Nightrain
Senior Registered
It has recently occurred to me that what we call Karma may actually be associated with habits that we acquire over successive reincarnations, and that whatever balance we achieve through Karma is actually a function of overcoming some habits while developing better habits through hard work. Instead of an abuser coming back as an abuse victim, an abuser will likely come back as an abuser again and again, therefore, until he or she realizes the pointlessness of their existence and decides to do something to change that behavior. In that way, perhaps, balance is eventually achieved.
I have been studying a somewhat different new theory developed by Rupert Sheldrake called Morphic Resonance, which has also been put forth by physicist Dr. Amit Goswami and several other authors and researchers. Recent research suggests that animal characteristics and even matter can vary depending upon how long a period those characteristics have existed, and the theory suggests that there is an undiscovered force, or habit, that exists in all things, which helps to determine all matter and behavior in our world.
Although standard science ascribes Evolution and DNA as being the primary foundation for life as we know it, all research leading up to this conclusion is based on correlations between the examined condition and other conditions which seem related, but don't necessarily point to actual cause. There is some evidence now that "Habit" may accrue over the course of numerous generations which causes genes to become dominant in much the same way as muscles and motor nerves work after repetitive practice. In the case of bad habits and addictions, this theory offers a more cohesive model not only for addiction and emotional dependency, but also for behavioral science in general, for we already know that addiction-like behaviors may extend well beyond what can be suggested by physical causes, for example the many cases of people who are habitually attracted to abusive relationships or self-destructive behavior.
Where Reincarnation is concerned, anecdotal cases seem to point to similar "habits" which keep on repeating life after life. So, it doesn't seem too far-fetched to suggest that the theory of Morphic Resonance could apply here as well, and could be the "Karma" that so many ancient authors may have been referring to. The romantic Western idea of justice in the next life has never seemed probable to me, especially in light of how so many characteristics are carried over from life to life. It seems more natural to me that we dig our own "grooves" in the record of life until we get tired of going round-and-round, eventually realizing that there is more to life than what we have grown comfortable with, even though our existence with those habits is not at all comfortable, much in the same way that we settle for a bad job, only because it is what we are familiar with. If we allow the groove to get too deep, we have to work harder to climb out of what would otherwise become a spiritual grave. And once we get out of that groove, we would be willing to go to any length to avoid falling back in. Therein, perhaps, is how we might define penance and achieve the balance that is so often considered the definition of Karma.
I have been studying a somewhat different new theory developed by Rupert Sheldrake called Morphic Resonance, which has also been put forth by physicist Dr. Amit Goswami and several other authors and researchers. Recent research suggests that animal characteristics and even matter can vary depending upon how long a period those characteristics have existed, and the theory suggests that there is an undiscovered force, or habit, that exists in all things, which helps to determine all matter and behavior in our world.
Although standard science ascribes Evolution and DNA as being the primary foundation for life as we know it, all research leading up to this conclusion is based on correlations between the examined condition and other conditions which seem related, but don't necessarily point to actual cause. There is some evidence now that "Habit" may accrue over the course of numerous generations which causes genes to become dominant in much the same way as muscles and motor nerves work after repetitive practice. In the case of bad habits and addictions, this theory offers a more cohesive model not only for addiction and emotional dependency, but also for behavioral science in general, for we already know that addiction-like behaviors may extend well beyond what can be suggested by physical causes, for example the many cases of people who are habitually attracted to abusive relationships or self-destructive behavior.
Where Reincarnation is concerned, anecdotal cases seem to point to similar "habits" which keep on repeating life after life. So, it doesn't seem too far-fetched to suggest that the theory of Morphic Resonance could apply here as well, and could be the "Karma" that so many ancient authors may have been referring to. The romantic Western idea of justice in the next life has never seemed probable to me, especially in light of how so many characteristics are carried over from life to life. It seems more natural to me that we dig our own "grooves" in the record of life until we get tired of going round-and-round, eventually realizing that there is more to life than what we have grown comfortable with, even though our existence with those habits is not at all comfortable, much in the same way that we settle for a bad job, only because it is what we are familiar with. If we allow the groove to get too deep, we have to work harder to climb out of what would otherwise become a spiritual grave. And once we get out of that groove, we would be willing to go to any length to avoid falling back in. Therein, perhaps, is how we might define penance and achieve the balance that is so often considered the definition of Karma.
