Do you believe in karma?

Do you believe that people eventually get what's coming to them? That people who behave badly eventually pay for it? Or that good people eventually get good things?

Bush cured me of that delusion. The universe does not discriminate between good and evil: it just IS.

its too complicated and istn a tit for tat process

'cause I'd fork over a tat for a tit in a hot minute :evilgrin:

:)

but I do believe that we reap what we sow and that if we have sown shit, then we will reap shit.

I also believe that if you give someone enough rope they will almost always hang themselves with it.

As for some mystical force called Karma? Not so much, but hey, I'm not sure of it either.

:hi:

What goes around comes around. Call it karma, call it justice, call it Bruce. We reap what we sow.

thought of Bruce Almighty :spray:


:hi:

I've never seen too awful much evidence of it. Look at the Bushes, for example - flourishing like weeds. Nobody likes them but they do just fine, don't seem to suffer many setbacks of any kind. Then you see people like John and Elisabeth Edwards - good people and they've lost a son and she's fighting cancer (again).

Or my ex husband who's a miserable prick but he's always lucky, things always go smoothly for him. Where's his comeuppance?

I just can't bring myself to believe that people do reap what they sow - I've seen too many cases where the opposite is true. :(

Karma generally works, though there are flagrant exceptions, like the Bush administration. In a sense, karma worked there, too, because Bush's war doctrine is exposed as the great stupidity it is. Unfortunately hundreds of thousands must suffer and/or die because of it.

I believe that what we do in this life will reflect on us throughout our current lives and if we do not learn what we are supposed to learn from this life's lessons, we will encounter the same lessons in different forms over and over again in this life and in future ones, or in an afterlife, or whatever is after this.

I try to live my life understanding that my actions and attitudes towards others will have consequences on them and on me. Becoming a better person and doing as little harm as possible to others is how I try to live. But I'll admit that my desire to defend against what I perceive as wrong can sometimes translate into hurtfulness, so it's a goal of mine to improve on that as well, and direct my sense of justness properly without reacting personally.

I sincerely hope that people who behave badly will eventually pay for it, but I don't believe it always happens in their lifetimes. I also don't believe that good people get good things because of their actions, but I do think we are rewarded if we are able to transcend the hardships we've been given in life. The reward is the transcendence itself, learning from the lessons we've been given, learning to love and forgive in spite of the hardships.

I'd like the 'reap what you sow' to be true but I've seen too many instances of people who love to screw people over to get what they want (social or work life) that I've lost hope that they will ever get what they deserve. Or maybe I just need to wait a couple more decades.

Bad things happen to good people all the time, and bad people seem to get rewarded for their evilness.

It definately is not a fair world.

in the traditional buddhist view.

It's not a boomerang - it doesn't come back to YOU.

It just goes to the universe, and more good will make the universe better, and more bad will make the universe worse.

But in the end, no, I don't believe in it.

I was just using it in the sense that people so often do - that idea that people eventually get what's coming to them. And I don't believe in it either.

and we all know there are horrible people out there who rarely suffer for their actions. :(

doesn't work that way

there is no balance or justice

I can't say with certainty that all assholes will get back the anger and hurt they have sown. I honestly think that for the garden variety asshole it probably does come home to roost in a tangible way while they are alive. I also think that sometimes--especially if your behavior is especially heinous or painfully offensive--you can carry that burden with you into the afterlife.

The Christian's call it hell, but I do think that the guilt for what you have done in this lifetime can haunt you after your death. Resolving that guilt (understanding it or letting go of it, maybe is a better way to describe it...) is what you need to do to progress spiritually.

Imagine being Dick Cheney and spending all eternity watching over and over again while you are shooting that man in the face while you are drunk.

Imagine the asswipe currently in the WhiteHouse spending all eternity watching innocent civilians and soldiers die in a war he created.

Imagine spending all eternity reliving your own personal guilt...



Maybe it isn't Karma the way some folks define it, but I personally try and avoid doing anything that will leave me feeling guilt.




Laura

The master of the Falun Gong buddha school teaches that karma is a dark energy that infests people when they violate cosmic law.To end the cycle of reincarnations one must rid one self of all karma.All.As in there is no such thing as good karma.
Whenever I do mushrooms and enter the dream world I can actually see peoples karma.Older hippies call it Bad Vibes.

It's just wishful thinking.

I think Buddha and Eastern philosophy in general just says that there are negative consequences for negative actions and positive consequences for positive actions. And that all of us and everything being interconnected as we are in the web of existence, anything positive or negative we do "shakes" the web. It doesn't necessarily have a direct positive or negative impact on the shaker; however, it does indirectly have an impact in that it shapes our general reality.

According to what I understand of Buddhism, the goal isn't to create positive karma for oneself or to run away from negative karma, but to bring oneself to a point through mindfulness where one no longer shakes the web (i.e., Nirvana); doing so eliminates the fear and desire that keep us entangled in and shaking the web in the first place.

My two cents...