Karma has an interesting interpretation in the west. Most people believe the underlying philosophy of karma to be something along the lines of do bad and bad will come to you. Dictionary.com defines karma “as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation”. Karma to wikipedia is “the concept of “action” or “deed” in Dharmic religions, understood as a term to denote the entire cycle of cause and effect as described in the philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism.”
The popular understanding, along with both dictionary.com and wikipedia are missing the actuality karma. The literal translation for karma is action, which is what wikipedia had it as.
This is where it all starts going wrong.
One of The Buddha’s Five Remembrances is what I used to reach the true nature of karma.
My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
The Philosophy of karma is that you, in every moment, are the result of your karma. It is not something coming to you later on, or haunting you, it is every moment and only that moment. For any single action to take place, a multitude of other actions/events must have lined up allowing that event to be. Below are two examples of karma/action, then a wrap up on how karma is the result, not the cause.
Common examples of bad karma that will ‘catch up’ to a person are negative qualities like stealing, cheating, lying, etc. Each of these very actions when being committed/acted is punishment of itself. To steal, to cheat, to lie is not something that comes easy to humans, and once started, becomes easier and easier to continue(the continuation/development of bad karma). Each of these actions is like withholding water/sun and other quality from a flower. The flower get weaker and duller, slowly it shrivels up and dies as a result of the actions.
Common examples of good karma that will ‘catch up’ to a person are positive qualities like helping others, donating money, etc. Each of these actions, when being committed is the actual reward. The joy that is received from helping others in a tough situation or giving out of love and compassion is like a flower receiving fertilizer; the flower grows that much stronger and brighter.
Looking at action, regardless of positive/negative|good/bad, the action is the result of something; it is the effect of other causes. To end up in another country one does not just click their fingers. One must find a method to get there, pack up, make arrangements for transportation and living at both ends, communicate to their family/friends what is going to take place. Then after ALL of this, the person finally takes karma(action). They are living their karma, their action.
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I never see any evidence of this at work. I see people who give getting ripped off.. And think of tales like RObin Hood. Karma seems much more complex than what you suggest. I think of it as a kaleidascope.
Thanks for the comment Ivy. What do you see it as? I’m very interested in other points of view.
I do know that I am unable to do or achive anything without the result being the action, not the cause.
It’s a feedback loop really to me. Think/do bad now, and you’ll be setting bad up later. Think/do good now, and you’ll be setting up good up later in greater strength.
RE: “Robin Hood stories have been different in every period of their history. Robin himself is continually reshaped and redrawn, made to fit whatever values are pushed on him. This fact makes any notion of a “real” or “true” Robin Hood largely redundant. Even if a historical Robin Hood could be identified, he could account for only the bare minimum of the rich legend surrounding his name. The figure is less a personage and more of an amalgam of the various ideas his “life” has been made to support.” (wikipedia) I’m not sure what you were trying to say with that…
~W
First, thanks for your reply.
Do you have proof?
Let’s strip away the context or historical periods in which this tale has been told and think of it most simply. What do most people think of first when they hear the story or watch the movie adaptation? Robin Hood I named because he “stole” (technically a bad thing in terms of karma to “give” to the poor. Does that mean he’s left at zero? A lot of people seem to cancel what bad things they do with good things. Or they do bad things with good motivation- (what kind of karma does that give you!) It just seems so terribly convoluted especially in these times. A corporation might suck from the environment and conceal certain numbers or lie about figures, yet donate to a given organization. Maybe they donate to draw attention to themselves. Still, they donate, even if it is to gain more attention in the public eye as do-gooders.
Those are just a few of my considerations or reservations, or why I myself have a hard time deciphering the morality of some of my own (and others) behavior.
Not a problem, thanks for coming back and writing again.
Proof of my karma? I’m living it. Every action I take/do is my karma. Karma means action, nothing more or less.
On Robin Hood. It depends on his motivation. If it was to steal from the rich, that’s negative karma. If it was to give to the poor as the rich were not looking after the poor correctly, that’d be seen as positive karma. It’s an internal thing for each person; self-analysis is required to work out if it’s good or bad.
Onto companies. Once again, it depends on the motivation for their actions. Donating for attention is not good karma, that’s an exercise of ego = bad. If they donate simply to counter their fraudulent activities, that’s also bad karma.
I’ll e-mail you from here now…
Cheers,
Wade
A bit late to add to the conversation, but now that there’s some healthy discussion going on about it (and I feel like having a bit of a debate), I might add my two cents…
In actuality, it’s only one point that’s of real interest to me: Ivy’s statement of deciphering her morality.
It seems to me that Karma can be quite subjective in it’s ‘goodness’ or ‘badness’. Karma is omni-present, but the action is determined by morality (which is, in the end, a function of ego I suppose, but never mind that).
Thus, wouldn’t it make sense that Karma is good if you believe it to be? If we take the example of Robin Hood again, no doubt he believed his deeds were good, and thus he receives personal gratification/joy/what have you from robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. And in the end, he receives ‘good’ Karma from himself, because he believes he has done good, irrespective of what has subjectively transpired.
As Wade said, he would be living his Karma. Good or bad only comes into it when you think about it in terms of morality. And so, to come back to my original point, the morality of Ivy’s decisions are arbitrary. Karma just ‘is’. Good or bad is up to you. This is not to say you should change your train of thought to believe that anything bad you do, you should consider good, but when you next ponder upon your (or others’) behaviour, simply let the Karma flow, and act accordingly.
Marcus, that is exactly it!
~W
i find karma coming back to me all the time! im not sure if it is made up or not, buti believe its not!
a wrongdoing certainly always comes back to me, as do the positive actions.
when something nice done to/for you, always be thankful of karma.
appreciation.