How to influence your Karma

[Dtergent]

Hola MDAO!

I don't believe that karma or reincarnation are outside of the "conscience" factor. I would suppose that one would be constantly "judging" oneself subconsciously and that would manifest in the next "dealing out" of your fate. Of course I'm no scholar of religion and this is all speculative

I suppose every religion has a rigid counterpart (of which "sins" are like laws), and a mystical counterpart (which has more fluid definitions according to developed conscience), whether eastern or western...

 

[Foreigner]

There are many interpretations about what karma actually is. The majority view it as a cause and effect system. When the effects of karma ripen, you experience the consequences whether good or bad. It can transmit through lifetimes according to many.

The more esoteric explanation is that the core of every human being, without exception, is good; therefore, actions that harm others will be remembered and the soul will want to rectify them. There is no universal force like God that does this, but the soul itself. The notion that karma is about punishment and reward is distinctly Judeochristian.

The word karma is also used interchangeably with fate or life path. For instance, a person who becomes a doctor could be said to have the karma of a healer. "It is your karma to quit this job and move toward something better", etc.

My understanding at this point is that neither good nor bad karma is desireable because either would have to be balanced out. To achieve a state of grace you must process all your karma while simultaneously creating no more. However, my nature as a person is to do good so I will just keep doing that and not worry about whether I'm being karmically correct or not!

 

[scraphead]

I suppose every religion has a rigid counterpart (of which "sins" are like laws), and a mystical counterpart (which has more fluid definitions according to developed conscience), whether eastern or western...

Could you expand on this please dtergent

 

[noone1]

If you're doing good deeds for karma you are kind of missing the point. Not to say that you can't do that but you are doing it out of selfish self interest so it will not be as valuable as doing things out of pure goodness.

But anyways most spirituality tied to karma the ultimate point is to escape Karma. Forget Karma, focus on enlightenment.

 

[scraphead]

My understanding at this point is that neither good nor bad karma is desireable because either would have to be balanced out. To achieve a state of grace you must process all your karma while simultaneously creating no more. However, my nature as a person is to do good so I will just keep doing that and not worry about whether I'm being karmically correct or not!

But does the divine hand have a say in how you conduct yourself day to day & therefore influence your karma according to a divine plan?

 

[Foreigner]

But does the divine hand have a say in how you conduct yourself day to day & therefore influence your karma according to a divine plan?

You aren't separate from the divine so you are just the divine doing itself. Ego creates the illusion of separation but there really isn't one.

For this reason there isn't really a major distinction between personal will and divine will. That's why I don't think karma is necessarily about tabulating right and wrong but is simply action and reaction.

 

[my3rdeye]

Well can you? It's said that it's good for your Karma to support the poor, help cure the ailing, give money to worthy causes or become a monk or nun & give your life to your God or countless other benevolent acts. But does it work? Can we really influence our future existence?

That's kind of the western interpretation. In India many people will ignore the sick or beggers because they think they are in that situation because of negative karma from last life.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

^ That may indeed be a common folk interpretation among the average Johar in India, but my understanding of the cycle of sentient existence in the Dharmic philosophical tradition is more along the lines of You were once me and I was once you, or I will be you and you will be me before this whole great dance of existence is done. In the end we both reunite with the same great unknown One from whence we came. So in the end we both have nothing to lose, and potentially much to gain, by one of us reaching out to the other with compassion. For this reminds us both, for a quick refreshing moment, that this painful, lonely thing we're in called individuated separateness is a fleeting illusion in the grand scheme of things.

But that's just my interpretation.