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What is karma?

S

Sarellah

Senior Registered
This is something I have been trying to figure out...sorry if I already asked this question on this forum in the past, although I searched for a thread & couldn't find it.

Anyway, how I see karma is the energy that keeps us feeling compelled to do something, due to an event that happened earlier. To me, to clear karma is to change the energy surrounding the event.

How do YOU view karma?
 
What is love? Baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me no more


Jk, I think Karma is like currency. If you are karma is rich, you treated others quite fairly but if you had a bad reputation in one life you pay in Karma
 
I think it's energy. What you put out is going to propel you forward. Or whatever you focus on is where you're going to be headed. I don't think it's so much a 'backatcha' thing, as in 'I killed somebody, now somebody is going to kill me' endless loop, as some people think. According to my theory there must be a way to direct this energy so that I eventually wind up to be the way I want to be (rich, good-looking, and saintly in other words :D ), as opposed to feeling like I'm a hodge-podge of random events and emotions.
 
I see karma as the law of cosmic balance. When something is out of balance, karma forces it into balance. And I don't see karma as retribution for actions taken, it is simply the default mechanism...the initial indicator of being out of balance...there are many ways to offset an imbalance such as the law of grace, etc. To cite a portion of a discussion from a previous thread, imagine the level of karmic obligation Hitler accumulated...there isn't enough time to suffer enough for all those beings harmed (example only...and seen through our human eyes and miniscule perspectives), but through grace and other methods, his soul may obtain balance and neutralize such an enormous karmic obligation.
 
Morgan le Faye...


I know I go against the tide, but I am not a believer in karma as in "right" or "wrong". This is a passage from one of my favorite books...which to me says that karma does not have to do with what we have or have not done to others, but what we ourselves have to learn...no matter thought out how many lives or though out how much "time".


“And then a memory from Avalon surfaced in her mind, something she had not thought of for a decade; one of the Druids, giving instruction in the secret wisdom had said, "If you would have the message of the Gods to direct your life, look for that which repeats, again and again; for this is the message given you by the Gods, the karmic lesson you must learn for this incarnation. It comes again and again until you have made it part of your soul and your enduring spirit.”


~Marion Zimmer Bradley~ The Mists of Avalon
 
Karma is a concept that some religions use... since I'm not of those religions, I don't think it's for me to try to define it. I also don't know if I believe in it at all, I'm far too cynical for that. ;)

usetawuz said:
To cite a portion of a discussion from a previous thread, imagine the level of karmic obligation Hitler accumulated...there isn't enough time to suffer enough for all those beings harmed (example only...and seen through our human eyes and miniscule perspectives), but through grace and other methods, his soul may obtain balance and neutralize such an enormous karmic obligation.
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I have a hard time finding this a cheerful prospect, given the things he did, I can't say I'd be sorry if he suffered for it.
 
I think karma is a lesson being taught or learned from an action. I can only go by my own experiences of seeing karma play out in my life.


I had a dog once that was stolen from me. I searched for her for 3 weeks crying and putting up posters. I even called a psychic and they said my dog was stolen.


One night on a full moon, crying my eyes out, after searching for hours I looked at the moon and said who ever took my dog I hope she pees and poops all over your house. I wanted my dog back I didn't want to harm the person that took my dog.


The next day I got a call from the sister of the person that took my dog. She said her sister wanted to return the dog. I asked why did she want to return the dog? The sister told me the dog pooped and peed all over her house last night.


Another time.....


I turned my son in for stealing and he went to jail. He was on a work crew and missed breakfast and dinner. He was there to serve time not be starved to death. I made a deal with a store owner to leave my son a lunch and explained the entire thing to him. He agreed to let my son pick up a lunch at his store before the bus came to take him to his workstation.


My son called and said someone stole his lunch. I said now you know how it feels to have something stole from you. I told him I would try something. The next day I left a note in his lunch box and said to whom ever is stealing my son's lunch if you don't stop I'll put a curse on you like I did the lady that stole my dog. I explained the story of my dog in the note.


My son called me again to tell me the boy that had stole his lunch came running up to him saying tell your mom not to curse me I'm sorry for stealing your lunch. He found my note and my son had no idea what he was talking about. When he called me I explained the whole story to him and told him from now on I'll pack both of them lunches and to tell his friend, for being honest he will now have a lunch packed for him too.


I thought that was cute!!!!!!! I never dreamed it would work.


My son has never stolen again so turning him in worked as well.


And another time I had 2 bad sitters when my children were young. One used my babysitting money to get drugs and while getting the drugs she would turn the crib upside down like a cage on my children when she left the house to buy the drugs and left my children alone. My son told me this.


The other sitter... I always picked up my children and their diapers were full every time to the point they were getting a rash. So I got a new sitter because of that.


When I got a job years later working for booking at the jail I got to see both babysitters being arrested. I booked them both in years later. One for drugs and in the report for the sitter that gave my children rashes....The police report read there were un-used diapers in the trashcan. Inside the diapers were brown and yellow scribble like she was drawing pee and poop. I kid you not it was in the report. She was arrested on child abuse of her own daughter.


And my last karma incident.... A new employee started at work she became a trouble maker for everyone. She applied to be a trainer. I use to be the trainer and gave her advice knowing the kind of person she was. I said give lots of compliments while training it will build their self esteem and they do much better. Well she did the opposite of my advice. People were not learning from her and she was telling lies and complaining to the supervisors about everyone. After months of her hurting so many people I decided to give my wishing on a moon a try again. I wished for her not to loose her job but to not be a trainer anymore. A week later I heard she was no longer a trainer and was transferring to another shift. She had learned her lesson.


She came back to our shift and I told everyone give her a chance she may have learned her lesson. She changed and now is nicer than she ever has been.


These are the reasons I believe karma is about learning a lesson I also believe if we wish something hurtful on someone else that it would bounce back which is why I never wish anything hurtful. Just something that will help someone learn a lesson to be kinder.
 
As I always say and I will probably keep saying: Karma is just the name people give to experiences opposite to what they have lived IF and only IF they have those experiences. If they don't have those experiences, then karma does not exist for them.Over the years I've also heard some people interpreting Karma as something they will not to do anymore since they have already fully experienced it in the past (for example: if you stole from someone in a past life now you are sorrow and you realize how stealing is bad, without having something stolen from you to understand). Personally I don't think of that as Karma, I think of that as just reflecting over a situation. I don't think Karma creates obligations either, if you feel you should repay someone you damaged then go ahead, but clearly it's not any sort of requirement for anything. I don't think Karma is revenge, "evil people" won't reincarnate as any sort of animal or insect. That's because the labels of good and evil are arbitrary and depending on times and societies, not a law of nature.


We are our own enemy, and nobody else. We will only take from life to life what we couldn't properly deal with in the past. Nature won't be "against us" for anything we do. If I cut somebody's arm and in my next life I am born without an arm it's because I felt that's how it should have been, not because of karmic punishment, and probably because I FELT I deserved punishment or I wanted to get something out of it. I can also forget about it, be totally Ok with it and be born with both arms. Therefore, we might create our own Karma (in case we have it), but not because of what we do, but because of how we feel.
 
usetawuz said:
I see karma as the law of cosmic balance. When something is out of balance, karma forces it into balance. And I don't see karma as retribution for actions taken, it is simply the default mechanism...the initial indicator of being out of balance...there are many ways to offset an imbalance such as the law of grace, etc.
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Agree, karma means action and is just a law of nature, and can be mitigated if you know another law which can do it. "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" is a well known law of physics and the way I see it is that everything in the universe, big and small, material and subtle, simply obeys the same laws by design. If it didn't, everything would fall apart, but instead if you look deep into nature there is infinite orderliness as the underlying basis of creation.
 
I totally agree with you, Demi. Opposite reactions are part of the order that holds the Universe together. I think we may infer things about Karma that have no truth, because we are human, and our tendency is to make everything about the human condition "special". We think that there must be universal laws that apply just to us - they couldn't possibly be the same ones that govern the rest of creation. :)
 
Now personally I do not know much about this and everything involving what we call 'Karma'.


But in looking at my past lives I found it interesting that in one past life I was a white fur trapper who was killed by the Indians. Then in the next life I was an Cheyenne Woman - an Indian who was killed by the whites. Just do think it is interesting.
 
It's just my thinking, but that could be the law of "Every action creates a reaction". Not a punishment, but a part of the balance, and the learning that we do. This is a new line of thought for me, because until recently I believed that Karma was a punishment. I still want to be careful not to create a chain reaction that I didn't intend.:laugh:
 
People today do not want to think about why someone, especially children, is a victim. When reading about a victim in the news I often ask myself "what did they do in a past life that needed to experience this?"
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So if you abuse a child it must be the child's fault?
 
Karma is difficult for me to grasp. No one deserves abuse - child or adult. That's a part of Karmic theory that I have trouble dealing with. I have heard the theory that Hitler sacrificed himself, so that millions of people could fulfill their Karma. Sorry - my head can't wrap itself around that idea. I can't imagine that Karma is supposed to be "an eye for an eye". "You abused me last time, so now I will make your young life a misery"? Aren't we supposed to break the chain of unkindness? If things like this are really the result of Karma, the abuser can be condemned for refusing to alter the Karmic pattern. Maybe that's one of the reasons abuse of any kind is so abhorrent to all of us. We want to see the chain of evil behavior broken, not move from mother to daughter, father to son in perpetuum.
 
One could, alternately, wonder what is going on with the abuser that they chose this option among all the possibilities for reaction.


I often think they do not see themselves or the world clearly, but are trapped in lies, and often the abused is in the same state ... in reverse. Acting out abuse will create feedback eventually, and it ought to receive more of a reaction than it does....


I feel it would be better if our culture taught each other to recognize how important it is to expose abusers to the light while keeping ourselves aware of the importance of demonstrating a different way, and refusing to fall into their lies. Too many say "oh, well, that is how things are in this culture," and even karma gets sucked into the situation as an excuse ... There are so many ways to enable blindness.


It is more common to think one can extract the victim from the situation, and that this will be a rescue or change of karma for them. But is it is also vital to expose the lies the victim believes and assist them in learning to protect themselves, or they will attract future abuse by their vulnerability to abusive manipulation.


The effect of such choices can bring self-awareness and growth for either the abuser or the abused ... or it can create a cycle of blame, irresponsibility, and further lies.


The cycle can continue down for one and up for the other or they can both go the same direction either way,... and it has everything to do with whether the individual recognizes the difference between the internal and external self, and that they are always responsible for how the internal self responds to anything, no matter the external condition.


Karma may simply be "opportunity for awareness" or a state of contrast, so to speak. Those who are capable of seeing and learning from the contrast between their own condition and that of another may not need to actually experience the alternate for themselves in order to learn the difference.
 
I see your point, Dreamer, that simply extracting the victim is not enough, and so often that has unintended consequences. I have heard accounts first hand of babies removed from abusive situations, who died at the hands of other relatives, or foster parents. My co-mother-in-law works in Social Welfare, and the whole office goes into mourning when they lose a child. Surely, the wisdom of Solomon is needed to resolve this issue.
 
I don't believe karma is a retributive force. I believe karma is the energy we "put out" into the universe, which will come back to us. If we focus on a specific thing, like a positive or negative thought, we will see instances of what we are focusing our mental energies on coming back to us in a greater number. Basically it is our intentions and how we choose to interact with the world and other people which determines what kind of life we will live and how much spiritual fulfillment we get out of our lives.
 
I think at some point, and sooner rather than later, we need to get over the idea that it's right and fair to constantly be obsessed with ideas of revenge, 'getting back at', or seeking retribution for wrongs done to us. It's bad enough if it stems from this life, idiotic if it results from a belief of something done to us in a past life, and completely heinous if it involves hurting a child.


It is possible to get past the idea of revenge, many people do overlook hurts and slights done to them and get on with their lives. Just let it go. Rise above it. Be the better person. What difference does it make if it was from this life or another? I'm not especially high-minded but I have no desire to cause pain to anyone who's been mean to me, and I certainly wouldn't hurt them if they showed up in front of me as a child. Focus on something else. As ZeonChar says, what we put out is what comes back to us. And, oh yeah, when someone abuses a child how about trying to find a way to stop it rather than wondering what the child did wrong?
 
I agree with everything you said, Sister Gray. Get over it, move on, and break the chain of revenge. There are no acceptable excuses for harming another person.
 
An Indian master said this when asked "why sometimes innocent children suffer". He said that "they are innocent this time". Means that the innocent cannot suffer, so yes they have done something in a past life, but that this time is a new chance to alter the pattern. Because if we keep throwing a ball back, we are also going to receive it again and again.


To those who experienced the ball throwing on both ends, I agree, I can see same pattern in my PL's


Demi
 
BriarRose, now did not get back to you on this earlier. But just have to say that your thought on 'Every action requires a reaction' makes a lot of sense to me.


Now not only this on being a white fur trapper being killed by the Indians. And then an Indian woman being killed by some white soldiers. But was meditating the other day and this came to me. For sometime I have felt that I was a roman soldier who at some time was on the northern frontier of the empire. And it seems possibly at times that I was also a pagan in old Europe also. So could I have been a roman soldier who in one life was killed pagans, then in another life a pagan who killed romans??? Just Possibly!


And like you am trying to be careful to not create a chain reaction and a situation which I did not intend. But to finish, do like this thought of yours and to myself it does make sense.


Wishing Everyone the Best!
 
I have memories of being a Roman soldier too. When they were burning down a village, I secretly helped out a family by giving them coins that I had with me, without the superiors knowing (they have given the orders). And this life somebody helped me out when I was in trouble with having a place to live. I do not know if these are connected to each other, but I felt as if they were.
 
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