Karma -- Thoughts?

[mom'sfolly]

I can't say that I really believe in Karma. I see to many very good people have very bad things happen to them. Believing that the good they did in this same life should come back to them obviously hasn't been true, and I find it difficult to believe that your past lives were enough to condemn the current life. I also don't believe the whole "sins of the father's" thing either.

I think you should do good simply for itself. Being a good, decent, compassionate person is its own reward.

This being said, by an agnostic (an atheist who can't commit

), for me there is a certain logic that if there is caring god, who has a purpose for each life, then reincarnation makes sense. If you can't fulfill the purpose of your life, if you constantly mess up, it seems to me that a caring, compassionate god would give you another chance. JMHO....and note the "if/then" sentence structure.

 

[welsummerchicks]

The New Age industry is about a seven billion dollars a year industry.

 

[Camelot Farms]

To be honest, I think that my beliefs are ever changing based on the knowledge and experience that I gain each day. My beliefs today at 40 are very different than they were at 20 and 30. And I think thats the way that it is meant to be. Life is a journey and every step that we take should bring us closer to the destination that we are seeking.

Every now and then, I notice that my road is a little wider than I want it to be and I am straying further from the narrow path than I want to be and its time to re-evaluate my map and my place on the road.

As far as Karma, I believe in paying it forward, balancing the scales, restorative justice and anything that keeps me centered in my journey.

 

[StupidBird]

my first thought "its a **tch"

but I like it. Gives me the patience to wait for the what goes around comes around. Or as they say, "nasty little people...always get their come-uppance."

You all have many well written views on this.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
Pardon me? I said I didn't believe in Karma, meaning the Hindu understanding of it. I've read through the entire Bible, there's nothing about an endless cycle of death and rebirth. There is one "rebirth." Your deed certainly affect the next life, or "afterlife," but it's not Karma in the Hindu understanding.

Also, thank you for assuming that I'm ignorant.

I have studied other religions, but not ultra in-depth. Too busy studying US history and economics.

Still, I understand Christianity and how it differs from other religions quite well.

 

[noodleroo]

Karma may play a part in a religion, but is not a religion. You don't have to feel like you are abandoning your religion to learn about karma. It is just a word. As I said in my earlier post, it is just cause, effect, action and reaction. It is about how you feel about yourself when you make good or bad choices and how those feelings manifest into action, reaction, cause and effect.

In a karmic way of thinking, there is no evil, only the LACK of good. Just like light and dark; (You can't make 'dark', you can only take away the light and what is left is 'dark'.) In Christian terms, evil is the lack of God, or good. Same principal applies to karma....

 

[Wolfwoman]

Quote:
Ah, I didn't realize you were speaking ONLY of Hinduism, in which case you are right. Other religions/beliefs/people, however, don't feel the same.


Quote:
Wow, someone who thinks EXACTLY as I do!!

 

[kla37]

In my experience, bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. If that's Karma, then it sucks.

 

[Q9]

Quote:
Very interesting take on it. I've never heard it phrased quite like that before. Food for thought. The difference is, evil is a thing in itself to Christians, as evil is the act of actively rebelling against God. Still an interesting take on it, though.

 

[welsummerchicks]

I don't see karma that way, ie, there is no evil, only the absence of good. I see evil and good as very real, but I don't personify the devil with a red skin and a forked tail. I think evil exists, but not as a tangible being or creature. I think the devil in Christianity, the way it is personified, comes from Pagan religions that Christianity disliked.

Re Christianity, the more generic type of karma, Christianity has it. There is a very strong theme of people being punished for sin. As well as being rewarded for good deeds. Isaac for example was greatly rewarded for his faith and obedience to God.

What Christianity doesn't have, is the Hindu type of karma - particles that adhere to the soul through many rebirths without the soul having memories of it. But rebirths are not a part of all types of Hinduism. Neither is the traditional idea of karma.

And Hindu rebirths are not really like what most western people conceive of them being, a soul that would remember past lives. A soul in Hinduism shucks all that, and is much more like a cup of water poured back into a lake, than some little thing with a personality, memories and ideas, flying around with a happy face. The new age conception of reincarnation, the western conception of it, very, very different.

In Christianity people go to Heaven or Hell, based on their (generic) karma.