Do you believe in Karma?
 

Do you believe in Karma? The idea that what you do comes back to you? If you do good, good things happen and vice versa?

An example:

Several years ago, I slept with a girl who's a friend of mine. I knew she was interested in me and had been for a few years. I also knew I didn't feel the same and that this was just sex for me. I didn't lead her to believe that I wanted a relationship before we had sex. Afterward, I know it broke her heart.

Flash forward three months, I'm hanging out with this beautiful girl that I've known for a long time. We dated years ago, but it didn't work. Anyway, after alot to drink and some flirting, we end up in bed. Afterward I'm thinking, "This is great, she finally sees me as someone she could date."

Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing but a night of fun for her. It took me months to get over the pain. The wheel turned boys and girls, and it ran right the hell over me.

Since this time I'm a firm believer in Karma. I try to live so that I want to get back what I give.

What do you think? Have your own Karma stories to share?

I used to be a big believer in karma but than I realized that if karma was real I should be dead.


I've done some pretty shitty things to people in the past.

I guess, you could say I believe in Karma to a point.
Same thing with luck...

i'd like to beleive that some of these assholes will get their just deserts. Sometimes it works out that way. Usually not, but sometimes it does. When it does... I take out the lawn chair, grab a soda and popcorn...sit and watch the festivities.

yeah, i believe in karma.

no specific incidents that i can think of that led me to believe innit, it just makes sense on some gut level.

but as with everything, i believe that whatever the individual believes has some bearing.

but the universal powers that be are greater, in the end.

What's that they say, "life is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it."

I need to put more good stuff into it, myself. <sigh>

My Karma ran over your dogma.

And yes, being from the Eastern Religions, I believe in it.

well, there's really nothing there to "believe in" except cause and effect you know....

I believe in Bad Karma. You treat people like crap and it'll come back and get you. I'm not sure about Good Karma because it doesn't seem to be working out.

If there were anything to Karma, then why do so many bad things happen to good people and visa versa? I *do* believe that we put forth energy, positive and negative, and it is that energy that directs the course of good and bad in our lives.

What about all the good things that happen to the good people and the bad things that happen to bad people? The point of Karma is not to have a predesignated "good" and "bad" but a dynamic view of one's cosmic surroundings.

To me Karma goes hand in hand with Existentialist philosophy that you are free to create your own self and the principle of cause and effect is ever present within and without. What you do today makes a difference...especially to those close to you, through your actions and examples.

The idea of Karma that I have been introduced to is really just a part of a much larger picture. To me it is comforting, and helps me to feel like my life is very fair - in both good times and bad. It is empowering to me to not have to feel like a victim all the time. Personally accountable...I am the cause of all I see, hear, feel etc. That is all a part of Karma as I undertand it.

As far as the "bad things...good people" point is concerned, I think the idea of Karma may extend beyond the boundries of this lifetime.

c_b

I suppose I do believe in karma. I've always followed the idea of what goes around comes around and that is why I try to treat people nicely. I don't think it's a good idea to believe in it to such an extent that you allow it (or fate) to rule your life. Some people will sit back and let shit happen because they feel it was "in the stars" and can't be helped. Wrong. You create your own destiny but I think that if you treat others you meet with respect and honesty then that will rub off on them, they will treat the next person they meet that way and so on and so on and so on.
Well - here's hoping, anyways!

This is a great thread!

I thought I knew what Karma was- the type of vibe/energy that one puts forth will eventually come back to her, but there are some intriguing comments here that have me pondering.

The dictionary definition speaks of Karma perpetuating reincarnation. I go back & forth on whether there's a *next existence.* I hope so.

Karma is very real. In highschool I was pitching during a baseball game and decide I need to hit the batter. I bean him in the shoulder. After the game i'm walking to the parking lot when a foul ball hits me in the head. KARMA IS A BITCH

unless karma is like the government, i.e., slow moving, I will never believe in it. I am owed way too much good stuff for me to believe in it.

I believe in Karma because I have found that in the past when I did many things I am not proud of they always came back to haunt me later on. Since then I've come to understand that perhaps there is an underlying force that does in fact keep things balanced when you do good and vice versa. For myself, it seems the only possible explanation. Alot of times things happen to us and in that instant it may seem like nothing is working out and that it could be some kind of "punishment" we had coming to us...until we look at it again in hindsight and realize that it was just what needed to happen in order for today to be so great.

I treat everyone as I'd like to be treated...most of the time :D

I believe there is a link between karma and existentialism as Simple Min expressed. Existentialism is all about how our actions have consequences that will affect us. Maybe not in the next hour or two, but at some point, and we should more thoroughly consider the importance of what we do. It seems to me that every story so far on this post deals with decisions made very quickly with no recognition of the repercussions deal with whether karma exists or not.

I believe it. I go out of my way to be nice to people, and do good things, and in my life it seems that the universe bends over backwards to make sure I get by. When I do something bad, shit happens to me.

Absolutely! I believe you get what you give in life, good or bad. Karma can be your best friend or your bitter enemy. It is up to you. I prefer to have her on my side thank you very much!

I do believe karma is real. But I don't that there's anything that surprising or metaphysical about it. It's just an aspect of a logical universe. What you put in is what you get out.

-D.S.

I believe in Karma not because of past experiences, but only because it is the only logical way things should work imo. I never base my beliefs on past experiences.

yea. it makes sence that it would work, not only in the 'spiritual' sense, but just out of logic.

Hmm. Cause and effect, as Art stated, but I think there's a bit more to 'The Big Picture' that I call life. Or, I hope, anyhow.

I really, truly believe that, eventually, you reap what you sow. I do not, however, believe every little action and word spoken has a balanced end.

I guess an umbalanced yin-yang?

I hope we all truly do reap what we sow. then again... if we do.. i got a lot of shit to own up to.

i think everyone wants justice in the end, and that's what karma comes down to. hopefully we all, people as a society, will continue to grow and make (and break) laws to help people recieve justice. i'd hate to leave it up to the cosmos, then die, and no bad deed is punished.

gah i'm tired. gonna shut up now

I don't think it has anything to do with Eastern Mysticism or whatnaught.

You live a good life and try to do right by others; others will try to do right by you. It is a simple cause and effect circuit. Good things happen to good people because good people do good things; and ditto for the assholes too.

In the general sense, I believe that if you are good to others, they tend to treat you better in return. I don't believe in karma per se though.

I'd just like to add one more thing. I strongly believe that everything that I do consciously has an effect and that I will live the consequences of those acts in time. That doesn't mean that if I do something bad, shitty stuff is bound to happen to me in THIS life. I believe in reincarnation and I believe that everything you do and everything that happens to you balances out in time.

i believe in karma to a degree. like a bunch of bad things happening at one time, but not like if i do something bad now, something bad is gonna get me later.

I'd like to believe in Karma, but my brother-in-law is still alive. There must be a flaw in the system.

For those who believe good karma never works:

Are you sure it isn't just that when something bad happens we look around everywhere for something to blame it on?
Yet when something good happens, we look no further than our ourselves to see who to congratulate?

What I'm saying is, maybe you have been repaid (although I think that's the completely wrong way to look at it) for your good deeds, but you attribute the benefits to your own actions rather than seeing it as karma.

How many of the above people who replied consider themselves part of a faith that holds the idea of Karma at it's core? (Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism)

I am just curious that's all.

I agree with ART, once again.

Futher, I do not understand why this mysterious karma can be so obvious when so much is done to innocent people, who in turn go on to inflict harm unto others. Seems very chicken and egg.

Assuming choas, destruction and strife aren't the main themes in life.

I, too, love to ask questions about what people practice/believe.:)

I myself am what I consider a maverick Christian. ie, I believe fully in Christ, ressurection, the Trinity, and a few other things. I do not believe in most everything else, though. I research my beliefs best as I can and try to keep an opened mind so I am willing to accept changes. I believe that Christ will back me up as long as I thrive to understand, do right, and believe in Him.

as for karma. no per se ties to it spiritually.

Sigh, that's nice to know WhoaitsZ. But since Christianity does not encompass Karma why are you advertising?

It would have sufficed to claim you were a christian and quit there, because we all know what it means to be a christian.

Yeah I believe in karma. If I get treated like crap at work, I am more likely to treat some else like crap. If I fuck over one of my friends, one of my friends is more likely to fuck me over.

I'd like to believe in Karma, but I see some people screw others over and over and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them. Or at least nothing worse than is happening to the guy who isn't a bastard.

Well "Karma" does not follow the physics laws of spring constants and is not "Action and immediate reaction."

The religions that teach Karma also teach patience and understanding as crucial traits. That's not to say that you should hold a grudge or be resentful of someone forever.

Karma to me is merely a word to describe the interplay of the vast concert of existence. There's nothing mystical to it, and it's not entirely about "good to those who do good and bad to those who do bad".

In buddhism, there is a lot of talk about "skillful means" where in order to lead someone to enlightenment it may be necessary to hurt them, or do really cruel things.

If you think about the chains of action and reaction long enough, you can see where pretty much any good thing you do could work back to something bad happeneing in the world around.

Hence, good people get crapped on, and bad people get good fortune. There's no need for an arbeiter being pushing good fate and bad this way and that.

Or something.

I've always been a believer in what goes around comes around.
Also the golden rule..
Very hard to live by...

A lady I work with is one of the biggest bitches I've ever met. She never stops.. EVER!.. Well a couple of months ago her husband passed away...I felt bad for her...I thought hmmm maybe this will turn her life around and make her realize life is short ...be happy...nope...She was only back a couple of weeks and she was back to her normal bitchy self...Then last week her mom gets put in the hospitol. hmmmm Well she's still the same and it looks like that no matter what happens she'll never change.

i refuse to believe in karma...that would mean i am not in complete control of my life...

You really think that your actions and your actions _alone_ are the only factors that have an influence on the course of your life?

I humbly beg to differ, Sir. (or Madam, or both)

Which Buddhism are you referring to? The "new age" Buddhism is all we hear about in the West, or the Yin/Yang Buddism. Those are very far from the real belief system. I would be interested in reading more about that particular translation, so if you have a link with more info on this whole "pain to reach enlightenment" please post. :)

to some extent, yes.

Well, when i said hurt, perhaps that's going a bit far, but is conceivable from what i've read (mostly Alan Watts' 'Zen' stuff with a liberal dose Suzuki, i'm not a member of a sangha... The only one's around me are far too keen to mention monthly fees and such in the initial conversations... though that could be because i'm an english speaker in a foreign land). There are plenty of tales that i've read depicting scenes of cruelty to animals and the like in the name of expediting the progress of others down the path.

IANAE

check your pm b/c we seem to be getting off topic :cool:

This thread is truly a showcase of people's skewed views as to what karma really is. "Cause and effect" seems to be the popular and incorrect idea as to what karma is. I can see how people contrive this notion, but I assure you that there is a lot more spiritual and even psychological drive behind the concept of karma than you people are bothering to give it. The true ideas behind karma require a good amount of reading as opposed to a 2-minute description that you heard in a movie or on a television program.

I must also mention that Buddhism is not a "faith" as one person called it, as it is not a faith-based religion.

** end rant **

Anyway, I strongly believe in karma. Even the stricter believers are changing their ideas about karma in relation to reincarnation these days. As such, I can safely make that primary statement.

If you believe in any spirituality or even psychology, then your beliefs are likely to compliment karma.

Sorry, that post was rather pretentious and self-righteous. All apologies. I will leave it there for informational purposes.

Antagony, thanks.
I read it and studied it.

After decades of living and thinking I've decided to refer to it as cause and effect - cosmic cause and effect if you prefer.

Apologies accepted.
Try not to make assumptions about our knowledge.
We have some pretty smart and educated people here.
Thanks.

I believe that Karma, in it's concept is real.
I believe that because I do what I believe is rite, I live with myself quite happily. Inversely, those "bad" people, weather or not bad things happen to them, can not live with themselves, nor enjoy the best parts of life, knowing they have done "bad".
As I go through life, knowing I wish no harm, or unhappiness, on anyone. I have a lightness to my 'soul' (for lack of a better term).
If you make every decision/judgement based on how it will make you feel, both at the time, and upon reflection, later when you're gathering your thoughts. (what you put out, you get back) You are living the principal of Karma, as I understand it.
Those who act in a way that makes their reflection something they don't like to see, Well, they get what they deserve every time they look in the morror don't they.

I practice a system of belief that involves the concept of karma under another name. Sometimes I don't like it, and I don't really like what it suggests, but I think that karma, for whatever reason, is a real phenomenon.

Karma is the incessant pushing toward what you believe you deserve....it is also the desire to create a world in which everything you know is always the same.

smegal, could you possibly expand on that? It sounds interesting.

well i can say this Karma is hindi for "action" and "dharma" is hindi for good or aprropriate action and "rhama" is hindi for bad action ( i think i got rhama right i could be wrong) however the idea is that all action puts out a sort of energy and since we all share the universe you are creating the energy that will be put on you. So you have to liberate your mind from western thinking and dont add it up on a point system to get a good understanding for the true meaning. (the part about true meaning is my deduction all else is pure fact)

In the Eastern, religious sense? Not so much (I don't adhere to those systems of beliefs).

Seeing as the discussion has taken a "what goes around comes around" stance, I guess (you reap what you sow).

I really don't see it as a 'spiritual' thing, other than the fact that I do what I know will make my 'spirit', or 'ghost in the machine' happy. After all it's me I have to answer to. (see in the mirror, deal with in the minutes before sleep each night.)

Right. And when I originally posted, this was my view. However, I also like reading the other, more studied replies that many have made.

Anyone have an example of what they believe was karma in action? Positive or negitive energy that you put out into the world that somehow came back to you?

Mind is the forerunner of all actions.
All deeds are led by mind.
If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind,
Dukkha follows,
As the wheel follows the hoof of an ox pulling a cart.

To understand Karma and its effects you need to add a few more words to your mental dictionary. Sukkha (good, what you want) and Dukkha (bad, what is to be eliminated).
(Both are from Indian Sanskrit texts)

As the ideology goes, dukkha results when you do "bad" deeds. You feel bad when you take advantage of someone, for example. That feeling is the result of "bad karma".

You murder someone, and you fear for your own life and what the police will do you for the act. That is karma.

If you are looking at Karma in ways that "Karma is true if and only if I hit someone with a rock and then later I get hit with a rock, " then that is the incorrect way to approach it. (Again, Hinduism and Buddhism have a great and wonderful connection with the cosmos. It is almost as if they are science with mythology mixed in for good measure.)

For example, you cannot prove (qualitatively) gravity exists...and as Dr. Einstein showed with his work in Relativity that gravity is not real. But we feel it and it's dukkha (or sukkha; whichever way you want to look at it)

simple_min it seams you have a good understanding of this but i think we can only exsplain Karma so much until the old zen buddist saying regarding budism comes into play "if you are exsplaining it you arn't getting it" its one of those things that exsperince can show us but it still seams logical when you really think about it.

furthermore people must relise that death is by no means a punishment and that Karma dose not punish you any more than drowning is a punishment from water its just the way it works.

(censored)

my beliefs are similar and for the most part i'd consider it some sort of karma, so yea. i'll just say i believe in balance

As an aside: Stiltzkin, don't assign too much authority to NASA engineers. After all, a simple measurement conversion error (feet to metres) sent one of the probes hurtling into Mar's atmosphere. Hate to have my hazy future ignite due to a simple rounding error.

But back to karma ;)

It is my Perception , and thus reality as I see it. that I controle the vast majority of my life. Weather or not science can predict it, is not relevent to my Perception of it. Even if it's an illusion, I believe that my actions/inactions determine how my day/life will go. And so, MY PERCEPTION of Karma is that, when I act in such a way as to make myself happy (doing good as I see it) I am determining how I will feel, and what I will do. I don't see Karma as making a "deal" (good for good/bad for bad). I see it as making a plan. (I will act/decide in this way so I will be happier) I make this plan knowing how I felt about previous decisions. Not in the hope that I will be happy, nor the hope that good will come back to me, nor that the plan made for me, will go well.

Do karma truely exist? Its frustrating..My girlfriend is still trumatised and reeling with nightmares after two years...after she was raped.And this man is still living happily ever after with new girls to bed.



shrugs..tell me if the good always triumph the evil?
regards,
http://www.angelza.com/doll9logo.jpg

For those of you who are knowledgeable about karma, do me a favour; ‘enlighten’ me about something. Assuming the psyche and spirituality are pivotal elements of karma, am I out of line in saying animals cannot commit ‘good’ or ‘bad’ actions and therefore would not be subject to karma? If so, is karma affected by a human’s actions’ results, or the intentions behind the actions?

Likely if such a thing effects our lives at all, it is the creation of our minds in the first place, Thus exclusive to Humanity. Some believe in the world of Karma there is no good or bad, black and white at all, but instead actions simply "Are", and play along a similar path to thermaldynamics.....For every action...etc.
Intentions seem to be the underlying confusion in all Karmic discussion, as they are the undefined...the "Human" part of this belief. "I didn't intend to run over Sallys Dog, but I couldn't stop the car in time". Is this giving me negative Karma?.......who knows, and seriously, What can you do about it.

If the belief in Karma guides people to be kinder and more compassionate, I'm all for it.....if only because Dogma certainly isn't doing it for them.

I definitely feel that karma is a decent description of what goes on... ready for a silly example? You can laugh, but I've seen its effects often....

When I commute to and from Queens to Manhattan, it's not fun. The trains are crowded, people are pissy, the buses can be slow... but I always try to approach things calmly. I can't control if the train is delayed, or crowded, I can only control my reactions to such things. If I see someone struggling with a stroller, I almost always stop to help them get up/down the stairs, even if it means missing my train. Why not? Unless I'm going to be actually late, which I try not to do as it would affect others negatively (not cool to be late!).

And I find that when I take things in stride, and don't "rail against the inhumanity of it all"... things go so much more smoothly. The bus that's not always available when I get off the train, is magically there most days that I help someone. The train comes right when I need it. Yes, I know things feel more smooth just by being calmer, but still!

So there you go. Karma in everyday life. :thumbsup:

I believe karma is a useful idea to help us think more about what we do.

Me and my girlfriend have Karma together, we turn it into a joke but it's quite funny at times.

ie: she txts me off a phone that I don't reply to, as she has 2 and the 2nd one allows me to txt for free. Whenever I get a little angry I normally forget to change the destination from the phone number she's sent off to her other phone.

she replys with "Karma :D?"

In my view, Karma is most relevant to the decision-making process. It's down to what choices you have made and will make.

In that sense, the Anima is uninvolved because it is UNABLE to make choices. Only to the extent that animals are able to choose are they karmically self-directed...