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It is actually very simple. Karma is your story about the world, and the character that you believe you are that inhabits it. Your story is constructed out of events that have already happened and whether you decided you liked them or not. Your story can be about failure, triumph, being wronged, or being right. It is the story of your player-character in the world, and your struggle for the past or the future to be somehow different. This is obviously insanity, and a waste of time, since you cannot change the past, or ever inhabit the future in this moment. If, in this moment, you decided to STOP telling the story of "self" and other, STOP the action of struggling with things that have already happened and are impossible to change, STOP telling yourself the story of a future that you cling to, you could stop generating karma. In meditation, I don't mean a technique like watching the breath here but rather where the mind is still and silent, does not generate karma - there is no-self present in meditation to generate it.

Yes, there are certainly preconditions: Everything that has ever happened in the universe. Even if we believe in "free will", it is based in the causes and conditions that cover this moment... so, not really "free".

Rather than asking what is true, I prefer to ask what is useful. Will my life be better if I believe myself to have free will or not? The answer to this question might change depending on our stage of life and circumstances. Sometimes it´s useful to believe in our own agency, striving to do and create; at other times the best option is to surrender to our ultimate powerlessness.

And may I add, in addition we quite literally create everything we experience in every moment. By create I mean that things seem to be as they are because we are as we are. In other words, we see the world and others not really as they are, although that does contribute, but primarily as we are.

Hello everyone! My name is jav. I’m happy to join this forum. My main interests are qigong and self-development. I’m looking forward to learning from others here, sharing my experiences, and connecting with people who have similar interests. Thank you for welcoming me! 😊

karma is also like forms of math, for instance if one knows something does not compute but keeps doing it then the equation of karma will get more and more unbalanced. One can burn a fingertip and learn about fire instead of burning their whole hand to basically learn or compute the same thing. "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do..." but some know more than others as to what they do yet still keep doing it, thus I'd say there are different levels of forgiveness per a lawful equations. (although Grace is beyond "regular" computations)

A strange musical interlude

One view is that it means ; you do shit , you will suffer . It can be instant or a bit delayed . If you piss in your water , then you have to suffer with polluted water . If you treat people bad in your community that is disruptive and you now have to live in a disrupted community or even if , in a community, people are over merciful, about other people doing shit , then it will get worse . Life is intimately and complexly connected , your actions may have wide implications . But you don't do you ? Maybe that's because you are more intelligent than a person that needs 'scary kid stories' to engender correct social behavior ? - the same thing can be said for religions , of course. No, that is your 'punishment ' . I prefer certain Japanese ideas about it Look at this definition : " In the Japanese context, "karma" generally refers to the Buddhist concept of action, specifically intentional actions, and their consequences." Like I said above , even as simple as keeping your water clean . Its about being aware of what you do NOW and what consequences that will have later . Its about being mindful of your 'place of interaction' with the world . " It's understood as the principle that our deeds, words, and thoughts, driven by intention, lead to future results, " and of course , being a religion or philosophy that ascribes to the principle of reincarnation , it was considered that it was extended to " including future rebirths, according to the cycle of rebirth (samsara). While the word "karma" itself is a transliteration from Sanskrit, the concept is deeply ingrained in Japanese Buddhist traditions. " For example they might call 'co-incidence ' 'karma' ..... some unseen connections between people and events Being mindful as I described above is virtually the opposite of doing 'just random things in the world ' . But yes, many seem to be doing 'just random things' although influenced by other forces ( and those other forces might be those that stop or avoid them from being mindful of consequences ) . Okay . Piss in a bottle of water ..... and then drink it . I think you will get my point . Eh ? How did I learn it ? various texts from various religions and looking for comparisons of terms and themes ( Ie. same or similar idea from another culture with their word for it ) over a long period of time. Various teachers in different traditions , 'tutelary spirits' and 'life experience ' . There is something magical to everything (various butterfly wings ) But 'judging' is something Man does , not 'God' or the 'Universe ' ... it might 'enact' a law ( of physics ) ... I feel we should have got beyond the consciousness now , of thinking or believing that if a meteor crashes into a planet , the planet is being 'punished ' .

Karma isn't an agency for justice. Justice is more of a human construct. It's boundaries are made from moral ideas and judgements. Karma is not so easy a subject to discuss or explain. But, in simple terms, whatever your intent when committing an action, it has an affect on your future. Some say it is like planting an apple seed and an apple tree will grow. So, nothing arises from nothing. Everything is dependent on something else. One action creates the next. So, commit an act of evil intent, then, that will create forces which need to be played out. Will it happen in this lifetime or the next? I do not have that information. But, I believe that it will play out. How? I do not know. Will it be justice? My belief is that when Karma is created that it must resolve itself. What is the resolution? If one killed someone or something then maybe it is to learn how it is to be killed? Personally, I like to think that Karma will present itself in a way to provide the person who created the Karma to learn something that is needed to move forward on the spiritual path. It could be pleasant or painful. I just don't know. But, if one doesn't learn the lesson then doomed to repeat it again and again. Now, of course this isn't what most people believe Karma to be. It is just something I believe. You have yours thinking that there is justice and wishing there be a cosmic agency that dispenses that justice. You could be right?? IDK. Note: Karma does exist in my world.

Mark Foote (observing his breath )

Nah .... I gotta dump on that one ...... having an absolute love of the smell of pine trees . I never had to stick my face in them to smell them . His cape and coffee are shitty too . NOW back on topic and to something not silly (like pine trees not smelling ) If your baby needs a facepalm but your palm is too big to do it for him .....

Why not ? Let's Go ; Me Giles ; Limnal Luke Old3bob Taomeow Cobie

My present experience is that it seems irrelevant as to whether I believe in free will or not. Thoughts and feelings arise which seem to lead to actions and choices. Whether the relationship is causal or simply an inner narrative describing events and postulating agency makes little difference in my life experience.

This topic seems to have gotten some mileage with many people speaking on one side or the other. And there even seems to be some hostilities thrown into the mix. Personally, I see everything as inter-related. One thing brings with it another. One condition sets up the actions of another. Environment along with genetics plays their part in what actions are done. So, is there free will? Yes, in so much as we believe there is. And no, when one continues to react to the world instead of responding with awareness and compassion. I doubt whether anyone takes me seriously. And maybe no one should as they have made up their own minds. So, the wise old band once sang their songs, "Let It Be". Speaking words of wisdom, "Let It Be".

J.R.R. Tolkien CAT The fat cat on the mat may seem to dream of nice mice that suffice for him, or cream; but he free, maybe, walks in thought unbowed, proud, where loud roared and fought his kin, lean and slim, or deep in den in the East feasted on beasts and tender men. The giant lion with iron claw in paw, and huge ruthless tooth in gory jaw; the pard dark-starred, fleet upon feet, that oft soft from aloft leaps upon his meat where woods loom in gloom — far now they be, fierce and free, and tamed is he; but fat cat on the mat kept as a pet he does not forget.

..... the Universe does allow only certain 'happenings' ; I am reminded of a young and aspiring magician who got kicked out the navy , he suffered a 'medical situation' where on board his ship he took an excessively large amount of cocaine . Reason ? Magical experiment . He was trying to 'set fire to a pane of glass via sheer willpower .' One wonders if it was considered a cocaine overdose would supply the magical impetus necessary to 'over ride the inclinations of the Universe ' OR he came up with the idea for the 'experiment after he took the cocaine ?

Some one has to say it .... what a shitty Christmas Tree ! (in the back ground I meant )

All good procedures and the species can tolerate transplant . But you never know , sometimes they do not take and other times : native tamarind ; NOT a transplanter and not grown from cuttings . One small one got saved after a landslide and roadworks years back, rescued from a ditch in roadside in the mud . neighbour rescued it and put it as virtual stick , in between our two places . It took a few years to take off and it was tough and go "That will never work " I told him . Now its big nice tree , unfortunately he left and didn't see the results . Me to new neighbor : " Dont chop down that tree , its survivor and has history ." and I told her about it , She said when will not cut it down . native tamarind ; Rains there a lot does it ? here is a weeks rainfall We are about the third one down .

Karma is like "heal the land and be healed". Or "poison the land, and poison yourself in the process". It deals with the interconnectedness of all living things and all people. In some cases, the way people treat themselves is a mirror reflection of how they treat others. In order to treat ourselves more fairly, we must learn to treat others fairly. Treating others better was what allowed me to treat myself better.

A good portion of the root is intact. The top 10+ feet of the tree was also chopped to reduce the number of leaves & amount of water it would lose via transpiration. (Also to reduce weight) To prevent from drying out after replant. I dug a hole to give the tree root ball growing space. Filled with dirt. Covered with mulch. And more mulch. Watered in. Normally rains here a lot and so it should be good.

Hawaii.

Jiri Prochazka. 1+ year after opening his 3rd eye & attaining enlightenment or whatever it is 3rd eye does.

Long ago I thought that automobile crashes were karmic. At some time I thought that I had no personal karma so did not understand how I could have had multiple youthful crashes So I asked about that in meditation and instantly they replied - apparently not needing to consider the matter: You will observe that everything you hit was stationary at the time. That is not karma. That is carelessness. These days my mind is quieter so I drive slower than the rest of the traffic rather than faster

My experimental observations support the following propositions: - every planet, sun and galaxy, each exists within an entity (logos) that uses that as its body of "incarnation" - each Logos is sensitive to the species, energies, relationships and intents within its body - where events/actions/intents within that body are contrary to the proper unfoldment of that body within the greater cosmic system, the Logos feels discomfort - the body of the Logos contains intelligences that deal with the difficult energies. These intelligences have various cultural names such as Lipika Lords and Recording Angel - the Lords of Karma put pressure on the sources of disturbances - using entities on various planes. Hence sayings such as: As you sow, so shall you reap. - the pressures can be classified as personal or group, and by the level of the Logos on which the discomfort is occurring. - personal karma is harder to avoid as the person needs to learn - group karma can be redirected to other lines of least resistance, on request by a suitable entity - sometimes the lessons have been learned by the appropriate parties but the karmic energy/pressure is still present. Usually removal only requires a polite specific request by a suitable entity

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One kind act can transform the universe.

There is that HINT for the second time from two different posters ... The other wrote something like 'what people choose to believe ' There is a VERY different dynamic going on between people who believe something and people that choose or decide to believe something .

But do you like cookies ?

Is that you Cobie ?

And an extreme version:

Well ... if a bunch of people can be pardoned for trying to overthrow US democracy from within ....... why not ?

liminal_luke, you might like this: One Way or Another (from my blog, at zenmudra.com/zazen-notes) An excerpt: If a person can exhibit a mindfulness like Gautama’s without having become enlightened, and can have “seen by means of wisdom” without having completely destroyed the cankers, then how can one know who to trust as a teacher? Gautama’s advice was to go by the words of the teacher rather than any claim to authority, to compare the instructions of a teacher to the sermons Gautama himself had given and to the rules of the order that Gautama himself had laid down (DN 16 PTS vol. ii pp 133-136). Nevertheless, activity solely by virtue of the free location of consciousness, the hallmark of the fourth concentration, has been conveyed by demonstration in some branches of Buddhism for millennia. The transmission of a central part of the teaching through such conveyance, and the certification of that transmission by the presiding teacher, is regarded by some schools as the only guarantee of the authenticity of a teacher. The teachers so authenticated have in many cases disappointed their students, when circumstances revealed that the teacher’s cankers had not been completely destroyed. Furthermore, some schools appear to have certified transmission without the conveyance that has kept the tradition alive, perhaps for the sake of the continuation of the school.

People are complex and multilayered. Many of us are very good at some things, abysmal at others -- I know I am. So a lapse in one dimension doesn´t imply universal lapses in all dimensions. Case in point: teachers. How many of us have had or known teachers, even spiritual teachers, who are very good at what they teach but fall short in some areas? Tai chi teachers who are also obese. Meditation instructors who smoke cigarettes or watch porn. Demanding all around perfection is a trap.

TaiChi teachers may not be cultivators. One of my teacher was quite fat. Being fat doesn't affect their knowledge and skill in using the force, but on endurance and having other health problems. While every kid can outrun them, their power has little usage. There was a survey on lifespan of more famous Taichi teachers. They don't live that long. But it is hard to say, because last 200 years China had been in deep turmoil. XingYi masters seem slightly better. Then you would look younger than your peers. Recently I learn of a new term, Obesity Paradox. It means slight underweight would do immense benefits to avoid many current days sicknesses. But when this kind of person is seriously ill, they have a slimmer chance than overweight people. So the ability to put on weight in a short time is useful.

Something strange: I dug a breadfruit tree out of the ground and replanted it. "Stimulate the body, to stimulate the mind."

Why I first went to a TCM practitioner : I went to the regular doctor and told him my symptoms , he listened with this smarmy look on his face , then... get this ... THEN he says, " I don't think so ." He didn't think I was having the symptoms I described to him . I really wanted to reach over grab his hair and jerk it down and smash his forehead into the desk ..... I really wanted to , so much so , the muscles involved in that where twitching .... bastard ! I restrained myself , walked out and down the street , saw TCM and went in . Doctor did the usual checks and examinations and asked me nothing, and I said nothing , until he started asking me if I felt this or experienced that , and his questions where virtually a list of my symptoms that Dr Dickhead did not believe I was having !