I love when people use sayings out of habit because it makes them feel better but yet, they don’t really know what it means. My favorite one is anything to do with karma. Unless you are Hindu or some other karma believing religion, I don’t think you really understand the concept. Yes, that’s right, Miss Literal here. It’s even better when someone is of a Christian faith and claims to believe in both God and karma. I’m pretty sure this is sacrilegious. I’m not here to judge though but maybe give a little more insight to what karma actually is and why I don’t think it’s real and why you probably don’t either. Karma has to do with the energy in the universe and how it affects our reality. A simple thought you have can affect the entire universe according to karma but you may not be able to see its work. Karma asks that you simply believe in the universe and the balance it brings. Furthermore karma is linked to those who believe in future and past lifetimes. Just because you earn good or bad karma now doesn’t mean you’ll receive it in this lifetime. I’m pretty sure Christians don’t believe in reincarnation…
Either way, I am not a religious person any longer so my non-belief in karma has nothing to do with my own personal non-belief in religion. I just think it’s interesting when people who believe in God believe in karma too. What I am is a person who believes that there is no evil. And without evil then bad things don’t happen as a punishment. People behave in ways that benefit themselves. We might view an action as “bad” or “evil” but that was not the person’s intent who committed that action. I’ve already written about this though. Basically what it comes down to is that there is something good that comes out of everything… “good or evil”.
I ask to people who believe in karma (who do not believe in reincarnation) how do you explain cancer? Or bad things that happen to little kids? What bad thing did these people do to deserve such awfulness? And what about those who get away with murder? How do you explain how people do bad things (in our eyes) but never pay up?
You know, it’s fine if it makes people feel better to know that “karma’s gonna get them” for doing something bad. However, those who believe that only seem to pick and choose when karma exists. I don’t think you can do that. At least not if you truly believe in karma. Even without taking it to the Hindu, reincarnation extreme, people seem to only use karma when relating to something negative. You don’t ever hear people who do something good say “I can’t wait until something equally as good happens to me later in life because I just earned it!” It seems like karma comes equipped with many double standards.
I honestly believe that there is no evil in the world. Therefore I, or anyone else, doesn’t ever get “punished” for mistakes made. Likewise, the good I do is “just because” and not done knowing I will be rewarded some day. In conclusion…karma really is related to the universe and all our many lifetimes in it and not just something comforting to say when someone fucks up. Look it up. It’s true.
And in case this blog hasn’t bored you enough, the following is what I wrote in April 2010 regarding good vs. evil to give you more insight to my "no one is evil" theory.
What makes a person “good”? I am a believer in- everyone is good. This may sound like a crazy concept to some but it’s what I believe. There are no bad people but people who do bad things rather. Why is this? Try to define bad…it is subjective at best. So is the definition of good. But what I do know is that people don’t do things unless it benefits them in some way. I can see you sitting there trying to think of an example of how this isn’t true but trust me, you can’t. At least, I've never been able to. Feel free to challenge me on this if you’d like though. So anyway, if people do things for the betterment of themselves (in some way) then how can they be bad?? They don’t do things out of pure evil…they do things because they get some kind of satisfaction out of it.
I understand this may be a little too deep for some of you but you should really stop and think about it.
Seriously. Think about it.
This belief is how I’m always able to forgive people or move on from things. I know people don’t do things to be evil. They do things because it benefits them somehow. And while this may be selfish and unfair and sometimes down right messed up! Can you really blame someone for making themselves happy? Some people are just lost souls who don’t know any better. If anything I feel sorry for them but I know not to take it personally.
Amy, I always enjoy reading your thoughts and observations on our quirky little human race. I think, however, that some of your ideas about karma may be askew. Karma is not a tit for tat, I did something good or bad, and something equal will come back to me. It is not about good or evil either, in fact the Hindu religion uses the concept of karma to absolve God of good and evil, allowing the individual to be responsible for his or her own circumstances based on their own actions.
ReplyDeleteI myself am not religious, however, I do believe that all life is interconnected, and that the energy you put out comes back to you in reverberations. Whether you choose to call that karma or not is up to you. Just like many other religious doctrine, it is a simple truth that has been distorted by the complexities and uselessness of ceremony and the constant struggle for power over the masses, which is the real purpose of religion.
When you are kind to another person, that kindness echos through them and they are more likely to be kind in turn. When you are rude to someone the hurt and anger they feel is passed on. When you plant a field of trees those trees grow to give off immense amounts of oxygen and refuge for wildlife. When you pollute a river, that pollution is carried downstream to countless other communities. These things effect the world around us, which is the world we live in, therefore we have a direct effect on how the world treats us back. Its all karma, its all connected, we are all responsible for our own actions, and we are responsible for what we allow to befall those around us.
Oh good! I was hoping that someone would have some input on karma since I clearly haven't researched it very much. And I trust your knowledge Craig so...with that being said. I like how you described it here and I absolutely agree with you! I guess the message I was trying to get across is that the only time I ever hear anyone say anything about karma is when they've just been screwed over and they should "Karma's a bitch, look out!" or something equally as lame. I don't think, on any level, that karma works that way. I was trying to say that I actually believe that "karma" in the real sense it was intended is much more believable to me than the way people use it now a day as a catchy saying.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and for your input!
Dear Amy I have read your views which i respect and now let me talk about both god and karma and now tell you about the truth. God and Karma are just two words resembling something which can never be understood truth can not be understood BY WORDS but by silence WORDS OR LANGUAGE IS THE BARRIER which complicates things Karma God Maaya Illusion are all words created in language truth is in silence
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, MY thoughts exactly. I get so sick of hearing this term "karma" and wondered if it was a facebook term or something. It is called life and life has it's ups and downs. If you drink and drive and get picked up how can you call that karma? I would call it "stupidity"
ReplyDeletekarma is exist..This why im saying not because im a hindu,, even i did evil and i got bad that time itself.. Now i waned to do good things because i belive in karma and the power of god.
ReplyDeleteIf there was Karma there would be no suicide
ReplyDeleteKarma is fake
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