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“Karma literally means "deed" or "act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction that governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate response.” (From good ol wikipedia)

How many of us believe in karma and can see it at play in the world around us? I personally like the idea that if you actions are honorable and you strive to bring about good for not just yourself but for others around you, the fate will reward you. Perhaps reward is the wrong term but the thought of the golden rule applied on a cosmic scale: treat others as you would like to be treated. Whether it is the concept of heaven and hell, karma, or other ethical philosophies, do you believe that people’s actions cause a reaction? If so when? The next life, immediately, in the not so distant future? If we believe in karma or a “judger” of sorts, is it so that we can ease our minds about the injustices we see around us, or is there precedents that we can all see how each of us reap what we sow?


***Please everyone, no "that is interesting" or "yes I believe" answers. I want a discussion on the merits and the likelihood of karma and their experiences with it. I will ask for Dominars to monitor this thread and if I do not feel there is not an actual discussion going on, I will close this thread myself.***

I believe in karma very much so.

I believe that what we put out negativity

it comes back in threes

Mind

body

soul

I hope that is true, but sometimes wonder about the facts of that, but unsure as of yet.

Good way to look at this is we have helped many people and have seen no returns as of yet, but who knows does not mean we will quit helping people.

I am always caught between believing in Karma and believing that things just happen in life and you can either make the best of them and be as good of a person as you can be, or just take the easy way out.

I think, when it comes to dealing with other people, if you are kind, it will come back to you.

In life's great scheme of things :P, I don't think so. I think life just happens.

Sometimes I think Karma is just a way for people who have been wronged to rest easier in the thought that the wrongdoer will get what's coming to them.

But then again...I could be wrong...Karma is a delightful concept and I like trying to be a good person regardless of the outcome ^.^

Awesome post btw...

I do believe in Karma.. And I don't regret my Karmic debt being paid...I believe some of our Debt we pay in this life has found us from a previous life..So if the universe sees fit to even the playing Field let it be done in this life... I have found that my karmic debt seems to have lessened as I try and do the right thing and treat others with kindness and respect.

But do we claim that we are paying a debt for our past lives soley to explain our current run of luck?

Life is a test.

I always look at the positive side and the negative side

for every negative there is a positive.

But how do we know that? Do we think that good work will be rewarded ? Do we have any reason to believe that the humble ever get to the status of millionairs or power?

We like to believe that good or bad will have an opposite reaction, but do we have anything to base that off of?

(meeper)I'm sure some may take Karma as a way to explain unexplainable bad luck.. I believed that at one point. However, today I can see how just doing the right thing has lessened the Karmic load. The negativity that once seem to keep materializing has now dissipated.. I have also witnessed this in other peoples lives.. Just like the scientific theory that energy does not disappear it only changes form...The universe always rights it's self..

I guess karmic reward can come as monetary reward.. But I don't think that is the ultimate reward.. It could be just more lessons waiting to be learned..No my karmic reward is a sense of inner peace, a life that I enjoy and a heart filled with gratitude..

yes we reep what we sow, its just true... Which also prove that non definate on which but my belief is god, that there is a higher power

I do believe what comes around goes around. If you're a negative person towards everyone, you draw negativity towards you and into your life. Now, bad things do happen to good people but I tend to believe that's just a run of bad luck, usually as a result of poor choices and not necessarily their own.

I don't buy into it myself.

I see a lot of people that do a lot of bad things and never seem to reap what they sow.

On the other hand, I see very good, kind giving people that get walked on, abused mentally and physically by morons who fit into the first category mentioned. These good people never asked for what they got...nor did they deserve these actions.

I just can't believe in the law of three thing and the idea that what goes around comes around.

I'd love to. I don't.

I am a firm believer in what comes around goes around. Oh the pain my x wives suffer...

Yeah, we reap what we sow. If it wasn't that way, then things would be mroe chaotic than they already are.
I think a lot of times our bad actions, we kind of punish ourselves for...With guilt, or bad feelings, working hard to try and "make up" for whatever bad deed we did...But sometimes I definitely think bad things happen to even the score.
I believe in karma. The evidence is all around us.

I do see where you're coming from about how some good people get the raw end of the deal. But that could relate to their past life experiences and not just the present. Maybe they are still paying for the wrongs they have done in the past. I, for myself, believe that what comes around goes around. I have seen it happen so many times in my life.

yes i do believe that the whole karma concept is real and often does take effect on people.i have had only a couple of experiences with karma coming back to bite me in the ass.i was twelve and i had a destructive streak inside of me.i demolished someones car that i thought was abandoned.in the end i got a hell of alot of heat and trouble for this.

What goes around comes around. Karma works in its own time. I believe in karma righting the scales in its own way.

I was taught years ago, that if you really despise someone, wish them away, never wish harm to befall them - that will come back worse on you.

I have seen Karma at work many times injust normal everydat things. My mother has horrible karma and usually you can always see it coming but thats for her.

Yes I believe in the law of Karma.

It's not something I look at as a tool of justice/punishment, rather an opportunity to advance on a spiritual rather than material level.

As tempting as it sometimes is, I don't rub my hands in glee and wait for something bad to happen to someone who has caused me harm.

Personally I think forgiveness is the key to understanding Karma.

I partly believe in karma but i also thing sometimes its just luck, a lot of good people get a lot of bad stuff happen to them while the ass holes get the good things in life... no fair

Yes I am a firm believer in karma as I see it every day around me and to me as well. I don't believe in an afterlife however, rather I believe that karma gets you in its own time. Yes it is rather a comforting thought and I try to follow that philosophy, however it does seem at times there are those that never seem to suffer the consequences, maybe it is so small to me and yet large to them that I don't always see it.

I don't believe in karma. In some idealistic world, good things should happen to good people, and bad things should happen to bad people. However, that is not how it is in real life. Extraordinarily horrible and catastrophic things happen to good people all the time, and bad people get away with evil deeds on a daily basis. Add to that, babies and children are birthed with defects, are starving, are abused, fall ill and die young. If you believe in karma, then you believe that they have somehow brought it upon themselves. How do you reconcile that if you believe in karma? Also good intentions can have horrible outcomes. Is it based on the intent, on the action or the result?

I try to live responsibly and have dedicated my career/life to assisting with disaster victims (human and animal). Yet, for every disaster response I've been involved in, I see good people suffer devastating trauma and horrors/deaths. No history or background hints that they would deserve what they had suffered. I don't think that there is much that anyone could do whom I think some of these disasters would be an equal or just repercussion/judgement. I don't think that I ever will. No, I don't believe in karma.

Hardkore > Yes I understand what you saying.

This is why the whole of karma cannot be truely perceived from this time/dimension, and why seeing bad things happen to people is not in fact seeing the whole picture.

Karma works over many lifetimes, otherwise there would be no justice whatsoever.

I believe Karma is a superstition, cause will not affect the reaction of future happening's. I believe in fate and the way of things. We all have a predetermined destiny and although our actions will help us go valiantly through life they will not however affect the outcome of our destiny.

A great example would be Lottery winners. Just last week a convicted sex offender won millions of dollars in the lottery. Now is that Karma?

The saying around my house is Karma has a perfect accounting system, so be careful what you put out. you may not like what you get back in return. Some members of my family are Buddhist, so Karma rules are a big factor in our lives. We have seen the effect of Karma on not only ourselves but others around us.

This does lead us to believe you do reap what you sow, so if you are hurtful to someone you will get hurt in return. Not only is it the Buddhist in our home who believe in it but also the witches of the house. As for the witched it's still I feel Karma, but said to be the Law of Three...anything you put out you get it back threefold.

in all things... we reap what we sow... however, life is not always perfect and bad things will happen to us even if we are good...

I believe that this is an interesting thread... (Ha-ha)

Karma seems to exist in my life. I'm unsure how I feel about it coming from a past life. In the here and now Karma seems to be a balancing force for me. I deal and have dealt with some pretty unsavory, unethical and immoral assholes in day to day life. Short of avoiding them completely the thought that Karma will somehow even out the playing field in the long run stops me from firmly planting my fist in their face. I have seen in time, bad things happen to those "bad" people. Even if it's not a "bad" thing by society's judgment, it may be an unwanted or unfavorable thing for them and not by my hand.

I am very fond of the saying “what comes around goes around.”

i do belive in karma and what you put out you get back maybe not in the ways you expect but its there. i have many times herd my friend say i must of done something awfuly bad in a past life to deserve this one. lol it seems though no matter how much good she does she always gets back the bad in return . so maybe it does effect your next life . my friend sure thinks so.

I am not sure Karma comes from a past life, but it is indeed around us. Let us say, you rob a bank and dont get caught. Then you loose all the money you stole in a car accident on your way home. See? Karma is there. Whether or not it is neccessarily that blunt.

breaking karma right away is also said to not bring it into your next life.
Example
Having the guts to leave someone that is unhealthy for you in this life means you wont have to deal with him or her in your next. Because at some time you will have to deal with the problem.
Or perhaps oweing someone money or even receiving something .
Do you want to be in debit to someone now or later?
Best to deal with it now and not carry it over.

i beleve it is all of the above.
I must say it is nice to see it working in this life

I believe we do reap what we sow. It is the law of contagion..ie. like attracts like. If you do good deeds good things will happen to you, if you are an ass, you will get like treatment.

my grandparents always used this saying when we would get in trouble. And to think about it i do believe in this, for things that go around do come around to the individuals. So yeah i do think this is a wise statement.

I am a buddhist so I definitely believe in karma. I think a lot of it is that if you are the best person you can be, people will love and respect you for it. That love in turn leads to a much better life than if you are disliked or ignored by the people around you.

"That love in turn leads to a much better life than if you are disliked or ignored by the people around you."I really like how you phrased that, Irony.

I don't see Karma as being retribution or a gold star for doing the right thing. Happiness is something we cannot judge from afar. Even though it looks like the individuals with a cutthroat capitalist mentality live a grand life- there is no way to truly know if they are as happy as the humble and generous.

meeper you asked For individuals who do not believe in reincarnation (where karma seems to bite you for your previous life or you are "paying it forward"), how do you see karma working? Many above have described a belief in it, but when does it take place? Does it always take place in specific time period (distant future versus immediate)?

Is it random?




well i see it this way you put out good it will come back maybe not right away maybe not when you expect it. say for instance someone you know is in need of help and you help them they are greatful . so inreturn your reward back may be a thankyou card a gift maybe who knows you might not see anything back from it for years and then one day someone is there for you when you need help. Karma is a very mysterious thing one really never knows how it actually works . just that someday you may see it happen to you. i do belive in the what goes around comes around kinda thing . of course if you screw up eventually your gonna get caught up with in one way or anouther. or anouther instance a guy murders his wife thinks he got off scotfree then 20 years later wham hes arrested and charged with the murder and found guilty. did the karma hit him right away no it hit him when it would most hurt his life .

I have always had a belief in Karma to a certain degree because it does seem that when something bad is done something bad will happen to the person who has done the bad thing. You always here the saying "Don't worry he'll get his" and it really seems to be true what you put out there is what you are going to get back and even worse so that you learn your lesson.

You didn't hear people talking about Karma in the west like this slightly over a hundred years ago. It wasn't that it didn't exist but it took certain movements to make it a common word that has grown to large proportions. Millions of people who follow Hinduism and other associated philosophies and religions believe in karma. It would depend on the culture these days as to how they believe it may manifest itself because since it has become more of a commonplace belief in many societies it has been sort of skewed by individuals and subgroup viewpoints.

I always think of circles when people speak of this and it has been mentioned in various posts: What comes around goes around, everything comes full circle, As you reap so shall you sew. Its a belief and nothing more; we don't know. As a spiritualist I believe we pick learning experiences to complete when we incarnate. I don't believe it has anything to do with good or evil because I think that is a societal precept here. I think it is based on how you follow through and complete what you started. It may or may not include being a kind person or committing acts in society that others may deem altruistic. If you miss this mark that you have set in place for yourself then you gain karma and have to come back and try again but the scenario each time will not be the same and if you so choose you may have to live in poverty if you were stingy in life and I believe it is a soul choice to reexperience what they see to be something they did that wasn't altogether that positive or figure out why they did such things and move on.

I know that when Dannion Brinkley had his near-death experiences he recalled that he had to go through the life review and as he did he experienced all the grief he had causesd others and it was painful and could be equated with karma or hell for that matter. Whether you believe in such things there is a lot of anecdotal evidence in the area of paranormal research that appears to show we at least experience something but my thing is who decides what is negative or positive...other people and in all actuality it can vary from person to person.

personal experience of my life says there is karma, those of us with the altercation of the soul that seems to go hand and hand with vampire life have worse issues, potentially do to past lives..

I fill we do get are own in the end, that karma, not only comes back in this life, but in the past lives we have had.

I think karma is a way of explaining how our actions and thoughts influence the Universe... Every thought we send out, especially those with strong emotional charge, change the nods and waves of the Universe (especially the micro-Universe that is created around each one of us) and sooner or later, the effect of that wave will touch us... Since we are all energy afterall, I do think that it doesn not matter when the wave reaches us, in this life or the next ones... The idea is that there is no way of escaping it...

darkicewolf I totally agree. Karma is a law of nature. We reap what we sow not only in this life but for many others we have lived as well.

I know that when I am having bad times in my life that something might have triggered it. I don't believe that in all scenarios however, because bad things do happen to good AND bad people. So in my mind it seems that the old addage.. "what comes around goes around" is true for the most part. I've received many many good things in my life along with bad. It's not always easy to determine from whence it came.

I believe that what comes around goes around. Most definitely in my life that is true. Not all the time, but I have a good sense of when it might be happening.

there is a saying waht goes around comes around, so I guess at times its better to tlet those who do wrong be dealth with karma then to try and get justice.

I don't follow the whole you pay for your deeds done in one life during the next philosophy, and don't think Karma is random. It does catch up with you faster than you do realize most times.

It may not be the same thing happening to you that you have done to another, but rather a justified form of punishment/ or lesson you needed to be aught as a reminder don't do it again it hurts!

I do believe in karma to a point. I don't believe a person that makes poor choices will turn around and have the world at his feet. I do, however, tend to believe that good and bad deeds do multiply. I often use the phase "wherever you go, there you are."

The fact that our actions do have both short-term as well as long-term consequences is strong evidence that, indeed, we do reap what we sow.

indeed we do reap what we so karma is one of the crutial forces that drives our universe

I do believe in karma, but it also does not seem to apply to me and my wife.

For anyone who mistreats me or my wife, they usually get it back 4-fold, which is nice.

We, on the other hand, do our best to be fair and kind, but we always seem to be geting the end of the stick up the ol' rear end.

Oh well, as long our our enemies get theirs, that is good enough for me.

My thoughts on the whole threefold law thing....
utter crapola....
but I very strongly feel that we are held to a balance....just not in ways that are readily apparent, and not in easily definable numerical patterns.
simply you get what you give, and eventually, no matter the timeframe it will come back, be it tomorrow...or 50 years from now

I belive that yes if we put out negative thing in our live we in turn get negative thing back so on that note if you do good it will return to you

I am really not sure about the Karma subject. There is alots of disscusion about Karma as an actuall force wich actually works according to its own principal. On the other hand there is no way of proving that the process indeed exists. It seems like bad things come back at you, and than again, there are many ppl wich do not suffer that "law", nothing is comming back at them. To justifie that like, it will get them later, in the next life, really makes no sense, and is not proving nothing as well, life is now. I guess the law karma functions according to ones abillity to move in the world, in the environment, it depend on the principal of strenght. You may do some things considered wrong, and it might come back at you, but if you know how to swim in this world, you just might avoid it in full, or crush it. Should one suffer the law of karma now again, for being skillful, smart? Karma is somehow unjustified principal wich might only serve as confusing the individuality, making it fear for its actions, it can be use used as tool of controling. It is important to be one self, no matter what the laws might say, or others who are propagating them from who knows wich positions. The thing you need to take care of, is being smart, strong, and dexterious, not to forget the possession of the full sight of how the things really are. Now who can impose some universal rules on you, if you are a rule for your self? Thats freedom.

I believe in karma, atleast i really like the idea and i've seen what i like to think of as karma "in action"

I belive that what goes around, comes around, though not everything in life is due to this. I believe that if you cheat on a partner, your partner will end up cheating on you. I also belive that if you have extremely negative thoughts about someone, they can backfire on you.

well, i don't know that I believe in 'absolute karma', but rather that if we behave in a manner that is good to others, we are much more likely to have good things happen to us.. eg, if we go out and murder some people, it is a lot more likely we ourselves will get murdered.. not that we WILL, but it does definately seem more probable..
D

there are far too many examples of "missing karma" in the world today for me to believe in it absolutely.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Other times crooked, double dealing individuals get rewarded beyond their wildest dreams.

I'd like nothing more than to believe that being an honest and compassionate being had some future rewards, however Ive seem far too many tragedies to believe 100% in Karma.

Look at our nation's leaders and the heads of industry... Wouldn't it be neat if they had to atone for their avarice and greed?

bad things happening to good ppl is prolly past life karma, a soul can evolve and changr over time but their may still be crimes of the past that have karmic resolutions.

Well said, MalkavianMime. I think that probably does descibe that situation best.

It is a speculative theory without proof.

Karma does not exist. It is only how one swims in this world.

i like 2 think thre is but theres 2 much evil in the world

ahh yes i believe what we do comes back upon us, either a good reward or a plague of pain or sorrow, in this life or past, or onto another life, and i, have so sadly befallen such a case most recently, just finished a write about it in my journal, and yes, what we do whether it be for good or bad, can come to haunt us in future times.

yes i do for it will happen one way other another

Our actions having consequences is somewhat irrelevant in this respect. Smacking someone over the face does not necessarily mean that someone will smack you back. This is an oversimplification, but is a good example.

The Universe moving from order to chaos could mean that any such system as action coming "full circle" would become less and less likely. And indeed, if it did it could be attributed to nothing but coincidence or chance.

That life is not circular, but randomly pyramidic, would completely eliminate any form of karma whatsoever.

I have said in the past that I have seen far too many people commit crimes, bilk the innocent, control the weak and destroy other's hopes with little or no consequences for me to believe in Karma as a universal rule.

I think that if you have a conscience, you will yourself insure that you pay for your deeds (even if unconsciously). But there are those who don't appear to have a conscience and many don't appear to pay for their misdeeds so I would assume any karma you gain or face is that of your own making.

I believe in Karma and the 3 fold law...I also believe we reap what we sow...If it isnt 100 percent the other persons fault, well karma does come back and bite your butt 3 times harder than what you did..In my case i call it the 10 fold law, everything i did came back 10 times worse than what i did...

Absolutely , for the Most part I do believe in we reap what we sow. However , sometimes one must wonder. There are times when certin people never seem to get that go around which is well deserved , be it on a positive or negative scale .

I can only hope some people get what they deserve in the end for being such miserable humans

I have to agree with Felix here, especially in the grand scheme of human events. I'd expand the "conscience" aspect to say that it's a natural delimiter/feedback/loop. That is, if you know something is wrong and do it anyway, chances are Karma will bite you in the ass.

Absent a conscience, or with a sociopathology --- a book of rules that teaches you, say, a literal eye-for-an-eye, then it's all systems go to do whatever you deem appropriate with no karmal retribution.

karmal or karmic?

yes i do believe that we do

What goes around,comes around. If i do good, later good comes to me.I don't hit lotto,but someone will help me, open a door ect . Those that are "evil" will get it all at once-hehe.

I belive in karma, and I see its effects every day, when I do something outright stupid, but evil, I get punished in return. When I do good, I get something good back in return. For example, I've been looking for a job, while I was looking, I was being outright evil, lying stealing, starting arguments that cause people to break down. and I did not find a job I keept getting turned down. When I saw this I stopped what I was doing and changed and started to do things for others act a little nicer, and stop the lying and stealing, and I found a job. What do you know karma works.

yes sometimes we do but other times we dont.that is what i think.

I have believed it all my life. But I have read a different angle, where it is as it is, to learn only, really and that the universe is not into justice for the sake of revenge, but that it all works out the way it's supposed to, in the whole scheme of things.

Oh, that is a sticky question...

I DO believe in karma, but as for siting occurances in my life where it plays a part...That is harder to do.

I am a very polite, good, helpful and honorable person. Therefore, if I go by your standards...I should have a wonderful life. Untrue.

I see it returned to me sometimes...rarely (humanity has gone sour down here)...but one out of thousands still has the power to put a shine in my face and a bounce in my step. I am the kind of person you want to be there when you seriously need someone to step in and help you, but there are few of us out there and we are treated like the leper step-sister.

It stands to fact that good people are stepped on and used by others to get ahead in life. You have to have a great deal of patience, preserverance, and humility to be a good guy these days. It takes more courage and work than anything in existance to be good and kind even to the a**holes that are smiling to your face to get your help and smashing you into the dirt when you get them as far as you can.

Still, I wouldn't have it any other way. As I say "Two wrongs don't make it right". How am I bettering myself by doing exactly what annoyed me in the other person? It would annoy me a million times worse if I did it myself. I can't be mean to people unless I have to do it to survive.

I think the concept is made to refrain us from doing harm and to feel that our work will be rewarded.

I don't know, I see many people doing harm and everything goes well for them, while I do good things and work hard for my goals and never get rewarded.

Oh well maybe I will in the future.

I see a lot of injustice that's why I doubt it. But I still keep with the concept of the : ''maybe.''

"You get what you give."

"What goes around comes around."

"You reap what you sow."

I believe in everyone of those statements.
I am a firm believer in karma.
Mainly do to many life experiences that have yielded astounding proof of it.

If one sees harm come to evil men, or suddenly one gets rewarded for good deeds, one will se karma if one WANTS to see it.
So karma is more of a personal motivator, but not any kind of universal balancer.

I once was a firm believer of Karma, that good deeds bring good things to you but now I'm not so sure.
I know a lady who has to be one of the most kind hearted people in this world, along with her husband.
They've never done a negative thing to anyone yet they have had nothing but negative things happen to them.
The death of their 2 daughters and now this wonderful lady has been told she is dying of cancer.

So if good things happen to good people, then why would a thing like this happen?

These people should have the blessings of the world given to them if Karma played a part in our lives.

sometimes we do and other times we do not

I believe in Karma...what we do today will affect what will happen tomorrow..or the next day..maybe even next year. But it will always come back to bite us in the rump.

I don't think we can prove Karma or any belief because its just that, a belief. I personally believe in Karma and have experienced it in my life all my life, for good and bad, but I can't prove it to some of my family that does not believe. I have read alot on Karma by Linda Goodman and I believe it even carries over from lifetime to lifetime, it doesn't end here. I think thats why some good people have bad "luck" because it carried over from a previous life where they did bad things that hurt others. I coiuld go on and on with this subject. Karma makes a good debate and discussion.

I believe in Karma. I tell myself all the time that I am not the Karma Police - they do their job well.

One may not think they see the good they put out come back to them - but are you really sure? Are you and your loved ones healthy? Did you narrowly avoid that accident yesterday? Hmmm - sounds like good coming back to me.


Now the bad stuff - ohhh how you will see that! Right up in your face it will be. Send some evil thoughts out there - throw that negativity in the air and watch what gets messed up in your life!

One tends to remember mainly the bad things in life. Don't believe me - I bet you remember 911 don't ya? Ok, when was the last time a family member did or said something nice to/for you?
Gaurantee it happened not so long ago - 911 happened much longer ago yet that is what you remember clearly.

So yes - Karma is all around us - we are just not all open to seeing it.

I suppose if you have faith in reincarnation or damnation, then karma could pay back evil after death, but in this life, there are many who lived happily and with wealth and power by committing acts of fraud, or corruption on a grand scale. Some get caught but many live to a ripe old age.

Did Ken Lay get his Karmic just desserts? Sure he was indicted and all that and maybe suffered some bad publicity but he died before he ever had to pay a real price. Still had multiple homes and a load of cash right up until his heart gave out.

I hear what you are saying but have to somewhat disagree.

You don't know everything that happened in that person's life. Perhaps people who were close to them suffered, perhaps they were plagues with drugs, alcohol, std's, mental illness. There are many ways they could have been affected. Perhaps they were rich but still miserable.

It is also quite possible that they will pay for things in the next life. I happen to think each life we live has its own set of pay backs.

Quite true. The fact is that the evil and powerful bastards in the world may have their own private suffering that none of us can see, but on the level of wrong that many of these people have committed, on the sliding scale of bad, I see CEOs, despots, genocidal rulers and worse, who don't appear to suffer on the level of their crime or on the level of their victims suffering.

If Pol Pot had to deal with his kids doing drugs and maybe he had a nasty case of hemoroids that we didn't know about, it doesn't really make up for his execution of one and a half million people. He died under house arrest meaning he wasn't free but wasn't altogether uncomfortable.

As I said though...if one puts forth the idea of punishment after death...well then I have no way of arguing that type of Karma.

Karma, reaping and sowing..... comes around everyone every day. I believe we have it in our daily life and we bring it on often. I really feel that the more "bad" we behave, the more "bad" comes back to us.

I don't know whether it's karma or it's just how life goes but everytime I do something the consequences come and smack me right in the face whether it be good or bad. And sometimes I try doing something good to change what will happen and still the same outcome I predicted that would happen, actually happened. Maybe it's me trying to hard to do good in life.. I think laying back and just letting life flow how it's supposed to is the only way karma is going to work the way its supposed to..

That's a good way to look at it too, and a good way to react to it. Just shows that we can't control it.

The fact that you might well commit crimes without immediate consequence or slap someone across the face without an immediate slap back does not at all evidence a lack of karma or not reaping what we sow. To feel that it does evidences only the insufferably common capacity of the ignorant and unenlightened in society unable to think in anything but the simplest and shortsighted of terms.

I stated that all actions have consequences... be they short-term or long-term. Slapping someone might not result in immediate repercussions against us in return. However, all negative actions -- as well as all positive ones -- do affect, at the very least, the person we are becoming, the progress or lack thereof we attain in life. And those consequences are the longest lasting of all for they make of us who we eventually become and what we take with us when we leave mortality; they are the sum total of who we are, the final brushstrokes on the "masterpiece" that we create in ourselves... and that we take alone into Eternity.

Upir - do you believe that even the most evil of individuals always gets his karmic payback? Do you feel the karmic punishment is always equal to the 'sin'? Again if we're talking about punishment AFTER death, I won't dispute it as a belief.

i like the idea of karma and believe that the more people who believe in it the merrier. its just hard to always be the only one putting forth selfless acts expecting reward. so ive stopped expecting good to come back and just do it for the sake of doing it.

FelixFelix,

Yes... I do. And yes... the ultimate "karmic" principle is that which extends into eternity (i.e., after death). As a famous quote (which I have been unable to find still) states: "The greatest work of art we shall ever create... is the masterpiece we make of ourselves." Or words to that extent.

While Hitler's hatred and bloodlust did not perhaps come back to him fully while alive given his power while in mortality, yet it surely destroyed him ultimately in THIS life and destroyed his soul with hatred and bitterness, which is all he left this life having achieved and will have far far greater negative consequences as a result of this fact in the next.

For those who believe that they die and go into oblivion ... then life has no point anyway, so this entire discussion would be moot. However, for those of us who feel life has purpose and that we are indeed here as part of a road of progress that extends beyond this life, then the principle of "reaping what we sow" is clearly seen and understood by all who live and grow in life, regardless whether this is instantly translated into immediate material rewards and/or punishments.

I have never thought of it like that. Never really thought deep into this until now. Most just assume that Karma will hurt you in this life and none after. Hitler must be getting it bad. But I wonder, what if you are mentally ill and not knowing that its bad to kill does Karma effect you so?

I don't agree that one needs to believe in an afterlife in order to believe that good actions are justified. Moreso, if we believe that the real life, the eternal one follows this world, then many have opted to not care about what happens here in this life. Organized religions have often put forth the idea that it doesn't matter how hard you work without reward in this life because you'll be rewarded in the next. Such a philosophy was used for centuries as an excuse to continue a system of serfdom and aristocracy in many countries. Equality, environment, human rights, war and similar long term issues are left to be morally justified for the next life.

I'm sure in my life karma rules with a vengeance both good and bad

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