Karma... what is it?

dancing-loon

House Member
Oct 8, 2007
2,739
36
48
What is karma?

Sharon Stone claims the earthquake in China is the result of bad karma for its treatment of Tibetans. Is her definition - "when you are not nice, bad things happen to you" - correct?

And Sharon Stone, a convert to Buddhism, has claimed - to much criticism - that the earthquake that killed at least 68,000 people in China was bad karma for Beijing policy in Tibet. "I thought, is that karma - when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?" she mused at the Cannes Film Festival.
........
Dhammadassin, a teacher at the London Buddhist Centre, says that Stone's take on karma is common - glossed over as an outcome that is the result of something done in the past - or even a past life.

"This reduces the enormously complex matter of causes and their effects to a question of retribution meted out for unspecified previous actions," she says.
But the law of karma states that it's the motive behind one's actions that affects the outcome of that particular act.

"So an intentionally ethical action - for example to promote kindness, generosity, contentment - is more likely to have positive, beneficial consequences.

An intentionally unethical one - to promote self-aggrandisement or greed - will be more likely to have unhelpful, even harmful consequences. Unhelpful, that is, for the positive well-being of either the doer or the recipient or both."

THE ANSWER
Law of karma holds that actions have consequences!!!
Ethical intention behind an action affects outcome
Other factors also come into play

Look here for more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7425203.stm
-----------------------------------------------------
That's why we will always have Ethiopias, wars, crime, suicides and general misery. BUT, we will also have happiness, well-being, pleasures, joys, contentment, peace and... a friend or two!!;-)

Karma is like a balance sheet... positive on one side, negative on the other. With the ability of our conscience we can check our current standing. It never hurts to add to the positive side! Be kind, loving, truthful, honest, helpful to someone in need, and most important.... forgive! If you can not forgive, and I know this is very hard, you tie yourself to the other person, and will have to come back to work it out in another incarnation.
Christ was not kidding, when he advised us to love our neighbor as ourselves, bare the other cheek, give the thief your undershirt also etc.
Christ talked about reincarnation, but our holier than thou Christian leaders have taken it out of the Bibel.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on Karma and Reincarnation? Those two go hand-in-hand, of course.

One more thing.... your particular Karma provides you with the custom-made lessons you need to learn! ;-)
 

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
If the way of action derives from the Mimamsa theory of karma, Vedanta suggests a way of knowledge by the soul of Spirit. The first chapter of the Vedanta Sutra describes Brahman as the central reality and creator of the world and the individual souls. The second chapter answers objections and explains the world's dependence on God and its evolution back into Brahman. The third chapter suggests ways of knowing Brahman, and the fourth chapter indicates the rewards or fruits of knowing this Spirit.
Badarayana is traditional in that he believed knowledge comes from scripture (sruti) and other authorities (smriti), though sruti as revelation is identified with perception and smriti as interpretation with inference. Scripture refers to the Vedas and smriti to the Bhagavad-Gita, Mahabharata, and Laws of Manu. Reason for Badarayana must conform to the Vedas, but it is nonetheless subordinate to intuitive knowledge, which can come from devotion and meditation. Brahman as Spirit is considered the light of the soul, which is also eternal, though Brahman is distinguished from the intelligent soul and the unintelligent material things.
As in Mimamsa individuals are responsible for their own actions and thus determine their own happiness or suffering. The soul is affected by pleasure and pain, but the highest Lord is not. Injunctions and prohibitions exist because of the connection of the soul with the body. Ethical action helps the soul attain a body fit for knowledge of Brahman, which then may be attained through service, renunciation, and meditation. Meditation on the highest yields unity with the infinite and knowledge of Spirit (Brahman), enabling one to stop producing karma and end the cycle of karma and reincarnation.
Badarayana combined earlier views of Brahman as indeterminate intelligence and a definite personal Lord. While developing itself in the universe, Brahman is still transcendent. Though Brahman is in individual souls, it is not polluted by their defects. Human purpose comes through knowledge of Brahman, which also results in bliss and the nullification of works (karma). To obtain knowledge one must be calm and in control of the senses. Works can be combined with knowledge, but those performing them must not be overcome by passion. Knowledge may also be promoted through special acts such as prayer, devotion, and fasting. Meditation, though, should focus not on symbols of the soul but the reality. Through immobile meditation, thoughtfulness and concentration are increased, and meditation needs to be practiced up to death. By resolving karma through knowledge, oneness with Brahman is attained. At death the liberated soul is released from the body and does not return to another.
 

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
Yet humans are free and determine their own destiny by their actions. The karma from past actions does not limit free choices but is like capital that can be spent in various ways as it is resolved. The soul usually carries a mixture of good and evil consequences, and these may cancel each other. Obligations are actions which must be performed, or one gets demerit, though there is no merit for doing them. Prohibited actions if done also cause demerit, but if avoided likewise do not give merit. Optional actions may produce merit or demerit according to their consequences. Focusing primarily on the spiritual effects of rituals, the Mimamsa philosophy relies on the Dharma Sutras for guidance in worldly ethical questions.
 
Last edited:

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
Thus dharma or action (karma) supports the universe. If it is ethically right, it produces enjoyment; if it is wrong, then suffering is experienced. This force (shakti) of dharma or karma is extraordinary and unseen. The universe, being eternal, is not created by this force, but it is shaped by it. A unity to this universal force is posited to control and guide individuals in a single cosmic harmony
 

talloola

Hall of Fame Member
Nov 14, 2006
19,576
113
63
Vancouver Island
I don't believe in Karma, unless I'm confused, as to the meaning. I assume it is just a feeling about someone or something, but nothing factual.

Sharon Stone should have her butt kicked around the block, as she gives 'not' one thought to the thousands who are dead and suffering, it is so catastrophic that my husband and I
talk about it every day, and keep up on how they are doing. I stupid remark from a airhead actress, who thinks that her world is so important, and it is 'nothing', is so pitiful.
 

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
I don't believe in Karma, unless I'm confused, as to the meaning. I assume it is just a feeling about someone or something, but nothing factual.

Sharon Stone should have her butt kicked around the block, as she gives 'not' one thought to the thousands who are dead and suffering, it is so catastrophic that my husband and I
talk about it every day, and keep up on how they are doing. I stupid remark from a airhead actress, who thinks that her world is so important, and it is 'nothing', is so pitiful.

well said talloola shame that Sharon Stone wont read this and its a bigger shame that she knows nothing of Buddhist principles :lol:
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
karma... what goes around comes around... only applies, in my opinion, to the actions of individuals. Pondering on whether or not children deserved to be crushed to death in their beds, because of the actions of people they've never met, is beyond ridiculous, and I hope that she has a firm grasp on the fact that IF karma exists, she just earned a heaping helping of it for even implying that people deserve to die that way for actions not their own.
 

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
To be totally frank about my view of karma, and separate it from my anger at Sharon Stone...

karma is our energy balance. Do good and good will come your way. If you live a happy life, you partake in actions which make you feel good about yourself, you will be healthier, happier, and it will show. You will be more successful, more well met by people. It is a personal reminder to strive for balance. As such, I think it's a pretty provable notion, and a good one to live our lives by, even if there's no actual force beyond our own smiles which brings it about.


But the instant we start throwing karma around as a notion with which we want to judge or punish others, we're engaging in the negative, and doing ourselves harm, causing ourselves stress, and creating an attitude around us that is not as well met by people... we build our own bad karma.
 

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
karma... what goes around comes around... only applies, in my opinion, to the actions of individuals. Pondering on whether or not children deserved to be crushed to death in their beds, because of the actions of people they've never met, is beyond ridiculous, and I hope that she has a firm grasp on the fact that IF karma exists, she just earned a heaping helping of it for even implying that people deserve to die that way for actions not their own.

Fair point KARRIE i did not mean to be rude or factious with my comment nobody deserves to die and nobody should say what she has regarding such a catastrophic event such as this and when things like this occur our faith in god is tested as to why he would let such tragedy's happen to innocent children and peoples
 
Last edited:

karrie

OogedyBoogedy
Jan 6, 2007
27,780
285
83
bliss
Fair point KARRIE i did not mean to be rude or factious with my comment nobody deserves to die and nobody should say what she has regarding such a catastrophic event such as this and when things like this occur our faith in god is tested as to why he would let such tragedy's happen to innocent children and peoples

I guess I just don't have a view of a god who's able to interfere in the world in such a manner as to change our paths or prevent nature from functioning. So it doesn't strike questions into me when something like this happens. Tectonic plates shifted, and people were living in houses not built to handle those shifts... it's simple in my mind. Tragic, and horrifying, but quite simple.
 

quandary121

Time Out
Apr 20, 2008
2,950
8
38
lincolnshire
uk.youtube.com
If the way of action derives from the Mimamsa theory of karma, Vedanta suggests a way of knowledge by the soul of Spirit. The first chapter of the Vedanta Sutra describes Brahman as the central reality and creator of the world and the individual souls. The second chapter answers objections and explains the world's dependence on God and its evolution back into Brahman. The third chapter suggests ways of knowing Brahman, and the fourth chapter indicates the rewards or fruits of knowing this Spirit.
 

MikeyDB

House Member
Jun 9, 2006
4,612
63
48
One might postulate that given the age of these precepts and the longevity of the various beliefs that something more positive than posturing nuclear war with Pakistan or keeping the caste systems a viable social construct might be reasonably revisited as "strategies".

It may simply not be possible for human beings to live together. Perhaps some universally comprehendible model or image of what successful social political and economic integration among large numbers of people might look like...would be useful. That hasn't happened...or at least if it has I can't find that page in my history book.
 

dancing-loon

House Member
Oct 8, 2007
2,739
36
48
If you want to know your past life
look into your present condition
if you want to know your future life
look at your present actions


Nothing exists the way it appears, it is all up to our KARMA
Hi, Quandary;
you hit the nail on the head!

And yet, look at the torture victims! Do they deserve it? Did they do similarly in a past life? Not always, I think. Sometimes we choose to sacrifice ourselves in order to help another soul advance. But, we also learn to see what it takes to help a hardened soul to look at itself and turn towards love.
I think that is what Christ did and demonstrated to us.
 

MikeyDB

House Member
Jun 9, 2006
4,612
63
48
Karma relies on a moral thesis for much of its "authority" as a spiritual notion.

That's why I made a point of juxtaposing the idea that when a nation like India practices posturing as a nuclear power...even to deter the maniacs in Pakistan that continue to demonstrate to the world that they're prepared to kill anyone and everyone in the name of their "belief" that the moral fabric, the constituent elements that undergird the notion of karma need to be examined.

Isn't it just common sense that if you let children play with matches...someone could end up getting burned...? Nothing Karmic about that.....
 

dancing-loon

House Member
Oct 8, 2007
2,739
36
48
well said talloola shame that Sharon Stone wont read this and its a bigger shame that she knows nothing of Buddhist principles :lol:
Dear Quandary... do not judge or condemn! Stone has expressed what she thought, and thus stimulated pondering and debate in others. We are all trotting along to learn. IF we are already so enlightened that we feel the need to criticize the person beside us, then we haven't learned much yet and should get back at the end of the line and start over!!!

Remember... "the first ones will be the last ones!" Out of love we will want to reincarnate again, even if we ourselves have no Karma left to work out here on earth, so we can help a lost soul to find the light and the love of our common Creator.
 

dancing-loon

House Member
Oct 8, 2007
2,739
36
48
One might postulate that given the age of these precepts and the longevity of the various beliefs that something more positive than posturing nuclear war with Pakistan or keeping the caste systems a viable social construct might be reasonably revisited as "strategies".

It may simply not be possible for human beings to live together. Perhaps some universally comprehensible model or image of what successful social political and economic integration among large numbers of people might look like...would be useful. That hasn't happened...or at least if it has I can't find that page in my history book.
Hallo, Mikey; my little sweetheart, who will comfort me when I'm in need! Thank you for those kind words. Without hesitation I would do the same to you!;-)

O.k., so... you would like to have a comprehensible model shown to you, since you can't find any such society in your history books. Neither can I, really, but I have briefly read some time ago about the sunken continent of Mu or Lemuria. There, in that particular society people were peaceful and lived and worked in harmony for the greater good.

Right now, I believe we have an abundance of returned Atlanteans here amongst us. The Atlanteans were great inventors, technically far advanced, even more than we are now.
Atlantis was also a continent that sank beneath the waters of the Atlantic. Mu, as I recall vanished under the Pacific Ocean. But, I need to refresh my vague memory. Why not help me and also search?:smile:
 

dancing-loon

House Member
Oct 8, 2007
2,739
36
48
Karma relies on a moral thesis for much of its "authority" as a spiritual notion.

That's why I made a point of juxtaposing the idea that when a nation like India practices posturing as a nuclear power...even to deter the maniacs in Pakistan that continue to demonstrate to the world that they're prepared to kill anyone and everyone in the name of their "belief" that the moral fabric, the constituent elements that undergird the notion of karma need to be examined.

Isn't it just common sense that if you let children play with matches...someone could end up getting burned...? Nothing Karmic about that.....
O. K.; leave the word Karma away for a moment. What do you suppose is the reason, the purpose of our existence here on earth with its abundance of possibilities to harm, to enrich ourselves but also be kind, helpful and loving, not just the love of sex?
 

Nuggler

kind and gentle
Feb 27, 2006
11,596
141
63
Backwater, Ontario.
"And Sharon Stone, a convert to Buddhism, has claimed - to much criticism - that the earthquake that killed at least 68,000 people in China was bad karma for Beijing policy in Tibet. "I thought, is that karma - when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?" she mused at the Cannes Film Festival."

stupid, condescending, lip moving while she reads, ignorant, self-centered, casting couch, incapable of "muse", disgusting, **** :angry3:

8O(some big time bad sh!t karma coming her way)