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I am not sure that the Western notion of "karma", which is very individualistic (what should *I* do, why do things happen to *me*?), corresponds to the original Sanskrit -> Vedic -> Hindu concept. But I'm pretty ignorant of that stuff; maybe a Vedic scholar is lurking on the forum?
I think people believe in karma for the same reasons that people believe in lots of other things:
Supports a world view of a meaningful and orderly universe.
Provides a reference to judge what their own and others' actions ought to be.
Lends a framework for a variety of skills and strategies for living in the world -- many of which may be genuinely useful and constructive, regardless of the chosen framework.
Gets reinforced by observation, since people tend to see what they're looking for and interpretations tend to reinforce existing assumptions. (See "Law of Fives".)
This isn't meant to be condescending; all of it certainly applies to my beliefs too.
I don't understand it. I can't imagine those that believe in Karma think that every single person who gets Cancer somehow cosmically 'deserve it'. So what is the deal? How can someone believe in Karma after they take three seconds to look at the world and all the crap that goes on in it???? What is the psychology behind the belief of 'justice prevailing in one way or another'?
I believe in Karma, it means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserved it.
Seriously though Karma exists in some ways, but not the ways most people assume, its not magical. Its that the person who does bad things tends to run out of people who will tolerate it. At that point when something bad occurs they have little or no support network.
Note-this does not apply if you have wealth in many cases, money can buy off a ton of karma....just dont take it too far (see simpson)
I don't understand it. I can't imagine those that believe in Karma think that every single person who gets Cancer somehow cosmically 'deserve it'. So what is the deal? How can someone believe in Karma after they take three seconds to look at the world and all the crap that goes on in it???? What is the psychology behind the belief of 'justice prevailing in one way or another'?
If you think karma is the universe somehow going around delivering cancer on "bad" people, or just people in general, then you have no understanding of karma.
People get cancer because of uncontrolled abnormal cell growth. The end.
the greatest and most common mis-perception about karma is that it is a punitive force. nor a rewarding one.
the west seems to have some greatly distorted perception that karma is a kind of morality meter.
there is really no such thing as 'deserving' of anything, not according to karmic law. deserving is not even a karmic consideration.
karma is simply (and yet much more than such simple understanding can illuminate) the law of cause and effect. what is effect, and what is cause in your life? the lessons of karma teach you to know and recognize the difference, and which is which.
karma is a remedial force, not punitive.
using the cancer example, have we not all heard of many people who come to regard their illness (cancer or other) as a great blessing, and feel graced with the gift of a more deeper love and appreciation for life, family, the little things, etc.
whatever it is you need to 'learn' in order to evolve to a higher state of consciousness and greater awareness about yourself, your life, your purpose, your true self......ad infinitum (i'm sure i've got the phrase wrong) is what the experience (karma) will bring to you. it might be pleasure or it might be suffering, a mix of both....and as your awareness increases erg by erg, in ways both subtle and nearly imperceptible, obvious and profound.......you begin to see that it is your very own viewpoint, attitudes and learnings, all the ways you've been influenced to think your whole life.....that determine whether any experience that you have is either good or bad. it isn't about the external circumstances, it's about how/why/where/when your very own state of consciousness and level of awareness will expand and deepen in ways that truly allow you to evolve your own consciousness. suffering might be necessary to deepen your compassion (for self or others), for example. whether you beleive in karma or not, depends more on your current understanding and internal agreement with your own viewpoint.....about what karma is, means, purpose, whether true or not.
as real as karma is, by the very same way of understanding, karma does not even exist. which does not exclude (or at least does not have to) one's belief in it.
how many times in your life have you looked at your ongoing, continuing experiences from a slightly different angle, with the benefit of hindsight, for example....and suddenly been able to *see* that what you thought about it all yesterday, just this morning.....was completely whacked.
nothing about the circumstances changed, you did. and once you see *it*, you are never the same again, there's no going back to that old viewpoint that held your experience to a particular personal ideal you've been carrying around since forever....and with a sordid sort of stale old attitude that was never even your own in the first place, you adopted it from those around you...that insisted on validating it as 'good' or 'bad'.
that's what karma's purpose is, as simply as i understand and am capable of expressing at this point in my existence.
While karma is a buddhist thing and not a Christian one, the fact remains the same: if you want to get to Heaven you have to die first.
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