What is Karma? How does it work? Does it even exist?

[Annnon]

How does this "karma thing" works? I've seen people saying that it's not something mystical like "do this and you will pay in thir or in the next life  I still don't get it lmao I do believe in reincarnation and all but this karma stuff is weird

So if I do bad things in this life, I will pay in my next life?

But if this doesn't exist, or if it doesn't work the way we think it does, so one can do harm to others and never pay the "justice from the universe" unless he got caught and judged by the law of man? So what's the point? I'll just throw my car into a bus and never face any karmic consequences in this nor in the next life. My "karma" will be being caught by law and going to jail. So karma is nothing mystical as we think? I'm not sure if I made myself clear but maybe you could understand my point.

 

So in other words, do we face consequences beyond the law of man or we are just random things doing random things in this world? If I throw my car into a bus and kill xx number of people, will I face any consequences bsesides the "worldly" ones? If so, how can you prove me karma does exist, what did you learn that who is your spiritual teacher, or there's nothing magical to it and karma is just nothing mystical, no "judgement from god" or "judgement from the universe

 

[Lairg]

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Edited yesterday at 03:15 AM by Lairg

[Lairg]

 

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

 

 

Edited yesterday at 03:21 AM by Lairg

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Annnon said:

How does this "karma thing" works? I've seen people saying that it's not something mystical like "do this and you will pay in thir or in the next life  I still don't get it lmao I do believe in reincarnation and all but this karma stuff is weird

So if I do bad things in this life, I will pay in my next life?

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.

Edited 23 hours ago by Tommy

[Nungali]

2 hours ago, Annnon said:

How does this "karma thing" works? I've seen people saying that it's not something mystical like "do this and you will pay in thir or in the next life  I still don't get it lmao I do believe in reincarnation and all but this karma stuff is weird

So if I do bad things in this life, I will pay in my next life?

 

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 . 

 

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But if this doesn't exist, or if it doesn't work the way we think it does, so one can do harm to others and never pay the "justice from the universe" unless he got caught and judged by the law of man? So what's the point? I'll just throw my car into a bus and never face any karmic consequences in this nor in the next life.

 

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. 

 

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My "karma" will be being caught by law and going to jail.

 

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 

 

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So karma is nothing mystical as we think? I'm not sure if I made myself clear but maybe you could understand my point.

 

So in other words, do we face consequences beyond the law of man or we are just random things doing random things in this world?

 

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 ) . 

 

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If I throw my car into a bus and kill xx number of people, will I face any consequences bsesides the "worldly" ones? If so, how can you prove me karma does exist,

 

  Okay . 

 

Piss in a bottle of water  ..... and then drink it .  I think you will get my point . 

 

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what did you learn that who is your spiritual teacher,

 

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 ' . 

 

 

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or there's nothing magical to it and karma is just nothing mystical, no "judgement from god" or "judgement from the universe

 

 

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 ' .

 

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Nungali

[Nungali]

59 minutes ago, Lairg said:

 

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

 

 

 

Sounds like your car - ma  crashed into your dogma . 

[Sanity Check]

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.

[old3bob]

 

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) 

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by old3bob

[stirling]

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.

[Annnon]

Thanks for all the answers

 

This topic is interesting, I will use an example:

 

Imagine a man or woman, this person, even if he or she tries so hard to be in a relationship with someone, they can't make it.

It doesn't matter, everytime something bad will happen, be it a misunderstanding or people simply lose interest in that person.

 

What are your thoughts in this scenario?

To me, there  seems to be something going on which I can't explain, and then here comes the idea of karma, maybe this person was so bad in a past lifetime that now he or she can't get intimate with anyone.

 

Does this makes sense or it's just a dumb way of understanding karma?

 

Another example: Someone can't get a job, or everytime that person gets a job something happen and he or she is fired, or that person can't make money and have the barely minimum to survive.

Does this means that this person have something like a "money Karma", maybe he/she robbed a lot in his past lifetime.

 

How can you explain some people have so much "luck" in finding jobs, having money and others struggle with it?

How do you explain how some people feel like they were born for such jobs and making money from an early age, while others may take a lifetime to make it?

 

Just a coincidence? Nothing related to something "spiritual" or "karma"?

Edited 10 hours ago by Annnon

[Lairg]

3 hours ago, Annnon said:

How can you explain some people have so much "luck" in finding jobs, having money and others struggle with it?

 

There are many more intelligent species than those with physical bodies.   They have their own interests/missions to propagate - often using humans

 

Once a fellow asked me about a spirit that would come in his meditation.  I had a look and said:  It is one of those spirits used in medieval times to find lost treasure.

 

He replied that all his life he had won raffles and lotteries

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Lairg

[Tommy]

8 hours ago, Annnon said:

Just a coincidence? Nothing related to something "spiritual" or "karma"?

You are looking for a reason why good or bad things happens to someone. To either give good reason or blame it on coincidence? I won't say that most people aren't born with the ability to see such things rather that most people do not see the inter-rated(ness) of things. Some have said to see where you are now is to look at where you have been. To see where you will go is to look at where you are now. And so, I have no vision to give you an answer to satisfy your need for understanding. But, I have always gone by the saying that if one does good then good will come to them. However, my actions were not always to gain favor or goodness to come my way. I will guess that you will make your own truth about Karma.