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Do you believe in Karma?

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EphemeralOutlet141

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All religion aside, do you?

I'm starting to. I'm a stone cold atheist but I notice that every time I purposely do something immoral, even if I'm the only one who knows about it, some stroke of bad luck finds me. Recently I did a lot of bad things and hurt a lot of feelings and didn't think twice about it. I just explained myself with "well shit happens sometimes deal with it". But, a few days later a weird episode of depression with a side of bipolar set in. Then I had a 3 bad dreams in a row about someone who hurt me in similar ways.

I've noticed small trends with other people too. I don't think that I'm a bad person all the time, but I know people who do it as a full- time job. They describe similar issues.

Does our subconscious inflict this as a way of expressing guilt? Is there a force in the universe known as Karma? Maybe they're one in the same and that's just how we as humans rationalize it.

But yeah, what do you believe?
 
I believe that you see things as karma because you have somewhat of a guilty consciousness. Like looking at the clock and seeing 11:11 and finding it significant because it seemingly happens a lot. We want to put patterns on things. I do believe there are usually direct consequences to hurting others (even if the only consequence is a lessening trust in yourself) but they are simply consequences and not some form of cosmic punishment.
 
I believe in Karma. I've worked at places where either the owner, or the boss was a total dick. Treated people bad, cheated them, even stole from customers or the owner. Eventually, even though it seemed to take forever sometimes. They got paid back whether they were arrested, or just exposed and run out of town. Sure you could chalk it up to fate, or chance but I think Karma came and bit them on the ass finally! :D
 
Absolutely I believe in karma. I don't even see it as being debatable. In my experience what goes around will come back around. The choices we make every day have an impact whether we realize it or not. I agree about it not being so much as a cosmic punishment but just our brains recognizing patterns created by our conscious and subconscious.

In my experience if you do good things good things will happen. If you do bad things then bad things will happen. Karma and vibrations seem to connect. I can always tell (I think so at least) how a person is going to be based off of the vibe they give off. This may be due to their karma.
 
These are all very interesting insights. I don't believe it's a religious or cosmic thing but people on their own subconsciously judging themselves and each other based on vibes and actions, and being dealt with accordingly.

Cosmic Giraffe said:
Absolutely I believe in karma. I don't even see it as being debatable. In my experience what goes around will come back around. The choices we make every day have an impact whether we realize it or not. I agree about it not being so much as a cosmic punishment but just our brains recognizing patterns created by our conscious and subconscious.

In my experience if you do good things good things will happen. If you do bad things then bad things will happen. Karma and vibrations seem to connect. I can always tell (I think so at least) how a person is going to be based off of the vibe they give off. This may be due to their karma.
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This I identify with especially. What goes around comes around.
 
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I really do believe in Karma. And that was even before I started reading a bit on Buddhism. I'm from a Christian household. But my mom lets me gain knowledge on a lot of different things that are not Christian. Like Esoteric religions and philosophies. Spiritualism. So I'm glad that I was raised in a household that even though my parents are religious, I'm able to decide my own beliefs. But I think just from stories I hear about things that have happened to other people, and things that have also happened to me. I view it as karma and I do believe that it exists. I also think that what you do on this earth, you will pay for it in this life. I don't think if you're bad here, you'll pay for it after you die in hell or something. I don't believe that at all, I think we reap what we sow right here.
 
AFAIK Karma is not simply cause and effect. The reactions we might face to having done bad things is more about early training than any 'karmic law' enacting justice. Decades back I interpreted Minnesota Personality tests and one thing we were taught was about guilt and how strongly it is connected to the subconscious.

For example, most people would feel guilt if they saw (say) a cop being beaten up and didn't help - even though these days many of us are doubting whether cops are good to have around or not due to their actions, the early training is still reacting. But to make a career criminal feel guilt, you'd have to ask something like, "when did you have a chance to beat up a cop and NOT do it?"

Karma on the other hand is supposed to be about life path and being put into positions, as a result of treating other life badly, where we get to experience the other side of the event. The idea is we should learn from the experience and grow. I've heard it said that Karma evaporates when we see the pattern behind why it is happening.

Unfortunately, that turns out not to be the case...

The Karma system, IMO, fails for a variety of reasons. One is that we don't recall things between lives, so when the payback comes, it comes to an innocent being, a person who has no knowledge of the bad thing that brings the karmic response. Makes it kinda difficult to learn anything when you have no idea why you're being raped or enslaved or whatever it is.

Another problem is that Karma never seems to reward - if you live a good life, what comes next? Karmic debt always seems to be about the bad things done - with no apparent rewards, it's all a bit hit or miss in how to conduct your lives.

The other part of Karma we are told, is the WE judge our lives when we are between lives, that we choose the life that will enable us to work out our Karma. There is a problem with the underlying assumption here - if we KNOW what it is we need to learn when we are between lives, why do we need to learn it?

I'm not sure if Karma is a real thing or not, but if it is, something has gone wrong. There is no way I can see that the system as laid out will ever do anything but trap more and more beings into an ever-lasting payback system.
 
Apologies if this has already been said. I haven't read through the thread.

Traditional Karma isn't about doing good things and being rewarded in this life.
Karma has to do with re-incarnation, which is basically heaven / hell.

When you die, you will pay for your sins.
People who appear to be rewarded by wrongdoings, will be faced with their inquisition.
Whether or not this is just a result of chemicals (DMT, etc) being released in the brain upon death: who knows.
One thing I do know is that you pay for your sins when you die. (I have died a number of times.)
 
One thing I've observed with drug-use is you tend to end up getting as much pain as pleasure from it.
 
The westernized/christianized definition is karma is incorrect. It's not about getting what you deserve, it's about the path of the soul and the correction of imbalance within it. Most Hindu scholars will tell you that exactly how karma works is beyond the ability of the average person to understand. It's probably something like cause and effect combined with the soul endlessly trying to purge or acquire the necessary experiences it needs to meet its objectives, whatever they are.

I've had relationships in my life that were so compelling that I could not resist them, and it was obvious that on some level we had unfinished business with one another. I don't claim to exactly know the dynamics, but it's been helpful for me to examine, even if in hindsight, what the karma between us might've been.

My Saturn return this year was hell, and the way my Saturn is placed brings up a huge amount of pain and suffering. Either it's random chance, or there's some utility (that I'm not seeing) to all the pain and suffering that has just been reviewed and shed.

I believe more in dharma than karma though. We are all here to learn specific things.
 
Ninae said:
One thing I've observed with drug-use is you tend to end up getting as much pain as pleasure from it.
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when using,
You take a loan out and borrow pleasure from tomorrow. At some point you have to pay back loan with pain. There is intrest of course.
The penalty for default on loan is death.
 
methamaniac said:
when using,
You take a loan out and borrow pleasure from tomorrow. At some point you have to pay back loan with pain. There is intrest of course.
The penalty for default on loan is death.
Click to expand...

This is the best analogy for drug use I have ever heard. Good thing I like gambling. Nothing else makes you feel more alive than betting your own mortality.

But for the people talking about the real religious karma: I'm more referring to the simpler comes-around-goes-around kind. I've never been a religious person, but I personally love the insight into others' spirituality. I never knew just how in depth it went.
 
It is a decent analogy (the default part doesn't work, analogically) for drug abuse, not drug use.

My girlfriend consumes marijuana five or six times a year, maybe less.
There are no negative consequences for her.

My parents consume wine, in moderation.
There are no negative consequences for them.

These are drugs.
Therefore: drugs can be consumed responsibly, without causing people pain.
Drugs aren't "Bad M'kay?" - although, you may have convinced yourself otherwise by abusing them.

If you eat in moderation there are no negative side effects.
If you eat too much, you get fat and increase your chance of stroke/ diabetes/ etc.
Same as drugs.

If you fuck in moderation there are no negative side effects.
If you fuck all day long, without a break, you can damage your genitalia.

...

Everything in moderation.

...

(Again, this has nothing to do with karma.)
 
^
I believe you have failed to get the the point of the analogy in totality.
If you have never been addicted to drugs (don't know) it is probably the reason.
What I am saying by penalty of default is suicide or death is only way to avoid going thru the unavoidable pain of getting clean.
Pain will collect in one way or other.
Addiction will accept your life as final payment if you decide not to give it pain.

IMO it's relative to karma in that reap what you sow.
 
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It is a bad analogy for drug use; it is a decent analogy for drug abuse: it is important, for harm reduction, to separate the two.
And, I get what you're trying to say with the default thing... it just doesn't function very well analogically IMO.
It sounds like the sort of anti-drug propaganda spouted by the government.

Drug use doesn't result in pain or death.
Drug abuse, perhaps... although I don't agree with the interest part, necessarily.

I've been addicted to: heroin, methadone, methamphetamine, alcohol, caffeine, anti-depressants, sugar, marijuana, nitrous, dextromethorphan and nicotine.

And, I ate hallucinogenic mushrooms every day for an entire year, without any negative side effects. (The best year of my life.)
 
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by "using" I meant active addiction.
If you're a junkie (ex?) I would think you would have got that.
 
It is important to be concise, IMO.
I suspected that's what you meant, but I felt it needed to be clarified.
(You were responding to a quote from Ninae, which said "drug-use" and you said "using".)

that you are aware of
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The negative side effects (if they existed) certainly didn't equal or outweigh the positive benefits.
I don't think it's realistic to make a blanket statement about all drugs.
Some drugs are far more harmful than others.
Have you been addicted to every drug?
Or are you just making an assumption?
 
ForEverAfter said:
It is a bad analogy for drug use; it is a decent analogy for drug abuse: it is important, for harm reduction, to separate the two.
And, I get what you're trying to say with the default thing... it just doesn't function very well analogically IMO.
It sounds like the sort of anti-drug propaganda spouted by the government.

Drug use doesn't result in pain or death.
Drug abuse, perhaps... although I don't agree with the interest part, necessarily.

I've been addicted to: heroin, methadone, methamphetamine, alcohol, caffeine, anti-depressants, sugar, marijuana, nitrous, dextromethorphan and nicotine.

And, I ate hallucinogenic mushrooms every day for an entire year, without any negative side effects. (The best year of my life.)
Click to expand...

That's quite a long list. Did it get you involved in active crime (like mugging)?
 
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