the idea that consciousness filtered thru our body yields the self also implies that the consciousness is elsewhere after that body perishes. if that consciousness finds itself in a lower-echelon form then the hindu concept of reincarnation is met while also following the logic implored in the gita and the upanishads (brihadaranyaka).

0

As a recently divorced woman who is still reeling from the recent betrayal from an adulterous husband of 17 years, I have been usingthe word "karma" a lot lately. And I like to see it when it looks like karma is happening. Do I believe it is real? Nah. In my situation karma can be best described as the ex's stupid choices combined with my lawyer's mad skills.

Deb57 Level 8 Mar 18, 2018
0

I agree with this assessment. In my view, karma is simply cause and effect.

0

Karma happens but ionly sometimes.
Have to incorporate reincarnation.Can't do,personally
My karma ran over my dogma

0

I would not agree that your view of "Karma" is correct. It would not alter my opinion even if I were to agree that this view were true. My feelings do not enter into my evaluation.

0

As a life long Niners fan who's endured the agonies at Candlestick, as well as the glories of Montana, Rice, Young and Lott, I can picture what you participated in, and might even conceed that it was, in a certain sense, 'karmic' if we accept the general definition that good intent and good deed contribute to good karma and future happiness.

Personally, I would call it a momentum shift. Momentum shifts are common in life, as they are in sports, and can come at the most unpredictable moments. In our daily lives, we are sometimes pleasantly suprised by the unexpected goodness of others, and it seems to me that a 'pay it forward' attitude of gratitude is indeed contagious--we are, after all, social beings ... even on the gridiron.

0

See in a way I do accept it, We, the human, are like all other living organisms and that is we are a bundle of energy. Lay two magnets on a table and they will interact somehow. All energy responds to the energy around it. If you, or I, do what we believe is good , we indeed attract like kind energy, so in a way, our energy decides the outcome of any event

EMC2 Level 8 Mar 6, 2018
0

Karma is either a religous belief or a social phenomena depending on how loosely you define it.

0

Yep. America's karma = our current Commander in Chief.

0

As a spiritual (whatever that is) event, no, I don't believe in Karma.

However, I do believe that how you relate to others and your environment can influence your surrounding and how others relate to you.

Nothing supernatural about it, if you are good to others, then there is a greater likelihood that others will respond to you in a positive way.

Those that live by the sword....

0

What you are describing at the game (and I am a HUGE football fan) is called " momentum", and can indeed be changed by one good play, t happens more than once in many, if not all games. I must disagree with calling it "karma", sorry

and why can't karma be momentum?

@kauva because Karma, if there is indeed such a thing, would not be involved in sporting events IMO...in every such events, one team will win, one team will lose...there are no "wrongs" to be righted, nor good deeds to be rewarded.
I cringe when players 'thank gawd' for some play they completed...oh, wait, maybe that's why these mass shootings, child rapes, etc keep happening? Gawd is too busy watching sports?! (hollow laughter.....)

0

I am not sure I agree with that definition of Karma. I see it more as a different energy field. Using the conscious or unconscious beliefs of a person...if they send bad thoughts toward other people or they cheat and steal and are dishonest...they will likewise, get back the same in return, even disguised in other forms, of cheating, stealing and dishonesty! Can be any other, harmful traits, too! Because, their own consciousness draws back to themselves, what they believe in. It could come immediately or later on...from the original event that was 'sent out'. I don't see it as a 'willing' of anything...although it could be deliberate actions. But, it can be traced back, if one is willing to examine themselves that deelpy!

0

Two things

One
I didn't read your other post but what you say about momentum and like follows like is true, but

Two
You've got the definition of karoma all fucked up. You should google that shit.

I trust the original sanskrit of the vedas and upanishads over google. sorry.

0

?Karma - (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences (but I would reserve Buddha taught more of a philiosphy than a religion - that came later. Karma is determanilistic - relating to the philosophical doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will. For example: Responsibility - Our lives are a result of our actions.
Connection - Everything is connected and serves an equal purpose.
Focus – One cannot focus on good and bad at the same time.
Giving – The way we treat others proves our intentions.
Here and Now – All we really have is this moment.
Change – Life gives us the same lessons until we learn from them.
Patience and Reward – Good things come from hard work, faith, and determination.
Significance and Inspiration – We will always get out of life what we put into it.

jeffy Level 7 Mar 4, 2018

what are you trying to say with this cut & paste?

@kauva Establishing a commonly accepted understanding with a little editorial comment. Karma is kind of religious dogma, but it hold some truth. I hold free will as more important.

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