I tend to believe in Karma , that in some way what we send out into the world , doubt fear, anger, compassion, kindness, forgiveness, eventually comes back to us.
I don’t really have any knowledge of Karma from studying various religions that support it but more from a “reap what you sow” aspect.
I think Karma is on a deeper personal level rather than just our physical situation although that plays a part. Still, people might be dishonest assholes and have a lot of money, and to those less affluent it seems the bad guy has all the advantages and gets away with selfish hurtful actions but I think Karma is more nuanced than that. People that use money to measure their worth as a person create their own Karma with that kind of shallow approach.
OTOH people can be poor by financial standards and very rich and happy in their personal life. So. it would appear financial affluence by itself isn’t an important detail of good Karma or bad.
How about happiness, love, peace of mind? Are those positive Karmic results of being a positive person.
In looking it up I see;
from wikki
While it is correct that some actions and attitudes have both direct and indirect consequences, it is incorrect that there is some external cosmic force enforcing the particulars.
How do I think it “works”? I think you can suspect or hope that it works (or not), but there’s no more proof it works than there is proof there is a God up in the sky. It’s a belief. (I pretty much do believe in God, though I have no use for organized religion.) My beliefs boil down to: live by The Golden Rule; try always to take the high road; and before taking action, consider…Karma. I do believe what you put out, good or bad, will come back to you in one way or another. There’s no guarantee, any more than praying to a silent God to cure your child’s deadly illness, will result in a cure. But I do think behaving as IF there were Karma can make you at least act like a better person. Do something good for someone, you feel good, you tend to keep on doing good things. Do something bad, and you feel guilty, or foolish, or get punished by society, and think “yeah, I am bad”. So it goes.
That’s all I got, in my simple minded way. Whether there really is Karma, whether bad people will suffer for their actions or the good folks will increase their chances of coming back in another life as higher, better beings - who knows? I behave as if Karma is real. It would be nice if it was, there would be a whole lot better behavior in the world.
I don’t believe in karma per se, but I do think that some people who deep down believe that they don’t deserve what they have, will subconsciously try to sabotage themselves.
I also believe that most people can’t be truly happy all of the time, no matter how well their life is going outwardly. Well off people will just find other things than wealth to agonize over. When your material needs are met, your treshold for getting bothered by previously insignificant things lowers, so you’ll end up worrying just as much as before. Just not about how to pay your bills.
While I think it true that most people can’t be happy all the time, I don’t think the actual level of worry is actually the same. It’s just that it distressed you more when everything else is right.
And I wish I believed in karma. It would cut down on certain feelings I don’t like. When someone does me wrong, I always want to get back at them. I don’t think I would if I thought some cosmic force was going to make them regret it eventually, anyways.
I believe in karma. Like salinqmind said, it’s a belief people have, like religion. I have read some theories on how it actually manifests. Many believe that everything in the universe is made up of energy. They also believe that energy carries with it particular vibrations that are attracted to like vibrations. Like attracts like. Negative people tend to send out negative energy which, in turn, attracts more negative energy that ends up being sent back to them. Therefore, a person that sends out a lot of negative energy is going to end up with more negativity coming into his life than a person who sends more positive energy.
If you believe that everything is made up of energy that vibrates at different levels, karma makes perfect sense.
I don’t believe in a cosmic law that ensures every good thing you do comes back to you and vice-versa. In fact, I believe that’s patently false. If it were true, babies wouldn’t die of horrible diseases. Life is unfair.
I do believe strongly in the power of actions and consequences. I believe hate begets hate and violence begets violence and love begets love.
I agree that some people sabotage themselves or, if they feel undeserving they never really give their full effort to their own success , either in work or in their relationships. By thinking negative they create negative results when opportunity knocks.
I don’t think Karma relates to being happy all the time. Life happens and sometimes what appears to be something pretty negative can turn into something positive if you approach it with positive energy and attitude.
We are primarily responsible for ourselves, our own decisions and actions and we don’t control the actions, feelings, or choices of others. A good person who is positive might still have to deal with divorce but IMO the choice is how to strike the balance of taking good care of yourself , standing up for yourself, and not letting anger and resentment direct your choices. A good person might lose their job and fall on hard times but how they deal with it has a lot to do with their Karmic future.
I can go along with this. One point, I know two people who are both fairly positive happy people. Both tend to avoid negativity in others and I see the up side of that. I can also see that sometimes the negative things in life must be confronted and that events even unpleasant ones, are an opportunity to explore ourselves and grow. IMO, it’s how we approach these events that creates Karma. Can we deal with negativity without judging others to harshly. Can we avoid embracing resentment? I don’t enjoy hanging out with negative people but often in life we do have to deal with them.
I am an agnostic materialist. I don’t believe in karma as some woo-woo mystical force. But I do believe that the choices you make have consequences, and eventually those consequences catch up with you.
In the short run, you might be able to convince the marks that you are their best friend. But in the long run, they will eventually wise up, and take steps to protect themselves from you.
Virtually every commandment in the Old Testament is a pragmatic survival strategy, with practical consequences right here in the material world.
there’s consequences and there’s also intent. I can appreciate the eastern philosophies that try to raise consciousness so that our unconscious motives become apparent and we can make more conscious choices. Intent IMO is about what you want, really want, rather than say you want or even acknowledge to yourself you want. It’s even spoken of in the Bible when Jesus is talking about religious leaders praying to be seen praying by others. He comments “they have their reward” iow, they get what they want, and that’s all.
The consequences of our actions , how we perceive them and what we choose next, has a lot to do with intent.