Gods come into being the same way luck or karma does; as a direct result of anthropomorphizing reality. Attributing intent and will to the chaos, because we ourselves operate with intent and will.
- Gods are imagined and created in the minds of those who believe in them, and their ideals always match that of the believer. - Karma operates according to the subjective definitions of good or evil in the minds of the believer. - What is lucky or unlucky is determined by whether or not the outcome is favorable for the individual, or not. -
These are only a few of the ways in which we assign human attributes to aspects of reality. it is interesting how common it is for people to claim intent of the inanimate.
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When natural disasters or strange weather patterns occur, does anyone else wonder what prehistoric people thought? Like a hurricane or water spouts or the Northern Lights or sand storms....I can understand why somebody could come to the conclusion that a message was being sent...an omen, a threat, or even something positive in store, like a falling star or a rainbow being a 'good sign'. Since people want to find meaning, they seem to look for it regardless of whether it's logical or rational to do so. As most of us have heard, there are people who see the image of Jesus in all sorts of strange objects, as an example! I find this sort of thing fascinating even as an atheist, like a spectator sport, without believing any of it myself.
mojo5501
Level 7
Mar 27, 2019
1
I too find thoughts like those interesting. What a scary world it must have been. No wonder we took shelter in delusion; the alternative was confused uncertainty
Many Westerners have an incorrect understanding of karma, which is that karma is fate, or chance. When actually, karma is a sanskit word meaning "action." It simply means that all actions have results, and all situations have pre-exiting causes and conditions. Good decisions tend to have happy outcomes and bad decisions tend to have unpleasant outcomes. Karma is very complex and complicated.
33Virginia
Level 3
Mar 27, 2019
2
Then the understanding is totally understandable, since if actions have clear connections to outcomes, then are not those actions fated to produce those outcomes, and were not observed outcomes fated by previous actions?
@mordant Karma is very complicated and complex in that we cannot always know all the causes and conditions involved in producing a specific result. It can take a very long time for a cause/condition to be fully realized. And it may take many additional causes.conditions added in to bear a specific result. Take the example of slavery and all the causes and conditions involved in that institution. We are still experiencing the results of racism that even the civil rights laws of the 1960s have not fully eliminated. Then there is the example of more simple karma, such as going barefoot in the country might result in fire ants stinging my feet. I think of karma as a law like gravity in that it never stops working.
@33Virginia Your quite a smart monkey, and 33 is my favourite answer to all questions. Two parts of the complexity of Karma I'd like to bring up. 1st, the pattern, the matrix if you will, of cause and effect, in thought and in action, and the pendulm effect, where we swing from one thinking to another, one power base to another and in all things, there is momentium and direction which reaches a critical point and reverses direction with almost equal or sometimes more force, swinging back. And 33, look to fractals, the pattern of the universe we inhabit. 3333333333333333
@33Virginia If it's complicated and nuanced then it's just normal cause and effect. If it's straightforward moral consequences then it's karma and that is just a different patina over the same notions that e.g. the Abrahamic religions have, that good is rewarded and evil punished in some way that's inherent to existence (karma) or presided over by an enforcing strong-man (Abrahamic 'morality'
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Karma tends to make the claim that the universe or something within it cares about the subjective morality of conscious minds. This, is assigning human traits and ideals to the intimate. Assuming that theres a greater force keeping tabs on who hurts who and who helps who. Do you get what i'm saying? karma is illogical and comes about as a result of us assigning our own ideals to reality
If karma is a Sanskrit word that means "action" then your karma is simply what you do.
I also agree with you here. Our conscious experience and everything that comprises it is hallucinated within the brain. I would also like to add that living in a way where you automatically attribute intention or purpose to everything around you is not a fun way to live.
bootaski
Level 6
Mar 27, 2019
2
I would not use the term hallucinated, as it has perjorative connotations. There is real, physical stuff "out there." It's just that our exlperience is entirely subjective. the Buddhist descibe the 5 skandas as form, feelings, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. All of which create everything that we experience and we label as "I." But the skandas themselves are completely void of self-existence.
Here's an example to try, auditory hallicination. The McGurk Effect
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